What do you remember from your childhood? Do you think your child will remember any experiences from being a toddler? These are questions that have crossed my mind as a parent. Will my child remember all the places we have lived or the places we have visited in her early years? Researching what exactly a child will remember, how they forget, and ways to influence childhood memories is important information to know as a parent.

Infantile Amnesia is a term used by psychologists that refers to memory loss in infancy and early childhood. The first few years of life has been proven to be an extremely important time period in one’s life. Early childhood contributes to personality, language skills, and social behaviors. Anecdotal evidence shows there are few to no memories that we can remember around 3 years of age. If you try to recall your earliest childhood memory, chances are they are not this early. Childhood memory recall tends to happen around 5 or 6 years of age. Emotion does play a role and children are over twice as likely to recall a memory when linked to a strong emotion, positive or negative.

There are several theories that help explain infantile amnesia. One theory presents that childhood memory loss is due to experiences not transformed into long term memories. The storage failure is because the neural circuitry of the brain is not fully functional at an early age. The other theory represents loss is due to a retrieval issue, meaning the memories exist but we are unable to retrieve them. This is because as we age, our perception changes, and therefore, retrieval cues are not presented. For example, building a tower of blocks as a child may be perceived as big as a small house. Looking at blocks as an adult, we know they are just a small toy. By not being able to look at something in the same way as a child, memory retrieval is difficult due to our perception.

According to Pediatrics for Parents, parents are able to help improve childhood memories. By talking to your children often about past events and allowing the child to thoroughly engage in the conversation is important. Providing additional information, using a two-way dialog, and discussing the past event are all extremely important in helping to retrieve childhood memories later in life. For example, I start telling a story from a past event to my soon-to-be 3-year-old from about 6 months ago about how she hid from me in a store. She will begin to add on to the story by telling me where she hid and starts to fully engage in the conversation about the past memory. She remembers certain details and I remember other details, and both details summed up together encourage childhood memories to be retained in the child’s brain. Culture proves that recall can make a difference. American culture recalls more childhood memories on average than China which results in earlier childhood memories. Showing a child pictures of past events also helps trigger and reinforce childhood memories.

In conclusion, childhood plays an important role in who we are as individuals. Either by storage failure or retrieval failure, we experience infantile amnesia and tend to forget all or most of infancy and childhood. By using different teaching and communication skills, we can help our children hold on to more childhood memories than the average person.

Peterson, PhD, C. (n.d.). Children Remembering-and Forgetting-Early Childhood. Retrieved November 22, 2015, from http://www.pedsforparents.com/general/102977/children-remembering-and-forgetting-early-childhood/

Schaffhausen, J. (2013, April 21). Gone But Not Forgotten? The Mystery Behind Infant Memories – Brain Connection. Retrieved November 22, 2015, from http://brainconnection.brainhq.com/2013/04/22/gone-but-not-forgotten-the-mystery-behind-infant-memories/

We have all been in situations, possibly while taking a test or in a casual conversation, where something is on the tip of our tongue. We know the place, name, subject, we are thinking of but for some reason, can not come up with it. Sometimes we can even rhyme with the word, but can not come up with the actual word we are wanting. This can be extremely frustrating at times, especially as a student when it can affect your grade! Let’s take look a little further into a few studies that have come up with a few explanations.

According to Wikipedia, the tip of the tongue phenomenon (TOT) is defined as the failure to retrieve a word from memory. There are two main theories around TOT, Direct Access View and Inferential View. Direct Access View states the specific memory is not strong enough to be recalled. Inferential View believes the problem is based on the clues present about the word being retrieved. In other words, some of the things you remember around the word may distract you from actually remembering the correct word. Direct Access states retrieval is what causes the TOT, meaning something was slow or interrupted while memory was being retrieved from memory. Three theories within the Direct Access View is the blocking hypothesis (retrieving a similar word, but incorrect), incomplete activation hypothesis (target word is not strong enough for retrieval), and the transmission deficit model (failing to prime the complete phonological representation). Inferential states that heuristic processes cause the TOT, in other words, inference is made on available information.

