https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/ne5n4b/40-percent-of-peoples-first-memories-never-happened

The earliest memory that I’m nearly certain is genuine is from when I was about four years old. I’m in the living room of my childhood friend who lived across the street from me, watching movers carry furniture and boxes from my family’s house into a large moving truck. I don’t remember where my friend was at the time or how I was feeling. It’s a simple memory, but it’s still remarkably vivid over twenty years later.

But I have a few memories that are from when I was even younger that I’m not certain are actually my own. Upon reflection, I’m pretty sure most of them were “implanted” later from home movies, photographs, or family tell stories, and I internalized those experiences as my own. I’m not alone: according to new research published in Psychological Science, around 40 percent of first memories are likely fictional.