From what age do children start having permanent memory of incidents, and what is the maximum long term memory at what age?
From what age do children start having permanent memory of incidents such as mother slapping her very hard, father reading her stories, doing drawing and other crafts, meeting an accident?
What is the maximum long term memory at what age?
Example: My child is currently 2 years 4 months old. I read her story books daily. Will she remember this when she is 32?
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I found one source that claims 14 to 18 months for long-lasting memory, though without defining "long-lasting".
Remembering comes on various levels, though:
Specific
Daddy turned to page 134.
General
Daddy read me The Phantom Tollbooth
Abstract
Daddy read me stories
Experiential
I loved my time with daddy
Ask yourself this: Why will your child remember what you look like?
The answer is, of course, that seeing you was a repeated experience, but that is not all... the emotion behind each of those experiences gives them added strength/meaning/weight.
My daughter remembers me reading her The Phantom Tollbooth, but none of the other books -- it was one that for whatever reason embedded in her permanent consciousness... and that is how long term memory works... it is sometimes rather random. Where there is strong emotion, though, there is an increased chance of the memory lasting longer.
The point is that you really shouldn't care about what she will or will not remember to varying degrees -- just make every moment count and their sum will carry the day in that she will remember you for the awesome parent you are, in all its various facets.
Every person is different.
My own earliest memory is of my father getting on a plane, and the plane taking off from Logan. He was heading for Vietnam, and since I had never seen a plane landing, I assumed that Vietnam must be way up in the air. I had a very vivid image of Vietnam, reinforced, I assume, by photos from magazines, because it was reasonably accurate -- sunny, hot, dense jungle -- except for the detail that it was floating Avalon-like somewhere high in the stratosphere above Boston.
That was 1967, I was about 23 months old.
I would tell strangers "My daddy's up there" -- much to the consternation of my mother. Only many years later was I able to explain to her my somewhat confused view at time of the purpose of air-travel.
They usually start remembering big events in their life at about age four. It helps a lot if you show them pictures because then memories come back. But they probably won't remember it at age two. Maybe three though.
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