Roger Brown's theory of memory

What were you doing when man landed on the moon? And when the Berlin wall fell? And at the moment when the Twin Towers fell? If we have experienced all these events, it is possible that we have an exact and precise answer.

We remember those moments with great precision. Because? That's what Roger Brown's theory of memory explores.

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A Brief Introduction: Robert Brown

Roger Brown was a renowned psychologist of American origin Famous for his multiple studies and contributions to various fields of psychology, especially highlighting his studies regarding human language and its development.

Brown also played an important role in the study of memory, and the research carried out together with to James Kulik for vivid recollection of what people were doing at moments of great historical significance, coining the term flashbulb memory.

Vivid memory or “flashbulb memories”

The flashbulb memories or vivid memories They refer to the precise, intense and persistent memory of the circumstances surrounding a situation of great importance in our lives. The event itself is remembered and what we were doing at the precise moment in which it happened or in which we found out about it.

The sensation of the person who has these memories is equivalent to the impression of having something similar to a photograph or a piece of film always available in memory, totally clear and without the possibility of mistake.

Generally, these are events of great historical importance.. Examples of this occur, for example, in people who remember exactly the moment when man reached the moon, the assassination of Kennedy or Martin Luther King, the fall of the Berlin wall or the most recent attacks against the Towers twins.

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Why do we remember it so accurately?

Generally, when we want to remember something, it is necessary that the same information be repeated over and over again or that is linked to other knowledge so that they generate a memory trace that allows you to remember them later. The neural connections that are stimulated by the learning done need to be strengthened. If it is never used or found useful, our body will consider that the information is not relevant or useful and will end up forgetting it.

But many memories are held much more permanently without needing to be repeated over and over again. This is due to the role of emotions. It is well known that when an event awakens us with intense emotion, it generates a much more powerful and permanent memory trace than events without emotional significance. For example, the first kiss or the birth of a child.

This is the case of the events that generate flashbulb memories, the main reason why these moments and the circumstances that surround them are remembered in such a vivid way is similar to that of emotional activation: we are facing an unexpected event that greatly surprises us. After the surprise, we process the importance of said event and this, together with the emotional reaction generated by verifying said relevance, ends up provoking a strong memory of what happened and the circumstances that surrounded it.

But it must be taken into account that the events themselves are only recorded if they are important to the person who remembers them or feels some identification with what happened or those involved. For example, the memory of what was being done at the time of the assassination of Martin Luther King is more powerful for general for African-American subjects who experienced the effects of racial segregation in the United States than for the population caucasian.

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Are these memories totally reliable?

However, despite the fact that a large part of the people who claim to remember what happened with great accuracy and the high emotional impact it had on their lives, the total reliability of these memories is questionable.

Broadly speaking, the most essential information of the event is remembered, but we must take into account that our memory usually focuses on capturing the most important information. pertinent and that every time we remember something, the mind actually performs a reconstruction of the facts.

If our mind does not find the relevant information, we unconsciously tend to fill in the gaps through collusion. In other words, we generally combine and even create material that seems relevant and fits into our reworking.

Thus, it is common for us to unconsciously distort our memories. It has been shown that the number of details correctly remembered decreases over time, despite the fact that the person continues to believe that all details remain fresh. And it is that little by little we are overwriting the most peripheral information. All this while the subject himself is fully convinced that the memory is real and as he tells it.

Bibliographic references:

• Brown, R. & Kulik, J. (1977). Flashbulb memories. Cognition, 5, 73-99. Harvard University.

• Tamayo, W. (2012). Flashbulb memories and social representations. Proposal for a joint study. Psicoespacios Magazine, 6 (7); pp. 183-199.