Memory Development in Children

Human memory is a complex activity of the brain that allows us to store information and retrieve it again when we need it. Years ago, scientists and researchers believed a child possessed no real memory skills until their eighth or ninth month of life. Parents have been expressing the contrary for quite a long period of time. These myths have stiffled professionals and baffled parents, until they recently began to be disproved with fascinating studies. Consequent research has proved that the baby has memory and can preserve a thing in memory for a day at the age of six weeks and up to a period of four months when at the age of eighteen months. Study has also revealed that the child has memory even when at the stage of foetus. A child can remember an impulse from ten minutes to twenty four hours at different stages of development as a foetus.

There are two distinct memory systems- a system that keeps a record of our personal life experiences: this is usually called autobiographical memory; a system that holds knowledge about the world: this is usually called semantic memory. These two memory systems work in different manners. It becomes sometime possible that one system may work better than the other. So a child may remember everything in detail about a holiday because of the child’s strong autobiographical memory, but may have a poor semantic memory so failing to remember things that need to be learned in school. Despite individual differences in memory, study indicates that in most people memory can be improved drastically by proper training. This does not mean that we can expand the storage capacity of our memory; what it means is that we can make our memory more proficient.

Setting up habits on a daily basis is good practice for memory development. This establishes certainty, comfort and healthy prospects. Repeating playtime custom will help a child remember how to play with a particular toy, learn a particular motor skill and familiarize to environment. Several variables add to the child's memory. In particular, proper nutrition for a child's first eighteen months is vital in their long-term memory growth. Using art activities are excellent ways for encouraging language development and rehearsal for child memory. Simple memory games can improve a child’s concentration and memory skills. We can use puzzles, playing cards or other toys, but we need to make sure it’s appropriate to our child age and development level. Even modern day schools are using games like puzzles, riddles and building blocks to sharpen the memory of the children.