Reported earliest memory age: Relationships with personality and coping variables

The present study examined the viability of motivated retrieval failure as a mechanism for childhood amnesia. A total of 115 undergraduates completed the Constructive Thinking Inventory, the NEO Personality Inventory, and answered questions regarding their earliest memory in order to assess the relationships between personality and coping variables and the subjectʹs reported age of earliest memory. The personality and coping inventories were divided into four groups defined by the stated age of each subjectʹs earliest memory. Analyses indicated that scores on two Constructive Thinking Inventory scales (Emotional Coping and Categorical Thinking) and two NEO Personality Inventory scales (Neuroticism and Openness to Experience) were significantly different between groups. These differences were consistent with the motivated retrieval failure hypothesis. Subscales of these four scales were then analyzed individually to further examine the differences between groups. Results are discussed in the context of personality assessment and the repression of early memories.