Evaluate one theory of how emotion may affect one cognitive process .

1. Evaluate one theory of how emotion may affect one cognitive process. Flashbulb memory

2. Flashbulb Memory • A clear moment of an emotionally significant moment or event. Where were you when? 1. You heard about 9/11 2. You heard about the serious illness of a family member 3. During the OJ case

3. Flashbulb memory • Originally described by Brown & Kulik (1977): • Exceptionally vivid memories • Usually of important events with emotional significance • Resistant to forgetting over time • The debate centres on whether they are a special case, or the same as other memories

4. Flashbulb memory • Typical ‘flashbulb’ events are dramatic, unexpected, shocking • E.g. disasters, deaths of prominent figures (esp. if unexpected), momentous events • World Trade Centre • Death of Kennedy, Princess Diana • Fall of Berlin Wall

5. Flashbulb memory • Where you were? • What you were doing? • How you were informed? • How you reacted? • How others around you reacted? Activity: answer these questions for a flashbulb memory of your own

6. Flashbulb Memory Research • Surveys about dramatic events: • Brown & Kulik (1977) first to describe this type of memory, they found US PPs tended to have vivid memories of political assassinations • In their study, all PPs had good recall of Kennedy, BUT they found that black participants had a better recall of Medgar Evers ( a civil rights worker) death • This shows importance of relevance of the information • Physiological arousal may also be important (the Amydgala)

7. Brown and Kulik (1977) Flashbulb Memory: Research support

8. Flashbulb Memory: Research criticism

9. Considerations to the concept of Flashbulb memory • Neisser (1982) proposed that the enduring nature of FBM a result of rehearsal and reworking after the event • We use the conventions of storytelling recounting important event • Its difficult to check the accuracy of flashbulb memories – nothing different about them • E.g – Neisser himself was sure he was listening to the baseball when pearl harbour was bombed in WWII – but it couldn’t have been possible because it wasn’t in the baseball season • Furthermore, The McCloskey et al. (1988) study also proposes that flashbulb memories are not special memories (see key study)

10. Evaluation: Flashbulb memories • Relatively little evidence for FMBs as a distinct memory process • They ‘feel’ accurate (we are confident in recall) but are just as prone to forgetting & change as other episodic memories • Evidence is still mixed.

11. Reflection: Based on brown and Kulik’s (1977) study and McCloskey’s (1988) study flashbulb memory, evaluate how flashbulb memory influences the cognitive process of memory. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

12. Questions to check your understanding • What is a flashbulb memory? • Which researchers first proposed the concept of flashbulb memories? • What conclusions did McCloskey et al (1988) come to about flashbulb memories? • What did Neisser (1982) propose? • What conclusion can we come to by examining the research into flashbulb memories? • Make to evaluative points for the Brown and Kulik (1977) study