This book presents an exegesis of research and theory concerning the emergence and development of declarative, long-term memory from birth through early adolescence. The book also contains a presentation of a theory that memory is an adaptive mechanism that is used to guide the development and survival of the organism in an initially novel, yet changing environment. The book is divided into four parts. The first part discusses why memory development is important; the second discusses infantile amnesia and autobiographical memory; the third explores a series of key factors that have an impact o ... More

This book presents an exegesis of research and theory concerning the emergence and development of declarative, long-term memory from birth through early adolescence. The book also contains a presentation of a theory that memory is an adaptive mechanism that is used to guide the development and survival of the organism in an initially novel, yet changing environment. The book is divided into four parts. The first part discusses why memory development is important; the second discusses infantile amnesia and autobiographical memory; the third explores a series of key factors that have an impact on early memory development—distinctiveness, emotion, stress, and early memory; and finally, the fourth part gives a detailed presentation of the theory of memory as an adaptation, and applies results to real-world problems. In addition to reviewing the basic-science research on both humans and nonhuman animals, the book is devotes a large portion to clinical and forensic topics, including examining the roles of stress and trauma in memory development, the development of false recollection, memory for traumatic experiences, the effects of depression, PTSD, and dissociation on early memory development, and nonhuman animal research on the nature of infantile amnesia.