Premium Essay

Flashbulb Memories Research Paper

Submitted By
Words 1713
Pages 7
An example of a cognitive process is memory, remembering things. Flashbulb memories (FBM) are highly detailed, exceptionally vivid ‘snapshots’ of the moment and circumstances in which surprising and consequential (or emotionally arousing) events happened or news was heard. Brown and Kulik (1997) who were the first modern psychologists to study FBMs, defined them as ‘memories of the circumstances in which one first learned of a very surprising and consequential (or emotionally arousing) event’. The defining feature of an FBM is not the memory of the event, but memory of its reception context- the circumstance of the news’s reception.
Brown and Kulik proposed a theory of the formation and the maintenance of FBMs. FBMs form in situations where …show more content…
(1994). The researchers used both UK and non-UK citizens to study FBMs caused by the unexpected resignation of the British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1990. There were several data collection points in this study including a few days after the resignation and after 11 months. Conway et al. found that that 85.6% of UK citizens, and considerably fewer non- UK citizens, had a flashbulb memory. Thus, Conway claimed that this event met the criteria for FBM for British people as it was an unexpected and highly significant event pertaining to their culture, therefore arousing deep emotions, influencing the special neural mechanisms and therefore creating FBM of the event. The strengths of this study is that there is high ecological validity as this event did occur, it was real and that it was an interview therefore lots of detailed, in depth qualitative data could be obtained. Some claim that a limitation to this study was that some of the methodology was not controlled. This study suggests that flashbulb memories exist and are different from normal memories. However, they may only exist for events with personal significance.
These studies however suffer from a serious methodological shortcoming: they not include a control condition to allow for comparison between normal memories and flashbulb memories. They simply assume that flashbulb memories are better than other kind of

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Memory

...RUNNING HEAD: SOURCE MEMORY AND THE IMPLICATION OF THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE Memory has a multitude of facets that comprise what a memory is and how a memory is characterized. Some memories are recollections, hazy moving pictures; some are unconscious working memories, while others are a bit more in depth. A source memory is a type of memory in which we remember who, what, where, when and how of a specific event. It is what gives our memories relative meaning to both time and the significance of the events that occurred in our life. A memory is generally meaningful regardless, but when we can recollect the sources of that memory, it fine tunes the events surrounding it as well as future recollections. The ability to source our memories comes full circle within our lifetime, developing in early adolescence throughout early and late adulthood, and eventually the ability becomes more tasking for our cortex within old age. Time is one of life’s few constants, a never ending stream of information in this space-time continuum. The ability of our mind to capture moments of this past in an almost capsule like photograph is astounding, being able to source these times shows how powerful memory is and the capture of moments in this never-ending continuum. Myriads of studies on source memory have been conducted and more recently within the past few decades. The studies herein focus on various source memory tasks throughout age groups, examining the differences...

Words: 2925 - Pages: 12

Premium Essay

False Eye Witness Testimony

...Witnesses rely on their memories to testify as to what they believe is a true account of the event. However, memories have been found to be fallible with no guarantee of corresponding with objective reality (Johnson, 2001). Research has found that false memories (FM), where a person recalls an event that did not occur and mistakes it to be a true representation of that event (Gleaves & Smith, 2004; Johnson, 2001) exists within the realm of eyewitness testimony (ET) (Loftus, Miller & Burns, 1978). This raises the issue of how well does ET reflect reality. Some theories that explain FM include the source monitoring failure theory (Johnson, Hastroudi & Lindsay, 1993), activation monitoring theory (Roediger, Balota &Watson, 2001) and fuzzy trace theory (Brianerd & Reyna, 1998; Reyna & Brainerd, 1995). Due to word count limitations, this paper will explore the concept of FM using fuzzy trace theory, source monitoring errors and the misinformation effect to explain how FM occurs in the context of ET and why ET can never the representation of the complete truth. The FTT proposes that there are two parallel memory traces, the verbatim trace and the gist trace (Brianerd & Reyna, 1998; Reyna & Brainerd, 1995). The verbatim trace stores information item-by-item and is a verdicial representation of an event. The gist trace stores a generalised meaning based representation of an event. The FTT proposes that verbatim trace decays quickly whereas the gist trace lingers in memory longer resulting...

