Comments on: What Are Babies Watching?

By: ivanrt

ivanrt — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 16:59:00 +0000

Preference of human face is caused by the familiarity of image, already known visual patterns. If baby was surrounding by talking bulls-eyes it will definitely paid more attentions to such things in a while.

By: Jeremy (PsyBlog author)

Jeremy (PsyBlog author) — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 07:44:00 +0000

Furan, sounds fascinating! Let us know if you come across the link...

By: Furan

Furan — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 21:27:00 +0000

Actually, what mp said reminds me of a long TV special schedule I saw on google video.
It was intitled "mindshock transplant memories" and emphasized how our viewpoint on memorizing processes lacks width.
Hmm, now that I'm thinking about it, I do not quite remember whether it was in this precise video or not...

anyway, I've seen some of these and I was surprized to learn how deeply dormant some memories can remain.

There was the story of an american who is thirty(-ish ?), by now (give or take...) : he was hit at the head by a baseball ball when he was very young, and when he recovered, he noticed he could practically recall the weather of every day ever since he was born.

(I'm sorry I don't go any further into details. I'm tired right now, and English is not my mother tongue...)

By: Kit

Kit — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 22:46:00 +0000

I think it would be a great start if they stopped writing it off as imagination and starting paying serious attention to those who do have these memories.
You can not objectively study that which you refuse to accept as even possibility.

By: Jeremy (PsyBlog author)

Jeremy (PsyBlog author) — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 21:30:00 +0000

Interesting mp, I know some psychologists are a little skeptical about whether it's possible to remember anything from that far back. Usually people can't remember anything before they were two or three years old. Often later.

Funnily enough, though, I was listening to something on the radio a few days ago and some people do report similar types of memories to yours from when they were preverbal. It would be good to know just how unusual this is.

By: mp

mp — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 21:04:00 +0000

You would think studies would be undertaken of people who actually remember their preverbal life.

During my earliest months, it was very difficult to see, especially in dim lighting. Forget seeing anything in a room without lights.

My best earliest memories were visual-- they started just before I learned to crawl. I have also remembered a few detailed 'thoughts' from this period.

One was of my mother speaking while she was holding me and I was frustrated as I couldn't seem to turn my head to see her face. When she held me facing her, her head was so big and she had the brightest red lipstick.

Another memory was 'wondering' how long it would take to be able to use my arms and legs to crawl on the floor. My mother said that I was old enough to see if I could crawl, so she placed me on the floor. Both memories were linked to frustration. I seemed to have a sense of self and surprisingly, I seemed to understand what my mother said. Go figure.

I realize this all sounds odd--like a fabrication or imagination or recreation--but I've had these memories for as long as I can remember. I suspect there must be others that have very clear recall of this early period.