Flashbulb Memories Research Articles

Are Flashbulb Memories Preserved in Alzheimer's Disease?

Alzheimer’s Disease is a neurodegenerative disorder characterised by a progressive memory loss. However, it is not clear whether flashbulb memories- a subgroup of autobiographical memories with an emotional component- are influenced to the same extent in Alzheimer’s Disease. In this study, we investigated flashbulb memory performances of 29 early stage Alzheimer’s Disease patients as compared to healthy young controls. In addition, we measured the verbal memory performance of patients by using Verbal Memory Processes Test. Results showed that although the patient group displayed a significant impairment in verbal memory encoding, their flashbulb memory performance was not significantly different from healthy young controls. In conclusion, our study supports the notion that flashbulb memories can have a special neural network and suggests that flashbulb memories are preserved in early stage Alzheimer’s Disease.

Supplemental Material for Age-Related Differences in Flashbulb Memories: A Meta-Analysis

Supplemental Material for Age-Related Differences in Flashbulb Memories: A Meta-Analysis

A comparison of Chinese and American memories for public events

SummaryMemory for public events was compared across Chinese and U.S. participants to explore competing explanations for cultural differences in flashbulb memories. Participant recall of the canonical features of events was more detailed and more likely to include a specific time in the United States than in the Chinese reports. Vividness was positively correlated with the flashbulb memory scores only in the U.S. sample. In both cultures, emotion, national importance, and thinking about the event predicted vividness and recall of memory details. Chinese participants reported primarily disasters and social events, and their memories were more likely to include international events than U.S. participants. The U.S. participants recalled primarily political events and terrorism. These results suggest that culture has important influences on the quantity, level of detail, completeness, and vividness of autobiographical memories as well as on the types of events triggering flashbulb memories.

The role of event relevance and congruence to social groups in flashbulb memory formation

ABSTRACTFlashbulb memories are vivid, confidently held, long-lasting memories for the personal circumstances of learning about an important event. Importance is determined, in part, by social group membership. Events that are relevant to one’s social group, and furthermore, are congruent with the prior beliefs of that group, should be more likely to be retained as flashbulb memories. The Fukushima nuclear disaster was relevant to ongoing political conversations in both Germany and the Netherlands, but, while the disaster was congruent with German beliefs about the dangers of nuclear energy, it was incongruent with Dutch support for nuclear power. Danish participants would not have found the disaster to be particularly relevant. Partially consistent with this prediction, across two samples (N = 265 and N = 518), German participants were most likely to have flashbulb memories for the Fukushima disaster. Furthermore, event features thought to be related to flashbulb memory formation (e.g. ratings of importance and consequentiality) also differed as a function of nationality. Spontaneously generated flashbulb memories for events other than Fukushima also suggested that participants reported events that were relevant to national identity (e.g. the Munich attacks for Germans, the Utøya massacre for Danes, and Malaysian Airlines flight MH-17 for Dutch participants).

Formación de Recuerdos Flashbulb en población colombiana

The present research examines the formation of flashbulb memories in a sample of Colombians. Flashbulb Memories (FBM) are autobiographical memories related to the context of receiving shocking public news. A sample of 380 respondents (171 men and 209 women) aged from 20 to 89 years old (M = 37.05; SD = 13.36) conducted a test between 4-19 days after worldwide breaking news. Factor analysis, descriptive analysis and structural equation models were applied. Four models described by the literature on flashbulb memories were tested. Results show that models proposed by Finkenauer et al. (1998) and Er (2003) predict the formation of flashbulb memories through an indirect path. The models proposed by Brown and Kulik (1977) and Conway et al. (1994) do not predict the formation of flashbulb memories in news related to international terrorism. However, goodness of fit indexes were better for Brown and Kulik’s model than for the other three models.

Do psychopathic traits impair autobiographical memory for emotional life experiences?

