females and increase for males. At fourteen and fifteen, motor memories nearly
culminate for males, but still further decline for females. The former show a
marked decrease in memory for relatives and playmates and an increase for other
persons. Sickness and accidents to self are remembered less by males and better
by females, as are memories of fears. At eighteen and nineteen there is a marked
and continued increase in the visual memories of each sex and the auditory
memory of females. Memory for the activity of others increases for both, but far
more strongly for males. Colegrove concludes from his data that "the period of
adolescence is one of great psychical awaking. A wide range of memories is
found at this time. From the fourteenth year with girls and the fifteenth with
boys the auditory memories are strongly developed. At the dawn of adolescence
the motor memory of voice nearly culminates, and they have fewer memories of
sickness and accidents to self. During this time the memory of other persons and
the activity of others is emphasized in case of both boys and girls. In general, at
this period the special sensory memories are numerous, and it is the golden age
for motor memories. Now, too, the memories of high ideals, self-sacrifice, and
self-forgetfulness are cherished. Wider interests than self and immediate friends
become the objects of reflection and recollection."
After twenty there is marked change in the memory content. The male acquires
more and the female less visual and auditory memories. The memories of the
female are more logical, and topographical features increase. Memories of
sickness and accidents to self decrease with the males and increase with the
females, while in the case of both there is relative decline in the memories of
sickness and accident to others. From all this it would appear that different
memories culminate at different periods, and bear immediate relation to the
whole mental life of the period. While perhaps some of the finer analyses of
Colegrove may invite further confirmation, his main results given above are not
only suggestive, but rendered very plausible by his evidence.
Statistics based upon replies to the question as to whether pleasant or unpleasant
experiences were best remembered, show that the former increase at eleven, rise
rapidly at fourteen, and culminate at eighteen for males, and that the curve of
painful memories follows the same course, although for both there is a drop at
fifteen. For females, the pleasant memories increase rapidly from eleven to
thirteen, decline a little at fourteen, rise again at sixteen, and culminate at
seventeen, and the painful memories follow nearly the same course, only with a
slight drop at fifteen. Thus, up to twenty-two for males, there is a marked
preponderance of pleasant over painful memories, although the two rise and fall