The Flashbulb Memory of the Positive and Negative Events: Wenchuan Earthquake and Acceptance to College
53 college students answered questions regarding the circumstances in which they first heard about the news of Wenchuan earthquake or the news of their acceptance to college which took place approximately one year ago, and answered again two years later. The number of details recalled about their circumstances for both events was high and didn-t decline two years later. However, consistency in reported details over two years was low. Participants were more likely to construct central (e.g., Where were you?) than peripheral information (What were you wearing?), and the confidence of the central information was higher than peripheral information, which indicated that they constructed more when they were more confident.
[1] Bohannon, J.N., 3rd, Flashbulb memories for the space shuttle disaster: a tale of two theories. Cognition, 1988. 29(2): pp. 179-196.
[2] McCloskey, M., C.G. Wible, and N.J. Cohen, Is there a special
flashbulb-memory mechanism? Journal of Experimental Psychology:
General, 1988. 117(2): pp. 171.
[3] Neisser, U. and N. Harsch, Phantom flashbulbs: False recollections of
hearing the news about Challenger. Affect and accuracy in recall:
Studies of “flashbulb” memories, 1992. 4: pp. 9-31.
[4] Lee, P.J. and N.R. Brown, Delay related changes in personal memories
for September 11, 2001. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 2003. 17(9):
pp. 1007-1015.
[5] Luminet, O., et al., The cognitive, emotional, and social impacts of the
September 11 attacks: Group differences in memory for the reception
context and the determinants of flashbulb memory. Journal of General
Psychology, 2004. 131(3): pp. 197-224.
[6] Pezdek, K., Event memory and autobiographical memory for the events
of September 11, 2001. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 2003. 17(9): pp.
1033-1045.
[7] Brown, R. and J. Kulik, Flashbulb memories. Cognition, 1977. 5(1): pp.
73-99.
[8] Pillemer, D.B., Flashbulb memories of the assassination attempt on
President Reagan. Cognition, 1984. 16(1): pp. 63-80.
[9] Christianson, S.A., Flashbulb memories: special, but not so special.
Memory & Cognition, 1989. 17(4): pp. 435-443.
[10] Finkenauer, C., et al., Flashbulb memories and the underlying
mechanisms of their formation: Toward an emotional-integrative model.
Memory & Cognition, 1998. 26(3): pp. 516-531.
[11] Schmidt, S.R., Autobiographical memories for the September 11th
attacks: Reconstructive errors and emotional impairment of memory.
Memory & Cognition, 2004. 32(3): pp. 443-454.
[12] Schmolck, H., E.A. Buffalo, and L.R. Squire, Memory distortions
develop over time: Recollections of the O.J. Simpson trial verdict after
15 and 32 months. Psychological Science, 2000. 11(1): pp. 39-45.
[13] Talarico, J.M. and D.C. Rubin, Confidence, not consistency,
characterizes flashbulb memories. Psychological Science, 2003. 14(5):
pp. 455-461.
[14] Talarico, J.M. and D.C. Rubin, Flashbulb memories are special after all;
in phenomenology, not accuracy. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 2007.
21(5): pp. 557-578.
[15] Romeu, P.F., Memories of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001: A
study of the consistency and phenomenal characteristics of flashbulb
memories. Spanish Journal of Psychology, 2006. 9(1): pp. 52-60.
[16] Christianson, S.A. and E. Engelberg, Memory and emotional
consistency: The MS Estonia ferry disaster. Memory, 1999. 7(4): pp.
471-482.
[17] Scott, D. and V. Ponsoda, The role of positive and negative affect in
flashbulb memory. Psychological Reports, 1996. 79(2): pp. 467-473.
[18] Wright, D.B. and S.J. Anderson, Comments on Scott and Ponsoda's
(1996) positive and negative flashbulb memories. Psychological
Reports, 1996. 79(3): pp. 1169-1170.
[19] Tekcan, A.I., Flashbulb memories for a negative and a positive event:
News of Desert Storm and acceptance to college. Psychological Reports,
2001. 88(2): pp. 323-331.
[20] 颜乃欣, 刘慧美, 负向与正向事件的镁光灯记忆. 教育与心理研究,
2004. 27(2): pp. 353-376.
[21] Cubelli, R. and S. Della Sala, Flashbulb memories: special but not
iconic. Cortex, 2008. 44(7): pp. 908-909.
[1] Bohannon, J.N., 3rd, Flashbulb memories for the space shuttle disaster: a tale of two theories. Cognition, 1988. 29(2): pp. 179-196.
