Flashbulb Memory

Flashbulb memory is a long-lasting, vivid memory with  many clarity details of  very traumatic events. This kind of memory is stored for a lifetime. Even though we remember all the details from that particular event we can't really say that the flashbulb memory is accurate. By retelling the event over and over again we are putting some new details into our flashbulb memory and the memory is not the same anymore, but we are not aware of this change. How does this actually work?

Brown & Kulik (1977): Brown and Kulik were suggesting that dramatic events can imprint a powerful impression into your memory. They strongly argued about the idea that there may be some physiological processes that have an effect on the flashbulb memory.

Their aim was to find out if some traumatic event has an impact of flashbulb memory. Procedure: The participants were asked some questions about significant dramatic events like death of Princess Diana or assassination of  President John F. Kennedy. These questions were very detailed. For example: What were you wearing when this terrible accident happened? What they found is that their answers on these questions were very vivid and full of details. 

Brown and Kulik concluded that dramatic and historical events that are retelling  over and over again cause a physiological imprinting on the memory of the event. 

Neisser & Harsch (1992): Neisser and Harsch performed a case study that provided support for reconstruction theory in unexpected way. Procedure: One day after the highly publicized tragedy, the explosion of the space shuttle (Challenger) in 1986, Neisser and Harsch gave some questions like "how do they found out, what time was it" to students about this tragedy. Then after 3 years they asked a new copy of questions to same student and compared the first set questions with another one. What Neissser and Harsch found out is that only 7% of all students perfectly remembered what really happened  68% of students remembered some accurate details put they answers also contained many inaccurate details and 25% of students recalled memories that were completely inaccurate. Interesting was that all of these student were confident about what they wrote. This case study concluding that flashbulb memories are not reliable and they may be ordinary memories. The only difference is the confidence people have in these memories because they are associated with historical, significant events. 
Talarico & Rubin (2003): In their case study they were trying to find out the difference between normal and flashbulb memories. Procedure: In this study people were asked to remember the events of the Word Trade Center attack on September 11, 2001. Talarico and Rubin were asked questions in 4 different occasions: 1, 7, 42 and 224 day after the attack. These people were also asked to remember some details about the ordinary event that happened around the same time of the attack. Talarico and Rubin findings are that the flashbulb memory of the W.T.C. attack remained very vivid with many details and the participants were very confident about accuracy of their answers. Ordinary memories contained many details as well. The only difference was that these details were less vivid and participants weren't that confident about the accuracy of their answers. Conclusion: The only difference between flashbulb and ordinary memories is the that people feel more confident when they talk about their flashbulb memories than they feel when they talk about ordinary memories. Flashbulb memories of the tragic event are also more vivid than normal memories because people retell the details of the event more often so they are repeatedly rehearsed. 
6 Characteristic Features of FBM: place, ongoing activity, informant, own affect, other affect, and aftermath.
Determinants of FBM: a high level of surprise, a high level of consequentiality, and emotional arousal. 
Emotions: One reason why we think we remember the flashbulb memory so good is because of the emotion. Researchers estimated that we remember emotionally charged events better than normal or boring ones. Flashbulb memories are formed during extremely arousal and highly emotional times or events.