Think back to your earliest memory. What is it? For me, my earliest memory is one that occurred when I was about 4 years old when I went fishing with my grandfather (nothing extraordinary happened, and I was not very good at it because I always talked, but I still remember this event). For others, this memory may be even further back than my own; some individuals can remember as far back as when they were 3 years old!
Your first memory is stored in what is called your long-term memory. Long-term memory is defined by Goldstein as “the system that is responsible for storing information for long periods of time” (p 152). There are two different types of memories: episodic and semantic memories. Episodic memories are “memories for specific personal experiences, involving mental time travel back in time to achieve a feeling of reliving the experience” and semantic memories are “memory for facts” (Goldstein, p 164). Not only does long-term memory store things from when you were 3 or 4 years old (episodic memories), it also can recall information and events from 30 seconds and 5 minutes ago (semantic memories)! This obviously goes to show that our long-term memory has a large storage capacity, but just how large is this capacity?
Some individuals argue this capacity is unlimited, while others see many problems with such statement. When you think about the capacity of this memory, many can say it is limited to what you can remember up until the age you are currently. However, because your age is always going up and you are always learning new things, wouldn’t this, in a way, mean that our long-term memory storage capacity is indeed unlimited?
Personally, I see both sides, and it seems to me that both of these have some element of truth to them; however, I would have to agree that there is an unlimited amount of storage in our long-term memory. It would seem there is an unlimited amount of space for memories in your long-term memory because as you grow you learn new things and commit them to memory, but, at the same time, you can never remember past your first memory, so that would seem to limit the storage capacity. In my opinion, your first memory is just the beginning of what you have started to store, rather than proof that our long-term memory is limited. When you have unlimited storage for something, you must first have to have something to store into this storage, and that then is known as your starting point, rather than a limitation. Long-term memory I feel works the same way, your first memory is just a starting point, rather than a limitation to the storage of your memory.
Resources
Eakin, M. C. (2007). The history of Latin America: collision of cultures(1st ed.). Palgrave MacMillan, p. 152, 164.
I agree that there is unlimited space in long-term memory. There are some very old memories that still linger while remembering much of the information we encounter as we grow up. However, the long-term memory capacity may be unlimited, but the long-term memory itself dissipates. At some point, memorable memories are often transformed or reorganized; sometimes failing to withdraw when interfered by other information.
There is a large tree on the left and a door in the room that opens up to the yard. It is somewhat widespread on the floor, and I can remember the sound of it (like eating a leaf). I also remember the warmth I felt on my cheek. This is the memory when I was 3 years old.
It was after I became an adult that I found out that my story was true, and I mistook this memory for a dream I once dreamed and talked to my mother. She said that she was sitting in front of the open door that I saw. My mother was very surprised that I remember it. My grandfather had a silkworm farm (business), and he had a silkworm cocoon room that was full of warmth. Perhaps the scene that I saw in my eyes was the most shocking first scene I had seen since I was born, and it may have been memorized with sensory memory and I can recall it even now. I do not think I remember 100% of my memory. Memory is likely to be distorted or altered.
“As pruning is radically reduced in adulthood we have better memories of specific events as adults. But some childhood memories survive this pruning and tend to be very emotional memories or strongly connected to a story with a very intense plot” (psychologytoday, 2018).
Why don’t We Remember our Early Childhoods? (n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2018, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-superhuman-mind/201502/why-dont-we-remember-our-early-childhoods