Editing Flashbulb memory (section)

== Positive vs. negative==
It is possible for both positive and negative events to produce flashbulb memories. When the event is viewed as a positive event, individuals show higher rates of reliving and sensory imagery, and also showed having more live qualities associated with the event. Individuals view these positive events as central to their identities and life stories, resulting in more rehearsal of the event, encoding the memory with more subjective clarity.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rubin |first1=David C. |last2=Berntsen |first2=Dorthe |last3=Deffler |first3=Samantha A. |last4=Brodar |first4=Kaitlyn |title=Self-narrative focus in autobiographical events: The effect of time, emotion, and individual differences |journal=Memory & Cognition |date=1 January 2019 |volume=47 |issue=1 |pages=63–75 |doi=10.3758/s13421-018-0850-4 |pmid=30144002 |pmc=6353681 |s2cid=52080284 |language=en |issn=1532-5946|doi-access=free }}</ref>

On the other hand, events seen as negative by a person have demonstrated having used more detail-oriented, conservative processing strategies. Negative flashbulb memories are more highly unpleasant and can cause a person to avoid reliving the negative event. This avoidance could possibly lead to a reduction of emotionally intense memory.  The memory stays intact in an individual who experiences a negative flashbulb memory but has a more toned-down emotional side. With negative flashbulb memories, they are seen to have more consequences.<ref>{{Cite journal 
| doi = 10.3758/BF03193295 
| last1 = Bohn | first1 = A. 
| last2 = Berntsen | first2 = D. 
| title = Pleasantness bias in flashbulb memories: Positive and negative flashbulb memories of the fall of the Berlin Wall among East and West Germans 
| journal = Memory & Cognition 
| volume = 35 
| issue = 3 
| pages = 565–577 
|date=April 2007
| pmid = 17691154
| url = https://pure.au.dk/portal/files/46131849/Bohn_Berntsen.PleasantnessBias.pdf
| doi-access = free 
}}</ref>

Flashbulb memories can be produced, but do not need to be, from a positive or negative event. Studies have shown that flashbulb memories may be produced by experiencing a type of brand-related interaction. It was found that brands that are well-differentiated from competitors (for example, [[Build-A-Bear Workshop]] versus [[KB Toys]]) produced a definitional flashbulb memory, but brands lacking strongly differentiated positioning do not. These "flashbulb brand memories" were viewed very much like conventional flashbulb memories for the features of strength, sharpness, vividness, and intensity.<ref>{{Cite journal 
| last1 = Roehm Jr. | first1 = Harper A.
| last2 = Roehm | first2 = Michelle L. 
| doi = 10.1002/mar.20151 
| title = Can brand encounters inspire flashbulb memories? 
| journal = Psychology and Marketing 
| volume = 24 
| issue = 1
| pages = 25–40
|date=January 2007
}}</ref>