I remember when… (PSYC Entry #7)
Comments (0) Memory is the topic in my PYSC 101 class at the moment. As a theatre kids in high school I’ve always boasted a pretty good memory. However, when speaking of flashbulb memories it’s most likely that everyone is going to have a pretty good memory. According to our textbook a flashbulb memory is a clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event. So for some it might be a near death experience, for other’s it could be that special day of yours such as a wedding. Whatever it is the memory is going to be exclusively yours – at least how you remember it that is. What I mean to say is that while it may be a clear memory for you, for those who were witnesses or simply around during the event their memories may be a bit fuzzy, different from yours or even not a memory for them.
To show this I thought of my own flashbulb memory:
I was 14 years old and my family had gone on a trip to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial center while my grandparents were visiting us in Japan. Fast forward – it was kind of a dark and windy day at the peace park and my sister had gone over to look at one of the statues that would outside the museum. I soon followed after her. It was a dark metal statue that was surrounded by dirt and there were several of them all around the outside of the museum with sidewalk in between. I had taken a couple steps in my sister’s direction and I happened to look down and right where I was about to step was a thin green snake. I screamed at the top of my lungs, ran towards the direction I had just come from and started crying. I completely scared some other Japanese tourists and my parents were cracking up at my overreaction of fear to the garter snake that I had almost set my foot upon.
That’s my flashbulb memory without becoming TOOOO detailed about the scene. I called my dad up to ask him if he remembered the scene and he did. This is how he remembered it:
We were coming back across the bridge from lunch, and we were walking back towards the peace park. You and your sister were running ahead of us, and mom, your grandparents and I were kind of hanging back a bit. And then I think, what I remember is, I heard you screaming, and looked over at what you were screaming at. Then I remember trying to get close to get a picture of it…not sure what kind of snake it was. Oh and I do believe it was over cast that day.
As you can tell there are two different recollections here. The stories coincide for the for the most part. As far as the complete story goes it’s going to differ, of course, since we were at two different points of location and perspective when the event occurred. One thing is for sure, there was a scream and it came from me.
Themocracy