🧠 Flashbulb Memory

📌Core Concepts

Flashbulb Memory (FBM) refers to highly detailed, vivid, and long-lasting memories of emotionally significant events. These memories are thought to be “photographic” in clarity, but may still be prone to distortion.

Key Ideas:

However, these memories are not always more accurate—only more confident..

Emotion can enhance the encoding of certain memories.

FBMs are linked to physiological arousal (especially the amygdala and adrenaline release).

The theory suggests that emotionally charged events trigger a biological mechanism that improves memory retention.

📌Key Studies

Brown & Kulik (1977) – The Original Theory

  • Proposed that emotional events create a special biological “print” in the brain.
  • Introduced the concept of “surprise” and “personal relevance” as triggers.
  • Identified key antecedent conditions:
    1. Surprise
    2. High emotional arousal
    3. Personal importance
    4. Rehearsal (overt and covert)

Six main features of FBMs:

  1. Place
  2. Ongoing activity
  3. Informant (who told you)
  4. Own affect
  5. Other’s affect
  6. Aftermath

They argued that these details are encoded differently than normal memories through a biological mechanism (amygdala activation) and rehearsal.

2. Sharot et al. (2007) – The 9/11 Study

Aim: 

To determine the role of the amygdala in creating FBMs for shocking events.

Method:

  • Conducted three years after 9/11 with 24 participants in New York.
  • Participants were shown cue words (e.g., “Summer,” “September”) while in an fMRI scanner.
  • Compared people near the World Trade Center (“downtown”) vs. those far away (“midtown”).

Results:

  • Greater activation of the amygdala in participants close to Ground Zero when recalling 9/11.
  • Their memories were more vivid and emotionally intense.
  • Concluded that proximity and emotional intensity influence FBM formation.

Evaluation:

  • Strength: Objective measurement through fMRI (biological evidence of amygdala involvement).
  • Limitation: Correlational — can’t prove causation; post-event memory could still be reconstructed.

3. McGaugh & Cahill (1995) – Adrenaline and Memory

Aim: Investigate the role of adrenaline and the amygdala in emotional memory formation.

Method:

  • Participants were shown two stories:
    1. Neutral story (about hospital visit)
    2. Arousing story (child involved in severe accident)
  • Tested recall two weeks later.
  • In follow-up, researchers blocked adrenaline activity using a beta-blocker (propranolol).

Results:

  • Those who heard the emotional story remembered more details.
  • When adrenaline was blocked, this enhancement disappeared.
  • Concluded that adrenaline activation of the amygdala plays a critical role in forming emotional memories.

Evaluation:

  • Strength: Strong cause-effect evidence from biological manipulation.
  • Limitation: Lacks ecological validity (lab setting); ethical considerations with drug use.

🧩 The Interaction Between Emotion and Cognition

Emotion (biological) → activates amygdala → releases adrenaline and cortisol → enhances encoding in hippocampus → creates stronger emotional memory trace.

However, later retrieval is still subject to reconstruction and bias, meaning FBMs are vivid but not necessarily accurate.

🔍Tok link


Emotion and reason often conflict: people may feel certain about a memory, even when it’s inaccurate.

What defines “truth” in memory — vividness or verifiable accuracy?

Raises questions about knowledge reliability in eyewitness testimony, and how emotion affects perception of events.

 🌐 Real-World Connection

  • FBMs explain strong collective memories (e.g., 9/11, assassination of leaders, natural disasters).
  • Used in forensic psychology to understand eyewitness confidence vs. accuracy.
  • Relevant for PTSD research and treatment, as emotional arousal influences memory persistence.

❤️ CAS Link

  • Organize a mental health awareness project or interview people about how emotional events shape memory.
  • Reflect on ethical considerations of emotion-triggering research and the importance of empathy when dealing with trauma narratives.

🧠  IA Guidance

  • Excellent IA base: Compare recall accuracy for emotional vs. neutral images or words.
  • Could test emotional arousal using self-rating scales.
  • Ensure ethical protection—avoid overly distressing stimuli.

🧠 Examiner Tips

  • Always link emotion to memory processes (encoding and retrieval).
  • Don’t confuse vividness with accuracy — this is a common mistake.
  • Mention biological evidence (amygdala/adrenaline) and cognitive evidence (rehearsal, schema).
  • Use Sharot and McGaugh for biological, Brown & Kulik for theoretical grounding.