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Abstract
This paper seeks to present the phenomenon that is ‘Childhood Amnesia’. It defines this
phenomenon and proposed theories to explain why this happens. It describes both a physical
these psychologists are Sigmund Freud, Jean Piaget and Erik Erikson.
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Childhood Amnesia
The Phenomenon Explained
Childhood amnesia is the frequent failure for adults to retain information from the earliest years
of their infancy, particularly from before the ages of 3 to 5. This is one of the more intriguing
aspects of memory as most humans suffer from it, though this stage in life is when a human will
Infantile amnesia does not refer to complete absence of memories, but the relative lack of
memories through infancy- a scarcity that cannot be only accounted for by a forgetting curve. It
Research has confirmed that children are proficient learners and are quick to obtain and preserve
The hippocampus is a key component of the brain of humans and other mammals. It belongs to
the limbic system and plays significant responsibilities in long term memory and
spatial navigation. Similar to the cerebral cortex, with which it is strongly related, it is a paired
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The Phenomenon Explained
structure, with mirror-image halves in the left and right sides of the brain. In humans and other
primates, the hippocampus is located inside the medial temporal lobe, beneath the cortical
surface.
With Alzheimer's disease, the hippocampus is one of the initial regions of the brain to experience
damage; memory problems and disorientation appear among the first symptoms. Damage to the
hippocampus can also result from oxygen starvation, encephalitis, or medial temporal lobe
epilepsy. People with extensive hippocampal damage may experience amnesia—the inability to
Also, until the human is the age of three or four, the hippocampus is not fully developed. Before
this age, the infant’s mind is not neurologically mature enough to create long-
lasting autobiographical memories. These sections of the brain are known to be related with the
creation of permanent memories of the sort notably missing from adult remembrance of early
childhood.
Diagram 1 below illustrates the area of the human brain known as the Hippocampus.
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The Phenomenon Explained
In the set of books now available as ‘The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works
of Sigmund Freud’, Freud hypothesized that infantile amnesia is the result of the psychological
attempt of the mind to suppress recollections of traumatic occurrences that take place at the same
time as the psychosexual developmental stages that every child experiences. This then, would
cause the suppression of the majority of the first years of life hence, the existence of childhood
amnesia.
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The Phenomenon Explained
The first stage of psychosexual development is the ‘Oral stage’, which lasts from birth to about
the 18th month. During this stage, the focus of gratification is on the mouth and pleasure is the
result of nursing, but also of exploration of the surroundings, as infants tend to put new objects in
their mouths.Thus the baby does not have a sense of self and all actions are based on the pleasure
principle.
After this, is the ‘Anal stage’. During this stage, Freud believed that the primary focus of the
libido was on controlling bladder and bowel movements. The major conflict at this stage is toilet
training- the child has to learn to control his bodily needs. Developing this control leads to a
According to Freud, success at this stage is dependent upon the way in which parents approach
toilet training. Parents who utilize praise and rewards for using the toilet at the appropriate time
encourage positive outcomes and help children feel capable and productive. Freud believed that
positive experiences during this stage served as the basis for people to become competent,
productive, and creative adults. However, not all parents provide the support and encouragement
that children need during this stage. Some parents instead penalize, mock, or embarrass the
offspring for accidents. According to Freud, unsuitable parental responses can result in negative
outcomes. If parents take an approach that is too lenient, Freud suggested that an anal-expulsive
personality could develop in which the individual has a messy, wasteful, or destructive
personality. If parents are too strict or begin toilet training too early, Freud believed that an anal-
retentive personality develops in which the individual is stringent, orderly, rigid, and obsessive.
This means that there are very intricate decisions to be made by the guardian of the child and if
mistakes are made at this time, as it would because no one is perfect, there would be some form
of ‘scar’ from this experience showing in their behaviour. This is the trauma that Freud speaks of
that causes the lack of ability to remember before this stage. The mind of the young child of all
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The Phenomenon Explained
humans, blocks out all emotional trauma inflicted memories. Freud’s explanation is not
completely credible as it isn’t confirmed, but there is some evidence supporting it. Most of the
Erik Erikson had worked with Freud in Austria. After the death of Freud, Erikson began to
disagree with many of his mentor’s key points. He agreed with Freud’s theory that every human
goes through stages of life that affect their development. However, he felt that Freud emphasized
too much on the sexual aspect of people’s lives and did focus enough on the social experiences.