Words: 1529 - Pages: 7

Free Essay

Psychology Revision Notes

...Memory Without it, you’d be constantly living in one moment to the next. You wouldn’t know who you are, where you came from or where you are going. But what is it? And how does it work? To answer these questions, early memory researchers decided to break memory down into simple structures. The mysterious power of our mind to store images, words and sounds, was reduced into several components. All of these components were then thought to interact through simple processes. Simplifying memory in this way was a necessary step in developing our understanding of how memory functions. From this structured view of memory, two important models of memory were developed: the Multi-store Model and the Working-Memory Model. Section 1: Multi-store model of memory Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) Do you think you have a good memory? What is your earliest memory? The multi-store model is a structural model which states that memory is made up of 3 distinct, separate stores: sensory memory, short-term memory (STM) and long-term memory (LTM). Each of the stores can be analysed based on three factors: 1) Capacity: how much information can be stored 2) Duration: the amount of time the information can be stored 3) Encoding: how the information is represented by the memory system Sensory memory The first store in the multi-store model is the sensory memory store. This store provides an account of the environment as experienced by our senses. A copy of the stimulus is kept here until we determine...

Words: 7249 - Pages: 29

Premium Essay

Memory

...MEMORY Memory is one of the most important concepts in learning; if things are not remembered, no learning can take place. Futhermore, memory has served as a battleground for opposing theories and paradigms of learning (e.g., Adams, 1967; Ashcraft, 1989; Bartlett, 1932; Klatzky, 1980; Loftus & Loftus, 1976; Tulving & Donaldson, 1972). Some of the major issues include recall versus recognition, the nature of forgetting (i.e., interference versus decay), the structure of memory, and intentional versus incidental learning. According to the early behaviorist theories (e.g., Thorndike, Guthrie, Hull), remembering was a function of S-R pairings which acquired strength due to contiguity or reinforcement. Stimulus sampling theory explained many memory phenomenon on the basis of statistical outcomes. On the other hand, cognitive theories (e.g., Tolman) insisted that meaning (i.e., semantic factors) played an important role in remembering. In particular, Miller suggested that information was organized into "chunks" according to some commonality. The idea that memory is always an active reconstruction of existing knowledge was championed by Bruner and is found in the theories of Ausubel and Schank. Some theories of memory have concerned themselves with the nature of the processing. Paivio suggests a dual coding scheme for verbal and visual information. Craik & Lockhart proposed that information can be processed to different levels of understanding. Rumelhart & Norman describe three...

Words: 9956 - Pages: 40

Premium Essay

The Case of Mike and Marty Scanlon

...Study Guide Essentials of Psychology By Robert G. Turner Jr., Ph.D. About the Author Robert G. Turner Jr., Ph.D. has more than 20 years of teaching and education-related experience. He has taught seventh-grade science, worked as a curriculum developer for the Upward Bound Program, and taught sociology, social psychology, anthropology, and honors seminars at the university level. As a professional writer, he has written nonfiction books, journal and magazine articles, novels, and stage plays. Contents Contents INSTRUCTIONS TO STUDENTS LESSON ASSIGNMENTS LESSON 1: PSYCHOLOGY: THE SCIENCE OF THE MIND LESSON 2: THE MIND AT WORK LESSON 3: MOTIVATION, EMOTION, DEVELOPMENT, AND PERSONALITY RESEARCH PROJECT LESSON 4: PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS LESSON 5: PSYCHOLOGY FOR TWO OR MORE CASE STUDIES SELF-CHECK ANSWERS 1 7 9 43 75 117 127 147 167 171 iii YOUR COURSE Instructions Instructions Welcome to your course, Essentials of Psychology. You’re entering a course of study designed to help you better understand yourself and others. For that reason, you can think of this course as practical. It should be of use to you in living your life and reaching the goals you set for yourself. You’ll use two main resources for your course work: this study guide and your textbook, Psychology and Your Life, by Robert S. Feldman. OBJECTIVES When you complete this course, you’ll be able to ■ Describe the science and methodologies of psychology in the context of its...

