By Jason Hreha

Glossary

Childhood Amnesia

Reviewed by Jason Hreha

Published 1 min read

What is Childhood Amnesia?

Childhood amnesia, also called infantile amnesia, is the scarcity of adults’ autobiographical memories from the earliest years of life. Many adults report few memories from their first three to four years, with more memories available from later childhood.

What Causes Childhood Amnesia?

It does not mean infants and young children cannot learn or remember. Bauer’s 2015 review proposes complementary changes: personal memories become more elaborated while their vulnerability to forgetting decreases.

Several developments can contribute to that change:

  • Language and personal narratives. Learning to describe who was there, what happened and when gives children ways to organize and talk about experiences. Social-developmental accounts also examine how conversations with adults help children build a connected account of their past.
  • A developing sense of self. Autobiographical remembering places an event in one’s own life: “That happened to me.” Researchers examine how understanding oneself across time contributes to this personal organization.
  • Memory systems. The brain systems that encode, retain and retrieve event details continue to develop. In Bauer’s account, less stable early memory traces are more vulnerable to loss, even when the child initially remembered the event.

Bauer’s review of remembering and forgetting examines these developmental explanations. They address different parts of the problem: making a richer account of an event and retaining it over time. No single abrupt event fully explains the pattern, and the age of an earliest reported memory is not a fixed biological cutoff.

Knowing About Childhood Versus Remembering It

Knowing a fact about early childhood differs from recalling the experience itself. You may know where you lived as a baby without remembering being there. A family story or photograph can supply knowledge without establishing an independently remembered event.

For memories associated with surprising or emotionally significant events, see flashbulb memory.