Have you ever been asked to recall your first memory? This question is not as easy as it sounds to answer. Memory is very important in our lives as it is the basis for almost everything. It is learning information overtime through encoding, storage, and retrieval. Memory is a constructive process. It is very difficult to tell if someone actually remembers the memory or if they just are putting the pieces together from hearing the memory from someone else and adding the little bit of information that they do remember. We filter or fill in the missing pieces of information in order to make our recall and retrieval of the memories more coherent.

Some people believe that they recall memories from when they were as young as one year old, although it has been proven through research that on average people have their first memories from about three or four years of age. It is hard to distinguish whether people truly recall their memories from their past experiences, or if they think they are recalling an event from memory. Actually, hearing the story being told could create the memory. This explains why it can be a challenge to answer the question “what is your first memory?”.

I recall an experience that traumatized me when I was about two years of age. My parents, my sister, who was four years old at the time, and I visited our family in Florida. My sister and my cousin, who was also about two years old, decided it would be fun to play hide-and-go-seek. They volunteered me to be the seeker while they hid. Minute after minute elapsed and they were no where to be found. After about twenty minutes of not being able to find them, I asked the adults for help. The adults were running around the house shouting their names and there was no reply. We checked everywhere including the pool, the backyard, and every bedroom and closet. Eventually, my aunt decided it was time to call the police; at this point we were all panicking. When they police arrived, my sister and cousin finally came out of hiding. They were hiding in one of my aunts’ closets that we had checked, but we did not find them because they were hiding under a pile of clothing. The police officer had a long discussion with them to explain why what they did was not acceptable. I remember sitting by their front door terrified while all of this was happening.

My family often retells this story whenever we are together. I remember the tension and nervousness in the air as we searched the house inside and out for my sister and cousin. Since this story has been retold multiple times, I believe that this is an example of memory construction. After hearing this story from my parents, the missing pieces to what I had remembered were filled in. Gathering missing information from what others retell is not always 100% as it could lead to the misinformation effect or hindsight bias. This is one memory that I will never forget because many emotions were involved with it and it is consistently being retold.