Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-qsmjn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-18T11:56:40.862Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Memories of the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001: A Study of the Consistency and Phenomenal Characteristics of Flashbulb Memories

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 April 2014

Pilar Ferré Romeu
Pilar Ferré Romeu*
Affiliation:
Universidad Rovira i Virgili
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Pilar Ferré Romeu. Departamento de Psicología, Universidad Rovira i Virgili, Carretera de Valls, s.n., 43007-Tarragona (Spain). E-mail: pilar.ferre@urv.net
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In this study, I investigated students' memories of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, carried out by Al Qaeda terrorists against the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington. Participants completed on two occasions (2 weeks and 8 months after the events took place) a memory questionnaire that included an assessment of the phenomenal richness of their memories. The results showed that the participants remembered very well the circumstances in which they first heard about the terrorist attacks, that they were very confident about this information, and that these memories were characterized by a high phenomenal richness. Over time, there was a decrease in all of these variables, but people's ratings of phenomenology and confidence were still very high.

En este estudio se investigaron los recuerdos que tenían estudiantes de los ataques terroristas del 11 de septiembre de 2001, llevados a cabo por terroristas de Al Qaeda contra el World Trade Center en Nueva York y el Pentágono en Washington. En dos ocasiones diferentes (2 semanas y 8 meses después de los sucesos) los participantes rellenaron un cuestionario de memoria que incluía una evaluación de la riqueza fenomenológica de sus recuerdos. Los resultados mostraron que los participantes recordaban muy bien las circunstancias en las que se enteraron de los ataques terroristas, que tenían mucha confianza en esta información, y que estos recuerdos se caracterizaban por una gran riqueza fenomenológica. Con el paso del tiempo, había un decremento en todas estas variables pero las valoraciones de las personas de la fenomenología y la confianza se mantenían muy altas.

Keywords

flashbulb memoriesphenomenal characteristicsconfidenceconsistencyrecuerdos “flashbulb”características fenomenológicasconfianzaconsistencia
Type
Articles
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 9 , Issue 1 , May 2006 , pp. 52 - 60
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2006

