How do thoughts affect the intellectual process of

Flashbulb Recollection

IB Psychology Dissertation

Evaluate a single theory showing how emotions may possibly affect 1 cognitive procedure

One theory of how emotion influences the cognitive process of recollection is flashbulb memory. It is a theory that was advised by Brown and Kulik (1977). Flashbulb memories will be emotional remembrances that are the two vivid and detailed which can be formed after having a highly emotional event. These memories are recorded in the brain such as a picture, and so the name. Flashbulb memory space theory provides features which make it unique to other memories. They are even more vivid, appropriate, consistent, keep going longer and are better to remember. This is different from normal memories that tend to become selective, untrustworthy and are easily changed/distorted.

Some events stand out in the memory much more than others. Once events take place, the person experiences a high emotional state, whether it be extreme joy or severe sadness. It is this large emotional suggest that causes the big event to become produced in the storage. Events can be personal or something that affects the earth. An example of this could be the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963 or perhaps the death of Princess Centro in 97.

Flashbulb Memory was initially demonstrated by Brown and Kulik in a study that they can conducted in 1977. The aim of their examine was to check out flashbulb remembrances and to determine how it works. There was 80 American participants which were used in the experiment. 50 % of them had been African People in america and the other half were White Americans. The participants received 10 questions to answer about different situations. Out of the 12 events, 9 of them were assassinations (or attempts) of well-known American public statistics. The last celebration was one particular was a personal event that each of the members chose. This kind of even had to have involve “self-shock. ” The participants were then asked how much they will went during these events, either overtly (discussing with other people) or discreetly (thinking regarding it privately).

The conclusions showed that 90% with the participants could actually recall so what happened with regards to T. F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963. Africa Americans remembered more flashbulb memory of assassinations of civil privileges leaders just like Martin Luther King more than the Caucasian Americans did. For the tenth event, one which was self-selected, the majority of the members recalled surprising events like the death of your parent.

This research supported Dark brown and Kulik’s (1977) theories of flashbulb memory. This showed that they were created in situations in which we get surprising and highly mental information. Flashbulb memory happen to be maintained simply by both overt (discussing recollection with others) and hidden (private) wedding rehearsal. A specialized neural system is mixed up in creation of flashbulb recollections. This nerve organs mechanism retailers information once and for all in a one of a kind memory program.

One strength of flashbulb recollection theory is that most of the studies involve actual life events (it’s naturalistic) and people’s reactions and remembrances concerning these people. This means that the ecological quality of these research are excessive. One weakness of this theory is that these types of studies are not as trustworthy because they can’t be duplicated. It is therefore impossible to see if the results are consistent. Flashbulb memories can also be troubled by emotions because memory is either enhanced or repressed through rehearsal.

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