Flashbulb memory

Referring back to Brown and Kulik’s definition

Datos Bibliográficos

ID21602284
AutoresBarbara Muzzulini (0000-0002-0504-9300, University of Turin, autor de correspondencia), Carla Tinti (0000-0002-9235-4185, University of Turin), Martin A Conway (0000-0001-6705-3164, City, University of London), Silvia Testa (0000-0003-3753-3946, University of Aosta Valley), Susanna Toivanen (0000-0001-7505-0676, University of Turin)
Año2020
Volumen28
Número6
Páginas766-782
Fecha de publicación2020-07-02
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaMemory (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0965-8211 • E-ISSN: 1464-0686
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/09658211.2020.1778035
PMID32552340
OpenAlexW3036221488
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas3
Referencias citadas35

Since Brown and Kulik’s (1977. Flashbulb memories. Cognition, 5, 73–99. http://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0277(77)90018-X) seminal work, a central issue in memory literature is whether flashbulb memories (FBMs) hold a special status within autobiographical recalls. To address this issue, we refer back to Brown and Kulik’s definition of FBM as a snapshot of the reception context of an important public news and propose a method to identify the contents of this snapshot. Although Brown and Kulik found that the majority of FBM’s contents could be classified within six canonical categories (CCs), here we claim that assessing the presence of FBMs through guided CCs’ questions – as done by most researchers in this field – can be misleading. We suggest, instead, to use free recall reports to identify the consistent perceptual elements of the snapshot. Across two test-retest studies, we show that the contents of FBMs assessed by free reports and the contents of CCs assessed by guided questions, do not exactly coincide. Moreover, a structural equation model supports results of previous research about the determinants of FBM and reveals that FBM facilitates the recall of more consistent explicitly requested CCs’ contents. Theoretical implications concerning the qualitative contents of FBMs and the debate about their consistency are discussed

Cognition · Cognitive psychology · Perception · Recall · Cognitive Functions and Memory · Computer Science · History · Identity, Memory, and Therapy · Memory Processes and Influences · Psychology · Social Psychology