Alexa Kightlinger
Introduction
As a child, I remember watching one of my favorite television shows, Monk (2002). The show features a detective who develops obsessive-compulsive disorder following the unsolved murder of his wife. Though his OCD originally cost him his lead position as a homicide detective, Mr. Monk continued to solve crimes with his former boss and assistant. What may have at the start been a hindrance soon turned out to be a blessing in disguise. This newfound fear of germs and contamination aided the former detective by allowing him to see clues no one else could identify. At the end of each episode, Mr. Monk would inevitably solve the previously “unsolvable” mystery by piecing together a seemingly innocuous clue; be it something someone said, an ordinary item, or eyewitness testimony.
Obviously, not all crimes are as convoluted as the ones portrayed in the show. Would it not be easy if all crimes, from petty theft to murder, had someone who could identify the perpetrator simply by being in the right place at the right time? I used to think memory was an infallible piece of information. After all, how can one misremember something they’ve seen with their own two eyes? However, as I’ve grown and learned, memory can be affected by many factors which include but are not limited to stress, duration of event, distance, lightning, intoxication, and time elapsed since the crime (Huang & Wixted, 2024). It becomes even harder to differentiate between accurate and inaccurate witness testimonies when memory contamination has occurred. Often witnesses are unaware this even happens and will sincerely believe their recollection of the events (Huang & Wixted, 2024). A popular example of memory contamination occurred when several eyewitnesses misidentified Richard Jewell, a security guard, at the Centennial Olympic Park bombing during the 1996 Summer Olympics. This misidentification led to media scrutiny despite little evidence suggesting he was the bomber. It was only until Eric Rudolph pleaded guilty to the charges against Jewell that the security guard was dismissed as a suspect. Though Jewell was never officially charged with the crimes associated with the bombing, his personal and professional life was negatively impacted.
Trauma and Memory Distortion
Trauma could arguably be the biggest factor in memory distortion as, after a traumatic event, the effortful retrieval and unsolicited recollection can introduce false details in the individual’s memory (Strange & Takarangi, 2015). Previous studies have suggested that memory reconsolidation allows it to return to a malleable state. One such study was conducted by Nader et al. (2000) where researchers injected rats with amisomycin, which inhibits the formation of new memories. Injection would occur during three conditions; before and after consolidation of a memory and during the reactivation, or remembering, of a memory. Before injection, rats are given a single pairing of a tone (conditioned stimulus) in addition to a foot shock (unconditioned stimulus). During testing periods, the freezing of rats characterized fear learning as rats learned to associate the tone with the fear of being shocked. When the same process was repeated with the anisomycin the results were the following:
Anisomycin injected before consolidation → Rats would not freeze before tone.
Anisomycin injected after consolidation → Rats freeze when the tone is played.
Anisomycin injected during the reactivation of a memory → Rats would not freeze.
Reexposing rats to the previously learned fear-conditioned tasks but injecting them with the drug during the consolidation phase disrupted the information learned from the original memory (Nader et al., 2000). This supports the idea that original memories can be altered through the introduction of new information (Nader et al., 2000). The study prompted the researchers to redefine memories that have been reactivated as “active” memories. These active memories are labile and can undergo disruption and are defined differently than prior research from Misanin et al’s (1968) previously suggested “new” memories (Nader et al., 2000).
But why does memory distortion occur? Most cases have shown that those who experience trauma tend to follow a similar pattern: remembering the event as more traumatic than what actually happened. This “over-remembering” of trauma often leads to poor mental health which is what happened in a study completed with Desert Storm veterans. In a 1997 study done by Southwick et al., researchers asked fifty-nine National Guard members about their combat involvement following the Gulf War. Responses were taken at two different times, a month after returning from war, and then two years after returning from war. Veterans were asked whether certain events happened during their service (etc. watching a colleague die, being shot at). Here it is important to mention that a majority of veterans would change their “no” response at one month to a “yes” response at two years when asked if the event specifically happened to them (Southwick et al., 1997). Results showed that 88% of veterans would change their response at the two-year mark to having experienced one of these events happening to them while 61% would claim more than one of these events happened (Southwick et al., 1997). In addition to this, veterans were scored on the Mississippi Scale for Combat-Related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder at the two-year mark. The over-remembering of events was shown to have a significant positive correlation between the Mississippi Scale and the trauma questionnaire, suggesting that an increase in PTSD symptoms may intensify the memories related to the traumatic event (Southwick et al., 1997).
A COVID-19 Study
Trauma memories are no different as they, too, are malleable. In the context of trauma, flashbulb memories are vivid and detailed memories of significant events that carry a heavy emotional context with the individual. Flashbulb memories refer strictly to autobiographical memories that surround the period individuals learn of horrifying and life-changing public events (Laciano et al., 2024). Flashbulb memories (FBM) are different than first-hand memories, which occur when the individual experiences the event rather than learning about the event from another source (Hirst & Phelps, 2017). Events that can lead to flashbulb memories can include politically charged events, assassinations, or national disasters. While many flashbulb memories primarily revolve around more negatively charged events, they can also occur following positive events. These memories can also occur on a smaller scale, for example, learning of the death of a parent. A popular example of flashbulb memories revolves around the September 11th terrorist attack where many misremember four planes involved in the attack (Hirst & Phelps, 2017).
