The research is fascinating. Memory begins at a very young age. It focuses on such things as how long babies retain memories, how much detail they remember and whether babies are able to draw on their remembrances as they get older. One study, in which pregnant women read children's stories aloud twice a day during their third trimester, suggests memory begins taking route before birth. When the babies were a few days old, they showed a preference for the stories their mothers had read over different stories, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Babies also can use their memories to anticipate the future.
Babies demonstrate their early memory skills many times each day. Babies start to develop a certain image of what to expect. A newborn will begin to recognize familiar faces as she sees them, but when the person leaves, she isn't able to remember that person's face. When the baby is nine or 10 months old, she'll see something that belongs to that favorite person and become excited. She'll be remembering that person in their absence.