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Is Flashbulb Memory a Special Instance of Source Memory? Evidence from Older Adults

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Is Flashbulb Memory a Special Instance of Source Memory? Evidence from Older Adults MEMORY, 2002, 10 (2), 99–111 Is flashbulb memory a special instance of source memory? Evidence from older adults Patrick S.R. Davidson & Elizabeth L. Glisky University of Arizona, USA Flashbulb memories (FMs) are vivid, stable memories for the reception of arousing, consequential news. Although such memories have been found in people of all ages, in the only examination of age differences to date, Cohen, Conway, and Maylor (1994) reported that older adults were less likely than young adults to experience a FM. We hypothesised that FM would be impaired in older adults with reduced frontal lobe (FL) function. To test this hypothesis, we asked older adults, who had been characterised according to FL function, to recall details of the moment that they first heard the news about the deaths of Princess Diana and Mother Teresa. Long-term retention was tested 6 months later. Details concerning the reception of the news about Princess Diana’s death were retained better than those associated with Mother Teresa’s death. Importantly, there was no evidence that memory for these contextual details was related to FL function. A measure of medial temporal lobe function, derived from neuropsychological tests of episodic memory, was also not associated with memory for the reception events, although it was associated with memory for the details of an everyday autobiographical event. We speculated that emotionally arousing autobiographical memories may be qualitatively different from everyday memories and may involve the amygdala. A flashbulb memory (FM) is a vivid, long- Brown and Kulik, or are the same as those lasting memory for the circumstances surrounding involved in other kinds of memory. In the present the reception of news about a surprising or study, older adults were asked about their mem- shocking event. The quintessential example of FM ory for learning about the deaths of Princess involves the assassination of President Kennedy: Diana and Mother Teresa—two possible ‘‘flash- Many people claim to have strong memories of bulb’’ events. They were also asked analogous where they were and what they were doing when questions about an everyday autobiographical they first heard about his death. Since Brown and event that occurred around the same time. We Kulik (1977) introduced the concept of FM, examined several variables thought to be critical however, there has been considerable debate (see to the formation and/or preservation of FMs, and Winograd & Neisser, 1992) about whether FMs tested the hypothesis that frontal lobe function is are qualitatively different from other kinds of important for FMs. autobiographical memories and what exactly Brown and Kulik (1977) originally described accounts for the enhanced memory. Another issue FM as a highly accurate recollection of the concerns the brain mechanisms involved in FM moment a person first hears about a surprising and and whether these are special, as suggested by important event. They asked people to recall the Requests for reprints should be sent to Patrick S.R. Davidson, Amnesia and Cognition Unit, Department of Psychology, Uni- versity of Arizona, Tucson AZ 85721-0068 , USA. Email: [email protected] This research was supported by a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada fellowship to P.D., a National Institute on Aging grant (AG 14792) to E.G., and McDonnell-Pew Program and Flinn Foundation operating grants to the University of Arizona’s Center for Cognitive Neuroscience. We thank Eric Barfield, Michelle Barkley, Jennifer Miller, Erica Nielsen, Jamy Ouellette, Susan Rubin, and Jason Worrell for assistance. Preliminary findings were presented at the 1998 Cognitive Aging Con- ference in Atlanta, GA, and the 1999 Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition meeting in Boulder, CO. # 2002 Psychology Press Ltd http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/pp/09658211.html DOI:10.1080/09658210143000227 100 DAVIDSON AND GLISKY circumstances in which they first learned of such and Kulik (1977) as critical to the formation of events in recent American history, and found that FMs. Later studies by Christianson (1989) and most people provided vivid descriptions of the Cohen et al. (1994) confirmed the importance of reception event (that is, the point in time at which surprise in FM, and a study by Conway and col- they first received news). In analysing the leagues (1994) indicated that both personal and responses, the authors noticed that information national importance of the event were also about certain aspects of the reception event was important contributors to FM. A relation between often present in the reports. These included where the intensity of the emotional response to news the person was, what activity the news inter- and the strength of FMs has also been found by rupted, what activity followed the news, the per- Bohannon (1988), Conway et al. (1994), Pillemer son’s emotional response, other people’s (1984), and Schmolck et al. (2000). Rehearsal may emotional responses, and the source of the news. have a positive or negative effect on the long-term Since Brown and Kulik’s original work, numerous retention of FMs. On the one hand, several studies studies have reported similar findings for a range have reported that rehearsal enhances FMs, of shocking or surprising public events that have whether it occurs in the course of talking about the occurred worldwide. Most of the recent studies event (Bohannon, 1988), thinking about the event have used a consistency measure as an indicator of (Conway et al., 1994), or media exposure to the a FM, reporting high levels of consistency event (Conway et al., 1994). On the other hand, between participants’ memories shortly after the Neisser and Harsch (1992) found that college event and their memories several months later students’ memories for learning about the space (for example, see Bohannon & Symons, 1992; shuttle Challenger disaster became increasingly Cohen et al., 1994; Conway et al., 1994). Investi- distorted over time. They suggested that such gators have also examined a variety of factors distortions occurred because new contextual occurring during the reception of the news (i.e., details were incorporated into the memory each encoding variables) or during the period between time it was rehearsed. Finally, recent causal the reception event and subsequent reports (i.e., modelling approaches by Conway et al. (1994) and rehearsal variables), in an attempt to identify the Finkenauer et al. (1998) suggest that complex major contributors to the formation and/or pre- interactions among the variables of surprise, con- servation of FMs. Some studies have shown that sequentiality, emotional state, and rehearsal the details of FMs can be forgotten or become underlie the formation of the highly detailed and confused over time (e.g., Schmolck, Buffalo, & stable memories that are characteristic of ‘‘flash- Squire, 2000), although FMs appear generally to bulb’’ events. be more stable than other kinds of auto- biographical memories. For example, Chris- tianson (1989) found that Swedish participants, FLASHBULB MEMORY, SOURCE although they forgot some circumstancial details, MEMORY, AND THE BRAIN could remember much more about the reception of news of their prime minister’s death after a year Flashbulb memory is often discussed as a parti- than about an ordinary event that occurred cular instance of autobiographical memory—that around the same time as the assassination (see is, memory for the events and experiences of one’s also Larsen, 1992). personal past (for reviews, see Conway & Fthe- naki, 2000; Neisser & Libby, 2000). In most studies of flashbulb memory, however, the emotionally ENCODING AND REHEARSAL arousing event itself is not personally experienced, VARIABLES and what is of interest is memory for the reception of information about the event—when, where, The encoding and rehearsal variables that have and from whom the news was heard. Flashbulb most often been related to FM include surprise, memory may thus represent a special case of the perceived importance or consequentiality of source memory (Brewer, 1992; for review, see the event, the level of emotional intensity Johnson, Hashtroudi, & Lindsay, 1993). By defi- experienced during the reception event, and sub- nition, both involve memory for the spatial, tem- sequent rehearsal. However, not all of these have poral, or perceptual contexts in which facts or been implicated in every study. Surprise and events are acquired or experienced, but unlike the consequentiality were initially proposed by Brown source or context of most autobiographical events, FLASHBULB MEMORY AND AGEING 101 the reception context of these emotionally arous- their study, their hypothesis nevertheless seems ing news events appears to be very well remem- reasonable given the findings outlined earlier and bered. Nevertheless, it may be that flashbulb the additional neuroimaging evidence suggesting memory depends on the same cognitive and that the FLs are particularly vulnerable to ageing neural processes as source memory. (e.g., Coffey et al., 1992; Cowell et al., 1994; Raz et Considerable evidence points to the frontal al., 1997; for review, see Raz, 1999). lobes (FLs) as important contributors to perfor- Recently, however, Kapur (1997; Kapur, mance on source memory tasks. For example, Abbott, Graham, & Simons, 2000), in the only patients with focal frontal lesions show a greater report of FMs in neurological populations of than normal incidence of source memory errors which we are aware, has proposed a competing when asked the time and place that facts were hypothesis, namely that temporal lobe structures, acquired, despite showing normal memory for the not the FLs, are critical for the formation and facts themselves (Janowsky, Shimamura, & retention of FMs. He reported that amnesic Squire, 1989; Johnson, O’Connor, & Cantor, patients with damage to medial temporal and 1997). Similarly, amnesic patients exhibit source diencephalic structures were aware that Princess memory deficits, but only if they also show deficits Diana had died, but were unable to remember on FL tasks (Schacter, Harbluk, & McLachlan, how they heard about her death.
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