Earliest Memories and Recall by Modality Usually Involve Recollections of Different Memories: Memories are Not Amodal

Abstract

66 students recalled a first memory and indicated whether sensory impressions from each sensory modality were a part of this memory and, if so, how clear and important these impressions were. After a distraction, they also recalled in each sense modality the very first memory they could. Only visual impressions were always a part of first memories. The clarity and importance of sensory attributes were evaluated similarly. Recall by modality led to memories of equivalent clarity, and these were usually memories other than the one recalled as the earliest memory or recalled using other modalities. Memories are more modality-specific than assumed before in theory or practice.