• Question: Why aren't we able to remember things we did when we were really little?

    Asked by mariaa.s to Ceri, Marikka, Matt, Rob, Sally on 11 Nov 2014.
    • Photo: Ceri Dare

      Ceri Dare answered on 11 Nov 2014:

      Nobody really knows, but one popular explanation is that we didn’t have language then, so we couldn’t describe our experiences in words. Also our brains were still growing and changing a lot.

    • Photo: Sally Cutler

      Sally Cutler answered on 11 Nov 2014:

      Hi Mariaa – afraid I don’t really have an answer for this one, but imagine that our brain is still in its early developmental stages and not able to hold this extra information.

    • Photo: Robert Hampson

      Robert Hampson answered on 11 Nov 2014:

      Some people can, I remember a Professor who gave a talk about her child. Apparently, her daughter at about age 8 had been able to explain exactly what had happened during her birth (and no one had ever told her even the remotest detail about it let alone the very fine detail she could recall even down to the song that was playing at the time).

      Memory is not understood well. However, it appears memories that are not often actively remembered are eventually forgotten. This could be the case with your early years, especially as we don’t have a language framework to make sense of our experiences at a young age.

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