I have no conscious memory of my 6th birthday party. We lived in the house where I turned 6 for less than two years, and while I remember the names of three or four kids who would surely have been at my party, I can’t recall their faces to save my life. So © is right out, and I’d say the odds heavily favor (b). But I suppose there’s always a chance of sudden recognition from long-buried memories, so I wouldn’t want to exclude the possibility of (a).
For my 6th bday we went to this ice cream place that hasn’t been there in decades, so that would be pretty cool.
When I was in high school, some class assignment involved us bringing in a picture of ourselves as a small child. I brought in a picture from pre-school, a Halloween party. There was I in my cute little white bunny costume…next to me was my best friend, Stacy, whom I’d met Freshman year.
…wait a second…Stacey, whom I’d met Freshman year…was in my preschool class?!
And the flood of memories that came back when Stacey and I realized we’d actually be besties in preschool was…none at all. Nope. Neither of us remembered that party, or our costumes, or being best friends back in preschool although once mentioned to our parents, they all had a variation of “Oh, THAT Stacey/WhyNot?! Oh, yeah, you played together all the time! Huh, she’s in your French class now? Fancy that…”
We were five, not six, and we’d gone to different K-8 schools, so we had completely fallen out of touch in all those years. But no, being presented with a photograph of ourselves didn’t help either of us recall our apparently close friendship as preschoolers, or any of the details of that Halloween party, although it looked like we were having a great time.
I’ve no memory of my 6th birthday (and I’m middle-aged : 48).
C seems unlikely to me. There isn’t much to remember and there wasn’t much change during my whole childhood (the friends I had at 6 were the same I had at 10, for instance) so I think I would get most details right.
I can’t exclude a limited instance of A because I had once the experience of a completely forgotten memory coming back vividly. I was maybe 40 and was shown a picture of myself at 4, holding a rubber daffy duck. Not only did I suddenly remember this toy, that I had been particularly fond of, but also I vividly remembered the feeling and taste of its beak in my mouth (I assume I was in the habbit of munching on it)
Since then I’ve been wondering how many equally precise memories are stored somewhere in my brain, that could be awakened by seeing a picture, hearing a sound, or whatever other trigger. And I guess I might find many such triggers if I were to be sent back in time.
But I would expect it to be mostly B.
According to my own experience, that’s possible. Although I have been shown many other photos that didn’t trigger any memory.