- Hello, all you big beautiful brains out there. Today, we're going to talk about flashbulb memories. Before we get started, take a minute to subscribe to Psy vs Psy help out your friendly neighborhood psychologist while I tell you all about flashbulb memories. 

Ever had a memory so vividly clear that you could remember everything about that moment? Chances are that memory, for you, is what psychologists would call a flashbulb memory. Psychologist Roger Brown and James Kulik first explored this concept back in 1977 in the journal Cognition. Brown and Kulik gave people questionnaires about their memories surrounding especially significant events within their lifetime, in particular, about the assassinations of key American political figures from the era. The researchers noted some differences between regular memories and what they decided to call flashbulb memories. 

Other researchers have added to what makes them special, but here are a few key points that make flashbulb memories different from regular memories. First is intensity. When asked to recall these sorts of flashbulb memories, people report them as being much more clear than other, more standard memories. The second is the amount of details that people can recall from flashbulb memories. People can remember tons of random details associated with flashbulb memories, everything from what you saw or heard, to what you were wearing, to exactly how what was happening made you feel. 

Speaking of feelings, that's another thing that's very different about flashbulb memories. As opposed to more standard memories, flashbulb memories tend to be highly emotionally charged. It's not likely that you'd have a flashbulb memory about a typical boring, everyday activity, like putting on your shoes or eating lunch. You'd be much more likely to form a flashbulb memory of an emotionally impactful event, say the moment everyone jumped out and yelled surprise at your birthday party, or the moment your significant other broke up with you. These intense emotions play a big part in creating these flashbulb memories. 

Now, there have been some studies that call into question about how stable flashbulb memories are over extended periods of time, but people's confidence in their ability to remember flashbulb memories is actually very high. And interestingly, there are some flashbulb memories that can help you connect to your social group. For instance, asking people where they were when they first found out about quarantine, or what they were doing on 9/11. These events were extremely emotional and people are likely to have flashbulb memories of exactly what they were doing. 

If you want to know more about the flashbulbs in your life, make sure you subscribe to Psy vs Psy so you can get all of our other videos and you can learn all about the science of psychology. Until next time, keep thinking, and I'll see you all later. Bye. 

I might be taking this whole flash bulb thing a little too literally.