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Mellissa Block （Host）： Memories are a big part of our identities. Recalling our experiences helps us know who we are. Yet there are some events we can’t recall even though they may have helped shape our lives. These are things that occurred in the first three or four years of life.
Jon Hamilton： Francis Csedrik just turned eight and lives in Washington D.C. Like most kids， he remembers lots of important events in his life so far. There was the time he got a 1）concussion.
Francis Csedrik： I fell， head first， on a marble floor.
Hamilton： The day he watched the family car get stolen.
Francis： And my dad had to chase it down the block.
Hamilton： Then there was the morning he encountered an unexpected visitor.
Francis： A black bat sleeping right above our door.
Joanne Csedrik： The bat， oh， you remember that.
Hamilton： That’s Francis’s mom， Joanne Csedrik. She’s been asking her son about things that happened to him when he was four， or almost four. Then she asks him about an earlier event that took place when he was just three， a family trip to the Philippines.
Joanne： It was to celebrate someone’s birthday.
Francis： Mm-mm.
Joanne： You don’t remember？ We took a long plane ride， two boat trips.
Francis： No， I don’t remember.
Hamilton： That’s not surprising. Patricia Bauer of Emory University says by the time most kids are seven or eight， they have started losing some of their early memories. And she says experiences will continue to disappear over the next few years.
Patricia Bauer： Most adults do not have memories of their lives for the first three to three and a half years.
Hamilton： Bauer says scientists once thought childhood amnesia occurred because the brains of young children simply couldn’t form lasting memories of events. Then in the 1980s， she and other researchers began testing the memories of children as young as nine months old， using gestures and objects instead of words.
Bauer： And what we found was that even as young as the second year of life， children had very 2）robust memories for these specific past events.
Hamilton： And that raised a question： If children can remember what happened in their early years...
Bauer： Why is it that as adults we have difficulty remembering that period of our lives？
Hamilton： Bauer says the evidence suggests that children are somehow losing access to their early memories. She wanted to know when this was happening. So she studied a group of children to see what happened to their memories over time. At age three， she says， the kids were recorded speaking with a parent about recent events. Bauer： They tended to be just everyday family activities， visiting an amusement park， a picnic， a visit from a relative.
Hamilton： Then as the kids got older， Bauer and her colleagues checked to see how much they remembered. She says children as old as seven could still recall most of the events.
Bauer： In contrast， the children who were eight and nine years of age， those children recalled fewer than 40% of the events. And so what we observed was actually the 3）onset of childhood 4）amnesia.
Hamilton： Francis Csedrik， who just turned eight， is right at the age when many childhood memories are fading.
Joanne： Do you remember celebrating your grandfather’s birthday in the Philippines？
Francis： Lolo Santo？
Joanne： No， not his birthday.
Hamilton： Joanne Csedrik says her son has clear memories of two more recent trips to the Philippines. But the one when he was three is gone. It’s not entirely clear why early memories are so 5）fragile. Bauer says it probably has to do with the structures and 6）circuits in the brain that store events for future recall.
Bauer： The brain systems that are responsible for forming memories at the age of three， three and a half， are still relatively immature. It doesn’t mean they’re not working at all， they certainly are. But they’re not working as efficiently and therefore not as effectively as they’re going to be working in later childhood and certainly in adulthood.
Hamilton： By the time children are seven or so， their brains are forming memories that are as robust as those formed by adults. Of course， some types of early memories are more likely than others to survive childhood amnesia. Carole Peterson， at Memorial University in Newfoundland， Canada， says one example is memories that carry a lot of emotion. She showed this in a study of children who’d been to a hospital emergency room when they were as young as two.
Carole Peterson： They had broken bones. They were 7）lacerated， had to be 8）stitched up. Things like that. So these were very emotional， very significant events. And what we have found is that even 10 years later， children have enormously good memory of them.
Hamilton： Francis Csedrik certainly remembers the events that led to his emergency room visit.
Francis： My friend Asher， he said： I want to carry you down the stairs. I didn’t want him to but he didn’t listen. He did it. And I fell， head first， on a marble floor. Joanne： And what did they tell you at the hospital？ What did they call it？
Francis： A concussion.
Hamilton： That memory is from when Francis was four. But Peterson says a child in one of her studies remembered an event from when he was just 18 months old. It was the day his mother went to the hospital to give birth to a sibling.
