Seeking fictional first memories
July 31, 2018
47 percent: That’s the proportion of people who have a first memory that’s actually fictional, according to a new study in Psychological Science by researchers in London. Our first memories usuall date from about age 3, research shows. But in a survey of 6,641 people, 38.6 percent said they had memories from when they were age 2 or younger, while 893 said their first memories dated from their first year of life. Researchers suspect that these cases of fictional memory may result from fragments of experience combined with seeing photographs or hearing stories of infancy and early childhood.
Read the whole story (subscription may be required): The Boston Globe
APS regularly opens certain online articles for discussion on our website. Effective February 2021, you must be a logged-in APS member to post comments. By posting a comment, you agree to our Community Guidelines and the display of your profile information, including your name and affiliation. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations present in article comments are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of APS or the article’s author. For more information, please see our Community Guidelines.
Please login with your APS account to comment.