Earliest versus other autobiographical memories of school-age children

Abstract

Earliest memories have been the topic of scientific research for over a century and seen use as tools of clinical assessment. Still, it remains unclear whether they are in some way distinct or revealing about the person reporting them. This preregistered study examined whether children’s self-reported earliest memories differ from other memories, and how their features link with mood and gender. Urban 9–13-year-old children in Finland (N = 166) reported on their earliest memory and another old autobiographical memory, and mood. Memories were coded for specificity, thematic content, social orientation, and emotional content. No differences between earliest and other memories were noted in specificity, trauma- and accident-related content, or emotional content. However, earliest memories had more play- and less visit-related content and were less likely to be social. Negative mood did not generally correlate with features of memories. Girls reported more social earliest and other memories, and more positive earliest memories. The findings are compared to research in other cultural environments. Overall, they do not support a privileged position for the earliest memory as an object of scientific research or clinical assessment.