ABSTRACTWe examined the relationship between psychopathic traits and autobiographical memory (AM) for emotional life experiences in both a community (Study 1) and forensic sample (Study 2). Considering that psychopathy is traditionally linked to an impairment in the processing of emotion, we hypothesised an emotional deficit of AM in individuals with high levels of psychopathic traits. Participants in both samples were asked to recall an emotionally charged event, and were then administered the Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised, the Flashbulb Memory Checklist, and the Autobiographical Memory Characteristics Questionnaire. A linguistic content analysis was applied to inmates’ memory transcriptions (Study 2). Only in the forensic sample, was self-centered impulsivity found to be positively related to the linguistic use of mood terms, and negatively related to the linguistic use of cognitive labels. Furthermore, high levels of fearless dominance were associated to a low emotional attribution to the event and its implications, and highly confident and coherent memory. Lastly, coldheartedness was the psychopathic trait most associated to a deficit in emotional AM, in terms of a lack of hedonic labels and contextual details, a poor emotional evaluation of the event and its implications. The current results encourage further investigation concerning AM in psychopathic traits.

Flashbulb memories for Paris attacks in Korsakoff's syndrome: a case study

Flashbulb memories for Paris attacks in Korsakoff's syndrome: a case study

Measuring the flashbulb-like nature of memories for private events: the flashbulb memory checklist

ABSTRACTWhat do we remember following an emotionally charged event? The assessment of memory characteristics for an emotional event represents one of the most challenging issues in the domain of autobiographical memory. Literature of flashbulb memories (FBMs) provides a crucial contribution on this issue: Following an emotional and unexpected public event, people remember not only central details of the episode, but also irrelevant, peripheral and idiosyncratic details of the reception context in which they learned of the news. The present study was set up to assess the factorial structure (samples 1 and 2) and convergent validity (sample 2) of an FBM checklist, an instrument designed to measure Flashbulb-like features of memories for emotional private events. Factorial analyses account for an oblique two-factor solution – FBM Specificity and Confidence – while correlational analyses support the convergent validity of this instrument. Practical implications are discussed, especially for the credibility assessment of witnesses of emotional events in forensic settings.

Flashbulb memories: Is the amygdala central? An investigation of patients with amygdalar damage

Flashbulb memories (FM) are a subgroup of autobiographical memories referring to the circumstances in which a person first heard of a surprising, emotionally arousing event. Patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) have been reported to be impaired in FM recall. As emotional arousal is central to FM, various authors have suggested a crucial role of the amygdala. However, to date, no studies have directly addressed this hypothesis.In this study, 33 TLE patients and 20 healthy controls (HC) were tested on an FM task twice with a minimum interval of two months. FM recall quality was measured as consistency of the answers. Patients were grouped according to the presence as well as the lateralisation of amygdalar damage, using information of brain imaging and intracranial electroencephalography-recordings. Analyses revealed that, relative to HC, patients with amygdalar damage had significantly diminished FM recall quality, whereas patients with intact amygdalae did not. Particularly patients with amygdalar damage in the non-language-dominant hemisphere performed significantly worse than HC. Findings suggest a negative influence of amygdalar damage, possibly especially in the non-dominant hemisphere, on FM retrieval quality. Given the shocking character of events evoking FM, a rapid emotion detection system involving the right (i.e. non-dominant) amygdala could be influential to FM formation. Thus, the present findings support previous, not yet examined, hypotheses concerning a crucial role of the amygdala in FM.

Pali and Echo Phenomena: Symptoms of Persistence and Perseveration.

Some neurological or psychiatric positive, productive symptoms are an abnormal persistence of a sensorial feeling or abnormal repetition of a motor, behavioral or cognitive process corresponding to a perseverative symptom. Palinopsia, palinacousis, and related sensorial symptoms have been described. Verbal and motor symptoms include echolalia, palilalia, echopraxia, and motor perseveration. Cognitive disorders induce perseverative behavior, perseverative thinking, including palipsychism, flashbulb memories, and reduplicative paramnesia (also known as "palimnesia") and many related perseverative symptoms. We propose a review of physiological phenomena and pathological symptoms involving these perseverative or repetitive characteristics and discuss the potential mechanisms and neural network involved in this productive semiology.

1989 in European Vernacular Memory

This article is part of the special section titled The Genealogies of Memory, guest edited by Ferenc Laczó and Joanna Wawrzyniak In our contribution, we examine the vernacular memory of the end of Communism and the year 1989 in Europe. Analyzing sixteen focus groups conducted in Germany, Poland, Spain, and the United Kingdom, we concentrate on the question whether the events related to 1989 might have the disposition to become a transnational European lieu de mémoire. We show that 1989 is not a salient historical event for British and Spanish participants, while Polish and German respondents do connect it with patterns of national identity building. Differences between vernacular and official memories could be revealed as respondents hardly mentioned the democratic achievements made in the course of the transitions. A transnational dimension was only found in Poland, where respondents articulate a feeling of neglect toward their own national history. The Solidarity movement is being interpreted as a motor of liberation and Europeanization of Poland and as a pioneer of democratization on a European scale. German respondents remain in their national frame, focusing on flashbulb memories of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the issue of social integration of East and West Germany after 1990, which they evaluate as imperfect. The strong national bias of Polish and German focus groups raises doubts as to whether 1989 can become a transnational basis for a shared European memory.

