Psychologists (whom I choose to categorically disbelieve) tell us that certain experiences are so painful that as a defensive mechanism our minds subconsciously suppress our memories of these events to the point that they are no longer part of our conscious minds. I have personally noticed a rather opposite phenomenon. We can create memories, usually pleasant ones, from hearing stories, seeing pictures, or thinking about something long enough. Who knows what my real first memory is, but I distinctly remember (after being told the story and reflecting on it enough) sitting up in my crib at night and crying because I was hungry. I would call out for a bottle "mik, mik, mik" I would cry because I couldn't properly pronounce "milk." When I was three my family moved away from Arizona and came to Utah. We took a picture at my grandparents house, out in front sitting on the bumper of Grampa's truck. I don't remember anything else from when I lived in Arizona, but I remember taking that picture.
Because I really almost believe these constructed memories, I have a hard time believing people who claim memories from ages younger than about 4 or 5. Memory is a tricky thing. Not always reliable and highly mailable. We do not operate like a video camera, that records things as they are in a format than does not change. Memory is such an inexact science that I have a hard time swallowing Psychology as a hard science explaining the functions of the mind.
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