FLASHBULB MEMORIES: A national study of 9/11 memories conducted by researchers at intervals of one week, one year and three years after the September 11, 2001 attack included more than 3,000 people in New York City, Washington, D.C., Boston and elsewhere. Last month, the scientists did a 10-year follow-up, making the project the longest prospective study of how flashbulb memories change over time.
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For most Americans, as the nation's thoughts turn to the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, memories of that day readily come flooding back. People can remember with great clarity what they were doing or to whom they were speaking when they learned of the crisis—whether via a sister's phone call or a first-hand glimpse of the World Trade Center on fire.
Decades ago, psychologists theorized that the brain imprints such details into its memory, like a photograph, when we learn of sudden, tragic national events. These highly emotional recollections were dubbed "flashbulb memories"—but the notion of photographic accuracy didn't bear out in later research. [For more about the psychology of 9/11, read the Streams of Conscious blog, "Forgetting About 9/11"]
How much can we trust, then, of what we remember of 9/11? Some answers are provided by a national study of 9/11 memories conducted by researchers at intervals of one week, one year and three years after the attack. The team surveyed more than 3,000 people in New York City, Washington, D.C., Boston, and four other cities in Connecticut, Missouri and California. Last month, the scientists did a 10-year follow-up survey—data yet to be analyzed—making the project the longest prospective study of how flashbulb memories change over time. Scientific American spoke with New York University psychologist Elizabeth A. Phelps, a lead investigator of the survey.
[An edited transcript of the interview follows.]
New York University (NYU) is only two miles from the World Trade Center site. What was it like when you got to your lab the morning of 9/11?
By then, the second plane had hit the towers. There was nobody else in the office at that point, but one person. I went to his office, which looked out at the World Trade Center, and we saw one tower go down. You just couldn't even believe it. And then it was kind of a weird day. Some people came into the office. You really couldn't focus on work. So eventually I went home, watched CNN and ended up trying to go give blood.
How did the 9/11 memory project come about?
Phone service was hit or miss that day, but John Gabrieli, a friend and neuroscientist who was then at Stanford, managed to call me. He just wanted to make sure I was okay. We started talking about doing a study of 9/11, because every memory researcher knows about the classic studies of memories of the Challenger space shuttle explosion or the 1989 San Francisco earthquake. Then after a day or so, we decided to do it.
We worked very fast. John started putting the survey questionnaire together with Kevin Ochsner, a postdoc in his group. We got in touch with Bill Hirst, Marcia Johnson, Chandan Vaidya and other researchers who joined the consortium. By September 18, we had survey tables in front of the NYU library and in Washington Square, and Bill [Hirst] had tables up around 14th Street, at the New School for Social Research. Right after 9/11, people in New York really wanted to be around other people and to do things that were helpful. And I think taking our survey was something that people thought would contribute to the greater good.
My entire lab worked on the 9/11 project. At the time, it would have been hard for us to work on anything else. The streets were closed around NYU and the campus shut down. The study helped us stay busy and yet feel relevant to what was going on.
How does emotion in a traumatic event like 9/11 influence our memories?
Emotion kind of focuses you on a few details but lets you ignore other details. And if you are highly aroused by fear, that emotion helps you store things in your memory better, in a storage process called consolidation that depends on the interaction of the amygdala and hippocampus. But what we've known for a while is that emotion gives you a stronger confidence in your memory than it does necessarily in the accuracy. Usually, when a memory has highly vivid details and you're confident in those details, that means you're likely to be right. Confidence often goes hand in hand with accuracy. But when something is highly emotional, they often get separated.
So if you look at memory for 9/11, pretty much everybody would say, "I know where I was, who I was with," etc. etc. Everyone thinks, "Oh, I never would forget that." But we know from a lot of studies from the past 30 years that people aren't necessarily right. You can't even convince people that their memories are wrong. All you can say is that data would suggest your memory's wrong.
With emotional events like 9/11, I think we do have better memory for the important details [as compared with a neutral event]—we just don't have great memory for all the details. And we think we do, and that's the real contrast. Whereas, if I told you that you don't remember the details of your 26th birthday, you wouldn't be surprised, necessarily.
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16 Comments
Add CommentEvery man is unique,so his memory is also varied.You cannot expect accurate memories of9/11from everyone.Some may described accurately some may discorded it.Experiment show us that as a car accident happened on road and within ten minute you ask those who had seen the accident they will tell you different version of that accident.Most of them not reliable.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI still remember how late in the evening of 9/11(It was evening where I live) my younger brother came to me and said excitedly "They are having "A war of the worlds" like drama on CNN ( War of the Worlds was a drama by Orson Wells which was broadcast as news bulletins by the BBC). I rushed to see the TV and after switching from CNN to BBC and back several times I said " It is no drama.It is real !"
