Chapter seven of the Lillienfeld textbook focuses on memory. It looks at the three types: sensory, short term and long term and the sub categories of each. It also looks at the ways that these interact with each other often creating schemata. Further, it looks at failures of memory including amnesia, Alzheimer's disease, the failure of adults to recall memories from their first two to five years, and the ability to create false memories. I found the idea of early childhood memory failure very interesting because children, even that young, have the physical brain capacity necessary to create memories, but it just does not occur. Memories assumed to be from this stage in life are assumed to be either false memories or to come from a time later in life on face. This leads me to wonder if some people do have these memories and our social expectation that they will not leads to preemptive dismissal. The book raises the question of the moral implications of erasing memories as happens to the characters in the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. What do we make of the fact that each person loses those two to five years of memory?
Catchy title! I find early memory loss to be an interesting topic. I see that my 3-year-old is very capable of making memories and can remember things that we did a day, a week, or even a year ago, but I know that he will eventually lose those memories of events. However, not all memories are lost from young ages -- clearly learning takes place that involves memory use from those ages (e.g., learning the names of relatives, how to dress, how to write).