(The twisted mess in lower left corner is that which remains of the Challenger!)
I do not remember much of what happened just before or after the stunning announcement, but an image of the moment when I first learned the news has remained fixed in my mind for years. For many of us, the memory of that November afternoon in 1963 feels as though it has been frozen forever in the photographic form, unaffected by the ravages of time that erode and degrade most other memories. Daniel L. Schacter, PhD from “Searching for Memory”
I am sure that many of my septuagenarium readers are now flashing back to that day, and some of you, like me, are visualizing Miss Howell’s music class in the basement of Hill Junior High.*
Learning about a particularly traumatic event can cause what psychologists call a flashbulb memory, which is a recollection of learning of an event as opposed to having witnessed it or not. In many cases, when a person says they remember something like 9/11 or the Kennedy assassination happening, what they really mean is they remember learning about the event after it happened…This may include remembering where you were, what activity you were doing, and/or who told you about it. David White, Instructor, Study.com
It’s interesting to look at this phenomenon from a psychologist’s point of view rather than that of a neuroscientist. In 1977, two psychologists—Roger Brown and James Kulik—called notable, possibly life-changing events '‘flash-bulb memories” hypothesizing that a shocking event activates some part of the brain, which was then called Now Print.
The Now Print theory, first proposed by Robert B. Livingston in 1967, is an attempt to explain the neurobiology underlying the flashbulb memory phenomenon. The theory argues that a special mechanism exists in the brain, which issues a now print order to preserve moments of great personal significance. Wikipedia
According to my search on-line, Now Print is yesterday’s news. Apparently, a great deal of the brain is essential for memories. Our memory for an emotional event is usually better than our memory for a non-emotional event as we are more inclined to revisit these highly emotional events, and the more we bring them to the forefront, the better they stick. Brown and Kulik believed that these memories remained intact, preserving or “freezing” whatever happened at the time we first encountered the event. In fact, some flash bulb memories are remembered as long-lasting, accurate, and persistent as noted by subsequent researchers. They questioned subjects days to weeks after the occasion to hear the still-fresh details, then revisited their recollections years later. They found that flash bulb memories were better retained than those memories for more ordinary events, but nevertheless, even some of the most endurable recollections can weaken over time.
The Challenger disaster? My daughter and I were having treats at a local cafe when the owner? the TV set? was there really a TV set there? reported the disaster. Another time, I was driving down 17th Ave. when I heard on the radio that my good friend Brigitte was found alive with her friends who had been lost (for days? weeks?) while snow-camping in the mountains. I pulled over to the curb and cried with relief, but no one pulls over on 17th Ave. by City Park because one would certainly get rear-ended if they stopped in an active traffic lane! What did I really do?
Care to share details or the lack thereof from your most notable flash bulb memories?
*If you remember Miss Howell, do you remember her with glorious red hair and the build of an opera singer?
I, too, remember being in music class that day at Hill Jr. High, but I don't remember Miss Howell.
I just went to your old Blogspot blogs because I was looking at one of MY old blogs ("Medicana") and you had commented. So I just found you here on Substack! I don't know if you remember me but I'm Mauigirl from Mauigirl's Meanderings and Medicana. So glad you're still writing. I was a Junior in high school when Kent State happened. I remember I sat at a big table with 3 Senior students and that's all we talked about that day. So horrific.