Words: 49230 - Pages: 197

Premium Essay

Myths

...Perception (ESP) Is a Well-Established Scientific Phenomenon Myth #4 Visual Perceptions Are Accompanied by Tiny Emissions from the Eyes Myth #5 Subliminal Messages Can Persuade People to Purchase Products 2 FROM WOMB TO TOMB Myth #6 Playing Mozart’s Music to Infants Boosts Their Intelligence Myth #7 Adolescence Is Inevitably a Time of Psychological Turmoil Myth #8 Most People Experience a Midlife Crisis in | 8 Their 40s or Early 50s Myth #9 Old Age Is Typically Associated with Increased Dissatisfaction and Senility Myth #10 When Dying, People Pass through a Universal Series of Psychological Stages 3 A REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST Myth #11 Human Memory Works like a Tape Recorder or Video Camera, and Accurate Events We’ve Experienced Myth #12 Hypnosis Is Useful for Retrieving Memories of Forgotten Events Myth #13 Individuals Commonly Repress the Memories of Traumatic Experiences Myth #14 Most People with Amnesia Forget All Details of Their Earlier Lives 4 TEACHING OLD DOGS NEW TRICKS Myth #15 Intelligence (IQ) Tests Are Biased against Certain Groups of People My th #16 If You’re Unsure of Your Answer When Taking a Test, It’s Best to Stick with Your Initial Hunch Myth #17 The Defining Feature of Dyslexia Is Reversing Letters Myth #18 Students Learn Best When Teaching Styles Are Matched to Their Learning Styles 5 ALTERED STATES Myth #19 Hypnosis Is a Unique “Trance” State that Differs in Kind from Wakefulness Myth #20 Researchers Have Demonstrated that Dreams Possess Symbolic Meaning Myth...

Words: 130018 - Pages: 521

Premium Essay

Introduction to Psychology

...TPS 101: INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY TPS 101 serves as the beginning course in psychology; as such, it is broad in scope. The course will introduce students to the history of psychology, and current paradigms and theories. We will cover neuroscience, sensation, perception, memory, and language, stress and health psychology, personality and social psychology, intelligence, and developmental psychology. Because of time limitations, none of these topics can be covered in great depth. The reference textbooks and the material presented in class will serve as the primary sources for the material to be covered. INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF PSYCHOLOGY Psychology is the scientific study of behaviour and mental processes. It is an academic and applied discipline involving the scientific study of mental processes and behaviour. Psychology also refers to the application of such knowledge to various spheres of human activity, including problems of individuals' daily lives and the treatment of mental illness. It is largely concerned with humans, although the behaviour and mental processes of animals can also be part of psychology research, either as a subject in its own right (e.g. animal cognition and ethnology), or somewhat more controversially, as a way of gaining an insight into human psychology by means of comparison (including comparative psychology). Origins of the psychology Near the end of 19th century things started drawing together. Questions raised by philosophers were being...

Words: 84844 - Pages: 340

Free Essay

Thinking Fast and Slow

...In memory of Amos Tversky Contents Introduction Part I. Two Systems 1. The Characters of the Story 2. Attention and Effort 3. The Lazy Controller 4. The Associative Machine 5. Cognitive Ease 6. Norms, Surprises, and Causes 7. A Machine for Jumping to Conclusions 8. How Judgments Happen 9. Answering an Easier Question Part II. Heuristics and Biases 10. The Law of Small Numbers 11. Anchors 12. The Science of Availability 13. Availability, Emotion, and Risk 14. Tom W’s Specialty 15. Linda: Less is More 16. Causes Trump Statistics 17. Regression to the Mean 18. Taming Intuitive Predictions Part III. Overconfidence 19. The Illusion of Understanding 20. The Illusion of Validity 21. Intuitions Vs. Formulas 22. Expert Intuition: When Can We Trust It? 23. The Outside View 24. The Engine of Capitalism Part IV. Choices 25. Bernoulli’s Errors 26. Prospect Theory 27. The Endowment Effect 28. Bad Events 29. The Fourfold Pattern 30. Rare Events 31. Risk Policies 32. Keeping Score 33. Reversals 34. Frames and Reality Part V. Two Selves 35. Two Selves 36. Life as a Story 37. Experienced Well-Being 38. Thinking About Life Conclusions Appendix Uncertainty A: Judgment Under Appendix B: Choices, Values, and Frames Acknowledgments Notes Index Introduction Every author, I suppose, has in mind a setting in which readers of his or her work could benefit from having read it. Mine is the proverbial office watercooler, where opinions are shared and gossip is exchanged. I...