‘11 November 1918, an exceptional day!’: Flashbulb memories of the World War I Armistice in Belgium from a psychological and a historical perspective

Flashbulb memories are memories that are consistent, vivid, detailed and retained with high confidence for the circumstances in which people heard about distinctive and emotional news. We show that under some circumstances, flashbulb memories can distort the memory people will keep for (historical) events, and in other situations, flashbulb memories can strengthen them. Subsequently, we present historical sources indicating that remote flashbulb memories can be studied under methodologically sound conditions. Using the Armistice of the World War I in Belgium as a case study, we hope to make historians more aware of the existence and importance of flashbulb memories in historical sources. This may provide new perspectives for understanding the significance of events and the ways through which historical narratives are reconstructed.

How did you hear the news? The role of traditional media, social media, and personal communication in flashbulb memory

Flashbulb memories are at the intersection of public and private event memory. We investigated whether the source of news (traditional media, social media, or another person) shaped how people remembered learning of an event. Individuals were asked how they learned of Osama bin Laden’s assassination immediately after the event and 7, 42, 224, or 365 days later. Initial memory reports from those who learned from traditional media showed enhanced phenomenological features (i.e., a sense of recollection and vividness) relative to those who learned from social media or from another person. Both phenomenological and metacognitive (i.e., belief in the memory’s accuracy) features of memory reports decreased over time; however, there were no differences as a function of source. Consistency of the memory reports did not differ as a function of time or source. Although sources differed as a function of social group salience, these differences did not seem to influence memory.

Negative emotion enhances mnemonic precision and subjective feelings of remembering in visual long-term memory

Negative emotion sometimes enhances memory (higher accuracy and/or vividness, e.g., flashbulb memories). The present study investigates whether it is the qualitative (precision) or quantitative (the probability of successful retrieval) aspect of memory that drives these effects. In a visual long-term memory task, observers memorized colors (Experiment 1a) or orientations (Experiment 1b) of sequentially presented everyday objects under negative, neutral, or positive emotions induced with International Affective Picture System images. In a subsequent test phase, observers reconstructed objects’ colors or orientations using the method of adjustment. We found that mnemonic precision was enhanced under the negative condition relative to the neutral and positive conditions. In contrast, the probability of successful retrieval was comparable across the emotion conditions. Furthermore, the boost in memory precision was associated with elevated subjective feelings of remembering (vividness and confidence) and metacognitive sensitivity in Experiment 2. Altogether, these findings suggest a novel precision-based account for emotional memories.

Flashbulb memories of the Paris attacks.

Flashbulb memories are vivid autobiographical memories of the circumstances where an individual first learns about emotionally significant public events. Our paper assesses whether these memories were triggered by the attacks of Friday 13 November 2015 in Paris. Two hundred and ninety-one participants answered a web-based questionnaire that assessed their memory of the circumstances in which they first learned of the attacks. The questionnaire also assessed vividness, rehearsal, emotion, surprise and novelty. The results showed substantial and vivid recall of the context in which the participants first learned of the event. This recall was associated with fair rehearsal, negative emotional valence, surprise, and novelty. Regression analysis showed that the flashbulb recall was predicted by negative emotion. Negative emotion seems to play a key role in the formation of flashbulb memories, at least those associated with the Paris attacks.

Build N Burn: Using Fire as a Tool to Evoke, Educate and Entertain

The visceral nature of fire was exploited in the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods in Britain by the burning down of timber buildings and monuments, as well as the cremation of the dead. These big fires would have created memories, perhaps even ‘flashbulb memories’, and this powerful mnemonic aspect of fire was likely of significance to the social and religious lives of individuals, families and communities. This article introduces the Build N Burn concept, where fires are recreated and deployed alongside public talks, performances, experimental archaeology activities and demonstrations by craft specialists to create memorable and informative public events. Three public engagements to date, two on the island of Arran and one in Caithness, both Scotland, are described here. In each case, we constructed replica timber structures inspired by local prehistoric sites, and then burned these down in a free-to-attend public event at dusk, evoking the culmination of a prehistoric festival. Build N Burn has, at its core, the principle of delivering memorable experiences for the public inspired by prehistory, underpinned by research and experiment, using events which draw on cross-sectoral collaboration and working with local communities. This article offers a critical reflection on work to date, and discusses future potential for such activities, utilizing the mnemonic power and transformational potential of fire for public engagement and experimental archaeology.

