A Test of Flashbulb Memory: Tuesday, September 11, 2001

闪光灯记忆测试：2001 年 9 月 11 日星期二

• 批准号: 0139292
• 负责人: Andrew Conway
• 金额: $ 4.9万
• 依托单位: University of Illinois at Chicago
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2001
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2001-10-01 至 2003-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0139292&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Test; Flashbulb; Memory; Tuesday; September

On Tuesday, September 11, 2001, terrorists struck the United States by hijacking planes in Boston, Washington D.C., and Newark and crashing them into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in rural Pennsylvania. Tuesday, September 11, 2001 has immediately been classified with a small group of "infamous" dates, including December 7, 1941, November 22, 1963, April 4, 1968, January 28, 1986, and April 19, 1995. Each of these dates mark tragic and history-altering events in America. Furthermore, most Americans who witnessed these days will tell you, "I remember exactly where I was when I heard the news". Cognitive psychologists have referred to the phenomenon of exceptional memory for salient events as "flashbulb memory". To the layperson, flashbulb memories are unique in that they are more vivid and more easily recalled than other memories. However, research on flashbulb memory has suggested that they are not special. Instead, research suggests that flashbulb memories are susceptible to the same restructuring processes as other memories. However, research on flashbulb memory is limited for obvious reasons. Further, since the cognitive revolution of the 1950's, this country has witnessed very few events that compare to the events of Tuesday, September 11. If ever there was an event that should fall under the category of "flashbulb" this one should be it. Therefore, the purpose of this project is to assess people's memory for the events of Tuesday, September 11. Memory for events, confidence in memory, and emotional reaction will be assessed immediately (i.e., approximately one week following the events) and will be assessed again 11 and 23 months later. The hypothesis under investigation is whether salient events, which are accompanied by strong affect and emotion, are recalled with accuracy over a long period of time, or whether memory of these events is susceptible to distortion.

2001 年 9 月 11 日星期二，恐怖分子袭击了美国，他们在波士顿、华盛顿特区和纽瓦克劫持了飞机，并将飞机撞向世界贸易中心、五角大楼和宾夕法尼亚州乡村的一片田野。 2001年9月11日星期二立即被归入一小群“臭名昭著”的日期，包括1941年12月7日、1963年11月22日、1968年4月4日、1986年1月28日和1995年4月19日。这些日期中的每一个都标志着美国发生的悲惨和改变历史的事件。 此外，大多数目睹这些天的美国人都会告诉你，“我清楚地记得听到这个消息时我在哪里”。 认知心理学家将对显着事件的特殊记忆现象称为“闪光灯记忆”。 对于外行人来说，闪光灯记忆的独特之处在于它们比其他记忆更生动、更容易回忆。 然而，对闪光灯存储器的研究表明它们并不特殊。 相反，研究表明闪光灯存储器容易受到与其他存储器相同的重组过程的影响。 然而，由于显而易见的原因，对闪光灯存储器的研究受到限制。 此外，自 20 世纪 50 年代的认知革命以来，这个国家见证的事件很少能与 9 月 11 日星期二的事件相比。如果有一件事件应该属于“闪光灯”类别，那么这个事件应该是它。 因此，该项目的目的是评估人们对 9 月 11 日星期二事件的记忆。事件记忆、记忆信心和情绪反应将立即评估（即事件发生后大约一周），并将在 11 个月和 23 个月后再次评估。 正在研究的假设是，伴随着强烈情感和情绪的显着事件是否能够在很长一段时间内被准确地回忆起来，或者这些事件的记忆是否容易被扭曲。