Affect and Accuracy in Recall: Studies of 'Flashbulb' Memories

by Eugene Winograd (Editor), Ulric Neisser (Editor)

Overview

Recollections of unexpected and emotional events (called "flashbulb" memories) have long been the subject of theoretical speculation. The fourth Emory Symposium on Cognition brought together everyone who has done research on memories of the Challenger explosion, in order to gain better understanding of the phenomenon of flashbulb memories: How do flashbulb memories compare with other kinds of recollections? Are they unusually accurate, or especially long-lived? Do they reflect the activity of a special mechanism, as has been suggested? The book also addresses more general issues of affect and accuracy: Do emotion and arousal strengthen memory? If so, under what conditions? By what physiological mechanisms?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521401883
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	10/30/1992
Series:	Emory Symposia in Cognition , #4
Pages:	328
Product dimensions:	6.42(w) x 9.57(h) x 0.87(d)

Table of Contents

Preface; List of contributors; 1. Introduction Eugene Winograd; Part I. Empirical Studies: 2. Phantom flashbulbs: false recollections of hearing the news about Challenger Ulric Neisser and Nicole Harsch; 3. Potential flashbulbs: memories of ordinary news as the baseline Steen F. Larsen; 4. Flashbulb memories: confidence, consistency, and quantity John Neil Bohannon III and Victoria Louise Symons; Part II. Developmental Studies: 5. Developmental issues in flashbulb memory research: children recall the Challenger event Amye Richelle Warren and Jeffery N. Swartwood; 6. Preschool children's memories of personal circumstances: the fire alarm study David B. Pillemer; Part III. Emotion and Memory: 7. A proposed neurobiological basis for regulating memory storage for significant events Paul E. Gold; 8. Remembering the details of emotional events Daniel Reisberg and Friderike Heuer; 9. Do flashbulb memories differ from other types of emotional memories? Sven-Åke Christianson; 10. Why do traumatic experiences sometimes produce good memory (flashbulbs) and sometimes no memory (repression)? Elizabeth F. Loftus and Leah Kaufman; Part IV. Theoretical Issues: 11. Special versus ordinary memory mechanisms in the genesis of flashbulb memories Michael McCloskey; 12. Remembering personal circumstances: a functional analysis David B. Pillemer; 13. Constraints on memory David C. Rubin; 14. The theoretical and empirical status of the flashbulb memory hypothesis William F. Brewer; Author index; Subject index.

Editorial Reviews

"...a important book that will be used extensively by researchers concerned with memory in natural circumstances. It contains excellent reviews of the effects of emotion on memory, developmental aspects of flashbulb memories, and the neurobiology of memory and concludes with spirited discussion of methodological and theoretical issues." Martin A. Conway, Science

"...well-written...well-balanced...the subject matter is inherently interesting to a broad audience...I strongly recommend this book. Efforts at studying and conceptualizing the interaction between affect and memory are not easy to find, and the authors of this book have made a scholarly contribution to this scientifically and clinically important area." Nathan Zilberg, Imagination, Cognition and Personality

From the Publisher