Peterson： He remembers crying on the floor of the kitchen and he remembers how upset he was. And he can remember the pattern of his 9）teardrops on the 10）linoleum.
Hamilton： Findings like that are persuading 11）courts to allow more 12）eyewitness 13）testimony from children. Peterson says even very young children can be good witnesses if they are questioned in a 14）neutral way. She says another powerful 15）determinant of whether an early memory sticks is whether a child fashions it into a good story， with a time and place and a 16）coherent 17）sequence of events.
Peterson： Those are the kinds of memories that are going to last. Whereas memories like there was a flower growing up through a crack in the sidewalk， those are the ones that are more likely to be forgotten.
Hamilton： Because they aren’t part of a 18）narrative and have no context. And Peterson says that’s where parents can play a big role in what a child remembers. She says with some help， kids learn how to give shape and structure to their memories of an event.
Peterson： Follow the child’s lead. You add some more information and then encourage them to add more. So 19）essentially what you’re trying to do is co-construct a story. Hamilton： A story that won’t fade away. That’s something Joanne Csedrik and her son Francis have been doing ever since his concussion. He’s even written about the events of that day.
Francis： I just like writing that story because I just don’t want to forget it.
Joanne： Yeah， because it reminds you to be careful， right？
You don’t want to have that happen again.
Francis： Mm-mm. I think that’s a day I’ll always remember.
Hamilton： It’s not hard to see an 20）evolutionary reason for this. Kids who recall stories about danger or injuries are probably more likely to survive to become adults. Peterson says remembered stories become important for a different reason in adolescence. She says that’s when young people begin to create a larger 21）autobiography from their early narratives.
Peterson： When you start knitting them all together into a life story， you kind of put together a whole bunch of stories in order to explain why you are the kind of person you are. Hamilton： Researchers say a person’s life story usually includes at least some events that had been lost to childhood amnesia. That’s because when our own memories fail， we rely on family members， photo albums， and videos to fill in the blanks.
梅丽莎·布洛克（主持人）：回忆是我们身份的一个重要组成部分。回想我们过去的经历能够帮助我们了解自己。然而，虽然有一些经历能够帮助我们塑造人生，可是我们却无法想起来。这些事都发生在我们人生的头三、四年里。
乔恩·汉密尔顿：弗朗西斯·色克德里克今年八岁了，住在华盛顿。跟大部分的孩子一样，目前为止他能记得人生中许多重要的事件。他记得有一次得了脑震荡。
弗朗西斯·色克德里克：我摔倒了，头先着地，撞在了大理石地板上。
