4 ms·

We moved out of our first house when I just turned 4. Many years later as a young adult when we were discussing research on early childhood memories with my par

We moved out of our first house when I just turned 4. Many years later as a young adult when we were discussing research on early childhood memories with my parents (specifically the theory that children form childhood memories seeded by parents retelling), I surprised my parents by drawing the layout of our home, my nanny’s house and the school. Like you, I have very clear visual memories and can remember scene very well (but people‘s face lack details which is logical considering that I’m incapable of recognizing people)

blowski 3y ago
I remember our dog lying down next to me when I was a baby. Problem is, we didn’t have a dog when I was a baby. Maybe I invented the memory, maybe it was a different dog. Without any way to verify people’s recollections, these are just cute anecdotes.
- nicolas_t 3y ago
  True and in this case it’s hard to do research. But in my specific case since I could actually draw the layout and my parents verified it, I know that the memories were accurate. There is no other way for me to have that information, there was very little photos back then (film was expensive), we moved far away from that village and never came back so I couldn’t have gained the information afterwards but I could draw a layout and write out the color of the walls for each room. That said how would you design a study to validate this? If parents or members of the family are the only ones with the information to verify this, it’s hard to eliminate the conflict of interest. Also in the age of digital cameras children nowadays are much more likely to have a big library of photos or videos of their early childhood and be able to reconstruct memories based on looking at them later.
  - blowski 3y ago
    Yes, I really don’t know how you’d run a study. Take thousands of children, give them some kind of experience without explaining why, and without anyone they know being there. Then ask them questions about it 20 years later. Have control groups where parents and photos give them information - some true, some false - at different intervals. Interesting thought experiment, though impractical and probably unethical. But without that kind of independent verification it’s impossible to say you can accurately recall childhood memories. While your story is harmless, it can get dangerous when people recall crimes that may not have happened in the way they think.

blowski 3y ago

I remember our dog lying down next to me when I was a baby. Problem is, we didn’t have a dog when I was a baby. Maybe I invented the memory, maybe it was a different dog. Without any way to verify people’s recollections, these are just cute anecdotes.

nicolas_t 3y ago
True and in this case it’s hard to do research. But in my specific case since I could actually draw the layout and my parents verified it, I know that the memories were accurate. There is no other way for me to have that information, there was very little photos back then (film was expensive), we moved far away from that village and never came back so I couldn’t have gained the information afterwards but I could draw a layout and write out the color of the walls for each room. That said how would you design a study to validate this? If parents or members of the family are the only ones with the information to verify this, it’s hard to eliminate the conflict of interest. Also in the age of digital cameras children nowadays are much more likely to have a big library of photos or videos of their early childhood and be able to reconstruct memories based on looking at them later.
- blowski 3y ago
  Yes, I really don’t know how you’d run a study. Take thousands of children, give them some kind of experience without explaining why, and without anyone they know being there. Then ask them questions about it 20 years later. Have control groups where parents and photos give them information - some true, some false - at different intervals. Interesting thought experiment, though impractical and probably unethical. But without that kind of independent verification it’s impossible to say you can accurately recall childhood memories. While your story is harmless, it can get dangerous when people recall crimes that may not have happened in the way they think.