Most parents sing to their children. Yet, little is known regarding how early musical experiences are retained later in life. This study is a first attempt to fill this gap in the literature. Based on the stratified sample, we asked 973 adults about their first memories of a song or melody. The results revealed that adults’ earliest memories of a song or melody generally were predated by memories for other events; thus, the music memories were not the very earliest memories. The earliest memories for musical experiences were rated as typical, fragmented, and positive. Women reported earlier music memories than men. Current age had no impact on the age of the earliest music memories, but older respondents rated their memories as more vivid. The reported parental communication quality during childhood was reliably related to the age and characteristics of the earliest music memories.
AhnWBrewerWFMooneyRJ (1992) Schema acquisition from a single example. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition18(2): 391–412.
2.
BartlettJCSnelusP (1980) Lifespan memories for popular songs. The American Journal of Psychology93(3): 551–560.
3.
BauerPJ (2007) Remembering the Times of Our Lives: Memory in Infancy and Beyond. Mahwah, NJ: Laurence Erlbaum Associates.
4.
BerntsenDHallNM (2004) The episodic nature of involuntary autobiographical memories. Memory & Cognition32(5): 789–803.
5.
BerntsenDRubinDC (2004) Cultural life scripts structure recall from autobiographical memory. Memory & Cognition32(3): 427–442.
6.
BowlbyJ (1951) Maternal Care and Mental Health. Geneva: World Health Organization.
7.
BruceDPhillips-GrantKWilcox-O’HearnLA. (2007) Memory fragments as components of autobiographical knowledge. Applied Cognitive Psychology21(3): 307–324.
8.
BruceDWilcox-O’HearnLARobinsonJA. (2005) Fragment memories mark the end of childhood amnesia. Memory & Cognition33(4): 567–576.
9.
CadyETHarrisRJKnappenbergerJB (2008) Using music to cue autobiographical memories of different lifetime periods. Psychology of Music36(2): 157–178.
10.
DahlJJSonneTKingoOS. (2013) On the development of episodic memory: two basic questions. Nordic Psychology65(2): 189–207.
11.
FaganJPrigotJCarrollM. (1997) Auditory context and memory retrieval in young infants. Child Development68(6): 1057–1066.
12.
FitzgeraldJM (2010) Culture, gender, and the first memories of black and white American students. Memory & Cognition38(6): 785–796.
13.
FivushR (1984) Learning about school: the development of kindergartners’ school scripts. Child Development55(5): 1697–1709.
14.
FivushRHadenCAReeseE (2006) Elaborating on elaborations: role of maternal reminiscing style in cognitive and socioemotional development. Child Development77(6): 1568–1588.
15.
FreudS (1949) An Outline of Psycho-Analysis. New York: Norton.
16.
FreudS ([1905] 1953) Three essays on the theory of sexuality. In: StracheyJ (ed.) The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, vol. 7. London: Hogarth Press, pp. 125–248.
17.
HanawaltNGGebhardtLJ (1965) Childhood memories of single and recurrent incidents. Journal of Genetic Psychology107(1): 85–89.
18.
HargreavesDJNorthAC (1999) The functions of music in everyday life: redefining the social in music psychology. Psychology of Music27(1): 71–83.
19.
HenriVHenriC (1898) Earliest recollections. Popular Science Monthly53: 108–115.
20.
HolbrookMB (1993) Nostalgia and consumption preferences: some emerging patterns of consumer tastes. Journal of Consumer Research20(2): 245–256.
21.
HoweMLCourageML (1993) On resolving the enigma of infantile amnesia. Psychological Bulletin113(2): 305–326.
22.
HoweMLCourageML (1997) The emergence and early development of autobiographical memory. Psychological Review104(3): 499–523.
23.
HowesMSiegelMBrownN (1993) Early childhood memories: accuracy and effect. Cognition47(2): 95–119.
24.
IlariBS (2002) Music perception and cognition in the first year of life. Early Child Development and Care172(3): 311–322.
25.
JackFMacDonaldSReeseE. (2009) Maternal reminiscing style during early childhood predicts age of adolescents’ earliest memories. Child Development80(2): 469–505.
26.
KingoOSBerntsenDKrøjgaardP (2013) Adults’ earliest memories as a function of age, gender, and education in a large stratified sample. Psychology and Aging28(3): 646–653.
27.
MacDonaldSUesilianaKHayneH (2000) Cross-cultural and gender differences in childhood amnesia. Memory8(6): 365–376.
28.
MorrisonCMConwayMA (2010) First words and first memories. Cognition116(1): 23–32.
29.
MullenMK (1994) Earliest recollections of childhood: a demographic analysis. Cognition52(1): 55–79.
30.
