Measures of flashbulb memory: Are elaborate memories consistently accurate?

Flashbulb memories (FBMs) are vivid recollections for the circumstances of discovering surprising and consequential events such as the death of a world leader (Colegrove, 1899). FBMs can occur for both pleasant (e.g., a marriage proposal) and aversive (e.g., the World Trade Center attacks or the death of a loved one) events, and all have in common that they are remembered as if reexperiencing them (Talarico & Rubin, 2007). However, in coining the term “flashbulb memory”, Brown and Kulik (1977) asserted that such memories, while vivid, are far from complete and not perfect, immutable photographs of the past experience.