Robyn Fivush

You know, it's interesting. It's one of the things that actually got me interested in studying memory is I was very young. And most people can't remember things that happened before they were about three or three and a half. That's a very strong research finding.

When you ask adults to recall their earliest childhood memories, they almost never remember anything that happened before they were three. But I have this unfortunate marker in my childhood that I know if I remember my father, it had to be something that happened before I was three. And I actually have two memories of my father. They are very strong images and sense perceptions of being with him.

When you ask adults to recall their earliest childhood memories, they almost never remember anything that happened before they were three. But I have this unfortunate marker in my childhood that I know if I remember my father, it had to be something that happened before I was three. And I actually have two memories of my father. They are very strong images and sense perceptions of being with him.

When you ask adults to recall their earliest childhood memories, they almost never remember anything that happened before they were three. But I have this unfortunate marker in my childhood that I know if I remember my father, it had to be something that happened before I was three. And I actually have two memories of my father. They are very strong images and sense perceptions of being with him.

One is actually we were visiting... Caverns, underground caverns in upstate New York. I believe they're called house caverns. My sister is about three years older than me. This is my mother, my father, and I was on my father's shoulders. And I remember the feeling of being on his shoulders and then suddenly things going very dark because they turned off all the lights in the cave and feeling safe.

One is actually we were visiting... Caverns, underground caverns in upstate New York. I believe they're called house caverns. My sister is about three years older than me. This is my mother, my father, and I was on my father's shoulders. And I remember the feeling of being on his shoulders and then suddenly things going very dark because they turned off all the lights in the cave and feeling safe.

One is actually we were visiting... Caverns, underground caverns in upstate New York. I believe they're called house caverns. My sister is about three years older than me. This is my mother, my father, and I was on my father's shoulders. And I remember the feeling of being on his shoulders and then suddenly things going very dark because they turned off all the lights in the cave and feeling safe.

And that's it. That's the whole memory.

And that's it. That's the whole memory.

And that's it. That's the whole memory.

I was sitting on his shoulders. And of course, obviously, that's a super meaningful memory to me because I have so little of my father, so little of that security of having my father there to protect me and support me. The other memory is much more mundane. I remember him giving me a bath.

I was sitting on his shoulders. And of course, obviously, that's a super meaningful memory to me because I have so little of my father, so little of that security of having my father there to protect me and support me. The other memory is much more mundane. I remember him giving me a bath.

I was sitting on his shoulders. And of course, obviously, that's a super meaningful memory to me because I have so little of my father, so little of that security of having my father there to protect me and support me. The other memory is much more mundane. I remember him giving me a bath.

I'm sure it was devastating. You know, I was three. So my experience was just my life was yanked out, but I didn't have a full cognitive understanding of the context and what was going on. And So my memories from that period are very fragmentary and really not very coherent in the way, and frankly, my family, their way of dealing with it was just never to talk about it.

I'm sure it was devastating. You know, I was three. So my experience was just my life was yanked out, but I didn't have a full cognitive understanding of the context and what was going on. And So my memories from that period are very fragmentary and really not very coherent in the way, and frankly, my family, their way of dealing with it was just never to talk about it.

I'm sure it was devastating. You know, I was three. So my experience was just my life was yanked out, but I didn't have a full cognitive understanding of the context and what was going on. And So my memories from that period are very fragmentary and really not very coherent in the way, and frankly, my family, their way of dealing with it was just never to talk about it.

I think that is part of it, and I want to come back to that. I think for my family, that was definitely part of it. The other part of it was just, frankly, my grandmother's personality. So she went through a lot of hard times, and her way of dealing with all of it was, we just don't revisit that. We just don't go back there. It's not worth revisiting.

I think that is part of it, and I want to come back to that. I think for my family, that was definitely part of it. The other part of it was just, frankly, my grandmother's personality. So she went through a lot of hard times, and her way of dealing with all of it was, we just don't revisit that. We just don't go back there. It's not worth revisiting.

I think that is part of it, and I want to come back to that. I think for my family, that was definitely part of it. The other part of it was just, frankly, my grandmother's personality. So she went through a lot of hard times, and her way of dealing with all of it was, we just don't revisit that. We just don't go back there. It's not worth revisiting.

Quite frankly, when I would ask her questions about her past, my past, my family's past, the answer was always, why do you need to know that? It's over. It's past.