汉密尔顿：那天他记得家里的车被偷了。
弗朗西斯：然后我的爸爸得追着它满大街地跑。
汉密尔顿：然后就是一天早上他遇到了一个不速之客。
弗朗西斯：一只黑色的蝙蝠睡在了我们的门上。
乔安妮·色克德里克：那只蝙蝠，噢，你还记得。
汉密尔顿：这是弗朗西斯的妈妈，乔安妮·色克德里克。在他四岁或者快到四岁的时候，妈妈就一直问他身边发生的事情。然后，乔安妮问了他一件早在三岁时发生的事情，那是一次去菲律宾的家庭旅行。
乔安妮：是去庆祝某人的生日。
弗朗西斯：嗯嗯。
乔安妮：你不记得了？我们坐了很长时间的飞机，两次轮船。
弗朗西斯：不，我不记得了。
汉密尔顿：这并不奇怪。艾莫利大学的帕特里夏·鲍尔说，大部分孩子在七、八岁的时候，就会丢失一部分早期的记忆。她还说过去的经历会在接下来的几年中继续消失。
帕特里夏·鲍尔：大多数的成人都丢失了自己三到三岁半的记忆。
汉密尔顿：鲍尔说科学家们曾经认为童年经验失忆症的发生是因为年幼孩子们的大脑不能形成长时间的记忆。在20世纪80年代，她和其他的研究人员开始测试九个月大孩子的记忆力，使用的方法是通过手势和物体，而不是语言。
鲍尔：我们发现，即使只有两岁，孩子们对这些过去发生的特定事件都有很好的记忆。
汉密尔顿：这就引发一个问题：如果孩子们能记得小时候发生的事……
鲍尔：那么为什么我们成人记忆生活的点滴就那么困难？
汉密尔顿：鲍尔说证据表明不知道什么原因，孩子们会丢失早期的记忆，她希望知道这具体发生在什么阶段。所以她研究了一组孩子，看看随着时间的流逝，他们的记忆发生了怎么样的变化。在三岁的时候，孩子们与父母谈论最近发生的事情会被记录下来。
鲍尔：它们会是家庭日常的活动，像是逛游乐园、野餐、亲戚到访。
汉密尔顿：然后随着孩子们慢慢长大，鲍尔和同事们就会检查他们能记得多少（以前的事）。她说七岁的孩子能够回忆起大部分的事件。
鲍尔：相反地，八、九岁的孩子只能回忆起不到40%的事件。因此我们观察到的就是童年经验失忆症的开始。
汉密尔顿：弗朗西斯·色克德里克今年刚满8岁，正好是在很多童年回忆逐渐消退的年龄。
乔安妮：你还记得在菲律宾帮你爷爷庆祝生日吗？
弗朗西斯：在罗罗语圣吗？
乔安妮：不，那次不是爷爷的生日。
汉密尔顿：乔安妮说她的儿子对最近两次去菲律宾旅行的印象深刻。但是在他三岁时的那次旅行（的记忆）却不见了。为什么早期记忆那么脆弱的原因还不清楚。鲍尔说这可能与大脑中为将来提取记忆储存事件的结构和回路有关。鲍尔：负责形成记忆的大脑系统在三到三岁半时还相对不成熟。但这并不代表它们不工作了，它们当然还在工作。但是它们还没有那么高效地运作，不像在后期的童年和成人阶段那么高效。
汉密尔顿：在孩子七岁左右时，他们的大脑就能形成和成人一样清晰的记忆。当然，一些早期的记忆可能比其他的记忆更能不受童年经验失忆症的影响。加拿大纽芬兰纪念大学的卡罗尔·彼得森说其中一个例子就是能够承载很多情感的记忆。她在一份研究去过医院急诊室的两岁儿童报告中表明了这点。
卡罗尔·彼得森：他们的骨头断了，受伤了，需要缝针。像是这样的事情。这些都是情绪有很大波动、非常重大的事件。我们发现的是，尽管过去了10年，孩子们对这些事的记忆还很深刻。
汉密尔顿：弗朗西斯·色克德里克肯定记得让他去急诊室那件事。
弗朗西斯：我的朋友亚瑟，他说：“我想把你背下楼。”我不想他这样，但是他不听。他真的背我下去了，我摔倒了，头朝下，撞到了大理石地板上。
乔安妮：他们在医院告诉你什么了？他们管那叫什么？
弗朗西斯：脑震荡。
汉密尔顿：这是弗朗西斯四岁时的记忆。但是彼得森说在她其中一个研究中，一个仅十八个月大的孩子能够记住一件事——那天他妈妈去医院给他生了一个弟弟或妹妹。
彼得森：他记得在厨房的地板上哭，记得自己当时有多沮丧。他还记得眼泪落在油布上的痕迹。
汉密尔顿：像这样的发现促使法院准许更多儿童证人来提供证词。彼得森说，如果用中立的方式进行提问，即使是很小的孩子也能成为一个好的证人。另一个证明（儿童）早期记忆存在的有利决定因素是看孩子能否将其组织成一个完整的故事，有时间、地点和一系列连贯的事件。 彼得森：这些记忆能够持续保留下来。但是像一朵花从路边的狭缝中长出来这样的记忆，就很有可能被忘记。
汉密尔顿：因为这些不是叙述性（事件）的一部分，没有任何的情境。彼得森说这就是家长在孩子们的记忆中占有重要角色的地方。她说，在一定的帮助下，孩子们能够学会如何为一件事的记忆形成框架组织。
彼得森：让孩子们做主导。你增加更多的信息，然后鼓励他们也增加一些。那么，实际上你做的就是（和孩子们一起）完成一个故事的构建。
汉密尔顿：这样的故事不会逐渐消失。这是乔安妮·色克德里克和她的儿子弗朗西斯自他得了脑震荡后一直在做的事。他甚至把那天发生的事写了下来。弗朗西斯：我想把那个故事写下来，因为我不想忘记它。
乔安妮：嗯，因为那件事会提醒你以后小心点，对吗？你不想再发生那样的事。
弗朗西斯：嗯嗯，我想我会永远记住那天。
汉密尔顿：不难发现，这是进化的需要。能够记起危险和受伤经历的孩子更有可能顺利长大。彼得森说，在青春期，因为不同的原因，记住这些经历显得很重要。她说这就是年轻人开始用早期的叙述性事件来创造一个更大的自传体的时期。
彼得森：当你开始把他们全部编织成一个人生故事，也就是把一大堆的故事放在一起，来解释你为什么成为现在的自己。
汉密尔顿：彼得森说一个人的人生故事通常包括因为儿童经验失忆症而丢失的一些事件。那是因为当我们的记忆缺失时，我们就会依赖家庭成员、相册、视频去填补这些空白。
Comments：
Gunther： At 90， I live with my memories which do extend to my earliest years. I can recall the people， the dog， layout and furniture in the apartment where I lived until age 4， even without any photos. That and my hobby of genealogy cause me to write my memoirs and document my four grandparents and family genealogy.
