infantile amnesia / amnésie infantile
Synonyms: childhood amnesia, infantile forgetting
Synonymes : amnésie de l’enfance, oubli infantile
Group: Nonhuman animal, Human, Psychology, Thematic grouping Memory and Law
Groupe : Animal non humain, Homme, Psychologie, Regroupement thématique Mémoire et justice
Definition: Inability to retrieve autobiographical memories from the earliest years of life. Some researchers distinguish between absolute infantile amnesia, with almost no memory up to 2 years of age, and relative infantile amnesia (also called childhood amnesia) up to 6-7 years of age which is characterized by sparse and incomplete memories.
Définition : Incapacité à récupérer des souvenirs autobiographiques datant des toutes premières années de la vie. Certains chercheurs distinguent une amnésie infantile absolue, jusqu’à 2 ans, sans presque aucun souvenir, et une amnésie relative (dite aussi amnésie de l’enfance), jusque vers 6-7 ans, caractérisée par des souvenirs épars et incomplets.
Broader term: incidental forgetting
Terme générique : oubli incident
Related terms: eyewitness testimony, autobiographical memory, neurogenic hypthothesis
Termes associés : témoignage oculaire, mémoire autobiographique, hypothèse neurogénétique
Selected bibliography: Bauer, P. J. (2015). A complementary processes account of the development of childhood amnesia and a personal past. Psychological Review, 122(2), 204–231. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038939 [Study type: literature review / Access: closed], Hayne, H., & Jack, F. (2011). Childhood amnesia. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science, 2(2), 136–145. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcs.107 [Study type: literature review / Access: closed], Henri, V., & Henri, C. (1896). Enquête sur les premiers souvenirs de l’enfance. L’Année Psychologique, 3(1), 184–198. https://doi.org/10.3406/psy.1896.1831 [Study type: empirical study / Access: open], Jack, F., & Hayne, H. (2007). Eliciting adults’ earliest memories : Does it matter how we ask the question? Memory, 15(6), 647‑663. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658210701467087 [Study type: empirical study / Access: closed], Madsen, H. B., & Kim, J. H. (2016). Ontogeny of memory : An update on 40 years of work on infantile amnesia. Behavioural Brain Research, 298, 4–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2015.07.030 [Study type: literature review / Access: closed], Miles, C. (1895). A study of individual psychology. The American Journal of Psychology, 6(4), 534-558. https://doi.org/10.2307/1411191 [Study type: empirical study / Access: open], Perret, P. (2011). L’amnésie infantile : les perspectives tirées de la psychologie développementale. Devenir, 23(4), 379–395. https://doi.org/10.3917/dev.114.0379 [Study type: literature review / Access: open], Peterson, C. (2021). What is your earliest memory? It depends. Memory, 29(6), 811‑822. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2021.1918174 [Study type: empirical study / Access: open], Rubin, D. C. (2000). The distribution of early childhood memories. Memory, 8(4), 265‑269. https://doi.org/10.1080/096582100406810 [Study type: empirical study / Access: closed], Tustin, K., & Hayne, H. (2010). Defining the boundary : Age-related changes in childhood amnesia. Developmental Psychology, 46(5), 1049‑1061. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0020105 [Study type: empirical study / Access: closed]