Flashbulb Memories the 'Flashbulb' Memory Thesis

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It is also in society that they recall, recognize and localize their memories." (Halbwachs, 1992, p. 38, as cited in Olick, nd)

III. New Study on Flashbulb Memories

The work of Roger Highfield (2006) entitled: "9/11 Study Reveals How Flashbulb Memories Form" states that a study conducted among individuals in New York who witnessed the events of September 11, 2001, "has revealed a brain region that may be responsible for creating what psychologists call 'flashbulb memories', remarkable picture-like collections." The findings in this study indicate that "flashbulb memories arise when a person witnesses events first hard, not from any special neural process."(Highfield, 2006) According to Highfield the results of the study which was reported "in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, indicate personal involvement may be important in engaging the amygdale when recalling 9/11 events." (2006) The amygdale is "a small, almond-shaped brain structure known to mediate emotion's influence on memory." (Highfield, 2006)

Summary and Conclusion

It is quite easy to understand how highly charged emotional moments of significance are held in the memory of the individual or the collective group because of the adrenaline charge the body receives when recording these memories and because of the general shock to the human physiological system which occurs simultaneous to the cognitive processing of these events.

Stuck Writing Your "Flashbulb Memories the 'Flashbulb' Memory" Thesis?

While public 'flashbulb' memories are discussed many times over generally leading to a 'collective recall' that replaces individual recall it is just as understandable how the individual 'flashbulb' memory loses the initial sharp edge of memory through lack of discussion with others. The flashbulb memory is a very defining moment in the life of the individual as well as in the collective social and cultural mind and perhaps as stated by Weaver (nd) there does not need to be a special mechanism identified because the special mechanism has already been identified as the special process which has assigned significance to the event for those who remember and recall this highly memorable and very defining 'flashbulb' moment......

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"Flashbulb Memories The 'Flashbulb' Memory", 28 March 2009, Accessed.27 June. 2025,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/flashbulb-memories-flashbulb-memory-23522