A developmental account of early childhood amnesia.
This study was an attempt to demonstrate the utility of a developmental approach to the study of early childhood amnesia. Working from a model of early childhood memory development proposed by Nelson and Ross (1980), I hypothesized that children would show early childhood amnesia and that this could be tested by comparing obtained estimates of memory strength to values predicted by a standard retention function. The data confirm this hypothesis for 6- and 10-year-old children, and suggest that the early childhood amnesia period extends from birth to a point between the third and fourth birthdays. The data also support a prediction, derived from the aforementioned model, that children would report a disproportionate number of general memories from the amnesia period. Thus, the developmental model provides a useful vehicle for examining early childhood amnesia and helps to frame further questions such as why some specific memories from this period are retained even though most are lost.
Fitzgerald
J M
JM
Department of Psychology, Wayne State University.
D000647:Amnesia / Q000523:psychology*; D001288:Attention; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D010553:Personality Development; D012153:Retention, Psychology