What is remembered about early childhood events?
Abstract
Abstract
Almost 100 years ago, Freud identified infantile or childhood amnesia, the difficulty that most adults have remembering events from their first years of life. Recent research in cognitive psychology has in fact demonstrated a paucity of verbal memories of early life experiences. Although Freud believed that childhood memories are repressed, modern explanations for childhood amnesia focus instead on cognitive and social developmental advances of the early preschool years. According to the social interaction hypothesis, a narrative sense of self emerges as a result of parent-child conversations about the past. Implications of autobiographical memory research for models of adult attachment and psychotherapy are discussed.
Department
Psychology
Publication Date
12-1998
Journal Title
Clinical Psychology Review
Publisher
Elsevier
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
10.1016/S0272-7358(98)00042-7
Document Type
Article
Recommended Citation
David B. Pillemer. What is remembered about early childhood events?. Clinical Psychology Review. Volume 18, Issue 8. December 1998. Pages 895-913, ISSN 0272-7358, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0272-7358(98)00042-7.
Rights
Copyright © 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved