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Remembering School Shootings: an Examination of Intergenerational Differences City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works Student Theses John Jay College of Criminal Justice Spring 6-2020 Remembering School Shootings: An Examination of Intergenerational Differences Kelly Huie CUNY John Jay College, [email protected] How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/jj_etds/163 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] Running head: SCHOOL SHOOTING MEMORABILITY 1 Remembering School Shootings: An Examination of Intergenerational Differences A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the Department of Psychology John Jay College of Criminal Justice _____________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts _____________ by Kelly Huie June, 2020 SCHOOL SHOOTING MEMORABILITY 2 Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... 4 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 5 School Shootings ............................................................................................................ 6 Long-term Memories for Traumatic, Public Events ....................................................... 8 Recalling public events: Generational differences ....................................................... 10 Present Study .................................................................................................................... 12 Methods............................................................................................................................. 12 Participants .................................................................................................................... 12 Research Design............................................................................................................ 13 Material and Procedures ............................................................................................... 14 Consent form/information section ............................................................................ 15 Mnemonic accessibility of school shootings ............................................................ 15 Factual recollection ................................................................................................... 16 Presentation of shootings .......................................................................................... 16 Media influence ........................................................................................................ 17 Political opinions ...................................................................................................... 17 Demographics ........................................................................................................... 17 Optional information ................................................................................................. 18 Results ............................................................................................................................... 18 SCHOOL SHOOTING MEMORABILITY 3 Remembering School Shootings ................................................................................... 19 Generational differences ............................................................................................... 20 Discussion ......................................................................................................................... 22 Remembering School Shootings ............................................................................... 22 Generational Differences .......................................................................................... 23 Limitations/Future Research ......................................................................................... 24 Concluding Thoughts .................................................................................................... 27 References ......................................................................................................................... 28 Table 1 .............................................................................................................................. 37 Table 2 .............................................................................................................................. 38 Table 3 .............................................................................................................................. 39 Table 4 .............................................................................................................................. 40 Table 5 .............................................................................................................................. 41 Table 6 .............................................................................................................................. 42 Appendix ........................................................................................................................... 43 SCHOOL SHOOTING MEMORABILITY 4 Abstract In recent years, school shootings have evolved from rare occurrences to a full-blown epidemic, causing generations of students to have a realistic fear of attending school (Henry, 2009). When negative or traumatic events occur, such as 9/11 or the Parkland school shooting, people often form long lasting recollections of where they were, when learning about the traumatic, public event (Hirst et al., 2009; 2015). The aim of this study is to understand if certain school shootings are more memorable for Americans, and whether differences exist across generations, as certain school shootings that occur during the reminiscence bump period (i.e., between the ages 10 – 30) may influence which shooting is more memorable. This study involves an online survey which was conducted using Qualtrics, whereby participants were recruited via the SONA system and Mechanical Turk. Participants completed a number of questions asking them about their knowledge of school shootings throughout US history. The data analyzed and compared consisted of the age of the participants, and the specific school shootings that occurred. The results of this study suggest that, regardless of generation or age, certain school shootings, specifically the Columbine shooting and the Sandy Hook shooting, were more memorable, however, generational differences do exist, which supports the original hypotheses that there would be differences across generations. Keywords: intergeneration, long-term memory, public events, school shootings SCHOOL SHOOTING MEMORABILITY 5 Remembering School Shootings: An Examination of Intergenerational Differences Over the last 21 years, ever since the infamous Columbine shooting, school shootings have become a growing US concern, and have increased in frequency ever since (Lawrence & Birkland, 2004; Willingham & Levenson, 2018). While personally experiencing a school shooting may shape the way the victimized individuals come to remember the event itself (e.g., McNally, 2005), the present research will focus on how Americans, more generally, remember such events. Indeed, such traumatic, public events tend to forge long-term memories (Hirst et al., 2009; Tekcan et al., 2003). However, most research along these lines tend to focus on what are known as flashbulb memories (FBMs, e.g., Brown & Kulik, 1977, but see Liu & Hilton, 2006). That is, an individual’s recollection of their circumstances when learning about, more often than not, negative, public events (e.g., 9/11, Hirst et al., 2009; 2015; but see Stone & Jay, 2018; for a review of positive, FBM events). The present study deviates from the traditional line of FBM research in two, interrelated ways: 1.) unlike most FBM research, school shootings repeatedly occur (but see Mahmood et al., 2004) and, 2.) as a result, the present study is interested in, not individuals’ memories of where they were when they learned about school shootings. Rather, which school shootings are the most memorable, and whether there are differences in memorability across generations (Holmes & Conway, 1999) To this end, the present study recruited younger, early middle aged, middle-aged, and older populations and asked them a number of questions surrounding their memories for school shootings. In what follows, the relevant research examining school shootings will be first detailed, followed by a discussion of the relevant psychological research examining how individuals remember tramautic, public events. This will then be followed by how the SCHOOL SHOOTING MEMORABILITY 6 recollection of said public events may differ across generations, and then followed by a discussion of the present study. School Shootings Since the late 1990s, school shootings, such as Columbine, one of the most recognizable (whether memorable, though, remains unknown) and infamous school shootings of all time (Larkin, 2009; Lawrence & Birkland, 2004), have become a widespread epidemic in the US (Daniels et al., 2007). The United States has seen a general uptick in frequency and deadliness of school shootings, which has now become an issue for the general population, and not just a specific group of people (Willingham & Levenson, 2018). However, regardless of specific location, the Columbine
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