Xuan Yan, Greenberg Mackenna, Umanath Sharda, Coane Jennifer H
Department of Psychology, Colby College, Waterville, ME, USA.
Department of Psychological Sciences, Claremont McKenna College, Claremont, CA, USA.
Memory. 2024 Sep 18:1-16. doi: 10.1080/09658211.2024.2404499.
Flashbulb memories (FBM) refer to the vivid and detailed retrieval of the reception context of a highly salient event. We examined FBMs and personal memories for one college's sudden transition to remote learning due to COVID-19. We explored whether the announcement of the campus' closure resulted in FBMs, how respondents felt about the decision, and the impacts of the decision. Employing a two-wave longitudinal survey conducted in March and May 2020, participants responded to questions regarding learning about the campus' closure and a control memory (an event from the same week chosen by participants). Participant reports suggested they did form FBMs, and FBMs were more consistent over time than control memories. Confidence did not differ across memory types. Additionally, we observed an initial strong positive response to the decision to close the campus - a sentiment that intensified over time. Lastly, participants' emotional responses transitioned from negative feelings in the first wave of testing to more neutral feelings in the second. This work offers a unique exploration of FBMs within the broader context of a global health crisis that intruded into daily life, effectively merging the typically public and distant nature of flashbulb events with first-hand, personal experience.
闪光灯记忆（FBM）指的是对高度显著事件的接收情境进行生动而详细的回忆。我们研究了因新冠疫情一所大学突然转向远程学习所产生的闪光灯记忆和个人记忆。我们探讨了校园关闭的公告是否导致了闪光灯记忆、受访者对该决定的感受以及该决定的影响。采用2020年3月和5月进行的两波纵向调查，参与者回答了有关得知校园关闭的问题以及一个对照记忆（参与者选择的同一周内的一个事件）。参与者的报告表明他们确实形成了闪光灯记忆，并且与对照记忆相比，闪光灯记忆随时间推移更加一致。不同记忆类型的信心没有差异。此外，我们观察到对关闭校园的决定最初有强烈的积极反应——这种情绪随着时间的推移而加剧。最后，参与者的情绪反应从第一波测试中的负面情绪转变为第二波测试中的更中性情绪。这项研究在全球健康危机侵入日常生活的更广泛背景下，对闪光灯记忆进行了独特的探索，有效地将闪光灯事件通常具有的公共性和遥远性与第一手个人经历融合在一起。
