ocess changes and the taste of an onion is fairly common and does not merit any long-term memory. Another interesting, though essentially untestable, (except for coorelational studies) explanation for childhood amnesia is the development of the cognitive-self (Howe & Courage, 1997; McKee & Squire, 1993). The emergence of the cognitive-self just so happens to develop at the same time that most people have their first childhood memories. The theory basically states that humans cannot have memories about one-self until the stage in their development when they recognize that they are separate and distinct from their environment. This usually happens at around the age of two and is evaluated by the Rouge test. The rouge test is when a child is placed in front of a mirror with a red dot on their nose. If the child recognizes him/herself, he/she will reach for their nose. If, however, the child has not developed to the point of self-recognition, he or she will likely reach for the image of the red dot in the mirror. Most of our memories involve the presence of something that happens to me and if we do not have a sense of me yet, then it is unlikely to remember such events. The events remembered before the recognition of the cognitive self will be so vastly different than our other memories that they probably will not be recalled. The recognition of one self does not suddenly appear at 18-24 months of age but rather it gradually begins organizing itself from birth but does not become fully active until this time. This helps explain why there are some memories for very young children for events that occur before the critical age of two to three years. The autobiographical aspect of memory seems to be vital for information stored for long periods of time. This touches on humans egocentricity that an event is not important unless it happens to me.There is also another important aspect of human memory that develops at approximately the...
