Why we don’t remember ourselves in early childhood

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Most of us do not remember the first years of life, from the most important moment - birth - all the way to kindergarten. Even later, our memories are fragmentary and blurry. Parents, psychologists, neuroscientists and linguists have been trying for many years to answer the question of why this is happening.

So what's the deal? After all, children absorb information like a sponge, forming 700 neural connections per second and learning language at such a speed that any polyglot would envy.

Many believe the answer lies in the work of Hermann Ebbinghaus, a 19th century German psychologist. He first conducted a series of experiments on himself, allowing you to know the limits of human memory.

To do this, he compiled rows of meaningless syllables ("bov", "gis", "loch" and the like) and memorized them, and then checked how much information was stored in his memory. As also developed by Ebbinghaus confirms, we forget what we have learned very quickly. Without repetition, our brain forgets half of the new information within the first hour. By the 30th day, only 2-3% of the received data is saved.

By examining the forgetting curves in the 1980s, scientists discovered David C. Rubin. … that we have far fewer memories from birth to 6-7 years than one might think. At the same time, some remember individual events that occurred when they were only 2 years old, while others have no recollections of events up to 7–8 years old. On average, fragmentary memories only appear after three and a half years.

It is particularly interesting that there are differences in how memories are stored across countries.

Role of culture

Psychologist Qi Wang from Cornell University conducted a study on Qi Wang. …, within the framework of which she recorded childhood memories of Chinese and American students. As might be expected from national stereotypes, American stories turned out to be longer and more detailed, as well as significantly more egocentric. By contrast, the stories of the Chinese students were short and reproduced the facts. In addition, their memories began on average six months later.

Other studies by Qi Wang confirm the difference in memory formation. … … People with more self-centered memories find it easier to remember.

“There was a big difference between such memories 'There were tigers in the zoo' and 'I saw tigers in the zoo, they were scary, but still it was very interesting' there is a big difference,” psychologists say. The child's appearance of interest in himself, the emergence of his own point of view helps to better remember what is happening, because this is what largely influences the perception of various events.

Ki Wang then conducted another experiment, this time interviewing American and Chinese mothers Qi Wang, Stacey N. Doan, Qingfang Song. … … The results remained the same.

“In Eastern culture, childhood memories are less important,” says Wang. - When I lived in China, no one even asked me about it. If society instills that these memories are important, they are more deposited in the memory."

Interestingly, the earliest memories were recorded among the indigenous population of New Zealand - Maori S. MacDonald, K. Uesiliana, H. Hayne. …

… Their culture places a lot of emphasis on childhood memories, and many Maori remember the events that took place when they were only two and a half years old.

Role of the hippocampus

Some psychologists believe that the ability to memorize comes to us only after we master the language. However, it has been proven that the first memories of deaf children from birth date from the same period as the rest.

This led to the emergence of a theory according to which we do not remember the first years of life simply because at this time our brain does not yet have the necessary "equipment". As you know, the hippocampus is responsible for our ability to remember. At a very early age, he is still underdeveloped. This has been seen not only among humans, but also among rats and monkeys by Sheena A. Josselyn, Paul W. Frankland. …

However, some events from childhood have an impact on us even when we do not remember about them Stella Li, Bridget L. Callaghan, Rick Richardson. …, therefore, some psychologists believe that the memory of these events is still stored, but it is inaccessible to us. So far, scientists have not yet been able to prove this empirically.

Imaginary events

Many of our childhood memories are often not real. We hear from relatives about a situation, speculate on the details, and over time it begins to seem to us as our own memory.

And even if we really remember about a particular event, this memory can change under the influence of the stories of others.

So, perhaps the main question is not why we do not remember our early childhood, but whether we can even believe at least one memory.