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Childhood Amnesia

            
             A fundamental aspect of human memory is that the more time elapsed since an event, the fainter the memory becomes. This has been shown to be true on a relatively linear scale with the exception of our first three to four years of life (Fitzgerald, 1991). It is even common for adults not to have any memory before the age of six or seven. The absence of memory in these first years has sparked much interest as to how and why it happens. Ever since Freud (1916/1963) first popularized the phenomenon there have been many questions and few robust empirical studies. Childhood amnesia is defined as the period of life from which no events are remembered (Usher & Neisser, 1993) beginning at birth and ending at the onset of your first memories. The implications of why this occurs are important for the understanding of how our memory system develops and the memory formation process. Research Limitations: There have been many hypothesized causes for childhood amnesia but very little strong evidence to support them. This problem arises out of the difficulty of obtaining reliable information pertaining to this area of study. Research is only as good as the information used. Most studies have used adult participants who are asked to report their earliest memories and the date. There are several factors contributing to the unreliability of this data. In a self-report method, people often have difficulty pinpointing what their earliest memory is and even more difficulty getting an accurate date. Verification of the memories is also a problem since it is nearly impossible to design and conduct a study that observes the initial experience to compare with the subsequent recall. The experience reported by a participant can often be checked with another family member but their memories are also prone to errors. In this field there are also many other confounding variables that experimenters must try minimize.


Essays Related to Childhood Amnesia

1. Child Abuse

Childhood Amnesia A fundamental aspect of human memory is that the more time elapsed since an event, the fainter the memory becomes. ... Research Limitations: There have been many hypothesized causes for childhood amnesia but very little strong evidence to support them. ... Experimental Evidence: Usher and Neisser conducted one of the most influential studies in the field of childhood amnesia in 1993. ... While these experiments provide no explanation for the occurrence of childhood amnesia, they do provide some illustration about the nature of the phenomenon itself. Mechanisms Contributing to...

  • Word Count: 3060
  • Approx Pages: 12
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

2. Characer

In such cases the person will be able to remember their childhood and what their name is but not what happened a few days prior. ... However it will be difficult to remember simple things such as childhood stories. ... Freud was one of the first psychologists to connect infantile amnesia with unpleasant childhood memories. ... Functional amnesia is a form of amnesia that transpires in an otherwise normal, healthy person. ... Patients usually "show some common features: a weak, underdeveloped personality, a problematic childhood or youth, and the appearance of emotionally negative events suc...

  • Word Count: 1168
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

3. Dissociative Disorders

Some individual may have amnesia for episodes of self-mutilation, violent outburst, or suicide attempts. ... Dissociative Amnesia has been prevalent among those involved in early childhood traumas. Dissociative Amnesia can be present in any age group form young children to adults. ... Those with Dissociative Identity Disorder frequently report having experienced severe physical and sexual abuse, especially during childhood. ... Dissociative identity disorder has been diagnosed more frequently in adult females than in adult males in childhood the gap may be even larger. ...

  • Word Count: 856
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

4. Research Assignment - Memory

I'm sure everyone has wondered why they can't remember their childhood up to a certain age and what it was like being a baby. This is childhood amnesia, everyone experiences this because our brains aren't fully developed yet. ... The first one discussed was retrograde amnesia. Retrograde amnesia is the loss of past events we have experienced. The documentary discussed a story of John Forbes, he was born premature and suffers from retrograde amnesia. ...

  • Word Count: 961
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

5. Multiple Personality Disorder

As an adult the abused child may find it hard to keep track of time and will have episodes of amnesia. ... Another major symptom in an adult is that the person will have absolutely no recollection of their childhood. They have no idea that they were abused in their childhood and are unaware that they had numerous personalities living within their heads. ... The first is, one-way amnesia, this is when one alter knows about the other alter, but the other alter does not know...

  • Word Count: 1218
  • Approx Pages: 5

6. Autobiographical Memory - Developmental Analysis and Theory

Sigmund Freud being the first to recognize infantile amnesia gave fuel to the conceptual trend that autobiographical memory cannot necessarily be obtained by the child's conscious mind as it may by an adult. ... This supports the concept that the relationship between language and autobiographical memory is a strictly human phenomenon and can potentially be obtained during even early childhood. Freud had first "discovered" and purposed infantile amnesia, "I believe we accept too indifferently the fact of infantile amnesia that is, the failure of memory for the first years...

  • Word Count: 1463
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

7. Multiple personalities

The symptoms for childhood DID(MPD) are similar to those that adults have. ... These children have a history of abuse, and they develop amnesia that makes them forget abuse and/or other recent events such as their schoolwork, angry outbursts, and regressive behavior. ... We do know some things about this topic, like the symptoms, for example depression, amnesia, hallucinations. ... DID (MPD) is associated with the incidences of physical, and or/sexual abuse during the person's childhood. ... There is a childhood form of DID(MPD) also, and it is easier to treat and cure than the adult form...

  • Word Count: 1131
  • Approx Pages: 5

8. Research Paper - Memory

We all have vivid memories from our childhood, or a recent as yesterday, that still remain in our hearts and mind. ... Hypnosis causes amnesia for a short period of time, but these memories cannot be erased permanently. This type of amnesia creates a gap of memory creating a higher possibility for false memory formation. After the treatment of amnesia starts to fade off the memories begin to reoccur, not as clearly as before. ...

  • Word Count: 1350
  • Approx Pages: 5

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