By Annalise Siegler
A flashbulb memory is what you would call a “core memory”. This type of memory is where you remember where you were, how you felt, and what you were doing. Some would say this memory is “carved” into your brain. A flashbulb memory is a newsworthy event that has personal value to it. The journal article “Flashbulb Memories in Older Adults” by Gillian Cohen, Martin A. Conway, and Elizabeth A. Maylor, explains that “The term flashbulb memories, which was introduced by Brown and Kulik (1977), has been used to denote unusually vivid and detailed veridical memories that persist unchanged over long periods of time”. The article also describes flashbulb memories as “ The existence, nature, and aetiology of flashbulb memories have been the subject of considerable debate and remain controversial. According to one view (Brown & Kulik, 1977; Gold, 1987; Schmidt & Bohannon, 1988), flashbulbs are a distinct type of memory created by a special encoding mechanism that is triggered by high levels of emotion, surprise, and consequentiality ( Cohen, Conway, and Maylor 1).
An example of a flashbulb memory is September 11th, 2001. Most Americans who were cognitive and a part of society have a flashbulb memory of 9/11. I was talking to my mom about her flashbulb memory on 9/11. She explained how she distinctly remembers watching the tv and not knowing what was going on. She commented how she was glued to the tv just waiting for an explanation when she saw the second plane hit. She was in shock, she could not believe what she had just watched.
Although flashbulb memories seem so accurate, almost like you’re watching them over and over again in your brain, they are not 100% accurate. The results from the journal article “ Features of Autobiographical Memory: Theoretical and Empirical Issues in the Measurement of Flashbulb Memory” by Antonietta Curci and Tiziana Lanciano explains how consistent flashbulb memories are, “Concerning the FBM attributes, 72.1% of the total sample of respondents showed a consistent recall of the time of day when they learned that the attacks happened, 81.9% of the informant, 92.1% of the location where they were, 74.9% of the other people present, and 56.5% of the ongoing activity”. This quote shows that flashbulb memories are not always 100% accurate. Another piece of evidence that supports that flashbulb memories are not always accurate comes from the journal article “Predicting Confidence in Flashbulb Memories” by Martin V. Day and Michael Ross. This article states that “Participants initially reported a high proportion of flashbulb memory attributes with 97.4% reporting all but one attribute. Of the participants, 68 reported all seven requested attributes, 5 reported six attributes, 1 reported five attributes and 1 reported four attributes. Participants’ recollections during the second survey were scored as 55% consistent” ( Day and Ross p. 6).
Overall, flashbulb memories are not accurate. Each time you remember a memory, you are remembering the last time you remembered it, not the actual event itself.
Works Cited
Cohen, Gillian, et al. “Flashbulb Memories in Older Adults.” Psychology and Aging, vol. 9, no. 3, 1994, pp. 454–463., https://doi.org/10.1037/0882-7974.9.3.454.
Curci, Antonietta, and Tiziana Lanciano. “Features of Autobiographical Memory: Theoretical and Empirical Issues in the Measurement of Flashbulb Memory.” The Journal of General Psychology, vol. 136, no. 2, 2009, pp. 129–152., https://doi.org/10.3200/genp.136.2.129-152.
Day, Martin V., and Michael Ross. “Predicting Confidence in Flashbulb Memories.” Memory, vol. 22, no. 3, 2013, pp. 232–242., https://doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2013.778290.