Flashbulb memories

Question 1

Flashbulb Memory

Answer 1

• highly emotional events are remembered far better than ordinary routine moments
• due to surprise and high level of personal consequentiality (which causes emotional arousal)
• must satisfy neural condition
• will be remembered as vividly as a photograph hence “flashbulb” memory

Question 2

Brown and Kulik (1977)

Answer 2

Aim - to investigate what factors determine flashbulb memory about assassinations, highly newsworthy events, and personally significant events

Method:
- 40 white americans and 40 black americans
- participants filled out a questionairre with 9 political events involving political figures (mostly assassinations) and 1 that was personal, unexpected and shocking
- Participants asked to write free recall of the circumstances in which they received news of the event
- Rated each event on a scale of personal consequentiality (1-5) and frequency of rehearsal (approximate no of times the personal related the memory to someone else)

Results:
- Black participants more likely to have flashbulb memory in relation to memories about national leader involved in CVM (Eg: MLK) - had more personal consequentiality
- correlation between flashbulb memory and PC in white and black participants
- flashbulb memory was also in correlation with overt rehearsal

Conclusion:
- supported theory
- support role of overt rehearsal in memory maintenance

Question 3

Sharot et al 2007

Answer 3

Aim - biological factors on flashbulb memory

Methodology:
- “summer” or “september” projected along with word cues so that participants would either recall memories of 9/11 or summer holidays
- after experiment, participants asked to rate memories based on vividness, detail, confidence in accuracy etc. Asked to write detailed description of their memories

Results - those closer to World Trade Center had deeper memory. Left amygdala was more active for recall of 9/11. Parahippocampal gyrus was relatively inactive in comparison to summer holidays

Conclusion - activation of left amygdala may be neural mechanism of flashbulb memory, activation higher when person was closer to attack

Limitations - correlational, artifical environment, cultural bias, small sample size, doesn’t explain vivid memories from other events

Question 4

Neisser and Harsch (1992)

Answer 4

Aim - accuracy and vividness of flashbulb memory

Methodology:
- questionairre given to 106 participants describing circumstances surrounding reciving news about Challenger Space Shuttle explosion
- participants asked the same questions one day after incident and 3 years after incident

Results:
- confidence of correctness of memory was high (83% and self-reported)
- consistency of reponses was low - on average only 42% of answers were answered the same way 3 years later
- when shown discrepancies in answers and asked to explain them, they couldn’t explain why

Conclusion - shows how detailed vivid memories can occur while not actually accurate to the way it happened

Disadvantages - participants were psychology students, cutural factors unaccounted for, type of event (public/private) can influence how well it is remembered, no cause and effect relatioship