Abstract
Memories of near-death experiences (NDEs) are recalled as “realer” than memories of other real or imagined events. Given their rich phenomenology, emotionality and consequentiality, it was hypothesized that they could meet some aspects of the definition of flashbulb memories. We aimed to identify and compare the episodic and non-episodic information provided in verbal recollections of NDE, flashbulb, and control autobiographical memories. The phenomenological characteristics and centrality of the memories were also compared. Twenty-five participants who had lived a NDE in a life-threatening situation were interviewed and completed the Memory Characteristics Questionnaires as well as the Centrality of Event Scale for their NDE, a flashbulb and another autobiographical memory used as control. Overall, transcribed NDE verbal recollections included a higher overall amount of details and more internal/episodic information than control autobiographical and flashbulb memories. Moreover, flashbulb memories were associated to a lower intensity of feelings while remembering and a lower personal importance, and are less reactivated and less susceptible to be remembered from a first person perspective compared to NDE and control autobiographical memories. Finally, NDE memories are the most central memories to experiencers’ identity, followed by control autobiographical and then by flashbulb memories. These findings corroborate previous studies highlighting the impact and uniqueness of NDE memories.
Highlights
Near-death experiences (NDEs) have been defined as psychological events usually occurring when people are close to death or in situations of intense danger (Greyson, 2000b)
When looking closer at the subtypes of details that have been recalled, we identified more event and perceptual internal details within the NDE memory, as compared to flashbulb and autobiographical memories
Some authors suggested that the overall quantity of details comprised in NDE memories could be due to the fact that self-referential information can improve recalling performances (Conway and Dewhurst, 1995)
Summary
Near-death experiences (NDEs) have been defined as psychological events usually occurring when people are close to death or in situations of intense danger (Greyson, 2000b). These subjective experiences contain some typical and recurrent features such as the vision of a bright light, outof-body experiences (OBEs) or coming to a border or a point of no return (Greyson, 1983; Martial et al, 2017a; Cassol et al, 2018). Emotional events are more likely to be frequently rehearsed, potentially increasing the amount of memorized characteristics (Thonnard et al, 2013)
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