A Method for Clinical and Theoretical Study of the Earliest Memory

There have been two broad approaches to the study and interpretation of early memories, both of which stem from the writings of Freud.⁶⁻⁹The first has its origins in Freud's initial paper pertaining to early recollections in which he described the "screen-memory." Memories in this special class were viewed as innocuous compromise formations which conceal more traumatic material. The interpretative approach to the "screen-memory" was comparable to the techniques developed for dreams and emphasized the analysis of the defensive repressions, condensations, displacements, and symbolizations which transform the latent, unconscious, traumatic content or experience into an acceptable, conscious derivative in the form of the manifest content of the memory.⁷⁻⁹The second approach also has its roots in the writings of Freud,⁶⁻⁹but was more extensively developed and eventually utilized exclusively by Alfred Adler¹,⁴and his followers.¹⁹Here, the analysis was directed at