Studies are unclear about what exactly causes the TOT, but research has shown that emotional TOTs take much longer to retrieve than TOTs that are non-emotional. This is surprising because our memories are typically better when they are emotional or related to us specifically. Without true evidence, some think it could be due to the retrieval strategies that are used that differ from emotional or non-emotional.

TOTs stimulate many different parts of the brain, and are very abstract within the brain. Depending on what is trying to be remembered, the brain will act differently. All TOTs effect the prefrontal cortex and right inferior cortex. For example, if you are having trouble thinking of a name of a person you met last week, your temporal part of the brain would possibly try to remember the name through facial recognition.

A recent study by Dr. James of University of California and Dr. Burke of Pomona College believe that language retrieval depends on memory of not just the word’s meaning, but also its sound. They conducted a study proving that TOTs are a function of weak connections among memory representations. They believe connections weaken due to lack of use or exercising the use of words along with getting older and brain not being as sharp. Dr. James and Dr. Burke suggest reading, using language, and doing things like crossword puzzles to strengthen memory recall and minimize TOTs.

In conclusion, the tip of the tongue phenomenon has been studied for years, this is a very hard subject to study, because it effects so much of the brain. We have all experienced having a word on the tip of our tongues. As new research has represented, we can strengthen and exercise our brain to reduce incidences of the TOT experience. So, keeping educating yourself with every opportunity for a sharper, more efficient brain.

Works Cited

American Psychological Association. (2000, November 13). New Research Explains “Tip Of The Tongue” Experiences. ScienceDaily. Retrieved October 14, 2015 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/11/001113071544.htm

Tip of the Tongue. (2015, September 15). Retrieved October 15, 2015, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tip_of_the_tongue

Schwartz, B. (2002). Tip-of-the-tongue states phenomenology, mechanism, and lexical retrieval. Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Children and the Bilingual Brain

Parents recently have started a trend of trying to raise their children to speak two different languages. Children that are bilingual have a large advantage and succeed throughout many different aspects of life than those who are monolingual. Bilingualism for children is an experience just like any activity one participates in that creates brain stimulation.

According to Dr. Eugene Garcia of Columbia University and author of various texts on Bilingualism, speaking two languages gives children an advantage for learning and memory. She states that Bilingualism gives children the capability of understanding from different points of views and is better at problem solving. She also says it makes the child more aware of the importance of language and communication at a young age.

In order to find out why Bilinguals are different than Monolinguals, we need to look into how the brain functions and where language plays a role in the brain. A recent study by Researchers from Northwestern University and University of Houston studied the brain activity using a fMRI to look at brain activity from bilingual and monolingual teenagers. Their results stated that the teens who were monolingual had a more difficult time doing a task than people who were bilingual. They found this result by watching how much harder the brain had to physically work. The study also showed bilingual people were able to filter out unrelated material given in the exercise and be able to complete the task at a higher speed. The more one exercises and stretches their brain, the more it will be capable of doing with faster results.

I just recently moved from Pennsylvania to Puerto Rico due to my husband’s work. My soon to be 3-year-old is taking on Spanish with ease. This has been such an amazing opportunity for her and myself to be bilingual. I look forward to watching her excel in her studies along with socially throughout life. It amazes me how quickly she remembers a word in both Spanish and English after just briefly being introduced.

In conclusion, having a bilingual brain is important for children that want to have a jump start at life skills. The skill of speaking two languages is clearly beneficial and important for children who want to succeed and a have a better understanding of life. As our world changes and becomes more diverse, being bilingual will have so many benefits for all.

Works Cited

Sifferlin, A. (2014, November 12). Speaking More Than One Language Could Sharpen Your Brain. Retrieved September 12, 2015, from http://time.com/3581457/bilingual-brain-smart/

Sherwood, E. (2007, November 1). Education Update – Professor Ofelia Garcia Speaks Out In Favor of Bilingual Education. Retrieved September 12, 2015, from http://www.educationupdate.com/archives/2007/NOV/html/spot-profofeilia.html