Maria： I was 2 when Turkey invaded Cyprus （1974） and I remember the war quite clearly， as well as episodes after the war itself ended. The same goes for other people my age. So I think it’s true that memories carrying strong emotions survive.
Kelly： For pretty much my whole life， I had a recurring nightmare of a face appearing in my window. Sometimes I had to protect my younger brother from it. In my 30’s， I told my mother about this dream （I was pregnant， and it was happening a lot）. My mother explained that it wasn’t a dream： when I was a newborn， her doctor had said that she should let me “cry it out” at night. She didn’t like that， and would run around the outside of the house to look in on me. Clearly， this very early memory worked its way into my subconscious. I have not had that nightmare once since then.
Charlie： I remember when I was four， my mother made hotdogs by boiling them in a pan. I wanted another and she was busy， so I went over to the stove and reached up to grab the handle， but only managed to pull it over onto me and got second degree burns over my face and chest. I can still remember seeing the water pouring through the air at me and then I remember nothing. I’ve been told the brain removes some memories of trauma to protect itself and I can believe it.
小链接童年经验失忆症
从年龄与学习效率和记忆保存两者关系看，多年来心理学家们即注意到了一个奇怪或矛盾的现象。三岁以前的幼儿，对事物最感好奇，事事好问，求知，是一生中学习效率最高与学习事物最多的一段时期。然而，到了成年之后，很少有人能清楚记得三岁以前的事。因此，在心理学上，就出现了所谓“幼年经验失忆症”这个名词。幼年经验失忆症，也称童年经验失忆症。幼年经验失忆，是不是事实？如果是事实，应如何解释？即使幼年经验失忆是事实，应否视之失忆症？
最早使用幼年经验失忆症这个名词者，是精神分析论创始人弗洛伊德。弗洛伊德发现，当病人回忆生活经验时，都无法说出三岁（甚至五岁）以前的旧事。按弗洛伊德的解释，这段时间正是恋亲情结形成的阶段，儿童因心理冲突而生的压抑，结果导致了对记忆的压抑。此一解释相当勉强，恋亲情结所引起的压抑，只限于“性冲动”一方面，有关性冲动之外经验的失忆，又如何解释？除了精神分析论的解释之外，一般常识的看法是，时间太久冲淡了记忆。此种说法也不合理，原因是，18岁的人不能记得3岁以前的事，如果说是因为隔了15年，何以在过30年之后，48岁时反而能清楚记得18岁的事？
新近的研究，确定了人类3岁以前的经验成年后不能记忆的事实。即使有些人声称他能记忆，那也是3岁以后别人告诉他的。该研究以大学生中有弟妹者为对象，以一份包括20个题目的问卷为工具，问卷内的题目全是关于他们弟弟或妹妹出生前后的事。诸如：你弟弟（妹妹）出生前，你母亲何时去的医院？你是否到医院看过你的母亲？你亲生弟弟（妹妹）是何时到家的？经调查他们的弟妹出生时间，是在这群大学生们的1～17岁之间。结果发现：大学生中，其弟妹出生时间在他们3岁以下者，20题中没有一题是答对的。这表示，人在3岁以前留不下长期记忆。过了3岁，分数就直线上升，在9岁左右弟妹出生者，平均答对15个题目。按现代认知心理学中信息处理理论的解释，人在3岁以前并非没有长期记忆。只是因为幼儿在当时对信息处理时，尚不能使用语音作为心理表征的工具，即未将语音的声码、形码、意码输入到长期记忆之内，长期记忆中自然就贮存不下语音信息，因而不能用语音去检索记忆以回答问题。此种解释已为一般人所接受。
Jon Hamilton： Francis Csedrik just turned eight and lives in Washington D.C. Like most kids， he remembers lots of important events in his life so far. There was the time he got a 1）concussion.