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWe were in France that month, and when we ultimately learn about the catastrophic event, we were stunned.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe first time we view the films that were taken as building went down, my father say right away as he watch films that the way the one building fell straight to ground, it resembled exactly, buildings he had seen in the past that were demolitioned. And, then we were stunned even further when there no mention made of that when it was so obvious done; particular in consideration of the unecessary loss of Americans lifes. We have decided there can be but one reason why governed leaders did not ever be compelled to investigate what was clearly a planned demolishing of building. And then we hear governed people make new laws for Americans because of tragedy, like Patriot Act which makes there freedoms less. So what we remember about the nine eleven event is that is when we saw America as changed and not the wonderful country all of Europe used to admire, because the governed leaders for some reason make this tragedy happen at the expense of all lost lifes and at expense of firemen and policemen who risked there lifes that day. We still wonder why they do it. We talk to one old real American about it, and he say sadly, this is not the America I grew up in.
I can recall precisely the morning and the radio station I heard about it from, standing in my living room at 9am. clearly. Just like my lucid dreams every day this past 3 days.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI had just returned from a 6 week backpack trip from Europe backpacking upon completing University......... and thought WTF, if I was on a plane and ...well, you know. Travel was never the same. Nor people.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI remember clearly that I was standing teaching a secondary school class of Mathematics when the school's principal made an announcement over the PA that something terrible had happened in New York. But no details were given. I remember thinking this was a stupid way of communicating about a disaster: give no information whatsoever.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNaturally one's worst fears come forward> I thought to myself that a nuclear war had started by dropping a H-Bomb on the city. Said nothing to the students other than when the period was over we could more exact info on what happened.
I remember this pretty clearly because there was not much to remember. But administators are stupid that way about communicating important information. Giving no info could have caused a panic situation.
Only later did we get the real information on what happened.
I can understand this faulty memory idea. I every depiction of 9/11, it is pictured as a clear day but I remember when driving into work, a downtown Jersey City high school, my commute at that time took me on a street that had a clear view of the twin towers. I remember a cloud/fog that was forming around the buildings as the wind blew past them. I know these building used to create their own micro-weather at times. I had wished I had a camera to film it because it was so cool and beautiful but glad I didn't because I would have been tempted to call in sick, sneak over to NYC and go to the towers to film the clouds from inside.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDuring that morning, students came into my classroom telling me about the planes that hit the towers (my classroom was on the opposite side of the building from Manhattan). I thought they were just trying to distract me from teaching until I finally went to an empty classroom on the east side of the building and looked out. At first I thought I was seeing the same cloud formation that I saw in the morning (that's why I'm sure there was some sort of localized cloud/fog formation)...until I saw the flames coming out of the one tower. I also saw all kinds of boats and watercraft traveling both ways across the Hudson River (transporting people I suppose). There's more memories but they're more off topic.
Maybe my memories of that day are faulty (like that "cloud" formation). It made me wonder if it was me or "them". But that's OK. These are my memories and I know I don't have to testify in court.
Two quick comments about postings that have nothing to do with the article:
1. Conspiracy theorists are full of bunk. Period.
2. I do agree that certain elements of our government have seized this opportunity to further erode our rights and freedoms. I no longer fly because I'm tired of being treated like a criminal at airports.
Memories are not whole units. It is a contiuam of sensory inputs, not all necessarily visual. My memory of 9/11 was watching it come on the morning TV and without really realizing it, I rose and subsequently spent a good part of the morning standing in front of the TV saying "Oh, my God". Especially when each tower collapsed. Oddly I remember it as looking at myself from 3rd person and my mouth is i8n a big ghastly "oh". Other than that I don't think the memory is inaccurate, and it certainly isn't encapsulated. Now for the baloney: This article is about a study in which the data hasn't even been fully analyzed. This being so close to the 10 year birthday, I can only conclude that Scientific American has sunk below it's normal high standards and went for a sensationalist headline. Shame, shame.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisRemember the people who died. They were the innocent victims of an atrocity.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this(1)My heart goes out to all 9/11 victims & their families. I too have lost someone, a dear friend of 11 years on that terrible day. The only thing more severe than what transpired is the fact that our own government deliberately covered up, or worse, was directly involved in the event itself. This is a belief that is shared by at least 1/3 of the public, (and around half of all New Yorkers) but is vehemently denied by the mainstream media as well as many uninformed citizens. I refuse to believe that primitive cave-dwellers halfway around the world were able to knock down two skyscrapers and penetrate the most heavily defended building in the world in one fell swoop. Don't get me wrong, our leaders can be incompetent but if they were THAT incapable of keeping us safe, then I am truly appalled and far from "proud to be an American".
