What Scientists Know About Infantile Amnesia

While most people cannot remember events before age 2 or 3, research suggested that infants could also form memories. The kind of memories that one could not talk about themselves.  

According to the research, infants could memorize their mothers’ faces within a few days of life. Within a few months, infants could remember different faces. They show this by smiling at the faces they see more often. 

There are distinct types of memories besides autobiographical memory. There are semantic memories (memories of facts) and procedural memories (memories of how to perform actions). 

 The research by psychologist Rovee-Collier’s lab in the 1980s and 1990s showed that infants could form these other kinds of memories right from the beginning, as published by the Washington Post. 

In the study, babies were divided into three different age categories. In the 2-to-6 months old, researchers put infants in a crib. First, they measured how much the babies kicked to get an idea of their natural ability to move their legs. Then they tied a string to the babies’ legs with a mobile hanging overhead so that when the babies kicked their legs, the mobile also moved. 

Infants liked seeing the mobile moving, and they quickly realized that they were moving the mobile by kicking. 

For the second group (6 to 18 months), the babies sat on their parent’s lap with their hands on a lever that would make a train move around the track. Again, the researchers first measured the natural ability of babies to press, and after that, babies pressed the lever to move the train around the track. 

The researchers tested the babies after two days if they remembered the games or not. The researchers found that older infants remembered games for longer periods, and if the infants spent more time playing, they remembered the games for longer periods. 

The first two groups were measured for semantic and procedural memories. Researchers said that autobiographical memories required more sense of self. 

Researchers tested autobiographical memory tests on babies under 18 months and above 18 months. The researchers marked a red dot on infants’ noses and stood them in front of the mirror to see their reactions. 

For the former, they just stood in front of the mirror and smiled at their reflection in the mirror. For the second group, researchers noticed that babies touched their noses, and they acted a little embarrassed about it. 

There is no exact explanation for infantile amnesia. But the researchers believe that one of the most probable reasons is that infants do not know the language and communication to explain what they are feeling. 

Scientists will continue to investigate the exact reasons for infantile amnesia.