How old do you remember yourself? Scientists named the exact figure

0 < p>A new study shows that, on average, the earliest memories people can recall are from when they were just two and a half years old.

The results refute previous findings about the average age of the earliest memories by an entire year.

They are presented in a new 21-year study, which is a continuation of a review of already existing data.

“When does the earliest occur a memory is more of a moving target than a single static memory,” explains childhood amnesia expert and lead author Dr. Carol Peterson of Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Thus, what many people provide when asked about their earliest memory is not a boundary or the beginning of a watershed of which there is no memory. Rather, there seems to be a pool of potential memories that both adults and children draw from.

“And we think that people from the age of two remember a lot that they're not aware of. For two reasons.

First, it is very easy to get people to recall earlier memories by simply asking them what their earliest memories are, and then asking them for a few more. Then they begin to recall even earlier memories – sometimes up to a full year earlier. It's like priming a pump: once you prime it, it self-repairs.

Second, we've documented that these early memories are systematically misdated. Time and time again, we find that people think they were older than they actually were in their earliest memories.”

For more than 20 years, Dr. Peterson has conducted memory research, with a special focus on the ability of children and adults to remember his earliest years. Children's earliest memories appear sooner than they think they did, their parents confirm.