Cognitive Approach - Emotion of Memory Flashcards
Flashbulb Memories
Certain memories that are stronger than others due to their emotional nature
Special Mechanism Hypothesis
Certain memories are recalled better due to the special mechanism of recalling events that have a critical level of significance
Brown and Kulik (1977)
Aim: To investigate whether surprising and significant events can lead to flashbulb memories
Participants: Volunteer sample from harvard uni (40 w and 40 b) (ALL MEN)
DESIGN : Questionnaire
Procedure:
1.Participants were given questionnaires asking them their memories surrounding the details about when they first found out about the death of eight famous people as well as the death of someone they personally knew
2. They also had to recall an incident from their own lives in which they experienced a sudden shock, and had to write a free recall of the event.
3. They had to rate how important the event was to them.
Results:
1. 90% of the participants recalled a significant amount of detail about the day when these events occurred
2. Most participants had very detailed memories of the death of a loved one
3. Difference in memories based on the personal relevance of the event to the participant
(White reported strongest FBMs about assassination of JFK. It was also a strong FBM for Black. More Black reported having FBMs connected to death of important black figures, same with white)
Conclusion:
- Supports FBM theory
- FM is more likely for spontaneous and personal events, and suggested the “photographic model of flashbulb memory”.
- They also suggested that FM is caused by physiological emotional arousal (ex. activity in the amygdala)
Brown and Kulik (1977) Evaluation
Strengths:
- Standard procedure -> replicable -> reliability
Limitations:
- Small sample from elite establishment -> low generalisability
- questionnaire -> cannot establish direct cause and effect relationship
- demand characteristic -> social desirability effect
Stone et al (2015)
Aim: To assess the extent to which emotions play a role in recalling significant past events, using a cross-cultural perspective
Participants: 245 Uni students from Sydney and Tokyo
Procedure:
1. Researchers used real life resignations of both Japanese and Australian PM in 2010 (both events occurred within a short time and were similar) [Both PMs resigned as result of not following party political ideology]
2. Participants filled in questionnaire 3-5 weeks after resignation
3. Questionnaire included measures of how accurate the participants’s memory was and how confident they were, emotions connected to the event.
Results:
1. There were differences in the way that the participants recalled events (Japanese more -, Australians were more + )
2. + emotions were more accurate for Aussies
3. - emotions improved Japanese recalling ability
3. High confidence in memory was only on Aussies
Conclusion:
FBMs may be influenced by culture: collectivist cultures more - view of past events than individualistic cultures and this seems to improve accuracy of recall.
Stone et al (2015) Evaluation
Strengths:
- Two similar public events, researchers could control possible extraneous variables
- High internal validity -> Questionnaire included a measure of how interdependent/independent each person felt which then correlated with other measures
Limitations:
- Questionnaires lack depth and insight
- Results could perpetuate cultural stereotypes and could be based on misinterpretation of responses.
Flashbulb Memory Theory
suggests that some memories are remembered distinctly - even after time had passed - because the events incited highly emotional responses at the time. FB memories (episodic memories) have unique features that distinguish them from other memories (more vivid, detailed, accurate, long-lasting, consistent and easily to remember) while normal memories are believed to be selective, unreliable and malleable (easily changed or distorted).