And thus, he hypothesized that there are eight psychosocial developmental stages through one’s
lifespan. The second stage is when the child has the battle between Autonomy and Shame. This
takes place between one and a half years and three years of age. It is focused on developing a
greater sense of personal control. He agreed with Freud that toilet training was very important.
However, Erikson that learning to control one’s body functions leads to a feeling of control and a
sense of independence.
Where Erikson’s reasoning for the vitality of this stage differs from Freud’s, the result is the
same. If the child is not able to complete this stage with total confidence and self- independence,
which no one does, this is quite traumatic on the young mind and causes the memory before this
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Jean Piaget, a famous psychologist, proposed that there are four stages of cognitive development
that every human goes through. This is the ‘Language Explanation’ of childhood amnesia. The
second stage named ‘The Preoperational Period’ offers an explanation for childhood amnesia. By
observing sequences of play, Piaget was able to demonstrate that towards the end of the second
The major characteristic of the preoperational stage is rationally insufficient mental procedures.
During this stage, the child learns to use and to represent objects by images, words, and
drawings. Also, the child learns to use language to represent objects by images and words.
The child is able to form stable concepts as well as mental reasoning and magical beliefs. The
child however is still not able to perform operations; tasks that the child can do mentally rather
than physically. Two sub-stages can be formed from preoperational thought however only one
This is ‘The Symbolic Function Sub-stage’ which occurs between the ages of 2 and 4. The child
is able to formulate designs of objects that are not present. Because the child is now able to
associate objects symbolically, he will now only remember that and not what he knew of the
object before. This happens too, with experiences. The child will learn from the experience, but
will not remember the experience itself. For example, the child will learn to call a ball “a ball”,
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The Phenomenon Explained
‘Chunking’ according to Hofstadter, is “taking ‘small’ concepts and putting them together into
bigger and bigger ones, thus recursively building up a giant repertoire of concepts in the mind.”
Babies simply cannot piece together their thoughts as thoroughly as adults because they do not
yet possess the ability to ‘chunk’ as large amounts of information as adults do. Hofstadter
compares babies to beginners at a complex game such as chess in his essay titled ‘Analogy as the
Core of Cognition’. They require the experience that allows for perception of great amounts of
information. However, as they grow older the ability to perceive larger events grows.
Because of the child’s inability to chunk so largely, what they do ‘chunk’ becomes insignificant
compared to later discoveries made by the child. They learn from the ‘chunking’ but do not
Other Observations
Context explanation
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The Phenomenon Explained
The disparity in perspective that infants and adults experience of the world may be a cause of
childhood amnesia. For kids, their physical perception of objects and their understanding of
people and events are very different from the world of the adult. Furthermore, an infant’s basic
understanding of its surrounding is not innate at birth. This then leads to a difference in memory
retrieval cues used by the adult and those used by the child, who will encode memories without
many of these principles that are ingrained in the mind of the adult trying to recollect. This
different context could lead to the inability of the adult to remember his earliest years at all.
An additional proposed account for childhood amnesia is that we don't recognize our individual
early experiences when we get older. It has been conceived that children develop self-
consciousness by about two years of age. This may be demonstrated by a child's ability to
distinguish himself in a picture. According to this theory, memories are intrinsically linked with
one's sense of self, such that memories encoded before self-awareness develops are not
understandable to the individual even though some information is stored in the brain.
Conclusion
Each theorist makes very valid points on the matter. However, I would most agree with
Hofstadter. I believe that at that point in time, we are unconsciously learning behaviours through
experience. Since the child does not have the ability to ‘chunk’ so largely, what they do ‘chunk’
turn out to be irrelevant and therefore not retained, weighed against findings made by the infant
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The Phenomenon Explained
later in their life. They learn from the ‘chunking’ but do not bear in mind the chunks. This also
coincides with Piaget’s theory of the pre – operational stage of the child’s life.
Bibliography
Balter L., Catherine S., Tamis-LeMonda (2003), Child Psychology. Washington, D.C.: Cultural,
Social, and Maturational Influences on Childhood Amnesia
Erik Homburger Erikson (1977), Childhood and Society, Edition 2 - 397 pages.
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The Phenomenon Explained
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