Francis Csedrik： I fell， head first， on a marble floor.
Hamilton： The day he watched the family car get stolen.
Francis： And my dad had to chase it down the block.
Hamilton： Then there was the morning he encountered an unexpected visitor.
Francis： A black bat sleeping right above our door.
Joanne Csedrik： The bat， oh， you remember that.
Hamilton： That’s Francis’s mom， Joanne Csedrik. She’s been asking her son about things that happened to him when he was four， or almost four. Then she asks him about an earlier event that took place when he was just three， a family trip to the Philippines.
Joanne： It was to celebrate someone’s birthday.
Francis： Mm-mm.
Joanne： You don’t remember？ We took a long plane ride， two boat trips.
Francis： No， I don’t remember.
Hamilton： That’s not surprising. Patricia Bauer of Emory University says by the time most kids are seven or eight， they have started losing some of their early memories. And she says experiences will continue to disappear over the next few years.
Patricia Bauer： Most adults do not have memories of their lives for the first three to three and a half years.
Hamilton： Bauer says scientists once thought childhood amnesia occurred because the brains of young children simply couldn’t form lasting memories of events. Then in the 1980s， she and other researchers began testing the memories of children as young as nine months old， using gestures and objects instead of words.
Bauer： And what we found was that even as young as the second year of life， children had very 2）robust memories for these specific past events.
Hamilton： And that raised a question： If children can remember what happened in their early years...
Bauer： Why is it that as adults we have difficulty remembering that period of our lives？
Hamilton： Bauer says the evidence suggests that children are somehow losing access to their early memories. She wanted to know when this was happening. So she studied a group of children to see what happened to their memories over time. At age three， she says， the kids were recorded speaking with a parent about recent events. Bauer： They tended to be just everyday family activities， visiting an amusement park， a picnic， a visit from a relative.
Hamilton： Then as the kids got older， Bauer and her colleagues checked to see how much they remembered. She says children as old as seven could still recall most of the events.
Bauer： In contrast， the children who were eight and nine years of age， those children recalled fewer than 40% of the events. And so what we observed was actually the 3）onset of childhood 4）amnesia.
Hamilton： Francis Csedrik， who just turned eight， is right at the age when many childhood memories are fading.
Joanne： Do you remember celebrating your grandfather’s birthday in the Philippines？
Francis： Lolo Santo？
Joanne： No， not his birthday.
Hamilton： Joanne Csedrik says her son has clear memories of two more recent trips to the Philippines. But the one when he was three is gone. It’s not entirely clear why early memories are so 5）fragile. Bauer says it probably has to do with the structures and 6）circuits in the brain that store events for future recall.
Bauer： The brain systems that are responsible for forming memories at the age of three， three and a half， are still relatively immature. It doesn’t mean they’re not working at all， they certainly are. But they’re not working as efficiently and therefore not as effectively as they’re going to be working in later childhood and certainly in adulthood.
Hamilton： By the time children are seven or so， their brains are forming memories that are as robust as those formed by adults. Of course， some types of early memories are more likely than others to survive childhood amnesia. Carole Peterson， at Memorial University in Newfoundland， Canada， says one example is memories that carry a lot of emotion. She showed this in a study of children who’d been to a hospital emergency room when they were as young as two.
Carole Peterson： They had broken bones. They were 7）lacerated， had to be 8）stitched up. Things like that. So these were very emotional， very significant events. And what we have found is that even 10 years later， children have enormously good memory of them.
Hamilton： Francis Csedrik certainly remembers the events that led to his emergency room visit.
Francis： My friend Asher， he said： I want to carry you down the stairs. I didn’t want him to but he didn’t listen. He did it. And I fell， head first， on a marble floor. Joanne： And what did they tell you at the hospital？ What did they call it？
Francis： A concussion.
Hamilton： That memory is from when Francis was four. But Peterson says a child in one of her studies remembered an event from when he was just 18 months old. It was the day his mother went to the hospital to give birth to a sibling.
Peterson： He remembers crying on the floor of the kitchen and he remembers how upset he was. And he can remember the pattern of his 9）teardrops on the 10）linoleum.
