{"id":2246,"date":"2015-11-24T19:48:08","date_gmt":"2015-11-25T00:48:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/web.colby.edu\/cogblog\/?p=2246"},"modified":"2017-06-27T15:55:31","modified_gmt":"2017-06-27T19:55:31","slug":"flashbulb-memories-how-our-memories-change-overtime-and-why-we-are-so-confident","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/cogblog\/2015\/11\/24\/flashbulb-memories-how-our-memories-change-overtime-and-why-we-are-so-confident\/","title":{"rendered":"Flashbulb Memories: How Our Memories Change Overtime and Why We are so Confident in Them"},"content":{"rendered":"

Is there a specific event in your life that you will always remember, no matter how much time passes? What about a public event, a tragic one, one that your whole community experienced? Is there a specific eve\"Worldnt that comes to mind? For many people, the tragic September 11, 2001 attacks in New York City come to mind when asked this question. Ask just about anyone alive during this time, and they can probably tell you where they were when the attacks occurred, or what they were doing, or how they were feeling. Oftentimes, when such an important or prominent event takes place, people can recall it very vividly. A person\u2019s recollection of how they were feeling during such an event is called a flashbulb memory, <\/em>while their recollection of specific details of the event is called an event memory.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>Flashbulb memories are interesting because of how very detailed and vivid they are, even years and years after an event occurs. The question being debated by many psychologists is, how much do flashbulb memories change over time? How can the long-term retention of flashbulb memories be characterized? For example, after 9\/11, one might initially recall being at work when he\/she hears the news of the plane crashes. However, a month later, when asked again, the same person could report being at home making breakfast. Typically, you wouldn\u2019t expect flashbulb memories to ever change at all because of how detailed, and vividly they are recalled. Nonetheless, changes in flashbulb memories occur quite often. How much and how often do flashbulb memories really change? Why do they change? These are the questions psychologists are seeking to understand.<\/p>\n

In the present study, peoples\u2019 memories of 9\/11 are examined over the course of 10 years. Hirst et al. surveyed a total of 3,462 participants all across the country. They initially surveyed the participants within the first week of the attacks with questions pertaining to the \u201cwho, what when, where, how\u201d of their experience during the time that the attacks occurred. Hirst et al. then followed up with similar questions 11 months, 35 months, and 119 months after the attacks occurred.<\/p>\n

First examined were the consistency of the participants\u2019 flashbulb memories, the associated levels of confidence, and the accuracy of participants\u2019 event memories. The second set of results that were examined were several factors that could possibly have affected consistency of flashbulb memories and\/or accuracy of event memories. Such factors include: residency at the time of attack, level of emotional intensity, exposure to media, conversation about the event, and personal loss\/inconvenience. The third set of results examined were how the memories changed over time.<\/p>\n

The study found that the overwhelming majority of participants formed flashbulb memories of their reception of 9\/11. Participants even had an elaborate recollection 10 years later, getting down to the smallest of details, like what they were wearing, thinking, even eating. Participants did, however, experience forgetting in that their original recollection differed from their recollections years thereafter. Hirst et al. found that the most forgetting occurred in the first year, and then leveled off. Between years 3 and 10 there was no detectable change in memory. Another interesting result to note is that in the 10th<\/sup> year, participants reported their memories with the same level of confidence as they did in the very first week of the 9\/11 attacks. Also found was that none of the five factors affected the consistency of flashbulb memories. These factors, however, affected both confidence of flashbulb memories and accuracy of event memories.<\/p>\n

The study showed that greater exposure to the media and ensuing conversation after 9\/11 led to greater confidence in memories. This could be due to a multitude of factor\"Unknown\"s. For one, memory is subjective, and consequently vulnerable to external stimuli. Therefore, repeated exposure to media of 9\/11 and\/or copious conversation about the attacks leads to greater rehearsal and reminding of the reception event. This increases the vividness of participants\u2019 subjective memories. Residency also showed to affect confidence. This is evident in that people who lived in New York at the time of the attacks reported their memories with higher ratings of confidence than did non-New Yorkers. The accuracy of event memories was affected by exposure to media and ensuing conversation because exposure to such things helped to correct inaccurate memories of details of the event.<\/p>\n

It is clear that people experience forgetting, even for emotionally salient events. We would like to think that our memory doesn\u2019t change for such important events, yet ample evidence shows otherwise. Our memory is extremely subjective to decay, which sounds like a bad thing, but is it really? If we remembered everything in our life exactly as it occurred, down to every detail, we would be in trouble. Most people have things in their life that they don\u2019t want to remember, such as traumas or tragedies. Not even just that, but if people\u2019s memories didn\u2019t decay, they would remember countless irrelevant things. Daniel Schacter explains the ways in which our memories change in what he calls the \u201cSeven Sins of Memory.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Seven Sins of Memory <\/em>are broken into two categories: errors of omission, and errors of commission. Errors of omission are when people fail to remember something, while errors of commission are when memories change. When it comes to flashbulb memories, people typically experience errors of commission. Several factors affecting flashbulb memories were previously discussed, however four of the Seven Sins<\/em> can also help to explain why changes in memory occur.<\/p>\n

First, there is suggestibility, the integration of misleading information. This can occur when false information is accepted from another source. Second, there is misattribution, which occurs when someone recalls the information, but confuses the source it came from. Third, there is bias, which happens when a person\u2019s own feelings or views affect their recollection of an event. Lastly, there is persistence, which refers to a persistent recollection of something undesirable. All of these sins can act to explain why flashbulb memories change over time.<\/p>\n

So even though it has been thoroughly explained that our memory deteriorates, even our very vivid flashbulb memories, <\/em>next time someone asks you where you were during an event, or what you were doing, or how you were feeling, you will probably report back with the utmost of confidence. To every person, their recollection of a specific vivid event is very real to them, and unless you\u2019re a part of a 10 year longitudinal study, chances are no one can prove to you that your recollections of said event have changed. Ignorance is bliss, I guess!<\/p>\n

Hirst, W., Phelps, E. A., & Meksin, R.(2015).\u00a0Journal of Experimental Psychology:\u00a0A ten-year follow-up of a study of memory for the attack of September 11, 2001: Flashbulb memories and memories for flashbulb events, 144,\u00a0<\/em>605-623.<\/p>\n

To see the original paper, click here<\/a><\/p>\n

Check out my peer’s article on 9\/11 and flashbulb memories here<\/a>!<\/p>\n

Images:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/psychclasses.wikispaces.com\/Group%20-%20Chapter%2007%20-%20Memory<\/p>\n

10-06-16<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n