Psychology Experiment: Anchoring Bias

The idea of flashbulb memory(FBM) was first proposed by Brown & Kulik. Their model assumes that emotional memories are more accurate and vivid than other memories, possibly due to a special neural mechanism involved in emotional arousal, and argues that FBM is a special sort of emotional memory that is triggered by events that stand out due to their shocking, unexpected, and dramatic nature. Also, it is more vivid, detailed, and long-lasting than everyday memories. FBM may formed from episodic memories of moments or traumatic experiences, or may also be formed when someone witnesses or hears about a significant global event. Brown & Kulik (1977) suggested that FBMs are emotionally important to someone in that they are captured like a photograph and laid down in the long-term memory for a very long time, possibly forever. 

In Brown and Kulik (1977), researchers conducted a self-report questionnaire with 80 American males (40 black & 40 white) to investigate whether surprising and personally significant events can cause flashbulb memories. Participants were asked to answer questionnaires about how vividly they recalled, how they felt, and where they were when they found out about important public events (ex. Assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy). They were also asked how much they rehearsed the events either overtly (rehearsal through discussion with other people) or covertly (private rehearsal). It was found that  90% of the participants recalled a significant amount of detail about the day when these events occurred. Also, personal relevance influenced whether the participants had memories of public events – 75% of African American participants had a flashbulb memory of the assassination of Martin Luther King than 33% of caucasian participants.

Hence, the researcher concluded that flashbulb memories are long-lasting and include information about where, when, and with whom information was received. Also, people form flashbulb memories of events that have more personal relevance to them. If there is more emotion involved in the events, there will be more rehearsal, causing FBM to form.