Flashbulb Memory - SAQ Flashcards
Aim
To investigate whether surprising and personally significant events can cause flashbulb memories
Participants
40 black and 40 white American male
What questions were asked?
Where were you?
Who was with you?
How did you find out?
How did you feel?
How important was this event in your life?
How often have you talked about this event?
What did the participants have to do?
Fill out a questionnaire regarding the death of public figures (such as John F Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr)as well as of someone they personally knew.
Results
90% of the participants recalled a significant amount of detail about the day when these events occurred and most had very detailed memories of the death of a loved one.
What was the difference between white and black participants?
There was a difference in memories of the assassination of public officials, based on the personal relevance of the event to the participant. 75% of black participants had flashbulb memories of the murder of Martin Luther King, compared to 33% of white participants
What did Brown & Kulik hypothesise about the theory?
Memories of highly emotional events will be exceptionally clear, detailed, and accurate
These events will be remembered as vividly as a photograph
People will remember all the details surrounding the event
Who came up with Flashbulb Memory?
Brown & Kulik
When did Brown & Kulik do the experiment?
1977
How are flashbulb memories maintained?
By using covert and overt rehearsal:
Overt rehearsal includes conversations with other people in which the events reconstructed.
Covert rehearsal is replacing the event in one’s own memory
How are flashbulb memories formed?
If the event is:
Personally significant
Unexpected
Emotionally arousing
What did Brown & Kulik suggest about the brain?
Flashbulb memories used a special neural mechanism. In other words it involved a different brain process than an ordinary memory.
What is a flashbulb memory?
Flashbulb memories are vivid memories of the circumstances in which one first learned of a surprising and emotionally arousing event.
