Flash memories

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As flash memories (Engl. Flashbulb memories ) are in the psychology detailed vivid memories of world events such. B. the assassination of John F. Kennedy or the attacks of September 11, 2001 . These are dramatic events that move emotionally. In the long term, a large number of circumstances that connect the respective person with the event are remembered. There are mainly US research results and theoretical approaches. The term is not yet generally established in German.

Explanatory approaches

There are various approaches to defining and explaining flash memories.

According to the definition of Brown and Kulik (1977), this is a process similar to the "Now Print" theory of Robert B. Linvingston (1967). However, the event is not stored exactly and without errors as it is with a photo. Individual details such as the hairstyle and clothing of people present are not remembered. They assume that the process of memory creation happens at the same time as the event. Brown and Kulik highlight the similarity in the structure of flash memories. Six elements are remembered most often: the place, the situation, the messenger of the news, the emotional reaction of others, one's own emotional reaction and what happened after the situation. This similarity suggests an unconscious neural mechanism. Critics of this approach point out that there is no uniform law as to how an event is experienced and therefore speak of “schemes” for receiving and remembering situations.

Ulrich Neisser (2003), on the other hand, considers flash memories to be the product of a reconstruction. Due to the strong emotions associated with the event, the memory is repeatedly brought out of the memory and maintained by the constant repetition. Falsifications are not excluded. Brown and Kulik, on the other hand, consider the repetition of memories to be the product of flash memory.

In addition, the phenomenon is partly derived from evolutionary history . According to this, special neural mechanisms are activated in the event of such events, which ensure permanent imprinting in the memory and serve to protect against danger.

For research on flash memories

As early as the end of the 19th century, there was initial research on the way of remembering Abraham Lincoln's death. Since then, several empirical studies using different methods have been carried out on the phenomenon.

In a study by Talarico and Rubin in 2003, subjects were asked about their memories of the 9/11 attacks. The question to be answered is whether flash memories are more consistent than everyday memories and whether people trust such memories more than others. According to their results, flash memories are more coherent than everyday memories, and their consistency decreases over time. Memory characteristics such as security and liveliness are more pronounced.

Fiction

The author Arno Schmidt developed the prose form to precisely depict the difference between individual flash memories (he calls them "snapshots" ) and the subsequent memories (cf. Das steinerne Herz , 1956).

literature

  • R. Brown, J. Kulik: Flashbulb memories. In: Cognition. Volume 5, 1977, pp. 73-99.
  • U. Neisser: Snapshots or benchmarks? In: U. Neisser, IE Hyman (Ed.): Memory observed: Remembering in natural contexts. Worth Publishers, San Francisco 1982, ISBN 0-7167-1372-1 , pp. 68-74.
  • U. Neisser: New directions for flashbulb memories: Comments on the ACP issue. In: Applied Cognitive Psychology. Volume 17, 2003, pp. 1149-1155.
  • JM Talarico, DC Rubin: Confidence, not consistency, characterizes flashbulb memories. In: Psychological Science. Volume 14, 2003, pp. 455-461.
  • E. Winograd, U. Neisser: Affect and Accuracy in Recall: Studies of 'flashbulb' Memories (Emory Symposia in Cognition) . Cambridge University Press 2006.
  • O. Luminet, A. Curci: Flashbulb Memories . Psychology Press, 2009, ISBN 978-1-84169-672-0 .