Yes, I think this is an example of a distorted memory if not a false memory. 

There is such a study, but not of 9/11. I think he might be recalling the study 
that Neisser (I think - I'm away from my references right now and can't check) 
did following the Challenger explosion. Students wrote about their experiences 
shortly following the event and were followed up later (I recall a 6-month 
follow-up). Common distortions were that students tended to recall first 
hearing the news through a television broadcast whereas their immediate written 
recalls described convesations on campus with friends and other sorts of 
interactions. It is a classic case of later informatin (watching news reports) 
migrating and merging with memory for the original experience. Students were 
quite shocked when Neisser presented them with their original recalls (in their 
own handwriting).

I think this study is included in the edited collection of studies - Memory 
Observed (go for the second edition of this book, which has more recent 
publications on this topic).

Another possible source of a study on this topic is Bohannon, who has done a 
variety of studies using this sort of methodology.

I tried something like this following the explosion of the Columbia shuttle on 
re-entry. A day or two following the event, students referred to the shuttle as 
the Challenger. In a few cases, I was the source of the news. Sad. There were 
two former Penacolians on that flight. This was such a non-flashbulb event for 
these students, I didn't have the heart to attempt a long-term follow up.  

Claudia Stanny, Ph.D.                      
Director, Center for University Teaching, Learning, and Assessment
Associate Professor, Psychology
University of West Florida
Pensacola, FL  32514 - 5751

Phone:   (850) 857-6355 or (850) 473-7435 
e-mail:  [EMAIL PROTECTED]



-----Original Message-----
From: Christopher D. Green [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Sat 9/13/2008 2:58 PM
To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)
Subject: Re: [tips] Study shows how false memories rerun 7/7 film that never 
existed | Science | The Guardian
 


Dr. Bob Wildblood wrote:
> This reminds me of a study I read in about 2002 for which I have lost 
> the reference. A psychology professor on 9/12/2001 asked his students 
> to write their thoughts and memories of what they had seen on the news 
> in regard to 9/11. A year later he gathered as many together as he 
> could get and after a discussion showed them what they had written. A 
> significant number not only remembered it differently a year later, 
> but when they were shown what they wrote, actually denied that they 
> had ever written it. Does anyone have the reference for this. I know I 
> saw/read it, but after reading the article, I can't be sure.

Are you sure it's not a false memory? :-)

Chris
-- 

Christopher D. Green
Department of Psychology
York University
Toronto, ON M3J 1P3
Canada

 

416-736-2100 ex. 66164
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.yorku.ca/christo/

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