E. Blanton – Blog Post 1
Childhood memories can be a leading factor in your everyday perception of many things. Perceptions are driven by different functions of the brain and there are many different aspects of specific things that can be a determining factor in how you may perceive them. As we grow, we can alter our memories to help us perceive ourselves and our experiences to be seemingly better than they were, especially if they were troubling memories. In doing so, this helps those with troubling memories to be able to get over these experiences and continue with life with a greater sense of normalcy (Jacques, 2019.)
Growing up everyone experiences things in a different light because not everyone shares a similar background. Where some things may have been troubling or challenging for some, they may not have been for others while growing up. In example, many adults that have gone to high school may tell you they miss it and would go back in a heartbeat whereas other adults will tell you they would never go back, and they are glad to be through with that chapter of their lives. This is true for me and my significant other, as he loved high school and would return endlessly and I would never make the turn back if I was given the opportunity, and that is simply because we had different experiences and these experiences help us to perceive our high school years differently than each other.
Childhood memories have influenced my perspective on many things, considering most would agree it was a rather challenging childhood for anyone to endure. One of the biggest influences my childhood memories had on my perspective differing from my significant others will always be staying in hotels. Growing up I lived in multiple hotels for months at a time, so now as an adult my mind immediately goes back to those times. Living in hotels altered my view on staying in them for trips and vacations in a rather negative light, as I prefer to avoid them to this day.
On the other hand, my significant other claims that going to stay in different hotels is still one of his favorite things to on trips and vacations. Growing up he had a stable home life and was often traveling for sports, vacations, even just to visit others – which is when he discovered his love for exploring new hotels. He would only stay in them for short periods of time, so it was often a blast for him because his childhood memories in hotels were often full of fun and joy, which changed his perception on hotels to be the opposite of mine.
Today, having a family of my own, I have found that my son tends to enjoy hotels almost as much as his father. Where I will always have my childhood memories altering my perception of hotel stays, regardless of the reason we are there, I can now say that new memories have made it feel less and less miserable to stay in them. Childhood memories will always be there to alter your perception of things, so I will make sure my child has the best memories possible so that maybe his perception for most things can be those that are happier, rather than not.
Peggy L. St. Jacques. A New Perspective on Visual Perspective in Memory. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 2019
Hey there Emma! Recognizing how early childhood memories can affect future perceptions is an interesting topic, and one that really made me think. Therefore, I agree that many times experiences or behaviors witnessed as children can have a long-lasting impact. The topic you presented made me think of the concept of observational learning in psychology, but more specifically, modeling. Modeling is defined as “learning through observation and imitation of the behavior of other individuals and consequences of that behavior”, and this seems to closely pertain to your discussion (Durand, Barlow, & Hofmann, 2019). Mostly because things that we witness at a young age play a role in who we become, how we think, and many times even how we act. That being said, your resistance to hotels holds a different meaning to you than others, and this was a clever way to show your position on childhood memories and perception.
Reverting back to the concept of modeling and how I believe it applies to your discussion made me think of an example from when I was a child. When my sister and I were much younger and playing outside with my dad he saw a worm and picked it up. He assumed if he could have each of us hold it then later in life we wouldn’t be fearful of them. He did this with worms, frogs, and other outdoor creatures to try and prevent a phobia later on. Although he used this form of modeling to change our later perceptions, for me personally it did not work. On the other hand, my sister is not fearful of worms nor other outdoor creatures to the extent that I am. This opens another form of dialogue because there are other factors that contribute to fears and perceptions, such as genetic disposition. As we know, perceptions are far from being easily defined, in fact “perception of even “simple” objects involves complex mechanism, most of which occur without our awareness and some of which resemble reasoning” (Goldstein,2011). With that being said, do you feel that perceptions/fears solely come from memories or can be a result of inherit properties?
Overall, the idea that childhood memories can contribute to perceiving things differently later in life is a great topic! I admire how you have chosen to take your poor experience with hotels and embrace it to the best of your ability for your family. Also, I think it is amazing how you seek to provide only good memories for your son to eliminate him ever feeling such negative feelings that you have.
References
Durand, V.M., Barlow, D.H. & Hofmann, S.G. (2019). Essentials of Abnormal Psychology (8th Edition). Boston, MA. Cengage Learning.
Goldstein, B. (2011). “Cognitive psychology: Connecting mind, research and everyday experience” (4th ed.). Wadsworth, Inc.