Essay On Flashbulb Memory

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Pages: 2

Explicit memories are memories we recall intentionally and of which we have conscious awareness. These memories can be either episodic (memories dealing with a specific episode in time.) or semantic (memories pertaining to general knowledge and that are decontextualized). In Jim’s case, his recollection of his memory of his parents winning the lottery is an episodic memory.
Researchers have shown that our memories are more fallible than many of us thought to be possible. Commonly, we are very confident in our memories, specifically of memories of important events or situations. Some memories, we are able to describe everything all the way down to what we ate for breakfast the day the memory occurred. These are called flashbulb memories. A flashbulb memory is a memory that has a lot of emotion and is so vivid that people remember them in great detail. Flashbulb memories commonly fall under the
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In 1992, Ulrich Neisser and Nicole Harsch conducted an experiment on college students and their memory of the Challenger space shuttle explosion that occurred in 1986. The explosion was the first time a non-astronaut was on board a space shuttle. Neisser and Harsch asked students to recollect the explosion and details of where they were. Their initial recollection was completely different than their later recollection. This research supports that many seeming flashbulb memories are false. Other research has been conducted to confirm this.
Jim is just one example of flashbulb memories being false. Many flashbulb memories change over time. Researchers have said that after 32 months, 40 percent of memories contain many distortions. Many times, people are correct in the place they were at when the memory took place, but were wrong about what they were doing at the time or the people who told them. Jim’s flashbulb memory was probably accurate in that he was at his house but the events taking place and the score of the game is