Flashbulb Memory Analysis

A flashbulb memory is an exceptionally clear reflection of an important event (openstax 8.2). In most instances, people can recall the weather, what they were wearing, dialogue, etc.

Throughout our lives, we definitely have gone through a lot of experiences and made memories. Some of the memories are easily forgotten, while some others are remembered distinctively, vividly and can be recollected confidently. This is called the flashbulb memory. Flashbulb memory is like a very clear picture of a particularly impactful event which had caused one to be affected emotionally. For example, I remember this performance that my school choir was performing. It was during Christmas season and we decided to spray bubble foam to portray fake snow. However, the plan backfired when the wind blew at our direction and all the foam flew back to us. This was remembered very clearly because I was embarrassed and had experienced something so

The study of creation of false memories has been a topic of interest since the 1930s when Bartlett (1932) conducted the first experiment on the topic. Though the results of this experiment were never replicated, they contributed greatly to research by distinguishing between reproductive and reconstructive memory (Bartlett 1932 as cited in Roediger & McDermott, 1995). Reproductive memory refers to accurate production of material from memory and is assumed to be associated with remembering simplified materials (e.g., lists). Reconstructive memory emphasizes the active process of filling in missing elements while remembering and is associated with materials rich in meaning (e.g., stories).

Memory is one of the most critical parts of cognition. It is important because it is involved in almost every aspect of cognition including problem solving, decision making, attention, and perception. Because of this importance, people rely on one’s memory to make important decisions. The value of one’s memory in this society is so high that it is used as evidence to either save one’s life or kill one’s life during murder trials. But as many of the cognitive psychologists know, human’s memory can cause many errors. One of these errors is false memory which is either remembering events that never happened or remembering events differently from the actual event. This finding of false memory raised big interests among psychologists and

Moreover, research also examined the effects of age on participants in regards to the onset of false memory. With materials and testing procedures that have been repeatedly found to produce higher levels of false memory, older children are more susceptible to generating false memories than younger children (Holliday, Brainerd & Reyna, 2010). This is particularly realistic in the DRM lists (Holliday, Brainerd &

1. What is the gist (summary) of the reading? This chapter was about “flashbulb memory.” Flashbulb memories are memories of traumatic or dramatic events in great detail.

Reading your post about 9/11 from such a young age was very interesting. My son was five at the time of the attacks and to this day he remembers the fact that he was upset because PBS interrupted their programming for the news coverage and he did not get to watch Clifford the Big Red Dog. My son may not remember the details of that day, but he will forever remember the disruption in his everyday routine caused by the attacks. Goldstein (2015) points out that the “idea that people believe flashbulb memories are stronger and more accurate has led to the conclusion that the special nature of flashbulb memories can be traced to the emotional nature of flashbulb events” (p. 216). For my son, he remembers his television programs being interrupted

On the other hand, Sharot et al carried out a study that supported this theory in 2007. The aim was to determine the role of biological factors on flashbulb memories three years after the 911 attacks. It included 24 participants who were in New York City on that day. Their brain activity was observed using functional magnetic resonance imaging as they recalled the event, as well as other distinct, autobiographical events from the summer of 2001. The latter served as baseline memories for evaluating the nature of 9/11 memories. After the fmri, participants were asked to rate their memories depending on how vivid, detailed, confident, and accurate they thought they were.

Neurobiological studies show that both suppression and recall and the creation of false memories are possible. (Kandel, 1994) In this paper both sides of the debate will be analyzed and evaluated.

There are two prominent distortions of the episodic memory system: forgetting and the false memory effect. False memory is the propensity to report an event as part of an episodic experience that was not actually present (Holliday, Brainerd, & Reyna, 2011). Several theories give an explanation for this effect, but the most prominent one is the fuzzy trace theory,

False memories have been the subject of many studies since Deese (1959) investigated their effects.

Memory does not work like a video camera, smoothly recording every detail. Instead, memory is more of a constructive process. We remember the details that we find most important and relevant. Due to the reconstructive nature of memory, the assimilation of old and new information has the ability to cause vulnerable memories to become distorted. This is also known as the misinformation effect (Loftus, 1997). It is not uncommon for individuals to fill in memory gaps with what they assume they must have experienced. We not only distort memories for events that we have observed, but, we may also have false memories for events that never occurred at all. False memories are “often created by combing actual memories with suggestions received from

Recollections of vivid autobiographical episodic memories formed when an individual experiences intense emotions, generating from a surprising public event defines Flashbulb memories (FBMs). Permanent and consistent remembrances processed cognitively and stored as explicit recollections in long term memory are additional features of FBMs (Goldstein, 2014). Brown & Kulik (1977) first proposed this phenomenon and argued FBMs are resistant to change like photographs. The ongoing debate over the process of cognition in relation to storing and recalling FBMs led numerous researchers to advance their understanding of the mental processing of FBMs and to evaluate the impact emotions have on memories. This paper discusses the pioneer investigation and findings from Brown & Kulik’s 1977. It further explores debates opposing their unique theory of FBMs and the apparent inadequacies of their conclusions. Additionally, this paper examines plausible hypotheses from researchers for the formation of FBMs like rehearsal of events and the inconsistencies of FBMs, their distortions and the decay FBMs experience over time. It then evaluates a contemporary study on FBMs and the necessity for future studies to develop a method to measure FBMs. This is imperative in order to gain a deeper understanding of the influences emotions have on shaping, processing and storing FBMs cognitively and consequently how it impacts on our daily lives.

Memory facilitates necessary functions in daily life activities, but it is not a perfect mechanism in operation. Goldstein (2011) states that memory is, “…the process involved in retaining, retrieving, and using information about stimuli, images, events, ideas, and skills after the original information is no longer present” (p.116). There are many adaptive functions within the complexities of the human memory system and the interlinked constructs between each function leave room for doubt in the accuracy of recollection. Study of the human mind has opened avenues of discovery on the inner workings of our brains and the resulting knowledge suggests that humans are prone to creating false memories and even remembering things that never actually happened. A great deal of information has been written explaining the nature of memory errors and within the following pages a real-life case offers a glimpse into how recall distortions and memory errors can wield unpleasant consequences. Memory errors can be avoided with a significant effort, but the truth remains that no one is perfect and memories are subject to individual bias.

There is also evidence against Flashbulb memories such as firstly it cannot be proved whether the participants are telling the truth or lying about an event since everyone's interpretation of where they were etc will be different, so it cannot be proved whether it is a flashbulb memory or just a memory. Secondly it is also difficult to prove how accurate flashbulb memories are since they all have different degrees of significance to people too so certain people will remember less or more and others will forget parts of the memory where as others will not. Thirdly with large events such as