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt's been 10 years later and we are NOT safer. Just think of what has taken place since 9/11: prolonged and costly wars on multiple fronts-all part of a fictional "War on Terror" that is said to continue for the next 100 years, the PATRIOT ACT which has created a domestic security police-state that spies on its own citizens, the end of Habeus Corpus & Posse Comitatus, and the overall downgrade of the USA's reputation in the eyes of the global community, just to name a few. Something isn't right, anyone who accepts the "official” story of 9/11 at face value, without doing their own research, needs to have their head examined. You owe it to yourself and your family to learn the facts.
Here are just a few reasons why we need a new, independent investigation of 9/11, one that is NOT conducted by there very same people who seem to be covering it up:
(2)-THREE buildings fell in NY on 9/11, the Twin Towers & WTC Building 7, which was NOT hit by a plane and received minable damage that any similar structure could sustain.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this-Before 9/11, no large steel-framed building had collapsed from a fire, ever. On 9/11, three of them did. The 32 story Windsor Tower in Spain burned for 24 hours in 2005, yet its steel frame didn't collapse.
-Many 1st responders, media, WTC employees, and other eyewitnesses reported bombs going off throughout the buildings before they fell. Some explosions were heard before the planes even hit. Scientists have pointed out that the government has no explanation for the molten steel that was present for 3 weeks after 9/11 and Niels Harrit, a professor of nano-chemistry at the University of Copenhagen, reported finding high-grade nano-thermite in the dust from the buildings.
-The 9/11 Commission doesn't even mention WTC 7. Phillip Zelikow wrote the "official" 9/11 Commission's outline before the Commission was even formed. President Bush refused to release "classified" info to aid the investigation and even refused to speak under oath while meeting with the Commission. The head of the 9/11 Commission, Thomas Kean, even stated that the Commission was set up to fail. Its membership consisted of former politicians. No knowledgeable experts were appointed.
-NORAD, the agency that's supposed to protect our skies, was ordered to stand down by Vice President Dick Cheney. Norman Mineta, former Congressman and Secretary of Transportation, was down in a bunker with Cheney on 9/11. He testified to this but it was not included in the Commission Report either. NORAD also "just happened" to be conducting military drills on 9/11, something that reportedly interfered with intercepting the hijacked planes. The commission's Senior counsel, John Farmer, Jr., wrote that the government made “a decision not to tell the truth about what happened,” and that the NORAD “tapes told a radically different story from what had been told to us and the public.”
-Over 1,500 professional architects and engineers demand a new 9/11 investigation. They all unanimously agree that the "official story" doesn't hold weight scientifically and their numbers are growing. Similar groups who demand a real investigation are popping up all over. These include: Firefighters for 9/11 Truth, Pilots for 9/11 Truth, Scholars for 9/11 Truth, Veterans for 9/11 Truth & various groups of 9/11 families. Around 70% of the victim's families questions have not been answered.
(3)To top it off, the 1ST RESPONDERS-those who gave their all to help the victims of 9/11, many of whom are still sick and injured from it today and aren't receiving the benefits they deserve-are not being included in the 10 year 9/11 ceremony. Many of these firemen, medics, police, and servicemen share the same belief: that we’re NOT being told the truth about 9/11. Real Americans keep their government in check and not the other way around. Real Americans aren't afraid to question their government, the same government that has failed them again and again and continues to do so. The truth is, I really don't know what happened on 9/11.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI just know that it isn't what they told us it was.
My brother called me while on tour. He is the lead guitarist of a popular R&R band, and had done a benefit show on the previous day- his birthday. I missed the call, but he had left a series of upbeat voice mails throughout the night, regarding his birthday activities. But his final voice message was somber, "Uh.. Cara, I think we're at war. They've attacked the World Trade Center in NY city." The contrast of that message startled me.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI went to knock on my roommate's door to wake him up, and found him already walking out of his room. He looked at me, "I already know. Ed just called."
My roommate and I had just moved into the house, and the satellite dish had not yet been installed, so I went online to CNN's website.
After briefly watching my computer screen, he began the task of installing the satellite dish on the roof. He had been a radio astronomer at JPL, and it took him only about 15 minutes to complete the job.
Soon, we began watching the live coverage, and the towers were both burning, but neither had fallen. They were showing repeat coverage of the second crash, into the south tower, as seen from the north. The impact itself was hidden from their POV, but the footage showed the airliner's approach, and the resulting fireball. The documentary footage of the FDNY crew that captured, purely by happenstance, the first impact into the north tower, was shown later in the day, as was the direct POV footage of the south tower impact.
I remember my reactions vividly. Shock, immediate empathy for the victims, and outrage. I also clearly remember, soon after, wondering how this attack had slipped past the radar of America's intelligence agencies- the NSA and CIA.
