Influence of Emotion

• Flashbulb memory


  An emotional memory triggered by events that stand out due to their shocking, dramatic, or unusual nature
• Flashbulb memories


  • More vivid, detailed, long-lasting and meaningful than everyday memories
  • Not necessarily more reliable or accurate (prone to distortion by information affected after the event, or reinterpretation)
• Flashbulb memories

  • Positive ones like winning a race
  • Traumatic ones like being involved in an accident
  • Witnessing a significant global event on TV like an assassination
• Flashbulb memories


  Captured like a photograph (hence flashbulb), and laid down in the long-term memory for a long time