Words: 189666 - Pages: 759

Free Essay

Art of Thinking Clearly by Rolf Dobelli

...CONTE NTS Introduction 1 WHY YOU SHOULD VISIT CEMETERIES: Survivorship Bias 2 DOES HARVARD MAKE YOU SMARTER?: Swimmer’s Body Illusion 3 WHY YOU SEE SHAPES IN THE CLOUDS: Clustering Illusion 4 IF 50 MILLION PEOPLE SAY SOMETHING FOOLISH, IT IS STILL FOOLISH: Social Proof 5 WHY YOU SHOULD FORGET THE PAST: Sunk Cost Fallacy 6 DON’T ACCEPT FREE DRINKS: Reciprocity 7 BEWARE THE ‘SPECIAL CASE’: Confirmation Bias (Part 1) 8 MURDER YOUR DARLINGS: Confirmation Bias (Part 2) 9 DON’T BOW TO AUTHORITY: Authority Bias 10 LEAVE YOUR SUPERMODEL FRIENDS AT HOME: Contrast Effect 11 WHY WE PREFER A WRONG MAP TO NO MAP AT ALL: Availability Bias 12 WHY ‘NO PAIN, NO GAIN’ SHOULD SET ALARM BELLS RINGING: The It’llGet-Worse-Before-It-Gets-Better Fallacy 13 EVEN TRUE STORIES ARE FAIRYTALES: Story Bias 14 WHY YOU SHOULD KEEP A DIARY: Hindsight Bias 15 WHY YOU SYSTEMATICALLY OVERESTIMATE YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND ABILITIES: Overconfidence Effect 16 DON’T TAKE NEWS ANCHORS SERIOUSLY: Chauffeur Knowledge 17 YOU CONTROL LESS THAN YOU THINK: Illusion of Control 18 NEVER PAY YOUR LAWYER BY THE HOUR: Incentive Super-Response Tendency 19 THE DUBIOUS EFFICACY OF DOCTORS, CONSULTANTS AND PSYCHOTHERAPISTS: Regression to Mean 20 NEVER JUDGE A DECISION BY ITS OUTCOME: Outcome Bias 21 LESS IS MORE: The Paradox of Choice 22 YOU LIKE ME, YOU REALLY REALLY LIKE ME: Liking Bias 23 DON’T CLING TO THINGS: Endowment Effect 24 THE INEVITABILITY OF UNLIKELY Events: Coincidence 25 THE CALAMITY OF CONFORMITY: Groupthink 26 WHY...

Words: 75018 - Pages: 301

Premium Essay

The Social

...animal Books by Elliot Aronson Theories of Cognitive Consistency (with R. Abelson et al.), 1968 Voices of Modern Psychology, 1969 The Social Animal, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1995, 1999, 2004; (with J. Aronson), 2008 Readings About the Social Animal, 1973, 1977, 1981, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1995, 1999, 2004; (with J. Aronson), 2008 Social Psychology (with R. Helmreich), 1973 Research Methods in Social Psychology (with J. M. Carlsmith & P. Ellsworth), 1976 The Jigsaw Classroom (with C. Stephan et al.), 1978 Burnout: From Tedium to Personal Growth (with A. Pines & D. Kafry), 1981 Energy Use: The Human Dimension (with P. C. Stern), 1984 The Handbook of Social Psychology (with G. Lindzey), 3rd ed., 1985 Career Burnout (with A. Pines), 1988 Methods of Research in Social Psychology (with P. Ellsworth, J. M. Carlsmith, & M. H. Gonzales), 1990 Age of Propaganda (with A. R. Pratkanis), 1992, 2000 Social Psychology, Vols. 1–3 (with A. R. Pratkanis), 1992 Social Psychology: The Heart and the Mind (with T. D. Wilson & R. M. Akert), 1994 Cooperation in the Classroom: The Jigsaw Method (with S. Patnoe), 1997 Nobody Left to Hate: Teaching Compassion After Columbine, 2000 Social Psychology: An Introduction (with T. D. Wilson & R. M. Akert), 2002, 2005, 2007 The Adventures of Ruthie and a Little Boy Named Grandpa (with R. Aronson), 2006 Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me) (with C. Tavris), 2007 Books by Joshua Aronson Improving Academic Achievement, 2002 The Social Animal To...

