Long-Term Memory for the Terrorist Attack of September 11: Flashbulb Memories, Event Memories, and the Factors That Influence Their Retention
More than 3,000 individuals from 7 U.S. cities reported on their memories of learning of the terrorist attacks of September 11, as well as details about the attack, 1 week, 11 months, and/or 35 months after the assault. Some studies of flashbulb memories examining long-term retention show slowing in...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
| Published: |
American Psychological Association (APA)
2012
|
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/69909 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1158-5692 |
| _version_ | 1811092610080571392 |
|---|---|
| author | Hirst, William Phelps, Elizabeth A. Buckner, Randy L. Budson, Andrew E. Cuc, Alexandru Johnson, Marcia K. Lyle, Keith B. Lustig, Cindy Mather, Mara Meksin, Robert Mitchell, Karen J. Ochsner, Kevin N. Schacter, Daniel L. Gabrieli, John D. E. |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences Hirst, William Phelps, Elizabeth A. Buckner, Randy L. Budson, Andrew E. Cuc, Alexandru Johnson, Marcia K. Lyle, Keith B. Lustig, Cindy Mather, Mara Meksin, Robert Mitchell, Karen J. Ochsner, Kevin N. Schacter, Daniel L. Gabrieli, John D. E. |
| author_sort | Hirst, William |
| collection | MIT |
| description | More than 3,000 individuals from 7 U.S. cities reported on their memories of learning of the terrorist attacks of September 11, as well as details about the attack, 1 week, 11 months, and/or 35 months after the assault. Some studies of flashbulb memories examining long-term retention show slowing in the rate of forgetting after a year, whereas others demonstrate accelerated forgetting. This article indicates that (a) the rate of forgetting for flashbulb memories and event memory (memory for details about the event itself) slows after a year, (b) the strong emotional reactions elicited by flashbulb events are remembered poorly, worse than nonemotional features such as where and from whom one learned of the attack, and (c) the content of flashbulb and event memories stabilizes after a year. The results are discussed in terms of community memory practices. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T15:20:49Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/69909 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T15:20:49Z |
| publishDate | 2012 |
| publisher | American Psychological Association (APA) |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/699092022-10-02T02:20:29Z Long-Term Memory for the Terrorist Attack of September 11: Flashbulb Memories, Event Memories, and the Factors That Influence Their Retention Hirst, William Phelps, Elizabeth A. Buckner, Randy L. Budson, Andrew E. Cuc, Alexandru Johnson, Marcia K. Lyle, Keith B. Lustig, Cindy Mather, Mara Meksin, Robert Mitchell, Karen J. Ochsner, Kevin N. Schacter, Daniel L. Gabrieli, John D. E. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences Gabrieli, John D. E. Gabrieli, John D. E. More than 3,000 individuals from 7 U.S. cities reported on their memories of learning of the terrorist attacks of September 11, as well as details about the attack, 1 week, 11 months, and/or 35 months after the assault. Some studies of flashbulb memories examining long-term retention show slowing in the rate of forgetting after a year, whereas others demonstrate accelerated forgetting. This article indicates that (a) the rate of forgetting for flashbulb memories and event memory (memory for details about the event itself) slows after a year, (b) the strong emotional reactions elicited by flashbulb events are remembered poorly, worse than nonemotional features such as where and from whom one learned of the attack, and (c) the content of flashbulb and event memories stabilizes after a year. The results are discussed in terms of community memory practices. James S. McDonnell Foundation National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (grant R01- MH0066972) 2012-03-30T21:11:28Z 2012-03-30T21:11:28Z 2010-08 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0096-3445 1939-2222 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/69909 Hirst, William et al. “Long-term Memory for the Terrorist Attack of September 11: Flashbulb Memories, Event Memories, and the Factors That Influence Their Retention.” Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 138.2 (2009): 161–176. Web. 30 Mar. 2012. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1158-5692 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0015527 Journal of Experimental Psychology General Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ application/pdf American Psychological Association (APA) PubMed Central |
| spellingShingle | Hirst, William Phelps, Elizabeth A. Buckner, Randy L. Budson, Andrew E. Cuc, Alexandru Johnson, Marcia K. Lyle, Keith B. Lustig, Cindy Mather, Mara Meksin, Robert Mitchell, Karen J. Ochsner, Kevin N. Schacter, Daniel L. Gabrieli, John D. E. Long-Term Memory for the Terrorist Attack of September 11: Flashbulb Memories, Event Memories, and the Factors That Influence Their Retention |
| title | Long-Term Memory for the Terrorist Attack of September 11: Flashbulb Memories, Event Memories, and the Factors That Influence Their Retention |
| title_full | Long-Term Memory for the Terrorist Attack of September 11: Flashbulb Memories, Event Memories, and the Factors That Influence Their Retention |
| title_fullStr | Long-Term Memory for the Terrorist Attack of September 11: Flashbulb Memories, Event Memories, and the Factors That Influence Their Retention |
| title_full_unstemmed | Long-Term Memory for the Terrorist Attack of September 11: Flashbulb Memories, Event Memories, and the Factors That Influence Their Retention |
| title_short | Long-Term Memory for the Terrorist Attack of September 11: Flashbulb Memories, Event Memories, and the Factors That Influence Their Retention |
| title_sort | long term memory for the terrorist attack of september 11 flashbulb memories event memories and the factors that influence their retention |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/69909 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1158-5692 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT hirstwilliam longtermmemoryfortheterroristattackofseptember11flashbulbmemorieseventmemoriesandthefactorsthatinfluencetheirretention AT phelpselizabetha longtermmemoryfortheterroristattackofseptember11flashbulbmemorieseventmemoriesandthefactorsthatinfluencetheirretention AT bucknerrandyl longtermmemoryfortheterroristattackofseptember11flashbulbmemorieseventmemoriesandthefactorsthatinfluencetheirretention AT budsonandrewe longtermmemoryfortheterroristattackofseptember11flashbulbmemorieseventmemoriesandthefactorsthatinfluencetheirretention AT cucalexandru longtermmemoryfortheterroristattackofseptember11flashbulbmemorieseventmemoriesandthefactorsthatinfluencetheirretention AT johnsonmarciak longtermmemoryfortheterroristattackofseptember11flashbulbmemorieseventmemoriesandthefactorsthatinfluencetheirretention AT lylekeithb longtermmemoryfortheterroristattackofseptember11flashbulbmemorieseventmemoriesandthefactorsthatinfluencetheirretention AT lustigcindy longtermmemoryfortheterroristattackofseptember11flashbulbmemorieseventmemoriesandthefactorsthatinfluencetheirretention AT mathermara longtermmemoryfortheterroristattackofseptember11flashbulbmemorieseventmemoriesandthefactorsthatinfluencetheirretention AT meksinrobert longtermmemoryfortheterroristattackofseptember11flashbulbmemorieseventmemoriesandthefactorsthatinfluencetheirretention AT mitchellkarenj longtermmemoryfortheterroristattackofseptember11flashbulbmemorieseventmemoriesandthefactorsthatinfluencetheirretention AT ochsnerkevinn longtermmemoryfortheterroristattackofseptember11flashbulbmemorieseventmemoriesandthefactorsthatinfluencetheirretention AT schacterdaniell longtermmemoryfortheterroristattackofseptember11flashbulbmemorieseventmemoriesandthefactorsthatinfluencetheirretention AT gabrielijohnde longtermmemoryfortheterroristattackofseptember11flashbulbmemorieseventmemoriesandthefactorsthatinfluencetheirretention |