g, not being able to communicate well, the birthing process, immunization, circumcision (for some unlucky children) and not having any control over your environment are probably best forgotten. Perhaps Freud was right in saying that these memories are suppressed because of the extreme unpleasantness of many events surrounding these years. My theory on childhood amnesia is that it is a possible adaptive function stemming from evolution. Although, I have not found any formal research on this view (or empirical evidence to support my claim), it is plausible that not having explicit memory of the first years is helpful to human development. Other than the blocking of unpleasantness, childhood amnesia may be helpful such that all of the brains resources are devoted to growth and adaptation to the new environment. The long-term memory process may draw on the brains limited resources during these critical years and the absence of this allows the brain to progress more quickly in vitally important areas such as communication skills and locomotion.It is important to note that the differing views with respect to the cause of childhood amnesia are not mutually exclusive. The evidence that I have studied in this field points to a composite origin of childhood amnesia. Dualistic theories have dominated many areas of modern psychology. The extremist views of psychologists are usually combined (eventually) into some middle ground with everyone agreeing that many factors contribute to any psychological phenomenon. This topic proves to be no different. The role of language development in autobiographical memory is well documented and certainly contributes to childhood memories. It is also believed that humans must learn to have a sense of one-self before memory related to themselves can be retained. The development of the brain is also important because of at least two factors. The first is that the perception of events that occur in child...
