Flashbulb Memories :: essays research papers

Do Flashbulb memories differ from other forms of retrospect?Our yesteryear is refraind in a variety of memories of very different temperament (Salaman, 1970) There atomic number 18 some proposed divisions and sub-divisions of human retentivity, such as functional memory, procedural memory, semantic memory or periodic memory. many a(prenominal) of the systems depend to overlap, with each having varying functions related to the maintenance of what is essentially human life. For example, episodic and autobiographical memory fundamentally share the same functions. One of the many functions is what Tulving (1983) called Mental while travel, the ability to experience past event. autobiographic memories are ruling to be structured at different levels of profane and spatial specializedity that together are used as reference for the reflexion of self. This mental time travel green goddess take coif through different hierarchic levels of autobiographical organisation. The hi erarchy level can be as general as university or as special as remembering the topic of conversation with a certain psyche on a certain day (Cohen, 1998). Autobiographical memories are thence seen as being autonoetic in that they carry information about the stage setting in which they were experienced. One example of an extreme form of contextual specific memory is the death of Princess Diana. Many people especially the media ask a common distrust such as what were you doing when you heard the news. Many people claim to be able to remember such study moments with unusual clarity and vividness, as if the events were etched on their minds throughout their breaks. The question is whether these flashing memories are functionally different to all other types of memory such as autobiographical memory.Brown & Kulik (1977), introduced the term flashbulb memory to describe memories that are preserved in an almost indiscriminate way. They postulated that these flashbulb memories were indeed different from ordinary memories, with some defining characteristics. Although these memories are thought to be photographic in their clarity and detail, they do not preserve all features of an event. Conversely Brown & Kulik proposed that idiosyncratic event details are remembered. These details help form what has been described as a live memory in that the reception field is remembered including where, when and who with factors of an event. Brown & Kulik (1977) studied memories for chief(prenominal) events such as the death of John F Kennedy. They found that moot details were often recalled and it appeared that they had retained a brief moment of time associated with an emotional event (Smyth et al, 1994).