Brown & Kulik (1977)

• Overview - examined the nature and quality of flashbulb memories
• Participants - 40 caucasian americans and 40 african americans from Harvard university with a wide age range (20-60)
• Procedure

  • Kulik compared black and white Americans (1970s)
  • Participants answered questionnaires about 10 flashbulb memories (where, who, what were they doing), most of which were about the assassinations of famous public figures, including John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King.
  • They were also to recall an incident from their own lives that was shocking, like the death of a family member.
• Results

  • After comparing the flashbulb memories of blacks and whites, whites experienced more vivid FBMs of JFK's assassination while blacks had more FBMs of MLK's assassination (and other black figures).
  • This was because MLK was an instrumental figure for African Americans, he led the civil rights movement and made changes to improve their lives. Hence, his death had higher significance for them and led to increased rehearsal of the FBM.
• Demonstrates that FBMs are vivid memories that are easily recalled a result of an event that evokes powerful emotional responses. They can however vary in strength according to the significance of the event to the person.