What is flashbulb memory?
Flashbulb memory is very vivid and real snapshot of emotionally significant moment, such as the 9/11. Because these events are often talked about, the schema for this memory is changed. Flashbulb memory's time lasting is long but it slowly fades away. Significant is the emotional impact on brain when it happens and therefore people are able to recall many, normally insignificant, detail such as what were they wearing or who they were with at that moment.FBM Studies
Brown and Kulik (1977)
Brown and Kulik were asking people 80 people about shocking memorable days, such as death of princess Diana, assassination of J.F. Kennedy and Malcolm X.The responses of 40 African Americans and 40 white people were analyzed and compared to non-consequential memories. During the memorable events people were able to recall details such as when, how and where they heard the shocking news, along with what they were wearing and who they were with.This study showed that flashbulb memories happen when something shocking and consequential occurs.
Neisser and Harsh (1992)
106 people were questioned about the Challenger space shuttle tragedy (1966) the next day after the event. Example questions are how they heard the news and what they were wearing. These same questions were asked the same people 32 months later and were compared to the earlier results. The participants were highly confident that they still remembered everything as the last time they answered these questions. However, out of 220 original answers, in average. 150 were completely or partially wrong. This shows that FBM fade away.
Talarico and Rubin (2003)
Talarico and Rubin experiment was done after the World Trade Center was destroyed by terrorists on September 1st, 2001. The participants involved were asked 1, 7, 42 and 224 days after this event about the details of this tragedy and about their routinely action they were taking while it occurred. The participants were confident in their memory about the tragedy itself and not so sure about their usual activities' details, such as what they were wearing and who they were with at the moment. However, the more time passed, the more the flashbulb memories begun to fade. This study proved that flashbulb memories and normal memories are essentially the same, yet people are more confident in the flashbulb memories.
Determinants
According to studies, the principles of flashbulb memories are events that are very surprising, have highly consequential and are very emotional.Emotion and FBM
It was debated for a long time whether flashbulb memory are special kind of memories or if they are like any other memories concerning reliability. Emotion plays a great role in flashbulb memory. Another sub-factor of emotion is also relevance of information, for example many people remembered the death of social worker, Medgar Evers, than the Kennedy assassination. So far it seems that amygdala that is responsible for emotions and triggers them faster than our conscious awareness. The shock that we go through when something consequential happens imprints into amygdala because of our emotional shock.Sources:
- http://www.markedbyteachers.com/university-degree/biological-sciences/brown-and-kulik-and-flashbulb-memories.html
- http://dianabenovapsych.blogspot.sk/2011/12/flashbulb-memory-brown-kulik-1977.html
- http://as-psychology.pbworks.com/w/page/9174277/KeyStudyNeisser
