François CholletVerified account

To be honest, all my earliest memories I can recall are rather connected to emotions (stress or joy) - but states, not processes. (Left alone; wading through fallen leaves; ...)

Maybe you are noticing the wrong pattern - it's not only new affordances. My earliest memories are new, surprising events in general. Seeing a splash of water evaporate extremely fast in very hot weather, stepping onto an anthill, getting stung be a bee, ...

The question is: how much relevance have these memories in finding patterns

One of my earliest childhood memories is centered around a new toy/rope ladder. I remember great detail about the toy.

One of my earliest memories is 'helping' my Dad push a hand-mower, on a cross brace half way up the handle.

I believe that even at a young age, you can consciously tell yourself to remember something, and likely will. Also, memory recall is context dependent - places, smells, etc.