Did you know, we form memories of objects only using touch?

We often talk about how your toddler brings information from their senses together to understand the world. They might look at, touch and move a new object to learn about it, but scientists have found that we can remember an object by just using the sense of touch – and this happens even when we aren’t trying to memorise what the object is like! 

When it comes to objects, we often think about what it looks like and rarely consider how touch might be part of forming a memory.  

Scientists looking to find out more about how touch is involved in forming memory identified that people could find an object they had held when it was among a group of similar objects with only slight differences.  

They also found that people were able to identify an object by looking at it when they had only felt it before. 

That would suggest that even as adults, touch is an important way of finding out about the world around us. So, when you can, let your toddler touch, hold and pick up new objects as this will boost both their learning and memory.  

Reference: 

Touch Can Produce Detailed, Lasting Memories – Association for Psychological Science – APS