Age-related differences in the phenomenal characteristics of long-term memories of March 11, 2004 terrorist attack

The objective of this study was to explore age-related differences in the phenomenal characteristics of long-term memories of the terrorist attacks that took place in Madrid (Spain) on March 11, 2004. One hundred and ninety-six individuals participated in this experiment: 92 were 9.60 years old on average and 104 were 39.41 years old on average at the time of the event. To evaluate their real memories of the event twelve years later, the Phenomenological Questionnaire on Autobiographical Memory was used. Differences were shown between the two groups in terms of memory quality, emotions associated with the event, and accessibility of the information remembered. Results were also represented using high-dimensional visualization (HDV) graphs, supporting the assertion that long-term event memories have different characteristics depending on the age of the individual at the time the event took place. Memories in adult people meet the criteria to be considered flashbulb memories, while in the case of the younger people this kind of memory does not seem to emerge. Young people are probably less capable of evaluating the consequences of an event which results in reduced emotional arousal and a different elaboration of the event memory in comparison to older adults.

Flashbulb Memories

We review and analyze the key theories, debates, findings, and omissions of the existing literature on flashbulb memories (FBMs), including what factors affect their formation, retention, and degree of confidence. We argue that FBMs do not require special memory mechanisms and are best characterized as involving both forgetting and mnemonic distortions, despite their being associated with high levels of confidence. Factual memories for FBM-inducing events generally follow a similar pattern. Although no necessary and sufficient factors straightforwardly account for FBM retention, media attention particularly shapes memory for the events themselves. FBMs are best characterized in terms of repetitions, even of mnemonic distortions, whereas event memories evidence corrections. The bearing of this literature on social identity and traumatic memories is also discussed.

Flashbulb memories of the Charlie Hebdo attack.

Flashbulb memories refer to the vivid recall of the circumstances of first learning about significant public events. Our paper assesses whether these memories were triggered by the attack on the satirical French newspaper “Charlie Hebdo”. Participants answered a webbased questionnaire that assessed their memory of the circumstances in which they first learned of the attack (i.e., the reception context). The results showed substantial and vivid recall of the reception context. This recall was also associated with fair rehearsal, negative emotional valence, a wide variety of emotional feelings, surprise, novelty, consequentiality and importance. Furthermore, the flashbulb recall was predicted by the international importance of the attack and the number of people with whom discussions were held about it. The international importance seems to play an important role in the formation of flashbulb memories, at least for the Charlie Hebdo attack, due to the international condemnation and solidarity with the victims.

MEMORIJSKE DISTORZIJE U ISTRAŽIVANJU EMOCIJA

Psihologe su odvajkada intrigirali razni aspketi funkcionisanja ljudskog pamćenja. Kapacitet memorije prosečnog odraslog čoveka, razni viši kognitivni procesi koji su krucijalni za kodiranje, skladištenje i organizaciju sećanja, kao i fenomen zaboravljanja – samo su neke od tema koje su naučnici intenzivno izučavali u okviru raznih subdisciplina psihologije. U ovom preglednom članku prvo je dat detaljan prikaz najpoznatijih rezultata empirijskih istraživanja koja su se bavila tačnošću sećanja na emocionalno obojene događaje iz prošlosti. Opisane su do sada otkrivene pravilnosti u javljanju tzv. memorijskih distorzija u sećanjima na osećanja izazvana prošlim intenzivnim i značajnim iskustvima. U drugom delu rada fenomen memorijskih iskrivljenja smešten je u širi konceptualni okvir stres-procesa i predstavljena su empirijska istraživanja koja su imala za cilj utvrđivanje stepena tačnosti sećanja na suočavanje sa raznim stresnim transakcijama koje su se odvijale u prošlosti. Takođe, prodiskutovana je uloga osobine neuroticizma u nastanku memorijskih distorzija.