Hamilton： Findings like that are persuading 11）courts to allow more 12）eyewitness 13）testimony from children. Peterson says even very young children can be good witnesses if they are questioned in a 14）neutral way. She says another powerful 15）determinant of whether an early memory sticks is whether a child fashions it into a good story， with a time and place and a 16）coherent 17）sequence of events.
Peterson： Those are the kinds of memories that are going to last. Whereas memories like there was a flower growing up through a crack in the sidewalk， those are the ones that are more likely to be forgotten.
Hamilton： Because they aren’t part of a 18）narrative and have no context. And Peterson says that’s where parents can play a big role in what a child remembers. She says with some help， kids learn how to give shape and structure to their memories of an event.
Peterson： Follow the child’s lead. You add some more information and then encourage them to add more. So 19）essentially what you’re trying to do is co-construct a story. Hamilton： A story that won’t fade away. That’s something Joanne Csedrik and her son Francis have been doing ever since his concussion. He’s even written about the events of that day.
Francis： I just like writing that story because I just don’t want to forget it.
Joanne： Yeah， because it reminds you to be careful， right？
You don’t want to have that happen again.
Francis： Mm-mm. I think that’s a day I’ll always remember.
Hamilton： It’s not hard to see an 20）evolutionary reason for this. Kids who recall stories about danger or injuries are probably more likely to survive to become adults. Peterson says remembered stories become important for a different reason in adolescence. She says that’s when young people begin to create a larger 21）autobiography from their early narratives.
Peterson： When you start knitting them all together into a life story， you kind of put together a whole bunch of stories in order to explain why you are the kind of person you are. Hamilton： Researchers say a person’s life story usually includes at least some events that had been lost to childhood amnesia. That’s because when our own memories fail， we rely on family members， photo albums， and videos to fill in the blanks.
梅丽莎·布洛克（主持人）：回忆是我们身份的一个重要组成部分。回想我们过去的经历能够帮助我们了解自己。然而，虽然有一些经历能够帮助我们塑造人生，可是我们却无法想起来。这些事都发生在我们人生的头三、四年里。
乔恩·汉密尔顿：弗朗西斯·色克德里克今年八岁了，住在华盛顿。跟大部分的孩子一样，目前为止他能记得人生中许多重要的事件。他记得有一次得了脑震荡。
弗朗西斯·色克德里克：我摔倒了，头先着地，撞在了大理石地板上。
汉密尔顿：那天他记得家里的车被偷了。
弗朗西斯：然后我的爸爸得追着它满大街地跑。
汉密尔顿：然后就是一天早上他遇到了一个不速之客。
弗朗西斯：一只黑色的蝙蝠睡在了我们的门上。