A 2024 study conducted by Laciano et al. on more recent events, notably the COVID-19 pandemic, performed a cross-national study across eleven countries to investigate the formation of flashbulb memories as well the effect of pandemic-related variables on these FBMs. The effects of COVID-19 have been long-lasting and have had many long-term impacts on the economy, tourism, mental and physical health, job security, and education. The study aimed to look into how events surrounding this period were stored in our memories as the encoding, storage, and retrieval of COVID-related events are important in examining the emotional impacts the pandemic had on individuals. Additionally, few studies have examined the impact this pandemic has had on the storage and retrieval of autobiographical memory specifically. In order to thoroughly examine the impact of FBMs, researchers had several goals:
Explore the formation of FBMs after becoming aware of the first COVID-19 case in an individual’s own country.
Test effects of emotional and cognitive variables on the formation of FBM formation using both objective (government restrictions) and subjective variables (personal and global importance of pandemic)
Explore the variability of FBM formation across different countries.
(Laciano et al., 2024)
While a total of 15 countries initially participated in data collection, four countries (France, Germany, the United States of America, and the United Kingdom) withdrew participation leaving researchers from the remaining 11 countries (Canada, China, Denmark, Greece, Italy, Malaysia, New Zealand, Poland, Russia, Spain, and Turkey) with data points collected from 2306 individuals. Participants were asked questions regarding COVID-19 subjective and objective severity, pandemic impact expectedness, global and personal importance of the pandemic, and rehearsal of the pandemic (how much time they spent researching or otherwise discussing the pandemic).
Results showed that, while all countries considered COVID-19 to be highly significant at both individual and worldwide levels, China had the highest FBM specificity (Laciano et al., 2024). This may be attributed to the fact the first cases of COVID-19 were found in China. The extensive media coverage of China during this time and the complete lockdowns that were implemented in major cities most likely contributed to Chinese citizens having more detailed and specific memories regarding the events. Regression models were run and showed that the variables age and subjective severity had negatively predicted FBM specificity whereas positive associations were predicted for the factors of pandemic impact expectedness and rehearsal (Laciano et al., 2024). This essentially meant that older individuals or those who thought the event was more severe would have less specific memories of the event. However, future research should consider the long-term nature of the event for these findings. On the other hand, those who were more prepared for the pandemic impact or otherwise kept up to date with the onslaught of new information on the pandemic tended to have more detailed memories.
Importance
Traumatic events can significantly impact how memories are encoded, stored, and retrieved. Further research into which point of memory consolidation has been impacted can help us understand how traumatic events may alter these processes. Knowing this, clinicians can create more effective treatment plans that can allow their patients to explore their past and learn to heal. There are also legal implications to be had, as this brings into question whether we can trust the accuracy of memories of trauma victims. Understanding the complexity of traumatic memories may also help us design preventative strategies for individuals at risk of developing trauma-related disorders, such as those in the military. In the end, deepening our understanding on how traumatic events affect memory not only enhances clinical and legal practices but will allow us to pave the way for more effective prevention and intervention strategies, improving the mental health outcome for impacted individuals.
References
Hirst, W., & Phelps, E. A. (2017). Flashbulb memories. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 25(1), 36-41. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721415622487.
Huang, J., & Wixted, J. T. (2024). Jury instructions should prioritize reflector variables recorded during the first test of an eyewitness’ memory. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition. Advance online publication. https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/mac0000182.
Lanciano, T., Alfeo, F., Curci, A., Marin, C., D’Uggento, A. M., Decarolis, D., … Zheng, J. (2024). The flashbulb-like nature of memory for the first COVID-19 case and the impact of the emergency. A cross-national survey. Memory, 32(2), 264–282. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2024.2310554 .
Misanin, J. R., Miller, R. R., & Lewis, D. J. (1968). Retrograde amnesia produced by electroconvulsive shock after reactivation of a consolidated memory trace. Science 160(3827), 554-5. https://doi.org/science.160.3827.554.
Nader, K., Schafe, G. E., & Le Doux, J. E. (2000). Fear memories require protein synthesis in the amygdala for reconsolidation after retrieval. Nature 406, 722-726. https://doi.org/10.1038/35021052.
Southwick, S. M., Morgan, C. A., Nicolaou, A. L., & Charney, D. S. (1997). Consistency of memory for combat-related traumatic events in veterans of Operation Desert Storm. The American Journal of Psychiatry 154(2), 173-177. https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.154.2.173.
Strange, D., & Takarangi, M. K. T. (2015). Memory distortion for traumatic events: the role of mental imagery. Frontiers in Psychiatry (6)27, 1-4. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2015.00027.
Witness Identify 1 person 3 suspect Stock Vector (Royalty Free) 406777285 | Shutterstock. (n.d.). Shutterstock. https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/witness-identify-1-person-3-suspect-406777285
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