CLoA Outcome Link: How Evaluate one theory of how emotion may affect one cognitive process (emotion on memory)
Hey subscribers! Sorry for being idle for the past month, I have been busy enjoying my summer holiday! However, now that it is near the end, I have decided to catch up on my psych notes. One of the last articles I read before the holidays that I have marked down for myself to make summaries, revise, and what not was the study conducted by Berntsen and Thomsen (2005). The researchers showed that flashbulb memories do exist.
As defined by Brown & Kulik, flashbulb memories are vivid and detailed memories for the personal context of the reception of consequential and surprising news. Basically, when an individual experiences an emotional situation, a "fight or flight" type of situation, the response from the body is to release stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol from the adrenal gland. These hormones- adrenaline and such, activates the amygdala in the limbic system. The amygdala has been found to play an important role in emotional aspects of memory. As such, we can link this back to how it is possible for "emotional" situations to be remembered more clearly and vividly- because the amygdala is activated, which enhances the encoding, storing, and retrieval of memory.
To test this theory, or even- fact, Berntsen and his team studied a sample of 145 Danes aging from 72-89. These old men and women were asked for their memory of their environment and situation (eg. weather, day of the week, time of announcement) during the Danish occupation and its liberation, 1940 and 1945 respectively. After having interviewed, the Danes were given a questionnaire which included specific factual details about the two days, which later would be compared to available historical data. A control group of younger Danes were given the exact questionnaire and the results were compared.
Results showed that the first group of participants (the older group), were far more accurate, having 55% accuracy, compared to the younger group who scored only 11%.
What this tells us is that even though the days in question were decades old and with time, memories usually falter and fade, flashbulb memories such as important days in one's lifetime remained clear and vivid. The older participants had the ability to recall memories even though more than 60 years has passed.
The experiments had very valid variables, suggesting a correlation between emotion and deep memory. Although like most other studies, it is reductionist, it does support the idea that flashbulb memories do exist. In terms of generalizability, one could argue that since it was only conducted on a very specific group of participants, in fact- a purposive sample, it cannot be generalized to the world. However, since the cognitive processes of humans are not entirely varied, it is safe to say that emotions are universal. Thus, this experiment, could be generalized to the entire population. Even so, it would be more accurate to conduct a repeated one in different cultures. The prospects of the experiment gives rise to the fact that if one were to make others remember something, they would have to garner an emotional response. This could be used in presentations. For example, a presentation like Steve Jobs' always gives the audience a surprise, an innovative breakthrough. This emotional response is sure to give Apple very well reception and reputation, where not only the media will be perpetuating the products' superiority, but also the audience's own brain!
Although I personally feel that everyone would have known that emotional situations would have a deeper engrave in one's memory, I guess psychology is all about proving it with experiments (Seriously though, if you were eating breakfast on a normal school day just like every other day of your past 16 years of existence, compared to eating breakfast when your country was suddenly invaded, would you not think that the latter would hold deeper in your memory??). Anyway, there you have it folks: flashbulb memories- DO EXIST!
Hey subscribers! Sorry for being idle for the past month, I have been busy enjoying my summer holiday! However, now that it is near the end, I have decided to catch up on my psych notes. One of the last articles I read before the holidays that I have marked down for myself to make summaries, revise, and what not was the study conducted by Berntsen and Thomsen (2005). The researchers showed that flashbulb memories do exist.
As defined by Brown & Kulik, flashbulb memories are vivid and detailed memories for the personal context of the reception of consequential and surprising news. Basically, when an individual experiences an emotional situation, a "fight or flight" type of situation, the response from the body is to release stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol from the adrenal gland. These hormones- adrenaline and such, activates the amygdala in the limbic system. The amygdala has been found to play an important role in emotional aspects of memory. As such, we can link this back to how it is possible for "emotional" situations to be remembered more clearly and vividly- because the amygdala is activated, which enhances the encoding, storing, and retrieval of memory.
To test this theory, or even- fact, Berntsen and his team studied a sample of 145 Danes aging from 72-89. These old men and women were asked for their memory of their environment and situation (eg. weather, day of the week, time of announcement) during the Danish occupation and its liberation, 1940 and 1945 respectively. After having interviewed, the Danes were given a questionnaire which included specific factual details about the two days, which later would be compared to available historical data. A control group of younger Danes were given the exact questionnaire and the results were compared.
Results showed that the first group of participants (the older group), were far more accurate, having 55% accuracy, compared to the younger group who scored only 11%.
What this tells us is that even though the days in question were decades old and with time, memories usually falter and fade, flashbulb memories such as important days in one's lifetime remained clear and vivid. The older participants had the ability to recall memories even though more than 60 years has passed.
The experiments had very valid variables, suggesting a correlation between emotion and deep memory. Although like most other studies, it is reductionist, it does support the idea that flashbulb memories do exist. In terms of generalizability, one could argue that since it was only conducted on a very specific group of participants, in fact- a purposive sample, it cannot be generalized to the world. However, since the cognitive processes of humans are not entirely varied, it is safe to say that emotions are universal. Thus, this experiment, could be generalized to the entire population. Even so, it would be more accurate to conduct a repeated one in different cultures. The prospects of the experiment gives rise to the fact that if one were to make others remember something, they would have to garner an emotional response. This could be used in presentations. For example, a presentation like Steve Jobs' always gives the audience a surprise, an innovative breakthrough. This emotional response is sure to give Apple very well reception and reputation, where not only the media will be perpetuating the products' superiority, but also the audience's own brain!
Although I personally feel that everyone would have known that emotional situations would have a deeper engrave in one's memory, I guess psychology is all about proving it with experiments (Seriously though, if you were eating breakfast on a normal school day just like every other day of your past 16 years of existence, compared to eating breakfast when your country was suddenly invaded, would you not think that the latter would hold deeper in your memory??). Anyway, there you have it folks: flashbulb memories- DO EXIST!