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Why does it take so long for us to form our first memory?

bbc.com

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Re: Why does it take so long for us to form our first memory?

#21

Post by agumonkey »

vilhelm_s wrote: post #5

The thing I find most interesting about childhood amnesia is that that, despite this headline, it's not that we don't form early memories. We do form them, and then as we get older we forget them again. If you ask a 5-year-old child, they will accurately remember things that happened to them when they were 2. Then they gradually forget, and at 11, the early memories are completely lost. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/…

Maybe most of them are non verbal too, so differently stored, associated, and harder to communicate.

I also imagine the first 4 years as a massive influx of raw stimuli to be processed, from which only a few abstraction will remains. Kinda like learning anything knew, the first period is mostly wrong perceptions, and you only remember the valuable bits after an integration period.

Re: Why does it take so long for us to form our first memory?

#22

Post by secfirstmd »

batbomb wrote: post #20
vilhelm_s wrote: post #5

The thing I find most interesting about childhood amnesia is that that, despite this headline, it's not that we don't form early memories. We do form them, and then as we get older we forget them again. If you ask a 5-year-old child, they will accurately remember things that happened to them when they were 2. Then they gradually forget, and at 11, the early memories are completely lost. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/…

I have quite a few memories before 4, going back to 2 years of age, more than I can remember. I will say that one thing that is a little different for me was that we moved every year until I was 7 so that had helped me place things and maybe retain memories a little better for some reason.

Am I just weird or is it unusual to have scant memories from between the age of one and two?

Re: Why does it take so long for us to form our first memory?

#23

Post by ktRolster »

vilhelm_s wrote: post #5

The thing I find most interesting about childhood amnesia is that that, despite this headline, it's not that we don't form early memories. We do form them, and then as we get older we forget them again. If you ask a 5-year-old child, they will accurately remember things that happened to them when they were 2. Then they gradually forget, and at 11, the early memories are completely lost. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/…

My hypothesis (along with your observation) is that as we age, the way we remember things is different. At a young age, it's all sounds and images. Then language gets added to it, and we start seeing events in different ways. Our old ways of accessing information (in the brain) are used less often, and we forget.

Re: Why does it take so long for us to form our first memory?

#24

Post by gingerlime »

I wonder what kind of effect today's technology has.

I mean, my son is 3, and already has hours of videos stored. And he likes watching those videos of himself and family even now.

How is this going to affect memory formation later in life? Should we hide those videos from him to avoid some kind of a feedback-loop that can somehow mess with his memory?

Re: Why does it take so long for us to form our first memory?

#25

Post by eridius »

batbomb wrote: post #20
vilhelm_s wrote: post #5

The thing I find most interesting about childhood amnesia is that that, despite this headline, it's not that we don't form early memories. We do form them, and then as we get older we forget them again. If you ask a 5-year-old child, they will accurately remember things that happened to them when they were 2. Then they gradually forget, and at 11, the early memories are completely lost. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/…

I have quite a few memories before 4, going back to 2 years of age, more than I can remember. I will say that one thing that is a little different for me was that we moved every year until I was 7 so that had helped me place things and maybe retain memories a little better for some reason.

How can you have more memories than you can remember? Isn't that a contradiction?

Re: Why does it take so long for us to form our first memory?

#26

Post by ljf »

gingerlime wrote: post #24

I wonder what kind of effect today's technology has. I mean, my son is 3, and already has hours of videos stored. And he likes watching those videos of himself and family even now. How is this going to affect memory formation later in life? Should we hide those videos from him to avoid some kind of a feedback-loop that can somehow mess with his memory?

I wonder the exact same thing, our boy is 2 and as soon as he could hold a phone his favourite videos were of himself. Going to be interesting "do you really remember X happening or is the video something that you rewatched so much you couldn't help but recall?"

Re: Why does it take so long for us to form our first memory?

#27

Post by orf »

mSparks wrote: post #18
cknoxrun wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I should point out that your link doesn't work for me. I should also point out that it is unwise to claim absolute authority in science, especially the biological sciences.

Yeah I saw, rogue c&p in the "hide it from most of the internet" script. It's an old site migrated from my first machinations back in the early 2000s. And I make no claim to "absolutely authority". But take your pick which "expert" you want to listen to. The experts rolled out by the "love thee blue blooded leader appointed appointed by god" channel. Or some random guy on the internet who likes downvotes and says he'…

> Or some random guy on the internet who likes downvotes and says he's been doing it so long it now pays for him to do this every other day.

It says on your site you graduated in 2007. I'd take the experts any day.

Re: Why does it take so long for us to form our first memory?

#28

Post by Kretiini »

eridius wrote: post #25
batbomb wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have quite a few memories before 4, going back to 2 years of age, more than I can remember. I will say that one thing that is a little different for me was that we moved every year until I was 7 so that had helped me place things and maybe retain memories a little better for some reason.

How can you have more memories than you can remember? Isn't that a contradiction?

There are more things from that time he can recall than he can name at this moment, that's how I interpreted it.

Re: Why does it take so long for us to form our first memory?

#29

Post by batbomb »

eridius wrote: post #25
batbomb wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have quite a few memories before 4, going back to 2 years of age, more than I can remember. I will say that one thing that is a little different for me was that we moved every year until I was 7 so that had helped me place things and maybe retain memories a little better for some reason.

How can you have more memories than you can remember? Isn't that a contradiction?

Theres no way to iterate all your memories, but that doesn't mean they don't exist. My guess is that I have about ~50 before the age of 3, 150 before the age of 4

Re: Why does it take so long for us to form our first memory?

#30

Post by dschiptsov »

The hypothesis that natural language acquisition "restructures our memories" is promising one. We cannot recall what has been stored using a different "encoding". There are no associated labels (which is what words are) attached to earlier experiences, so "search" returns nothing, or something we mistakenly attributed to the prior-language experiences.
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