[2] McCloskey, M., C.G. Wible, and N.J. Cohen, Is there a special
flashbulb-memory mechanism? Journal of Experimental Psychology:
General, 1988. 117(2): pp. 171.
[3] Neisser, U. and N. Harsch, Phantom flashbulbs: False recollections of
hearing the news about Challenger. Affect and accuracy in recall:
Studies of “flashbulb” memories, 1992. 4: pp. 9-31.
[4] Lee, P.J. and N.R. Brown, Delay related changes in personal memories
for September 11, 2001. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 2003. 17(9):
pp. 1007-1015.
[5] Luminet, O., et al., The cognitive, emotional, and social impacts of the
September 11 attacks: Group differences in memory for the reception
context and the determinants of flashbulb memory. Journal of General
Psychology, 2004. 131(3): pp. 197-224.
[6] Pezdek, K., Event memory and autobiographical memory for the events
of September 11, 2001. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 2003. 17(9): pp.
1033-1045.
[7] Brown, R. and J. Kulik, Flashbulb memories. Cognition, 1977. 5(1): pp.
73-99.
[8] Pillemer, D.B., Flashbulb memories of the assassination attempt on
President Reagan. Cognition, 1984. 16(1): pp. 63-80.
[9] Christianson, S.A., Flashbulb memories: special, but not so special.
Memory & Cognition, 1989. 17(4): pp. 435-443.
[10] Finkenauer, C., et al., Flashbulb memories and the underlying
mechanisms of their formation: Toward an emotional-integrative model.
Memory & Cognition, 1998. 26(3): pp. 516-531.
[11] Schmidt, S.R., Autobiographical memories for the September 11th
attacks: Reconstructive errors and emotional impairment of memory.
Memory & Cognition, 2004. 32(3): pp. 443-454.
[12] Schmolck, H., E.A. Buffalo, and L.R. Squire, Memory distortions
develop over time: Recollections of the O.J. Simpson trial verdict after
15 and 32 months. Psychological Science, 2000. 11(1): pp. 39-45.
[13] Talarico, J.M. and D.C. Rubin, Confidence, not consistency,
characterizes flashbulb memories. Psychological Science, 2003. 14(5):
pp. 455-461.
[14] Talarico, J.M. and D.C. Rubin, Flashbulb memories are special after all;
in phenomenology, not accuracy. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 2007.
21(5): pp. 557-578.
[15] Romeu, P.F., Memories of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001: A
study of the consistency and phenomenal characteristics of flashbulb
memories. Spanish Journal of Psychology, 2006. 9(1): pp. 52-60.
[16] Christianson, S.A. and E. Engelberg, Memory and emotional
consistency: The MS Estonia ferry disaster. Memory, 1999. 7(4): pp.
471-482.
[17] Scott, D. and V. Ponsoda, The role of positive and negative affect in
flashbulb memory. Psychological Reports, 1996. 79(2): pp. 467-473.
[18] Wright, D.B. and S.J. Anderson, Comments on Scott and Ponsoda's
(1996) positive and negative flashbulb memories. Psychological
Reports, 1996. 79(3): pp. 1169-1170.
[19] Tekcan, A.I., Flashbulb memories for a negative and a positive event:
News of Desert Storm and acceptance to college. Psychological Reports,
2001. 88(2): pp. 323-331.
[20] 颜乃欣, 刘慧美, 负向与正向事件的镁光灯记忆. 教育与心理研究,
2004. 27(2): pp. 353-376.
[21] Cubelli, R. and S. Della Sala, Flashbulb memories: special but not
iconic. Cortex, 2008. 44(7): pp. 908-909.
@article{"International Journal of Business, Human and Social Sciences:55741", author = "Aiping Liu and Xiaoping Ying and Jing Luo", title = "The Flashbulb Memory of the Positive and Negative Events: Wenchuan Earthquake and Acceptance to College", abstract = "53 college students answered questions regarding the circumstances in which they first heard about the news of Wenchuan earthquake or the news of their acceptance to college which took place approximately one year ago, and answered again two years later. The number of details recalled about their circumstances for both events was high and didn-t decline two years later. However, consistency in reported details over two years was low. Participants were more likely to construct central (e.g., Where were you?) than peripheral information (What were you wearing?), and the confidence of the central information was higher than peripheral information, which indicated that they constructed more when they were more confident.
", keywords = "flashbulb memory, consistency, reconstructive error,
confidence", volume = "6", number = "5", pages = "851-6", }
