EARLIEST MEMORIES AND RECALL BY MODALITY USUALLY INVOLVE RECOLLECTIONS OF DIFFERENT MEMORIES - MEMORIES ARE NOT AMODAL

66 students recalled a first memory and indicated whether sensory impr essions from each sensory modality were a part of this memory and, if so, how clear and important these impressions were. After a distractio n, they also recalled in each sense modality the very first memory the y could. Only Visual impressions were always a parr of first memories. The clarity and importance of sensory attributes were evaluated simil arly. Recall by modality led to memories of equivalent clarity, and th ese were usually memories other than the one recalled as the earliest memory or recalled using other modalities. Memories are more modality- specific than assumed before in theory or practice.