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bohannon, J.N. (1988). Flashbulb memories for the space shuttle disaster: A tale of two theories. Cognition, 29, 179–196.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bohannon, J.N., & Symons, V.L. (1992). Flashbulb memories: Confidence, consistency, and quantity. In Winograd, E. & Neisser, U. (Eds.), Affect and accuracy in recall: Studies of ‘flashbulb memories’ (pp. 69–94). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Brown, R., & Kulik, J. (1977). Flashbulb memories. Cognition, 5, 73–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Budson, A.E., Simons, J.S., Sullivan, A.L., Beier, J.S., Solomon, P.R., Scinto, L.F., Daffner, K.R., & Schacter, D.L. (2004). Memory and emotions for the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in patients with Alzheimer's disease, patients with mild cognitive impairment, and healthy older adults. Neuropsychology, 18, 315–327.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Christianson, S.A. (1989). Flashbulb memories: Special, but not so special. Memory & Cognition, 17, 435–443.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Christianson, S.A., & Engelberg, E. (1999). Memory and emotional consistency: The MS Estonia ferry disaster. Memory, 7, 471–482.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, G., Conway, M.A., & Maylor, E.A. (1994). Flashbulb memories in older adults. Psychology and Aging, 9, 454–463.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Conway, M.A. (1995). Flashbulb memories. Hove, UK: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Conway, M.A., Anderson, S.J., Larsen, S.F., Donnelly, C.M., McDaniel, M.A., McClelland, A.G.R., Rawles, R.E., & Logie, R.H. (1994). The formation of flashbulb memories. Memory & Cognition, 22, 326–343.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Curci, A., Luminet, O., Finkenauer, C., & Gisle, L. (2001). Flashbulb memories in social groups: A comparative test-retest study of the memory of French President Mitterrand's death in a French and a Belgian group. Memory, 9, 81–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davidson, P.S.R., & Glisky, E.L. (2002). Is flashbulb memory a special instance of source memory? Evidence from older adults. Memory, 10, 99–111.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
D'Argembeau, A., Comblain, C., & Van der Linden, M. (2003). Phenomenal characteristics of autobiographical memories for positive, negative, and neutral events. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 17, 281–294.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finkenauer, C., Luminet, O., Gisle, L., El-Ahmadi, A., Van der Linden, M., & Philippot, P. (1998). Flashbulb memories and the underlying mechanisms of their formation: Toward an emotionalintegrative model. Memory & Cognition, 26, 516–531.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fivush, R., Edwards, V.J., & Mennuti-Washburn, J. (2003). Narratives of 9/11: Relations among personal involvement, narrative content and memory of the emotional impact over time. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 17, 1099–1111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hornstein, S.L., Brown, A.S., & Mulligan, N.W. (2003). Longterm flashbulb memory for learning of Princess Diana's death. Memory, 11, 293–306.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Johnson, M.K., Foley, M.A., Suengas, A.G., & Raye, C.L. (1988). Phenomenal characteristics of memories for perceived and imagined autobiographical events. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 117, 371–376.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kvavilashvili, L., Mirani, J., Schlagman, S., & Kornbrot, D.E. (2003). Comparing flashbulb memories of September 11 and the death of Princess Diana: Effects of time delays and nationality. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 17, 1017–1031.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, P.J., & Brown, N.R. (2003). Delay related changes in personal memories for September 11, 2001. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 17, 1007–1015.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Luminet, O., Curci, A., Marsh, E.J., Wessel, I., Constantin, C., Gencoz, F., & Yogo, M. (2004). The cognitive, emotional, and social impacts of the September 11 attacks: Group differences in memory for the reception context and the determinants of flashbulb memory. The Journal of General Psychology, 13, 197–224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCloskey, M., Wible, C.G., & Cohen, N.J. (1988). Is there a special flashbulb memory mechanism? Journal of Experimental Psychology, 117, 171–181.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nachson, I., & Zelig, A. (2003). Flashbulb and factual memories: The case of Rabin's assassination. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 17, 519–531.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neisser, U. (1982). Snapshots or benchmarks? In Neisser, U. (Ed.), Memory observed (pp. 43–48). San Francisco: Freeman.Google Scholar
Neisser, U., & Harsch, N. (1992). Phantom flashbulbs: False recollections of hearing the news about Challenger. In Winograd, E. & Neisser, U. (Eds.), Affect and accuracy in recall: Studies of “flashbulb memories” (pp. 9–31). New York: Cambridge University PressCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neisser, U., Winograd, E., Bergman, E.T., Schreiber, C.A., Palmer, S.E., & Weldon, M.S. (1996). Remembering the earthquake: Direct experience vs. hearing the news. Memory, 4, 337–357.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Niedzwienska, A. (2004). Metamemory knowledge and the accuracy of flashbulb memories. Memory, 12, 603–613.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pezdek, K. (2003). Event memory and autobiographical memory for the events of September 11, 2001. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 17, 1033–1045.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pillemer, D.B. (1984). Flashbulb memories of the assassination attempt on President Reagan. Cognition, 16, 63–80.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rubin, D.C., & Kozin, M. (1984). Vivid memories. Cognition, 16, 81–95.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schaefer, A., & Philippot, P. (2005). Selective effects of emotion on the phenomenal characteristics of autobiographical memories. Memory, 13, 148–160.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schmidt, S.R. (2004). Autobiographical memories for the September 11th attacks: Reconstructive errors and emotional impairment of memory. Memory and Cognition, 32, 443–454.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schmolck, H., Buffalo, E.A., & Squire, L.R. (2000). Memory distortions develop over time: Recollections of the O.J. Simpson trial verdict after 15 and 32 months. Psychological Science, 11, 39–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, M.C., Bibi, U., & Sheard, E. (2003). Evidence for the differential impact of time and emotion on personal and event memories for September 11, 2001. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 17, 1047–1055.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Talarico, J.M., & Rubin, D.C. (2003). Confidence, not consistency, characterizes flashbulb memories. Psychological Science, 14, 455–461.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tekcan, A.I., Ece, B., Gülgöz, S., & Er, N. (2003). Autobiographical and event memory for 9/11: Changes across one year. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 17, 1057–1066.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Winningham, R.G., Hyman, I.E., & Dinnel, D.L. (2000). Flashbulb memories? The effects of when the initial memory report was obtained. Memory, 8, 209–216.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wright, D., Gaskell, G.D., & O'Muircheartaigh, C. (1998). Flashbulb memory assumptions: Using national surveys to explore cognitive phenomena. British Journal of Psychology, 89, 103–122.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed