Psychologists have come to the conclusion that childhood memories of up to two to three years of age are artificially constructed based on later experience.
British psychologists interviewed 6641 people and found out: 38.6% of respondents believe that their first childhood memory refers to the age of two years. Comparison of data on these images showed that such memories are formed artificially on the basis of later emotional experience and information received from relatives. The research is published in the journal Psychological Science.
According to modern research, the earliest memories of most people are between three and three and a half years old. Failure to recall earlier events is called childhood amnesia.
The new study involved Britons aged 11 to 90 years. They were asked to briefly describe their first memory, not based on family stories or photographs known to them, and indicate at what age it formed. The volunteers then answered questions about what emotions the event evoked in them, how vivid the memory was, and how often they discussed it with other people.
2487 respondents attributed their first memories to the age of less than two years, of which 893 - to the age of one year. Most often, middle-aged or elderly volunteers spoke about such early memories; they were less common among adolescents and young people. These images were divided into three types: walks in a wheelchair, family activities (for example, family trips) and the first experiences of negative emotions, such as sadness.
Plots of the described memories / Psychological Science.
Psychologists analyzed the details of the descriptions and answers to additional questions and came to the conclusion: most of the abnormally early memories are artificially constructed, and the respondents themselves did not realize this. According to scientists, such images combine the emotional experience of an older age (for example, experiences of fear or sadness) and information that was mentioned by loved ones: for example, the mother had a large green stroller. Gradually, a person can unconsciously supplement such constructions with new details. By discussing these images with other people, the person reinforces them as memories that seem real.
Natalia Pelezneva
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