Eight-year-old Shaun’s parents are concerned that he may have dissociative amnesia due to his inability to remember certain phases of his life. Why would his doctor be hesitant to diagnose him?

Children normally have limited recall of events from early childhood, especially events that happened before about age 5. Since Shaun is only 8, gaps in his memory for that period may reflect ordinary childhood amnesia rather than dissociative amnesia. This makes choice C the best reason for the doctor’s hesitation.

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