Words: 208005 - Pages: 833

Free Essay

Mentalist- What Every Body Is Saying

...What Every Body is Saying An Ex-FBI Agent’s Guide to Speed-Reading People Joe Navarro FBI Special Agent (Ret.) with Marvin Karlins, Ph.D. To my grandmother, Adelina, whose withered hands lovingly molded a child into a man. —JOE NAVARRO To my wife, Edyth, who has blessed me with her love and taught me what it means to be a caring human being. —MARVIN KARLINS Contents Foreword: I See What Y ou’re Thinking Acknowledgments One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine Mastering the Secrets of Nonverbal Communication Living Our Limbic Legacy Getting a Leg Up on Body Language: Nonverbals of the Feet and Legs Torso Tips: Nonverbals of the Torso, Hips, Chest, and Shoulders Knowledge Within Reach: Nonverbals of the Arms Getting a Grip: Nonverbals of the Hands and Fingers The Mind’s Canvas: Nonverbals of the Face Detecting Deception: Proceed with Caution! Some Final Thoughts Bibliography Searchable Terms About the Authors Other Books by Joe Navarro with Marvin Karlins Credits Copyright About the Publisher FOREWORD I See What Y ou’re Thinking Marvin Karlins, Ph.D. The man sat stoically at one end of the table, carefully crafting his replies to the FBI agent’s inquiries. He wasn’t considered a major suspect in the murder case. His alibi was believable and he sounded sincere, but the agent pressed on nevertheless. With the suspect’s consent, he was asked a series of questions about the murder weapon: “If you had committed this...

Words: 70938 - Pages: 284

Free Essay

Shrek

...Contents Cover Title Copyright Dedication About the Author Step One Wanting Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Step Two Taking Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Step Three Living Chapter 18 Acknowledgements This eBook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorized distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly. Version 1.0 Epub ISBN 9781409016915 www.randomhouse.co.uk Published by Vintage 2010 2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1 Copyright © Isaac Marion 2010 Chapter heading illustrations from Gray’s Anatomy modified by author © Isaac Marion 2010 ‘Heart rose’ illustration on title page © Isaac Marion 2010 Isaac Marion has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published...

Words: 61312 - Pages: 246

Premium Essay

Event Marketing

...Event Management, Third Edition by Dr. Joe Goldblatt, CSEP Dictionary of Event Management, Second Edition by Dr. Joe Goldblatt, CSEP, and Kathleen S. Nelson, CSEP Corporate Event Project Management by William O’Toole and Phyllis Mikolaitis, CSEP Event Marketing: How to Successfully Promote Events, Festivals, Conventions, and Expositions by Leonard H. Hoyle, CAE, CMP Event Risk Management and Safety by Peter E. Tarlow, Ph.D. Event Sponsorship by Bruce E. Skinner and Vladimir Rukavina The Complete Guide to Destination Management by Pat Schauman, CMP, CSEP Event Marketing HOW TO SUCCESSFULLY PROMOTE EVENTS, FESTIVALS, CONVENTIONS, AND EXPOSITIONS Leonard H. Hoyle, CAE, CMP JOHN WILEY & SONS, INC. This book is printed on acid-free paper. Copyright © 2002 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York. All rights reserved. Published simultaneously in Canada. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 750-4744. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 605...

Words: 72488 - Pages: 290

Premium Essay

Tets

...of our times that I know ... Of all the books that I have read in the last 20 years, it is by far the one that has taught me the most." THE TIMES OF INDIA: "To the elite ... who often get committed to age-old institutions or material goals alone, let Toffler's FUTURE SHOCK be a lesson and a warning." MANCHESTER GUARDIAN: "An American book that will ... reshape our thinking even more radically than Galbraith's did in the 1950s ... The book is more than a book, and it will do more than send reviewers raving ... It is a spectacular outcrop of a formidable, organized intellectual effort ... For the first time in history scientists are marrying the insights of artists, poets, dramatists, and novelists to statistical analysis and operational research. The two cultures have met and are being merged. Alvin Toffler is one of the first exhilarating, liberating results." CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR: "Packed with ideas, explanations, constructive suggestions ... Revealing, exciting, encouraging, brilliant."...

Words: 159732 - Pages: 639

Free Essay

Psychoanalytic Personality Assessment

...e eBook Collection This is a Protected PDF document. Please enter your user name and password to unlock the text. User Name: Password: Unlock Remember my user name and password. If you are experiencing problems unlocking this document or you have questions regarding Protectedpdf files please contact a Technical Support representative: In the United States: 1-877-832-4867 In Canada: 1-800-859-3682 Outside the U.S. and Canada: 1-602-387-2222 Email: technicalsupport@apollogrp.edu. This document is published by:Apollo Group, Inc. ISBN 1-256-49231-0 joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka jokaGlossary joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka joka ...

Words: 153006 - Pages: 613