Annotations
childhood amnesia referring to the blurry memories we have of when we were between three and six years old. In contrast, infantile amnesia refers to our memories before the age of three, which are thought to be irretrievable.
The analysis showed that children aged five, six, and seven remembered roughly 60 percent of the earlier events, while those aged eight or nine only remember around 40 percent. This suggests that memory in these early years of childhood remains fragile.
Kids whose caregivers turned the conversation over to them, asking them to add details and help build the story’s “world,” would later remember more details.
It showed that these kids were able to make memories, even if they were too young to explain that they had remembered.
Power says that one theory suggests that because humans must switch from relying on their caregivers to being independent, infantile amnesia acts as a “reset” that prepares humans for adulthood.