Age of Earliest Possible Memory

[Rod]

My short term memory sucks. Long term is excellent. I can remember several events which occurred when I was 2. We moved to a new house when I was 3. I remember the day of the move. When I was two I remember getting my stomach pumped at the hospital because everyone thought I OD'd on some pills. Then another time I was running with a glass and sliced my arm wide open. Ahhh, the memories...

 

[Marco-Polo]

I got into a short debate yesterday about the age of earliest possible memory. One idea that seems to be generally accepted is that this age is between 3 and 4 years old. I believe this to be absurd. I know there is other evidence to indicate it could be as young as 18 months. I have several vivid

If I recall my undergrad psych properly there's no structural reason that the brain would not be able to form memories fairly early on. While the brain is still in development, it's up and running. At least until you turn 35, at which time all bets are off.

The real issues with early memories are storage and recall. As the theory goes, a lot of what imprints a memory is the emotional, rather than factual or temporal, experience. Your early emotions are very unlike your well-developed emotions, which makes the experience inaccessible. Also, a memory isn't like a video recording; it's a mesh of things you already know. Since you don't know a lot of things when you're young, the early memory is going to be very fragile. What you learn in the interim has a way both filling in the gaps and overwriting the material.

All this boils down to the story that memories from early on are hard to reach and easily disrupted - so that's why most people don't have any solid memories until they're between 3 and 5. Memory, as they say, is a bitch.

 

[cigarsarge]

I remember going to see my newborn brother when I was two.

 

[handyman dave]

I clearly remember my 2nd Birthday Party, some of the gifts, and the cake and candles. Since then ... pretty much a blur! :laugh:

 

[AVB]

This life or any of them?

 

[ggiese]

Hell I can remember back to the god damned Spanish-American war. This is no shit, there I was, on the deck of the Maine, condoms in hand, when...

Doc.

After all these years... So that was you stalking my girlfriend???

You FOCKER!!! :angry:

 

[BagfullofPings]

I also remember my 2 year old birthday party. I was in our POS El Centro apartment (would you like a floor plan from memory). There was my parents and and some friends. I remember the other women was a blond, but her husband/boyfriend looked like Sonny Bono ( I would have to ask my mom, but I think their names were Nate and Sharon). In order to relate him to Sonny Bono, that means I was remembering things prior to age 2. Around the same time, I remember the monsoons in El Centro. I also remember riding my tricycle around the apartment complex. I remember when we moved away from El Centro. The man from the Mayflower truck took my tricycle away from me and put it in the truck.

Screw these slack jaw f**k sticks that say "3 or 4 years". Most doctors/experts are wrong. During my life I have had doctors say I would:

be blind in my right eye
die within 24 hours
would never speak for the rest of my life

I'm still have perfect vision in both eyes, I am alive, and I can speak.

Maybe I'm just lucky.