ABSTRACT
Our sense of self, of who we are, is intricately interwoven with our sense of who we have been and who we will be in the future. Certainly, as adults, we have a sense of continuous identity over time, and this identity is at least partly defined by the continuity of our autobiographical memories. As William James (1890/1950) commented, when we awake in the morning we are not confused about who we are, or whether the dream we recall was our dream or someone else’s. Our dreams, our thoughts, and our memories are irrevocably ours. But how and when do young children come to understand this aspect of mental life? How and when do young children begin to understand that their inner thoughts and their memories are uniquely theirs? How and when do young children come to own their experience?