I was too shocked to cry. Those tears came late that evening, actually around 2:00 AM, MST, on Sept. 12, when I finally went to bed. I was, at that time, half of a comedy and music duo, and we had a weekly Wednesday night gig here in Sedona, AZ. I wondered if we should go on with the show, and decided to wait to hear the opinions of the club manager, and the other half of the act, my close friend Steve.
On Wednesday night, we arrived to do the show. Everyone there was still in various states of shock and disbelief. The club manager told us to prepare to do our show, and if our regular fans showed up, to go ahead. As it turned out, they did. Every seat was occupied.
Apparently, our fans needed a little comic relief the day after the tragedy. After a few opening comments, we sang "America the Beautiful". We decided to cut the risque stuff out, and played our show.
This article reminded me of my memories of 9/11. I was in first grade at the time and remember my teacher walking in after lunch crying. Soon after that, classes were let out and the school dismissed early. We were not informed about what was going on though. I don't recall how my mom told me or what happened on the way home from school, I just remember being confused. When I got home, my mom turned on the news and I remember sitting on the couch crying as I saw all of the victims covered in blood running in all different directions. Even though I had those visual images in my mind, I didn't understand why it could happen and my mom didn't explain much. The only other thing I recall from that day was my dad coming home from work, and after dinner, we went to the bottom of my driveway with candles and held a vigil with the other neighbors on my street. It is weird knowing that ten years have passed since that tragic day and that I was alive to see history in the making.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis article was interesting in how it reflected on "flashbulb memories" which psychologists described as imprints that the brain makes on an event, using the details and visual images you have attained. The article discussed the survey that researchers did to see how "flashbulb memories" change over a period of time. They accomplished this by asking over 3,000 people in New York City, Boston, Washington D.C., and other places, what they recalled from 9/11. They asked this a week, a year, and three years after it occurred to see the variations in memory. To commemorate the 10 year anniversary, the researchers conducted the survey again, to continue to track the changes. Their results showed how because it was such an historical event, we will always remember it happening, but all of the intricate details may have varied depending on the further images or information we have heard about it. Therefore, the article helped to show that "flashbulb memories" can change and are not entirely accurate.
Over a decade has taken passage, and you persist in pushing same empty attempt to make us agree with version of event that you say is what happened.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYou need to be reminded of this:
"Members of the Society of Professional Journalists believe that public enlightenment is the forerunner of justice and the foundation of democracy. The DUTY of the journalist is to further those ends by seeking truth and providing a fair and comprehensive account of events and issues. Conscientious journalists from all media and specialties strive to serve the public with thoroughness and honesty. PROFESSIONAL INTEGRITY IS THE CORNERSTONE OF A JOURNALIST'S CREDIBILITY. Members of the Society share a dedication to ethical behavior and adopt this code to declare the Society's principles and standards of practice."
"The SPJ Code of Ethics is voluntarily embraced by thousands of journalists, regardless of place or platform, and is widely used in newsrooms and classrooms as a guide for ethical behavior. The code is intended not as a set of "rules" but as a resource for ethical decision-making and reporting.
I remember the events quite well. It was my birthday and I was taking the day off which was a well deserved treat. My first impression was that America was under attack and whoever did this was not going to stop with just the 9/11 attack. Later in the day I got a call from a reclusive and retired architectural engineer who lived off power and had no internet or TV, only radio which is limited to just two local stations in this part of the country. He was a good friend and helped my work on a few projects. He asked me if I knew what was going on. I invited him to stop by and see for himself as I had cable TV and Internet access.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe next day he stopped by and we watched reruns I had taped on a VCR. His first reaction was disbelief that a jumbo jet could take down a building that big. Two buildings going down in such total destruction within an hour was likely an inside plot according to him. He pointed out immediately that it was odd that there was no major wreckage shown in the Pentagon attack clips.
Still, it was not possible to me that this could be a false flag attack. It just made no sense at all. I wrote it off as old mans senility.
In the chaos that followed I barely remember mention of building 7.
It wasn't until years later that I really took a renewed interest while taking a class in logic that I was asked to analyze and prove or disprove a conspiracy theory as an assignment. I chose the subject of 9/11. I discovered a huge problem of finding reliable information to prove the 911 commissions report was accurate and no problem at all finding mountains of evidence that the whole thing was a vast conspiracy. The clincher that turned my whole mindset against the government and the media's account was building 7. I remember clearly during the day it all happened that there was barely a mention of building 7 other then it too had collapsed later in the day and it was reported by the press that efforts to save that building were abandoned and it was taken down or "pulled" as a safety measure.
When I finally saw actual footage of the implosion I researched more into controlled demolition and learned that these kinds of implosions took months of planning and installing the explosives took week,not hours. This was no collapse caused buy a few small fires in the building. It was obvious that even my own recollection was tainted by the press and a manipulative administration in the US government.
The truth is that we see what we want to see and that too can change in time.