Brown and Kulik (1977)

Title

flashbulb memories of consequential events

Background

designed to test the flashbulb memory theory, stating that when people experience emotional events exceeding values of consequentiality, they form special memories that are more vivid, detailed, accurate, and long-lasting than regular memories. this supposedly happens because of a special brain mechanism that connects emotions with memory, but also because people rehearse the emotional event overtly (public) and covertly (individually)

Aim

to investigate if flahsbulb memories are a distinct form of memory: more vivid, distinct, highly detailed, as opposed to everyday memories

Participants

80 participants (age 20-60), 40 of which were Caucasian and 40 of which were African American

Procedure

participants were asked to answer questionnaires about how vividly they recalled, how they felt, and where they were when they found out about important public events, such as the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy. they were asked to remember if they had any flashbulb memories of personal events such as the birth or death of a family member. answers were submitted in the form of free recall of unlimited length.

Results

participants had very clear memories of where they were, what they did, and what they felt when they first learned about an important public occurrence such as the assassination of JFK or Martin Luther King Jr.

they also reported surprise and consequentiality.

the structural forms of these memories were very similar (reception context).

personal relevance influenced whether the participants had memories of public events (75% of AA participants had a flashbulb memory of the assassination of Martin Luther King vs 33% of Caucasian participants).

all but one of the 80 informants had FB memories about the assassination of JFK.

73% said they had typical flashbulb memories associated with a personal shock such as the death of a close relative.

Conclusion

flashbulb memories are longlasting and include information about where, when, and with whom information is received.

people form flashbulb memories of events that have important consequences for them (more emotion = more rehearsal = FBM)

Method

questionnaire (retrospective study)

Critical thinking: methodological considerations

strengths

- relatively cheap, quick, and efficient way of gathering information from a large sample of people

- high ecological validity

limitations

- social desirability --> false responses

- low reliability (internal validity)

- no cause and effect relationship

Critical thinking: alternative explanations

the memories of the participants may have been reconstructed or been influenced by schemas, lowering the reliability of their responses as external information (overt rehearsal) may have had a greater impact than individual recall (covert rehearsal)

Critical thinking: gender bias

although not explicitly stated, it can be assumed that both men and women partook in the study, implying that there is no gender bias

Critical thinking: ethical considerations

the study was ethical because there was informed consent, the participants were not deceived, they were debriefed, their identities remained confidential, they could withdraw, and they were protected from mental (mostly) and physical harm

Critical thinking: cultural considerations

although both African American and Caucasian individuals participated in the study, the findings may not apply to foreign cultures as the study took place in a WEIRD country

Critical thinking: applications

these findings about flashbulb memory can be used in criminal investigations and the examination of historical documents/sources and their validity (PTSD understanding)

How does this study demonstrate the aspects of flashbulb memory?

this study demonstrates the aspects of flashbulb memory as the participants reported surprise consequentiality, their memories were long-term (the study took place almost 10 or more years after the assassinations), their memories were vivid and detailed, and they all reported reception context. despite the fact that accuracy could not be measured, the amount of rehearsal was not investigated, there was no apparent distinction from everyday memories, and a special neural mechanism was not discovered, the research generally supports the majority of the theory's claims as the participants had seemingly unique memories of the shocking events, hence suggesting that humans do have flashbulb memories.