乔安妮·色克德里克：那只蝙蝠，噢，你还记得。
汉密尔顿：这是弗朗西斯的妈妈，乔安妮·色克德里克。在他四岁或者快到四岁的时候，妈妈就一直问他身边发生的事情。然后，乔安妮问了他一件早在三岁时发生的事情，那是一次去菲律宾的家庭旅行。
乔安妮：是去庆祝某人的生日。
弗朗西斯：嗯嗯。
乔安妮：你不记得了？我们坐了很长时间的飞机，两次轮船。
弗朗西斯：不，我不记得了。
汉密尔顿：这并不奇怪。艾莫利大学的帕特里夏·鲍尔说，大部分孩子在七、八岁的时候，就会丢失一部分早期的记忆。她还说过去的经历会在接下来的几年中继续消失。
帕特里夏·鲍尔：大多数的成人都丢失了自己三到三岁半的记忆。
汉密尔顿：鲍尔说科学家们曾经认为童年经验失忆症的发生是因为年幼孩子们的大脑不能形成长时间的记忆。在20世纪80年代，她和其他的研究人员开始测试九个月大孩子的记忆力，使用的方法是通过手势和物体，而不是语言。
鲍尔：我们发现，即使只有两岁，孩子们对这些过去发生的特定事件都有很好的记忆。
汉密尔顿：这就引发一个问题：如果孩子们能记得小时候发生的事……
鲍尔：那么为什么我们成人记忆生活的点滴就那么困难？
汉密尔顿：鲍尔说证据表明不知道什么原因，孩子们会丢失早期的记忆，她希望知道这具体发生在什么阶段。所以她研究了一组孩子，看看随着时间的流逝，他们的记忆发生了怎么样的变化。在三岁的时候，孩子们与父母谈论最近发生的事情会被记录下来。
鲍尔：它们会是家庭日常的活动，像是逛游乐园、野餐、亲戚到访。
汉密尔顿：然后随着孩子们慢慢长大，鲍尔和同事们就会检查他们能记得多少（以前的事）。她说七岁的孩子能够回忆起大部分的事件。
鲍尔：相反地，八、九岁的孩子只能回忆起不到40%的事件。因此我们观察到的就是童年经验失忆症的开始。
汉密尔顿：弗朗西斯·色克德里克今年刚满8岁，正好是在很多童年回忆逐渐消退的年龄。
乔安妮：你还记得在菲律宾帮你爷爷庆祝生日吗？
弗朗西斯：在罗罗语圣吗？
乔安妮：不，那次不是爷爷的生日。
汉密尔顿：乔安妮说她的儿子对最近两次去菲律宾旅行的印象深刻。但是在他三岁时的那次旅行（的记忆）却不见了。为什么早期记忆那么脆弱的原因还不清楚。鲍尔说这可能与大脑中为将来提取记忆储存事件的结构和回路有关。鲍尔：负责形成记忆的大脑系统在三到三岁半时还相对不成熟。但这并不代表它们不工作了，它们当然还在工作。但是它们还没有那么高效地运作，不像在后期的童年和成人阶段那么高效。
汉密尔顿：在孩子七岁左右时，他们的大脑就能形成和成人一样清晰的记忆。当然，一些早期的记忆可能比其他的记忆更能不受童年经验失忆症的影响。加拿大纽芬兰纪念大学的卡罗尔·彼得森说其中一个例子就是能够承载很多情感的记忆。她在一份研究去过医院急诊室的两岁儿童报告中表明了这点。
卡罗尔·彼得森：他们的骨头断了，受伤了，需要缝针。像是这样的事情。这些都是情绪有很大波动、非常重大的事件。我们发现的是，尽管过去了10年，孩子们对这些事的记忆还很深刻。
汉密尔顿：弗朗西斯·色克德里克肯定记得让他去急诊室那件事。
弗朗西斯：我的朋友亚瑟，他说：“我想把你背下楼。”我不想他这样，但是他不听。他真的背我下去了，我摔倒了，头朝下，撞到了大理石地板上。
乔安妮：他们在医院告诉你什么了？他们管那叫什么？
弗朗西斯：脑震荡。
汉密尔顿：这是弗朗西斯四岁时的记忆。但是彼得森说在她其中一个研究中，一个仅十八个月大的孩子能够记住一件事——那天他妈妈去医院给他生了一个弟弟或妹妹。
彼得森：他记得在厨房的地板上哭，记得自己当时有多沮丧。他还记得眼泪落在油布上的痕迹。
汉密尔顿：像这样的发现促使法院准许更多儿童证人来提供证词。彼得森说，如果用中立的方式进行提问，即使是很小的孩子也能成为一个好的证人。另一个证明（儿童）早期记忆存在的有利决定因素是看孩子能否将其组织成一个完整的故事，有时间、地点和一系列连贯的事件。 彼得森：这些记忆能够持续保留下来。但是像一朵花从路边的狭缝中长出来这样的记忆，就很有可能被忘记。
汉密尔顿：因为这些不是叙述性（事件）的一部分，没有任何的情境。彼得森说这就是家长在孩子们的记忆中占有重要角色的地方。她说，在一定的帮助下，孩子们能够学会如何为一件事的记忆形成框架组织。
彼得森：让孩子们做主导。你增加更多的信息，然后鼓励他们也增加一些。那么，实际上你做的就是（和孩子们一起）完成一个故事的构建。
汉密尔顿：这样的故事不会逐渐消失。这是乔安妮·色克德里克和她的儿子弗朗西斯自他得了脑震荡后一直在做的事。他甚至把那天发生的事写了下来。弗朗西斯：我想把那个故事写下来，因为我不想忘记它。
乔安妮：嗯，因为那件事会提醒你以后小心点，对吗？你不想再发生那样的事。
弗朗西斯：嗯嗯，我想我会永远记住那天。
汉密尔顿：不难发现，这是进化的需要。能够记起危险和受伤经历的孩子更有可能顺利长大。彼得森说，在青春期，因为不同的原因，记住这些经历显得很重要。她说这就是年轻人开始用早期的叙述性事件来创造一个更大的自传体的时期。
彼得森：当你开始把他们全部编织成一个人生故事，也就是把一大堆的故事放在一起，来解释你为什么成为现在的自己。
汉密尔顿：彼得森说一个人的人生故事通常包括因为儿童经验失忆症而丢失的一些事件。那是因为当我们的记忆缺失时，我们就会依赖家庭成员、相册、视频去填补这些空白。
Comments：
Gunther： At 90， I live with my memories which do extend to my earliest years. I can recall the people， the dog， layout and furniture in the apartment where I lived until age 4， even without any photos. That and my hobby of genealogy cause me to write my memoirs and document my four grandparents and family genealogy.
