Editing Flashbulb memory (section)

=== Relation to autobiographical memory ===

Some studies indicate that flashbulb memories are not any more accurate than other types of memories.<ref name="Rubin">{{Cite journal 
| last1 = Rubin | first1 = David C. 
| last2 = Kozin | first2 = Marc 
| doi = 10.1016/0010-0277(84)90037-4 
| title = Vivid memories 
| journal = Cognition 
| volume = 16 
| issue = 1 
| pages = 81–95 
|date=February 1984
| pmid =  6540650
| s2cid = 39562420 
}}</ref> It has been reported that memories of high school graduation or early emotional experiences can be just as vivid and clear as flashbulb memories.  Undergraduates recorded their three most vivid autobiographical memories.  Nearly all of the memories produced were rated to be of high personal importance, but low national importance.  These memories were rated as having the same level of consequentiality and surprise as memories for events of high national importance.  This indicates that flashbulb memories may just be a subset of vivid memories and may be the result of a more general phenomenon.<ref name="Rubin"/>

When looking at flashbulb memories and "control memories" (non-flashbulb memories) it has been observed that flashbulb memories are incidentally encoded into one's memory, whereas if one wanted to, a non-flashbulb memory can be intentionally encoded in one's memory. Both of these types of memories have vividness that accompanies the memory, but it was found that for flashbulb memories, the vividness was much higher and never decreases compared to control memories, which in fact did decrease over time.<ref>{{Cite journal 
| last1 = Kvavilashvili | first1 = L. 
| last2 = Mirani | first2 = J. 
| last3 = Schlagman | first3 = S. 
| last4 = Erskine | first4 = J. A. K. 
| last5 = Kornbrot | first5 = D. E. 
| title = Effects of age on phenomenology and consistency of flashbulb memories of September 11 and a staged control event 
| doi = 10.1037/a0017532 
| journal = Psychology and Aging 
| volume = 25 
| issue = 2 
| pages = 391–404 
|date=June 2010
| pmid = 20545423 
| hdl = 2299/10440 
| hdl-access = free 
}}</ref>

Flashbulb memory has always been classified as a type of [[autobiographical memory]], which is memory for one's everyday life events.  Emotionally neutral autobiographical events, such as a party or a barbecue, were contrasted with emotionally arousing events that were classified as flashbulb memories.  Memory for the neutral autobiographical events was not as accurate as the emotionally arousing events of Princess Diana's death and Mother Teresa's death.  Therefore, flashbulb memories were more accurately recalled than everyday autobiographical events.<ref name= "Davidson P"/>  In some cases, consistency of flashbulb memories and everyday memories do not differ, as they both decline over time.  Ratings of vividness, recollection and belief in the accuracy of memory, however, have been documented to decline only in everyday memories and not flashbulb memories.<ref name= "Talarico">{{Cite journal 
| last1 = Talarico | first1 = J. M. 
| last2 = Rubin | first2 = D. C. 
| title = Confidence, not consistency, characterizes flashbulb memories 
| journal = Psychological Science 
| volume = 14 
| issue = 5 
| pages = 455–461 
|date=September 2003
| doi = 10.1111/1467-9280.02453
| pmid = 12930476
| jstor = 40064167
| url = http://sites.lafayette.edu/talaricj/files/2009/09/TalaricoRubin2003.pdf <!-- looks like open access; also at http://911memory.nyu.edu/abstracts/talarico_rubin.pdf -->
| hdl = 10161/10118 
| s2cid = 14643427 
| hdl-access = free 
}}</ref>

The latent structure of a flashbulb memory is taxonic, and qualitatively distinct from non-flashbulb memories.  It has been suggested that there are "optimal cut points" on flashbulb memory features that can ultimately divide people who can produce them from those who cannot. This follows the idea that flashbulb memories are a recollection of "event-specific sensory-perceptual details" and are much different from other known autobiographical memories.  Ordinary memories show a dimensional structure that involves all levels of autobiographical knowledge, whereas flashbulb memories appear to come from a more densely integrated region of autobiographical knowledge. Flashbulb memories and non-flashbulb memories also differ qualitatively and not just quantitatively.<ref>{{Cite journal 
| last1 = Lanciano | first1 = T. 
| last2 = Curci | first2 = A. 
| doi = 10.1080/09658211.2011.651088 
| title = Type or dimension? A taxometric investigation of flashbulb memories 
| journal = Memory 
| volume = 20 
| issue = 2 
| pages = 177–188 
| year = 2012 
| pmid =  22313420
| s2cid = 24862794 
}}</ref> Flashbulb memories are considered a form of autobiographical memory but involve the activation of episodic memory, where as everyday memories are a semantic form of recollections. Being a form of autobiographical recollections, flashbulb memories are deeply determined by the reconstructive processes of memory, and just like any other form of memory are prone to decay.<ref>{{Cite journal 
| last1 = Curci | first1 = A. 
| last2 = Lanciano | first2 = T. 
| doi = 10.3200/GENP.136.2.129-152 
| title = Features of Autobiographical Memory: Theoretical and Empirical Issues in the Measurement of Flashbulb Memory 
| journal = The Journal of General Psychology 
| volume = 136 
| issue = 2 
| pages = 129–150 
|date=April 2009
| pmid = 19350832 
| s2cid = 24421614 
}}</ref>