Interesting look into why we can’t remember most things before about 4, but that the memories can in theory be triggered.
[off topic]
Two psychology students are discussing this article.
One says that he’s heard the theory that the better adjusted you are, the further back you can remember. A really well developed person can remember learning how to speak. Then he asks the other student what their earliest memory is?
“We went to the movies the day I graduated sixth grade.”
I have memories going back to 3, and no one would accuse me of being well adjusted. The first two-word phrase I put together, which my parents found cute but somewhat worrisome was “by myself.” It would turn out to be a strong throughline going forward.
In adulthood, this has become “Fuck it, I’ll do it myself.” Which has gotten me in a lot of trouble professionally … not the wording, as I’d of course not say that aloud, just acting without explicit permission.
One thing I notice about my childhood memories is that the context is very different. There are things that I obviously didn’t understand in the way I would as an adult, which I think is part of why we end up unpacking and recontextualizing childhood experiences as we grow older. But our earliest memories are obviously going to be formed with far less context and understanding of circumstances than even those formed just a few years later.
It makes me wonder if the issue isn’t the storing of memory, but the lack of meaningful context to fit them into the way we process things as adults. Like, say I had memories of someone speaking a language I didn’t speak at the time, but later learned. What are the chances I’m going to catch onto their individual words well enough to parse them years later once they have context to give them meaning? I’m guessing pretty low.
This makes way more sense than active suppression. If you don’t have an understanding of the context, then you can’t compress the memory. Every sound/sensation/image is unique and had to be remembered as a unique experience.