Distinct processes shape flashbulb and event memories

Abstract

In the present study, we examined the relation between memory for a consequential and emotional event and memory for the circumstances in which people learned about that event, known as flashbulb memory. We hypothesized that these two types of memory have different determinants and that event memory is not necessarily a direct causal determinant of flashbulb memory. Italian citizens (N = 352) described their memories of Italy’s victory in the 2006 Football World Cup Championship after a delay of 18 months. Structural equation modeling showed that flashbulb memory and event memory could be clearly differentiated and were determined by two separate pathways. In the first pathway, importance predicted emotional intensity, which, in turn, predicted the frequency of overt and covert rehearsal. Rehearsal was the only direct determinant of vivid and detailed flashbulb memories. In the second pathway, importance predicted rehearsal by media exposure, which enhanced the accuracy and certainty of event memory. Event memory was also enhanced by prior knowledge. These results have important implications for the debate concerning whether the formation of flashbulb memory and event memory involve different processes and for understanding how flashbulb memory can be simultaneously so vivid and so error-prone.

A ten-year follow-up of a study of memory for the attack of September 11, 2001: Flashbulb memories and memories for flashbulb events.

“…Although mostly emo tionally charged and negatively valenced, some studied events have been positively valenced, for example, the German with drawal from Denmark at the end of War World II (Bemtsen & Thomsen, 2005), the fall of the Berlin Wall (Bohn & Berntsen, 2007), and success at the World Cup (Kopietz & Echterhoff, 2014;Tinti, Schmidt, Testa, & Levine, 2014). Moreover, although most research has involved events salient to the public at large, some have studied emotionally charged public events relevant to only a small group of people, as is the case when family or friends learn of the death of a loved one (Pillemer, 2009;Rubin & Kozin, 1984).…”

Flashbulb Memories

“…For instance, event memories are similar to FBMs, in that they also decline over time (Bohannon & Symons, 1992; Hirst et al, 2015). But how they are retained — or forgotten — seems to differ (Tinti, Schmidt, Testa, & Levine, 2014). In particular, at least one common factor shaping the accuracy of the event memory may play less of a role for FBMs: the extent of rehearsal attributed to media attention.…”

Heroic Memory: Remembering the Details of Others' Heroism in the Aftermath of a Traumatic Public Event Can Foster Our Own Prosocial Response

“…From disasters (Neisser & Harsch, 1992) and high profile deaths (Brown & Kulik, 1977) to the end of a war (Berntsen & Thomsen, 2005) and World Cup victory (Tinti, Schmidt, Testa, & Levine, 2014), memory researchers have vigorously studied how people remember details for emotionally charged public events for almost a half-century following from seminal work on flashbulb memories (Brown & Kulik, 1977;Neisser, 1982). After 9/11, there was a flurry of research on how people remembered terror attacks (e.g., Budson et al, 2007;Conway, Skitka, Hemmerich, & Kershaw, 2009;Hirst et al, 2009;Luminet et al, 2004;Talarico & Rubin, 2003).…”