First Memories are Nonverbal and Emotional,Not Necessarily Talked about or Part of a Recurring Pattern

Abstract

Nelson (1993) hypothesized that children must learn to verbalize their memories to retrieve them. Their parents talk with them about the experiences thereby influencing what is recalled. Further, recurrence of events indicates their importance and aids recall. To test these hypotheses, 83 students were asked to recall their first memory and indicate whether they recalled it verbally or nonverbally, had talked or been told about it, and whether it involved recurring events. They also were asked whether the memory involved emotions, because emotionality may enhance recall. Analysis showed that 94% of first memories were nonverbal and 92% involved an emotional event, but only 45% had been talked about and 55% were part of a recurring pattern. Research into nonverbal, first memories of adjusted individuals is needed to understand memory better and to have a comparison for what is recalled in therapy, in lawsuits involving child abuse, etc.