Sample response

Psychologists argue that episodic memory is not just a photographic snapshot in the brain, but instead it is reconstructed.  Schema theory says that memory is based on schema.  When we encode and retrieve episodic memories, we are influenced by our perceptions, past knowledge and personal beliefs. However, some argue that there is a different type of memory, called flashbulb memory.  This memory is the result so of powerful emotions, so some argue that it is not reconstructed, but vivid, accurate and not open to distortion in the way that normal memories are.

After the explosion of a US space shuttle was watched live on television, Neisser & Harsch (1992) decided to do a study to investigate if the claim that flashbulb memories are not reconstructive is true. On the day of the accident, he asked his students to write a short description of how they heard the news about the accident. They were asked a series of questions including: What time was it? How did you hear it? Where were you? And who was with you? They were also asked how much television coverage of the event they had watched.

2 ½ years later they were given the same questionnaire. This time, in addition to the questions asked on the first questionnaire, they were also asked to rate how sure they were of their answers. The findings showed that although the participants were very confident of their memories, the mean score for correct answers to the questions was 3 / 7. The students had misremembered the events which they assumed were “flashbulb memories.”  The study shows that our memories are not as reliable as we would like to believe. Instead, the students most likely reconstructed the events based on a combination of probability (the usual behaviour at that time of day) or based on other information that they have heard over the years about the event.