The problem of measuring Flashbulb memory (FBM) is one of the key issues in the investigation of the phenomenon. Researchers have differently assessed FBMs with respect to the different theoretical views they have adopted. Both explicitly and implicitly, measurement models of FBM have carried significant assumptions about its nature and inclusion in the general domain of autobiographical memory. The chapter firstly provides an overview of the different measurement models adopted in assessing FBMs, by showing to what extent categorical models have increasingly appeared to offer a more satisfactory account of the phenomenon than traditional dimensional models. Subsequently, a brief outline of the peculiarities of both dimensional and categorical models will allow the reader to evaluate their appropriateness in the investigation of FBMs. Finally, from both the theoretical and empirical point of view, similarities and differences between FBMs and ordinary autobiographical memories are considered. Categorical models appear to best account for FBMs as particularly vivid and detailed memory formations, and this conclusion has significant implications for a general model of autobiographical memory.
Measurement issues in the study of Flashbulb memory
CURCI, Antonietta
2009-01-01
Abstract
The problem of measuring Flashbulb memory (FBM) is one of the key issues in the investigation of the phenomenon. Researchers have differently assessed FBMs with respect to the different theoretical views they have adopted. Both explicitly and implicitly, measurement models of FBM have carried significant assumptions about its nature and inclusion in the general domain of autobiographical memory. The chapter firstly provides an overview of the different measurement models adopted in assessing FBMs, by showing to what extent categorical models have increasingly appeared to offer a more satisfactory account of the phenomenon than traditional dimensional models. Subsequently, a brief outline of the peculiarities of both dimensional and categorical models will allow the reader to evaluate their appropriateness in the investigation of FBMs. Finally, from both the theoretical and empirical point of view, similarities and differences between FBMs and ordinary autobiographical memories are considered. Categorical models appear to best account for FBMs as particularly vivid and detailed memory formations, and this conclusion has significant implications for a general model of autobiographical memory.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
