Summer's silver lining

A decent argument could be mounted to suggest our memories of endless summers may be clouded by matters which had little to do with the weather, such as whether the new girlfriend was beguiling, the fish were biting, or the surf memorable.

Psychologists don't dismiss the theory that the good times can confuse memories and interfere with our judgment of just how brilliant the weather was in that summer of summers.

And if your golden summer fell when you were aged between 10 and 30, it could be that the warm fuzzies of nostalgia have the better of you.

Dr Maryanne Garry, a senior lecturer in psychology at Victoria University, points to research showing that as we get older we remember our childhoods positively.

The good old days probably weren't as good as we remember them, she says. In general, we have a fondness for experiences that happened between the ages of 10 and 30.

Our favourite songs, favourite movies, and so on usually come from this period. We think the most important world events happened in that period. So, for example, I say it was Vietnam, whereas someone older than I am says World War II, and in 20 years a bunch of people will say Iraq.

That adds weight to the suggestion that faraway summers were not as good as we think they were and that nostalgia is alive and well in sun, rain or wind.

But Garry complicates that picture with the observation that general knowledge tests show we are most accurate about events that happened in that period.

Why this happens is a matter of dispute, she says.

For instance, why do people have such strong memories of things that happened between the ages of 10 to 30?

Her students say it is because life is over after 30, an answer she's not too fond of.

She prefers the notion that it is an important and rapid period of novelty that means we have to learn well to develop well.

Professor Michael Corballis, of Auckland University's psychology department, fondly remembers summer holidays on Kawau when he was in his early to mid-teens.

Asked what the weather was like then, he is inclined to say it was pretty good.

But he wonders how much of that memory is owed to the sense of adventure in travelling from the lower North Island to a Hauraki Gulf island and the wonderful January lifestyle it provided, not to mention the fact that it coincided with an early interest in chasing girls.

Assuming the sun put on a reasonable show and it didn't rain the whole time, would the weather overpower those memories or simply become wrapped up in the whole good-time package?

Corballis says our memories are selective and distorted as a rule, but the forces behind that lack of perfection are often not known.

As for the weather, it does make some sense that people see things as they would like to remember them rather than how they truly were.