Smile For the Camera!: Flashbulb Memories

Take a moment to answer the following questions:

• Where were you exactly 1 month ago at 10am? 
• Who were you with? 
• What you were doing?
• What was the weather like that day?

Now take a moment to answer these questions:

• Where were you on September 11th, 2001? 
• Who were you with? 
• What were you doing at the time you found out that the first airplane had crashed into the World Trade Center?
• What was the weather like that day?

If you are old enough, then maybe you can answer these questions as well:

• Where were you, who were you with, and what were you doing when you learned that the space shuttle Challenger exploded? 
• Where were you, who were you with, and what were you doing when you found out that President Kennedy had been assassinated?

The "Now Print!" Mechanism

It is probably too obvious to say, but I will say it anyway: some memories are more vivid than others. We might have a vague sense about what we did on this day exactly one month ago, but it's unlikely that we will be able to recall, in detail, who we were with, what we were doing, where we were, and how we felt. It's even more unlikely that we will be able to recall seemingly trivial details (e.g., What was the weather like?). However, for certain events, even those that happened several years ago, our memories are much more vivid. A flashbulb memory is a memory of a highly significant event that seems to capture many details that are usually not present in other, regular memories. As the name implies, one's memory creates a snapshot in time that captures even the smallest of details. When one thinks back to that moment, it is almost like they are reliving the event.

What, then, is the hallmark of an event that will give rise to a flashbulb memory? Obviously, each person is different, but the unifying theme seems to be that events likely to result in flashbulb memories must be extremely unexpected and highly emotional. Given these two components, the event doesn't have to be one that gains national media attention. Instead, highly personal events can also result in flashbulb memories. 

Are flashbulb memories accurate?

If you have ever experienced a highly charged, extremely unexpected life event, then you can probably attest to the reality of a flashbulb memory. It feels different when you recall it than when you recall other, more mundane memories. The experience (or phenomenology) is different for flashbulb memories in that they feel extremely accurate and detailed. However, in a recent post about memory being an active, reconstructive process, which suggested that our memory can be shaped by our current situation. Therefore, we might be inclined to ask: Are flashbulb memories accurate? The phenomenological component makes it tempting to believe that flashbulb memories are both real and accurate. But can we really trust them as true any more than other memories? 

To determine the veracity of flashbulb memories, scientists have to be ready to spring at a moment's notice. After all, highly unexpected and emotional events are the precursor for flashbulb memories. When an event reaches a threshold for "extremely unexpected," scientists sometimes round up a bunch of participants and ask them to report how they found out, who they were with, how they felt, and any other detail they think is important. Then the scientists wait for a significant amount of time to pass before they ask the individuals to report on the exact same set of questions. 

If flashbulb memories are indeed highly detailed and accurate, then the answers to the questions should be the same, regardless of the delay. If flashbulb memories use the exact same memory mechanisms, and are subject to the same limitations and errors, then we would expect to see some deviation between the initial recall and the later retelling of the event. What do you predict scientists would find?

In an influential study on flashbulb memories, scientists asked people to recall details about when they found out about the Challenger explosion [2]. They administered a questionnaire within three days of it happening and again nine months later. Between the two interviews, they found that some forgetting did occur during the nine-month interval. On the second questionnaire, 15.4% said that they didn't remember the answer to one of the questions. More interestingly, the scientists also coded if the answers didn't match. For those responses, 8.5% of the responses were inconsistent between the two recall events. Even though flashbulb memories feel like they are vivid, and we have a very high confidence in their validity [3], it is possible that a small percentage of our memories are inaccurate. 

The STEM Connection

What is the connection between flashbulb memories and STEM education? The connection is tenuous because, by definition, flashbulb memories are rare. One possible connection that I see is one of empathy. In other words, there is a remote (albeit real) possibility that an "extremely unexpected" event could happen in your classroom. If something happens, make sure you give yourself and your students the time and space that all of you need to process the event. Flashbulbs are probably going to be going off all over the place. 

The other connection that I can envision is this idea of one-trial learning. In most cases, the memory system requires repeated exposure to the same information before the information makes it to long-term memory. Repetition forms the basis for learning. Flashbulb memories indicate that there may be a mechanism that can instantly encode massive amounts of information. Maybe someday we will learn how to exploit that mechanism for other, less traumatic learning opportunities.

Flashbulb memories are extremely interesting for a variety of reasons. They seem so real, but evidence suggests that they might be prone to errors (just like any other memory). They also hint at a couple of interesting memory mechanisms, including single-trial learning (or the "Now Print!" mechanism) and a class of memories that are permanently stored in long-term memory.


Share and Enjoy!

Dr. Bob

For More Information

[1] Brown, R., & Kulik, J. (1977). Flashbulb memories. Cognition, 5(1), 73-99.

[2] McCloskey, M., Wible, C. G., & Cohen, N. J. (1988). Is there a special flashbulb-memory mechanism?. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 117(2), 171. Here is the questionnaire that they asked volunteers to answer:

1. Where were you when you first learned of the explosion?
2. What were you doing when you first learned of the explosion?
3. Did you see the event at the time it was actually happening, or did you learn about it later? If later, how did you learn about it?
4. What were your first thoughts upon hearing the news?

[3] Despite his high level of confidence, it seems that even former President Bush is not immune to inaccurate flashbulb memories: Greenberg, D. L. (2004). President Bush's false [flashbulb] memory of 9/11/01. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 18(3), 363-370.