<P> Some research has demonstrated that children can remember events from the age of 1, but that these memories may decline as children get older . Most psychologists differ in defining the offset of childhood amnesia . Some define it as the age from which a first memory can be retrieved . This is usually at the age of 3 or 4, but it can range from 2 to 8 years . </P> <P> Changes in encoding, storage and retrieval of memories during early childhood are all important when considering childhood amnesia . Some other research shows differences between gender and culture, which is implicated in the development of language . Childhood amnesia is particularly important to consider in regard to false memories and the development of the brain in early years . Proposed explanations of childhood amnesia are Freud's trauma theory, neurological development, development of the cognitive self, emotion and language . </P> <P> Childhood amnesia was first formally reported by psychologist Caroline Miles in her article "A study of individual psychology", in 1893 by the American Journal of Psychology . 5 years later, Henri and Henri published a survey showing that most respondents' earliest recollections occurred between the ages of two and four . In 1904 G. Stanley Hall noted the phenomenon in his book, Adolescence: Its Psychology and Its Relations to Physiology, Anthropology, Sociology, Sex, Crime, Religion and Education . In 1910, Sigmund Freud offered one of the most famous and controversial descriptions and explanations of childhood amnesia . Using psychoanalytic theory, he postulated that early life events were repressed due to their inappropriately sexual nature . He asserted that childhood or infantile amnesia was a precursor to the' hysterical amnesia,' or repression, presented by his adult patients . Freud asked his patients to recall their earliest memories and found that they had difficulty remembering events from before the ages of 6--8 . Freud coined the term "infantile" or "childhood amnesia" and discussed this phenomenon in his Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality . In 1972, Campbell and Spear published a seminal review about childhood amnesia in Psychological Sciences recapping the research conducted to understand this topic from neurological and behavioral perspectives in both human and animal models . </P> <P> The method of memory retrieval can influence what can be recalled . Specifically, whether an individual is prompted to remember a specific event, given more general guidelines, or asked to recall any memory possible, the cue method generates different results . </P>

I can remember when i was 1 year old