EARLIEST RECOLLECTIONS. in 



attention, either because it was horrible or delightful, or because it 

 was entirely novel, surprising, and out of relation with the ha- 

 bitual current of our life; this is what we express when we saj we 

 were very forcibly struck by it, were absorbed in it, could not think 

 of anything else, our other sensations were effaced by it, we were 

 pursued by the image continuing all through the next day, we were 

 possessed by it, could not get rid of it, and all distractions were 

 powerless as against it." 



It is because of this disproportion that the impressions of infancy 

 are so persistent; the mind being entirely new, ordinary objects and 

 events are surprising to it,* According to Taine, the chief cause of 

 the reproduction of an image is attention. " Whether attention be 

 voluntary or involuntary, it always operates in the same way; the 

 image of an object or an event is the more capable of revival or of 

 complete resurrection in proportion as the object or event has been 

 considered with greater attention." Taine's theory is applicable to 

 the large majority of cases. Most of the earliest recollections relate to 

 events which have attracted the child's attention by their intensity, 

 their novelty, their action on the affections, or by numerous repeti- 

 tions — facts, especially, which have evoked strong feelings — fear, 

 terror, shame, lively joy, pain, grief, curiosity, self-love, antipathy, 

 sympathy, etc. The first recollection, however, in some persons re- 

 lates to a merely common fact, not particularly distinct from others, 

 and which did not provoke any strong feeling, which is remembered 

 with details; while important events which produced an impression 

 on the child at the same period, as the parents relate, are not remem- 

 bered at all. Such cases are few, and we can not explain them. It 

 may be, as one of the subjects suggested, that the fact remembered 

 only seems banal because it is not completely recollected, the strik- 

 ing elements having been forgotten. 



Most of the earliest recollections relate to brief scenes. The 

 impressive fact is generally clearly remembered to the minutest 

 details, but it was only of an instant's or a few minutes' duration. 

 An event of an hour or more is rarely remembered, or, if it is, there 

 are gaps in the recollection. 



As to the kind of mental images that constitute the recollection, 

 the scene in the majority of cases is represented visually. The 

 things, the colors, and the character of the light appear very clearly, 

 but the personages are poorly set forth. The general form is seen, 

 but few or no details of the figure, and sometimes it is not deter- 

 mined whether it is a man or a woman. Occasionally, however, the 

 persons are clearly distinguishable, especially when they play an 



* Intelligence, i, p. 35. 



