Re-Post: Memories as an Infant: Real or Fake?
In Summer of 2023, we’re re-posting some of the most popular blogs from the site. Enjoy reviewing this content! This article on infant memory was originally published in July of 2020.
By Zoe Ideker
Thinking back to when I was a child, I am able to recall memories of many moments, my childhood dog- a golden retriever named Tucker, the first house I lived in- a brick rambler, my younger brother coming home from the hospital in 2001, etc. A significant memory that I have, however, is choking on a piece of candy- a Gobstopper to be exact. I believe this to be my first memory. I was just under three years old and my aunt had taken me to go see my first movie. After returning home, I was eating my Gobstoppers and started to choke on one. I remember my mom performing the Heimlich maneuver on me in the kitchen and the Gobstopper flying out of my mouth and rolling onto the kitchen floor. This of course scared me, and for that reason I believe this early memory has stuck with me as I have gotten older.
Most adults can recount memories from when they were very young. However, some claim to remember their birth or other memories in infancy. In her book, The Memory Illusion, Dr. Julia Shaw explains that 3.5 is the age when most adults recall their earliest memory. If this is the case- how can one claim to remember their birth?
In a journal article titled, The Adults Who Remember Being Born, a man by the name of Elliander Eldridge says he remembers his birth. He said he is able to recall the warmth of being in the womb and then being exposed to a bright light as his mom gave birth to him. His remembrance of birth may be different from the average story, however. This is because Eldridge experienced trauma shortly after his birth. He had been born with a condition called Bilateral Stahl’s Ear, in which the ear possesses an excess amount of cartilage. Eldridge had to experience a painful procedure to remove the excess cartilage with no sedation- in which he claims not to remember the pain but his reactions to the pain, his cries, and distress from the discomfort.
Now, since most people are unable to form memories until age 3.5, how can someone remember their birth? Dr. Julia Shaw uses neuroscience to investigate claims of early memory. She discusses that not remembering birth or infancy is not a mistake or problem; rather, that these are impossible memories. Impossible in that they are reconstructed or made-up ideas that are mistaken for real memories. The parts of the brain that contribute to long-term memory, which includes a section of the frontal lobe and hippocampus, do not begin developing until about 9 months of age. Since they start to grow at this time it is impossible for infants to retain any memories past 30 seconds before that age.
On the other hand researchers Paley and Alpert (2003), reviewed 9 studies, consisting of 150 cases of adults who described long-lasting memories of early childhood trauma. These researchers found that children who had experienced trauma were able to retain the experience in some form of memory for extended periods of time. They posited that children between the ages of 0 and 36 months may store experiences of trauma in both verbal and nonverbal forms.
Critical thinking is required to infer whether early memories, which may include trauma, are remembered accurately. Long-term memories are always susceptible to change. Something many people don’t fully understand about memory is that it is constantly reconstructed. Like using the same Legos to build a structure over and over again, a memory can be changed each time it is retrieved. Some aspect of the memory may be accurate (like using the basic building blocks to make something); however, the pieces or the story can be changed.
Consider this, each time I talk about choking on Gobstoppers I could add in or remove detail. One time I could add what I think the exact color of the candy was, blue. Another time I could misremember who was in the room when I was chocking. Even more tricky is that talking to others or seeing pictures of an event can also change a memory overtime.
Now I may remember my childhood dog, my childhood home, and my younger brother being brought home from the hospital, but I do not remember my own birth. This may be because I did not have any traumatic experiences during or post-birth. Maybe if I did, I would recall that stressful time. However, my earliest memory is something that could be deemed “traumatic”. There seems to be varying explanations or points made about those who claim to remember their birth- some have had traumatic experiences while others simply claim to just remember. After researching this idea, there does seem to be ties between early childhood trauma and memory, despite some scientists claims that we are not able to form significant memories until age 3.5.
Now go ahead and recall some of your earliest memories. Which ones do you think have been re-shaped, changed, or completely misremembered over time?
Resources
Bell, D. (2011). Candorville #66565 [Cartoon]. https://www.cartoonistgroup.com/store/add.php?iid=66565
Haynes, Gavin. “The Adults Who Remember Being Born.” Vice, Vice Media, 23 Sept. 2019, www.vice.com/en_uk/article/43kned/i-remember-being-born.
Paley, J., & Alpert, J. (2003). Memory of infant trauma. Psychoanalytic Psychology, 20(2), 329-347. doi: http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.mnsu.edu/10.1037/0736-9735.20.2.329
Shaw, J. (2016). The Memory Illusion London, Great Britain: Random House Books