NelsonK (1993) The psychological and social origins of autobiographical memory. Psychological Science4(1): 7–13.
31.
NelsonKFivushR (2004) The emergence of autobiographical memory: a social cultural developmental theory. Psychological Review111(2): 486–511.
32.
NelsonKGruendelJM (1981) Generalized event representations: basic building blocks of cognitive development. In: lambMEBrownAL (eds) Advances in Developmental Psychology, vol. 1. Hillsdale, NJ: Laurence Erlbaum Associates, pp. 131–158.
33.
NelsonKGruendelJM (1986) Children’s scripts. In: NelsonK (ed.) Event Knowledge Structure and Function in Development. Hillsdale, NJ: Laurence Erlbaum Associates, pp. 21–46.
34.
NorthACHargreavesDJHargreavesJJ (2004) Uses of music in everyday life. Music Perception22(1): 41–77.
35.
PetersonCNoelMKippenhuckL. (2009) Early memories of children and adults: implications for infantile amnesia. Cognitive Sciences4(2): 65–89.
36.
PetersonCWarrenKLShortMM (2011) Infantile amnesia across the years: a two year follow-up of children’s earliest memories. Child Development82(4): 1092–1105.
37.
PlatingaJTrainorLJ (2005) Memory for melody: infants use a relative pitch code. Cognition98(1): 1–11.
38.
RabbittPMcInnisL (1988) Do clever old people have earlier and richer first memories. Psychology and Aging3(4): 338–341.
39.
ReeseENewcombeR (2007) Training mothers in elaborative reminiscing enhances children’s autobiographical memory and narrative. Child Development78(4): 1153–1170.
40.
RichmondJNelsonCA (2007) Accounting for change in declarative memory: a cognitive neuroscience perspective. Developmental Review27(3): 349–373.
41.
RubinDC (1995) Memory in Oral Traditions: The Cognitive Psychology of Epic, Ballads, and Counting-out Rhymes. New York: Oxford University Press.
42.
RubinDCSchraufRWGreenbergDL (2003) Belief and recollection of autobiographical memories. Memory & Cognition31(6): 887–901.
43.
RutterM (2002) Maternal deprivation. In: BornsteinMH (ed.) Handbook of Parenting: Applied Parenting, vol. 4. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. pp. 181–202.
44.
SaffranJRLomanMMRobertsonRRW (2000) Infant memory for musical experiences. Cognition77(1): B15–B23.
45.
SchuldkindMDHennisLKRubinDC (1999) Music, emotion, and autobiographical memory: they’re playing your song. Memory & Cognition27(6): 948–955.
46.
SimcockGHayneH (2002) Breaking the barrier? Children fail to translate their preverbal memories into language. Psychological Science13(3): 225–231.
47.
SommerD (2012) A Childhood Psychology: Young Children in Changing Times. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
48.
TrainorLJWuLTsangCD (2004) Long-term memory for music: infants remember tempo and timbre. Developmental Science7(3): 289–296.
49.
TrehubSE (2013) Musical universals: perspectives from infancy. In: LeroyJL (ed.) Actualites des Universaux Musicaux [Topics in Musical Universals]. Paris: Editions des Archives Contemporaines, pp. 5–8.
50.
TrehubSETrainorL (1998) Singing to infants: lullabies and play songs. Advances in Infancy Research12: 43–77.
51.
TrehubSEUnykAMTrainorLJ (1993) Adults identify infant-directed music across cultures. Infant Behavior and Development16(2): 193–211.
52.
TrehubSEUnykAMKamenetskySB. (1997) Mothers’ and fathers’ singing to infants. Developmental Psychology33(3): 500–507.
53.
TsangCDConradNJ (2010) Does the message matter? The effect of song type on infant’s pitch preferences for lullabies and playsongs. Infant Behavior and Development33(1): 96–100.
54.
TuckerN (1984) Mothers, babies, and lullabies. History Today34(9): 40–46.
55.
WalkerWRSkowronskiJJThompsonCP (2003) Life is pleasant—and memory helps to keep it that way. Review of General Psychology7(2): 203–210.
56.
WangQ (2001) Culture effects of adults’ earliest childhood recollection and self-description: implications of the relation between memory and self. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology81(2): 220–233.
57.
WangQConwayMHouY (2004) Infantile amnesia: a cross-cultural investigation. Cognitive Sciences1(1): 123–135.
58.
WeissMTrehubSESchellenbergEG (2012) Something in the way she sings: enhanced memory for vocal melodies. Psychological Science23(10): 1074–1078.
59.
ZanderMF (2006) Musical influences in advertising: how music modifies first impressions of product endorsers and brands. Psychology of Music34(4): 465–480.
