do some people not have infantile amnesia

This research has become increasingly of interest to those researching cognition and language learning. Childhood amnesia is therefore theorised to be closely connected with the development of language and the creation of a self-image. Usually between the ages of two and three years, the brain of a child changes from tactile and olfactory processing of memories to verbal processing. Also, an event that is often remembered may be rehearsed by the parents and those close to the child, so memories before or after that time may be remembered or forgotten.

There is a distinction between 'sporadic memories' and 'autobiographic memories', the latter being those that are part of the personal 'narrative' of life. Also, often a subject's earliest claimed memory is not confirmable for this reason, memories like the birth of a younger sibling have been used in experiments when probing for the earliest possible memories. Often, subjects have heard stories about their childhood that mix with their real memories and make it difficult to differentiate what was actually remembered. It has been shown that females' first memories are generally a little bit earlier than that of males.ĭefining and probing for the earliest memories is problematic. Individually, peoples' earliest memories may be between two years to seven years of age, with the mean value around 3.5 years of age¹. Many studies have been conducted to measure the cut-off age. Since then it has been established that humans, regardless of age, cannot recall their earliest childhood. 5 A neurocognitive hypothesis about childhood amnesiaĬhildhood amnesia was first studied at the end of the 19th century by Freud, G.Few scientists who study human development consider that explanation plausible, but childhood amnesia remains somewhat of a paradox: infants' and young children's minds handle a lot of new impressions and are adept at learning, and yet it seems that long-term memories are only created after some fundamental developments of the brain are completed. Sigmund Freud theorized that childhood amnesia occurs when a young mind blocks out unsuitable impressions or emotional trauma, which he considered a universal human experience. Childhood amnesia has been recognized for centuries, but the nature and cause of the phenomenon have been debated in psychology since the late 19th century. In psychology, childhood amnesia refers to the inability of people to remember their earliest childhood experiences.

Do some people not have infantile amnesia