A&M-C STUDENT FINDS FLASHBULB MEMORIES FALSE

For Immediate Release/01-03-06/Lorraine Pace

COMMERCE, Texas - Do you remember where you were when you first heard about the attack on 9/11?

Research by Texas A&M University-Commerce master's student Scott Smith says that it's very likely that your memory of this monumental event is not as accurate as you might think.

According to Dr. Ray Green of A&M-Commerce's educational psychology department, Smith's research into flashbulb memories - memories that are thought of as snapshot-like memories - are probably not true snapshot-like representations; rather they are well-rehearsed memories that result from talking about truly monumental events.

Says Smith, "A flashbulb memory should be a permanent, fixed memory of an event that had a profound impact.

"However, literature shows that when you talk about an event, watch it on television, or listen to the radio, that memory becomes rehearsed and will change.

"You no longer remember the initial event, but are remembering a collective script for an event as if it were a script for a play. Your memory becomes a string of autobiographical memories."

Instead of completing an experiment, Smith conducted meta-analysis, a technique using statistical analyses to summarize the finding of all studies on flashbulb memories conducted to that point. It is a technique widely applied in the medical field but relatively new to cognitive science.

Smith's findings are expected to impact the field of cognitive science, and to raise questions about the accuracy and consistency of eyewitness and expert testimony. His findings also call into question how events and history are recorded.

While literature points to women being more emotional than men, with the expectation that women would have significantly more and stronger flashbulb memories than men, this did not prove true in Smith's research. His data indicated no connection between gender and the quality of memory.

And contrary to expectations that emotional events would have so great an impact that the memory would be indelible, Scott also found no connection between emotion and the quality of memory.

Smith's thesis, entitled "A Meta-Analysis Examining the Impact of Emotionality, Rehearsal, and Gender on the Quality and Consistency of Flashbulb Memories," has been nominated for the Conference of Southern Graduate Schools' 2006 Master's Thesis award in Social Sciences, Business, and Education.

According to Dr. Allan Headley, dean of graduate and research studies at A&M-Commerce, "Scott Smith's work clearly transcends typical thesis research, approaching the rigor of original research that is expected of doctoral work."

Smith is currently working in a disaster relief center in Abbeville, La. Through contract with Volunteers of America. He is married to Rachel, a nurse, and the couple has two sons, Hadley and Jack. They reside in Arnaudville, La. His parents live and work in Shreveport.

Smith, who also finds time to teach psychology and the sociology of cultural diversity online at A&M-Commerce, says, "It's lots of studying between midnight and 4 a.m.

"I hunt and fish but those are not my hobbies. I really enjoy the learning process. My diversion is education."



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