Why Can't We Remember Things That Happened When We Were Infants?

Question

Yeah Yeah, Wrong Place, I Didnt Know Where To Put It.

Answer 1

This condition is called "Infantile or Childhood Amnesia", which has been recognized for centuries, but the nature and cause of the phenomenon have been debated in psychology since the late 19th century. Sigmund Freud theorized that childhood amnesia occurs when a young mind blocks out unsuitable impressions or emotional trauma, which he considered a universal human experience. Few modern scientists who study human development consider that explanation plausible, and childhood amnesia remains somewhat of a paradox: infants' and young children's minds handle a lot of new impressions and are adept at learning, and yet it seems that long-term memories are only created after some fundamental developments of the brain are completed.

However, recently using methods that make it possible to probe infant memory, scientists have shown that even young infants can remember an event over the entire “infantile amnesia” period if they are periodically exposed to appropriate nonverbal reminders. This work has challenged the notion that long-term memory does not develop until adulthood.

Currently there are 4 possible contributing factors that all together or in some combinations seems to explain "Infantile Amnesia":

1. Language - Usually between the ages of two and three years, the brain of a child changes from tactile and olfactory processing of memories to verbal processing. Childhood amnesia is therefore theorised to be closely connected with the development of language and the creation of a self-image.

2. Emotions - Our most vivid memories are associated with intense emotions, and the emotional changes associated with that experience. Since very early childhood is usually marked by a relatively limited emotional movement, and that the emotions occur at a relatively slow rate of change, some believe that this lack of emotional range is responsible for a lack of most childhood memories, with trauma being responsible for other childhood amnesia events.

3. Trauma - Many have questioned the veracity of psychoanalytic theories surrounding childhood amnesia, including Freud's theory centering on repressed memories of sexual abuse or other trauma. Freud theorized that such trauma would delay the cut-off for recalling, or cause memory gaps. Even though Freud's theory has not been confirmed, it has been reported that children subject to trauma during early childhood report fewer memories from their earliest years.

4. Cognition - it has been surmised that infants before the ages of two or three do not form memories of the same type as we retrieve/reconstruct as older children and adults because most of their experiences cannot be comprehended and codified the way we "grasp" and make sense of our experiences. "...it has to do with the relentless, lifelong process of chunking-- taking 'small' concepts and putting them together into bigger and bigger ones, thus recursively building up a giant repertoire of concepts in the mind."

Answer 2

Some people cant even remember what they did last week! At that age the brain isnt properly developed to do alot of things. I think my earliest recollection is from 4 years old.

Answer 3

I don't know. I wish I knew why. my whole childhood is such a blurr. Sometimes when I'm doing something..out of the nowhere I get this feeling like I have done it before, or when I see a kid playing..its not dejavu-( I don't know if I spelled it correctly) Its kinda of like a memory trying to come back to me, and I try so hard to remember, and end up giving myself a headache.
perhaps we are not supposed to remember that much, there's so much the mind can store you know? kinda of like a computer. Once your hardrive is full, you have to erase files and replace them with new ones.

Answer 4

cause its in our short term memory and also few special events which really affect u still remain etched in the memory but it depends again on individuals there are people who remember to their very early age and some who dont remember portions of teen age

Answer 5

at that age our memory cells r not developed properly n not interlinked to each other. the more we use our brain more the cells become activated n more they join to each other n more memory develops.

that is why it is said that 0-4 yrs of age there is development of more than 60% of brain.

so more we will be exposed at that age to the world the more will be development of brain.

Answer 6

because we were young then and we don't know what is right or wrong so we are confused so we don't need to remember.

Answer 7

well i think that our brains arent fully developed yet soo we dont hav the ability to store things in our memory.......