Premium
Latent variable models for the measurement of flashbulb memories: a comparative approach
Author(s) -
Curci Antonietta
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
applied cognitive psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.719
H-Index - 100
eISSN - 1099-0720
pISSN - 0888-4080
DOI - 10.1002/acp.1039
Subject(s) - forgetting , context (archaeology) , psychology , latent variable , variable (mathematics) , aggregate (composite) , trait , cognitive psychology , social psychology , computer science , artificial intelligence , history , mathematics , mathematical analysis , materials science , archaeology , composite material , programming language
Flashbulb memories are defined as vivid, long‐lasting, and detailed memories for the circumstances in which people learned of shocking and important public events, that is the so‐called reception context (Brown & Kulik, 1977). They are considered as highly integrated cores of autobiographical knowledge which aggregate attributes of the reception context (Conway, 1995). The present paper deals with the measurement of flashbulb memories. Data from both a correlational and an experimental study were submitted to confirmatory factor analysis, latent trait model, and latent class model (LCM) procedures. Results confirmed that the clustered nature of flashbulb memories is better assessed by a LCM. The attribute of mass media as a source of the original news seemed to be crucial in defining flashbulb memories. The impact of the mass media was discussed, in that flashbulb memories appear to be not indelible and immune to forgetting. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.