ABSTRACT
The problem of measuring flashbulb memory (FBM) is one of the key issues in the investigation of the phenomenon. Put in another way, it is the problem of construct validity (Carmines & Zeller, 1979) applied to the investigation of FBM. Methodologists usually recommend a careful consideration of the degree to which a given measurement model matches that which it claims to be measuring. In doing so, a clear theoretical definition of the construct under analysis needs to be provided, together with an accurate specification of the employed measurement model. In the field of FBM, researchers have differently assessed the phenomenon with respect to the different theoretical views they have adopted (see also Wright, Chapter 2 of this volume). Both explicitly and implicitly, measurement models of FBM have carried significant assumptions about its nature and inclusion in the general domain of autobiographical memory.
