Erin Bosman

Memories Developed from Infantile Amnesia

Infantile amnesia, also known as childhood amnesia, describes the inability of adults to recall

certain episodic memories before the age of two to four years old. A major reason of why these

memories are unable to be recalled is because at those ages the brain is still under development. Areas

such as the hippocampus that involve memory storage are part of what I still being developed.

Memories from these ages can sometimes though to be remembered due to having heard stories from

those involved, seeing photos, or watching home videos. Through various triggers such as these

individuals form a memory about that time or experience. For example, through our discussion board

you could see that lots of individuals had either posted memories at four years and and later or were

very unsure of those memories. Ariel Vang posted about a memory at an apartment complex where had

dad had pulled out a kite. Although she seems to remember this neither of her parents could verify the

memory as being accurate. She then questions if maybe it was from a dream or somewhere. Ariel’s

memory shows how a memory could be formulated by other triggers or thoughts but be made up or

altered

My own memory revolved around a family trip to Disney World. The earliest memory that I can

currently think of is sitting on a sandy area during a family trip in Florida. I was about 3 to 3 1/2. I

remember sitting on the sand playing with one of those little plastic beach shovels. I also believe that the

shovel was pink along with my swimsuit. If I remember correctly it was just my mom sitting with me

taking pictures with a camera while my dad was off with my sisters. I can also remember sitting in my

stroller on this same trips and being frightened by one of the "7 dwarfs." I believe it was dopey and that

he was peering into my stroller and trying to get me to want to come out for a picture but I just

continued to be upset. While some of my facts were accurate I know they show signs of the trigger

concept because my mom has kept so many family photos that I have gone through over the years. In

Erin Bosman

addition to that my mom and older sister were both able to add great detail and alter where my

assumptions were incorrect. For example, I was actually 4 years old at the time and while it was used as

a family trip, my family had gone because my mom had a work trip there at the time. The trip was also

not spent completely in Disney world and was to the general area of Orlando. We just happened to go

there for a day as well as to other locations such as animal kingdom. I feel like my memory shows signs

of infantile amnesia as I could not remember grand details but simply was pieced together through

stories I had heard and pictures I had previously seen.

In Contrast with me and Ariel’s memories Kayla Travis was five years old in hers and according to

her mother she did an excellent job of recalling the memory other than the time of year that it occurred.

Kayla’s memory was about the passing away of her dog. Although it is a very emotional memory which

may have helped her to hold on to it, the memory is also from the age of five and not in the two to four

year old time frame that is associated with childhood amnesia.

Overall, the memories that I read from age’s two to four seemed mostly pieced together

through family memories, photos, or even dreams. For the most part these memories seem to be

constructed with a potential of some small pieces of memory such as Ariel’s apartment complex. It

seemed that memory storage is more developed around age five because individuals with those stories

appeared to recall more accurate details, more information, or emotions linked with the memory.