Blog post #3 – How Do Childhood Experiences Influence Our Identity as Individuals?

In this blog post, I will research some topics that connect back to my question, that include…

• Early childhood education
• Core beliefs and values that correspond to make our identity
• Memories
• Trauma and negative memories
• Parts of the brain that are used with memory and emotion (Amygdala + Hippocampus)

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION: early childhood education is vitally important and should be talked about with more understanding. Early childhood education affects who we are as human beings, but also how we can treat other kids, who are still developing into the person that they are, their interests, their actions and their mental health.

• Early childhood are vital years of our life that cannot be wasted as it alters later academic, social, and emotional growth in one’s life. Our minds are like a sponge on early childhood as we retain the most information during these years, which means it has the most room for academic growth. (1)

• Early childhood education has key benefits in teenage and adult years, such as cognitive, social and emotional development. (2)

• “In early brain growth, experience creates expectation, which alters perception.” (3) This means that the experiences that occurs in a child’s life, play a critical role in what they expect the world to be. If a child gets lots of care and love, especially when they are upset or when they cry, that child would expect that they can get away with whatever they want in life, if they complain. If a child does not get love or self-validation, they might think of themselves as worthless or develop real mental health struggles (3)

CORE BELIEFS: we all live by a set of core beliefs, but do we understand that these core beliefs affect our everyday life, and the way they form is almost completely out of our control.

• Core beliefs are how we see the ourselves, others and the world. They have power in human decision-making and perception. These beliefs are not based on reason or evidence, but rather based on experiences in our early childhood. As children grow up, they try to make sense of the world, and as they do so, these beliefs can be absorbed unconsciously, which can be very dangerous as they impact worldviews in positive or negative ways. (4)

• These core beliefs have a direct impact on somebody’s personality and mental health. If they grew up, being neglected, they will begin thinking that they are worthless. Most of our insecurities are formed around negative experiences in our childhood. (4)

• Core beliefs are formed before the age of 7. Ever wonder why somebody seems so stubborn to changing their perspective or opinion on a situation, it is because core beliefs are our roots and we it is almost impossible to change them. (4)

MEMORIES: memories in our life, especially our childhood are the base of who we are as humans. Do you have memories in your life of when you were little, and you can remember every detail of it, and you do not know why that memory was stuck out to you even grown up?

Your earliest memories can teach you a lot about yourself. Putting these memories in order with a certain amount of significance can help you overcome unknown trauma and obstacles in your life. Learning about our early memories can improve your self-confidence, your mental health and builds our determination and resilience. (5)

TRAUMA: we all have fears that still haunt us to this day, and they all develop from negative memories. Say, when you were younger, you heard a story about a plane crash, that causes chaos to everybody on and around the crashing plane. Since then, you have always been nervous to fly, or some even avoid planes all together. Even though, the chance of a plane crashing is lower than a car crash, the visual that you put in your mind at a young age, can become a negative memory that we are more likely to remember, and subconsciously affect our lives.

• Trauma is used to describe a negative event in our life that has severely impacted our mental health and our wellbeing. (5) Trauma can come from many different things, such as war zone, a natural disaster, an accident, loss of a loved one or bullying. (6)

• Children are vulnerable to trauma especially in early childhood as their brains are still developing. This trauma can affect childhood development and future mental health struggles. (6)

AMYGDALA + HIPPOCAMPUS: the parts of our brain that makes memories so vivid and intense, if they are connected with emotion.

• When your brain recognizes that the situation you are in is associated with a memory that you remember, it brings up the feelings that are associated with the memory. The stronger the memory, the stronger emotions that are associated with the memory. (7)

• The amygdala is the part of the brain for emotions and the hippocampus is the part of the brain that stores memory. (8)

SOURCES:

1. American Public University. “Why Is Early Childhood Education Important for Children? | American Public University.” Www.apu.apus.edu, 2023, www.apu.apus.edu/area-of-study/education/resources/why-is-early-childhood-education-important-for-children/.

2) “Top Five Benefits of Early Childhood Education.” Brighter Futures Indiana, brighterfuturesindiana.org/blog/top-five-benefits-of-early-childhood-education.

3) Lally, J. Ronald, and Peter L. Mangione. “Caring Relationships: The Heart of Early Brain Development | NAEYC.” Naeyc.org, May 2017, www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/yc/may2017/caring-relationships-heart-early-brain-development.

4) “Core Beliefs: Definition, How to Identify, and More.” Www.medicalnewstoday.com, 23 Aug. 2022, www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/core-beliefs#examples.

5) Sweet, Joni. “Earliest Memories Start at Age Two and a Half, Study Finds.” Verywell Mind, 28 June 2021, www.verywellmind.com/earliest-memories-start-at-age-two-and-a-half-study-finds-5189856.

6) Leonard, Jayne. “What Is Trauma? Types, Symptoms, and Treatments.” Www.medicalnewstoday.com, 3 June 2020, www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/trauma#causes.

7) “Why Does Emotion Connect with Memory?” Www.northstartransitions.com, www.northstartransitions.com/post/why-does-emotion-connect-with-memory.

8) Yang, Ying, and Jian-Zhi Wang. “From Structure to Behavior in Basolateral Amygdala-Hippocampus Circuits.” Frontiers in Neural Circuits, vol. 11, no. 86, 31 Oct. 2017, https://doi.org/10.3389/fncir.2017.00086.