A ten-year follow-up of a study of memory for the attack of September 11, 2001: Flashbulb memories and memories for flashbulb events.

TLDR

The study investigates long‑term retention of flashbulb and event memories following the September 11, 2001 attack, extending test‑retest research beyond previous intervals. Researchers distributed surveys within a week of the attack and at 11, 25, and 119 months afterward, assessing flashbulb and event memories and five factors—media attention, discussion, residency, personal loss, and emotional intensity—to explain memory consistency and accuracy. Results show rapid forgetting in the first year that stabilizes over ten years, with confidence remaining high, media attention and discussion predicting event accuracy, but no factor predicting flashbulb consistency, and inconsistent flashbulb memories tending to be repeated rather than corrected.

Abstract

Within a week of the attack of September 11, 2001, a consortium of researchers from across the United States distributed a survey asking about the circumstances in which respondents learned of the attack (their flashbulb memories) and the facts about the attack itself (their event memories). Follow-up surveys were distributed 11, 25, and 119 months after the attack. The study, therefore, examines retention of flashbulb memories and event memories at a substantially longer retention interval than any previous study using a test-retest methodology, allowing for the study of such memories over the long term. There was rapid forgetting of both flashbulb and event memories within the first year, but the forgetting curves leveled off after that, not significantly changing even after a 10-year delay. Despite the initial rapid forgetting, confidence remained high throughout the 10-year period. Five putative factors affecting flashbulb memory consistency and event memory accuracy were examined: (a) attention to media, (b) the amount of discussion, (c) residency, (d) personal loss and/or inconvenience, and (e) emotional intensity. After 10 years, none of these factors predicted flashbulb memory consistency; media attention and ensuing conversation predicted event memory accuracy. Inconsistent flashbulb memories were more likely to be repeated rather than corrected over the 10-year period; inaccurate event memories, however, were more likely to be corrected. The findings suggest that even traumatic memories and those implicated in a community's collective identity may be inconsistent over time and these inconsistencies can persist without the corrective force of external influences.