Maria： I was 2 when Turkey invaded Cyprus （1974） and I remember the war quite clearly， as well as episodes after the war itself ended. The same goes for other people my age. So I think it’s true that memories carrying strong emotions survive.
Kelly： For pretty much my whole life， I had a recurring nightmare of a face appearing in my window. Sometimes I had to protect my younger brother from it. In my 30’s， I told my mother about this dream （I was pregnant， and it was happening a lot）. My mother explained that it wasn’t a dream： when I was a newborn， her doctor had said that she should let me “cry it out” at night. She didn’t like that， and would run around the outside of the house to look in on me. Clearly， this very early memory worked its way into my subconscious. I have not had that nightmare once since then.
Charlie： I remember when I was four， my mother made hotdogs by boiling them in a pan. I wanted another and she was busy， so I went over to the stove and reached up to grab the handle， but only managed to pull it over onto me and got second degree burns over my face and chest. I can still remember seeing the water pouring through the air at me and then I remember nothing. I’ve been told the brain removes some memories of trauma to protect itself and I can believe it.
小链接童年经验失忆症
从年龄与学习效率和记忆保存两者关系看，多年来心理学家们即注意到了一个奇怪或矛盾的现象。三岁以前的幼儿，对事物最感好奇，事事好问，求知，是一生中学习效率最高与学习事物最多的一段时期。然而，到了成年之后，很少有人能清楚记得三岁以前的事。因此，在心理学上，就出现了所谓“幼年经验失忆症”这个名词。幼年经验失忆症，也称童年经验失忆症。幼年经验失忆，是不是事实？如果是事实，应如何解释？即使幼年经验失忆是事实，应否视之失忆症？
最早使用幼年经验失忆症这个名词者，是精神分析论创始人弗洛伊德。弗洛伊德发现，当病人回忆生活经验时，都无法说出三岁（甚至五岁）以前的旧事。按弗洛伊德的解释，这段时间正是恋亲情结形成的阶段，儿童因心理冲突而生的压抑，结果导致了对记忆的压抑。此一解释相当勉强，恋亲情结所引起的压抑，只限于“性冲动”一方面，有关性冲动之外经验的失忆，又如何解释？除了精神分析论的解释之外，一般常识的看法是，时间太久冲淡了记忆。此种说法也不合理，原因是，18岁的人不能记得3岁以前的事，如果说是因为隔了15年，何以在过30年之后，48岁时反而能清楚记得18岁的事？
新近的研究，确定了人类3岁以前的经验成年后不能记忆的事实。即使有些人声称他能记忆，那也是3岁以后别人告诉他的。该研究以大学生中有弟妹者为对象，以一份包括20个题目的问卷为工具，问卷内的题目全是关于他们弟弟或妹妹出生前后的事。诸如：你弟弟（妹妹）出生前，你母亲何时去的医院？你是否到医院看过你的母亲？你亲生弟弟（妹妹）是何时到家的？经调查他们的弟妹出生时间，是在这群大学生们的1～17岁之间。结果发现：大学生中，其弟妹出生时间在他们3岁以下者，20题中没有一题是答对的。这表示，人在3岁以前留不下长期记忆。过了3岁，分数就直线上升，在9岁左右弟妹出生者，平均答对15个题目。按现代认知心理学中信息处理理论的解释，人在3岁以前并非没有长期记忆。只是因为幼儿在当时对信息处理时，尚不能使用语音作为心理表征的工具，即未将语音的声码、形码、意码输入到长期记忆之内，长期记忆中自然就贮存不下语音信息，因而不能用语音去检索记忆以回答问题。此种解释已为一般人所接受。