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This paper will present the cognitive-perceptual method of interpreting early memories together with the first published sequence interpretation of a set of early memories using this method. The latter is especially apt to present in this issue, considering Walter Ktopfer's stress on sequence interpretation of the Rorschach. Attention is also directed to the formation of a cross-disciplinary group that will investigate autobiographical memory in general and early memories in particular.

The study was designed to test whether data from the earliest childhood memory (EM) could predict a Rotter internal vs external locus of control stance. Main Study subjects were 215 undergraduates from introductory psychology classes. Those EMs which could be reliably scored and coded for control stance—153 of the 215 Main Study protocols—were examined for success at predicting Rotter control stance. A total of 127 of 153 control predictions were correct, which yielded a Chi Square of 67.51, p < .0005 for a 2 × 2 table. Further, all 5 EM content hypotheses, which were based on groupings of the 54 Pilot Study codes, yielded results significant at p < .05. These results were discussed as supporting the validity of EMs to predict control stance and as contributing to an understanding of the dynamic basis for and maintenance of a belief in internal vs external control.

The earliest recollections of Dwight David Eisenhower, supreme military commander of allied forces during World War II and 34th president of the United States, are analyzed to provide a deeper understanding of the man and his motives. The analysis emphasizes a cognitive/perceptual method of early memory interpretation presented by Bruhn and Last (1982) in a theoretical paper.

Data from the first two childhood memories was used to distinguish 15 delinquents from 18 nondelinquent controls. Subjects were male, middle class, 15-17 years of age, and equated for verbal IQ. All delinquents were property offenders. A coding system, devised from the memories of the delinquents and nondelinquents, successfully identified 80% of the delinquents and 100% of the nondelinquents. These prediction rates exceeded those from three clinicians experienced in working with a comparable delinquent population. The coding system was then discussed in terms of the axioms and presuppositions which are suggested by the memories of the delinquent sample.