Manipulating the reported age in earliest memories in a Dutch community sample.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Childhood amnesia in adults can be defined as the relative paucity of autobiographical memories from the first years of life. An earlier study by Wessel, Schweig and Huntjens demonstrated that 'how' we ask for an earliest memory may bias adults' estimations of when the earliest childhood memory actually happened. They suggested that snapshot memories (i.e., mental pictures) were less sensitive to an age manipulation than event memories (i.e. narratives). We aimed at replicating and extending these findings using a Dutch community sample stratified for age, gender and educational level.

Method

Participants (N = 619) were randomized into one of three experimental conditions. Prior to recalling their earliest memory, participants in the early and late conditions were

SUBMITTER: Klusmann B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6544230 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature