Current Theories On Early Childhood Memories – A Systematic Review Of The Literature

Abstract

Early childhood memories (ECM) represent an insufficiently tackled study domain, although it has triggered interest of the scientific community ever since the beginning of individual psychology. The purpose of this paper was to perform a systematic review of the specialized literature between 2000 and 2016, starting from research questions which cumulate the general and particular characteristics of the early ECM, to state the identification of efficient methods of recalling mnesic content from early childhood and to explore the causality relation between early childhood and the cognitive- emotional-affective behaviour of the individual. Out of the total 617 studies, 605 studies that did not meet the eligibility criteria were excluded, thus keeping for analysis a number of 12 full-text articles, which met the selection criteria. The results of the systematic review indicate the following: autobiographical/ chronological memories are developed during childhood and teenage years partly under the influence of speech abilities, self-awareness, social and cultural interactions; first born babies have earlier memories than their following siblings; qualitative recall of ECM appears to be conditioned by perceptive sensorial properties, but also by the intensity of the feelings. Also, there is a tendency to recall negative/ painful ECM and the process of recalling early memories may be affected by intra-therapeutic procedure flaws. ECM can be validated either as authentic, primary content, but they can also be the product of external influences, namely stories of family members, photos, other sources (secondary memories).