title: Fragment memories mark the end of childhood amnesia.
abstract: Adults described and dated two kinds of first remembrances: a personal event memory (the recollection of a personal episode that had occurred at some time in some place) and a memory fragment (an isolated memory moment having no event context and remembered, perhaps, as an image, a behavior, or an emotion). First fragment memories were judged to have originated substantially earlier in life than first event memories--approximately 3 1/3 years of age for first fragment memories versus roughly 4 years of age for first event memories. We conclude that the end of childhood amnesia is marked not by our earliest episodic memories, but by the earliest remembered fragments of childhood experiences.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Saint Mary's University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. dbruce@husky1.stmarys.ca
authors.forename: Darryl
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bruce
authors.forename: L Amber
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Wilcox-O'Hearn
authors.forename: John A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Robinson
authors.forename: Kimberly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Phillips-Grant
authors.forename: Lori
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Francis
authors.forename: Marilyn C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000647:Amnesia; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D008568:Memory; D011939:Mental Recall