Transcript Flashbulb Memory

Did you feel the 2008 Sichuan earthquake?
Where were you when you heard about it?
Do you remember hearing about this?
 11th September 2001
Flashbulb memory
 Originally described by Brown & Kulik (1977):
 Exceptionally vivid memories
 Usually of important events with emotional
 Debate centres on whether they are a special case,
or the same as other memories
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significance
 Resistant to forgetting over time
Flashbulb memory
 Typical ‘flashbulb’ events are dramatic, unexpected,
shocking
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unexpected), momentous events
World Trade Centre
Kennedy, Princess Diana
Sichuan Earthquake
Tsunami
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 E.g. disasters, deaths of prominent figures (esp. if
Flashbulb memory
 Where you were
 What you were doing
 How you were informed
 How you reacted
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 How others around you reacted
Flashbulb memory
 Shock, arousal also important
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 Surveys about dramatic events:
 Brown & Kulik (1977) found US PPs tended to have
vivid memories of political assassinations
 All PPs good recall of Kennedy, Black PPs better
recall of Medgar Evers (civil rights worker)
 Shows importance of relevance
Flashbulb memory
 Challenges to concept of FBM:
 Neisser (1988) compared PPs recall of Challenger
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disaster after 2 days and 2 years
 Found all accounts had changed over time, some were
‘wildly inaccurate’
Flashbulb memory
 Platania & Hertkorn (1998) – recall for death of
Princess Diana
consistency
confidence
Diana
everyday
Diana
Imm.
10 weeks
Imm.
10 weeks
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everyday
Flashbulb memory
 Squire (2000) – recall of OJ Simpson verdict
100%
Highly accurate
Contained major
distortions
0%
1 mo
12 mo
15 mo
3 years
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50%
Flashbulb memories
 Relatively little evidence for FBMs as a distinct
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memory process
 They ‘feel’ accurate (we are confident in recall) but are
just as prone to forgetting & change as other episodic
memories
Flashbulb Memory (continued)
 So what is a Flashbulb Memory then?
 A particularly vivid, detailed and long-lasting memory of
an event that is highly significant and emotional.
 E.g. Andaman Sea Tsunami; Twin Towers (9/11) , attack on
London on 7/7, Sichuan Earthquake etc.
 A primary purpose of studies of flashbulb memories has
been to explain the considerable variation in memory
quality.
 By comparing the elaborateness, accuracy, consistency, and
persistence of memories formed under various conditions,
researchers should be able to identify factors that lead to
especially robust personal memories.
Flashbulb Memory (continued)
 Key Case Studies include: Brown & Kulik (1977) attribute the power of these
memories to a special neural physical mechanism that
imprints the details on memory. 6 kinds of info likely to be
recalled about moment news was heard.
 Issues involved: Where they were, what they were doing, who gave them the
news, what they felt about it, what others felt about it, what
happened in the immediate aftermath.
 Neisser(1992) disagrees, claiming their enduring nature is
due to frequent rehearsal and reworking after the event
rather than from neural activity at the time. They also seem
to be subject to forgetting, e.g. like other memories.
Flashbulb Memory (continued)
 However….
 After M. McCloskey et al (1988) attempted to clarify the flashbulb
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memory concept, their article became a new source of ambiguity.
In particular, they had evaluated the claim that a flashbulb mechanism
produces an elite class of complete, accurate, and permanently
accessible memories.
But this claim was not part of the original theoretical models,
operational definitions, and research hypotheses.
Because the flashbulb metaphor is potentially misleading, the more
mundane term memory of personal circumstances may be preferable.
It is therefore, unclear whether they are a particular type of memory or
whether they are substantially similar to most other memories for
events.
(Source: PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA)