ABSTRACT
The life story is an internalized and dynamic story of a person’s life, progressively developed across time. Of course, every story needs a beginning. Early autobiographical memories of childhood constitute the beginning of the life story and may also offer stepping-stones for the story’s unfolding. The aim of this chapter is to address three fundamental questions regarding early childhood memories: (1) how far back do individuals remember events in their lives, (2) what do they remember, and importantly, (3) why do they still remember these events? We build on theory and empirical work to argue that due to childhood amnesia, our oldest memories are most commonly from after approximately age 3. In terms of what is remembered from childhood, they are constituted by certain characteristics and content that distinguish them from more recent memories. Finally, to address why adults still remember early events we provide a functional perspective emphasizing that preservation of these memories may be related to the functions (i.e., self, social, and directive) such memories serve in individuals’ current adult lives.
