The flashbulb-like nature of memory for the first COVID-19 case and the impact of the emergency: A cross-national survey

Tiziana Lanciano; Federica Alfeo; Antonietta Curci; Claudia Marin; Angela Maria D’Uggento; Diletta Decarolis; Sezin Öner; Kristine Anthony; Krystian Barzykowski; Miguel Bascón; Alec Benavides; Anne Cabildo; Manuel Luis de la Mata-Benítez; İrem Ergen; Katarzyna Filip; Alena Gofman; Steve M.J. Janssen; Zhao Kai-bin; Ioanna Markostamou; Jose Antonio Matías-García; Veronika Nourkova; Sebastian Oleksiak; Andrés Santamaría; Karl Szpunar; Andrea Taylor; Lynn Ann Watson

doi:10.1080/09658211.2024.2310554

The flashbulb-like nature of memory for the first COVID-19 case and the impact of the emergency: A cross-national survey

Tiziana Lanciano^*, Federica Alfeo, Antonietta Curci, Claudia Marin, Angela Maria D’Uggento, Diletta Decarolis, Sezin Öner, Kristine Anthony, Krystian Barzykowski, Miguel Bascón, Alec Benavides, Anne Cabildo, Manuel Luis de la Mata-Benítez, İrem Ergen, Katarzyna Filip, Alena Gofman, Steve M.J. Janssen, Zhao Kai-bin, Ioanna Markostamou, Jose Antonio Matías-GarcíaVeronika Nourkova, Sebastian Oleksiak, Andrés Santamaría, Karl Szpunar, Andrea Taylor, Lynn Ann Watson

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Psychology and Behavioural Sciences - CON AMORE

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaper › Journal article › Research › peer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Flashbulb memories (FBMs) refer to vivid and long-lasting autobiographical memories for the circumstances in which people learned of a shocking and consequential public event. A cross-national study across eleven countries aimed to investigate FBM formation following the first COVID-19 case news in each country and test the effect of pandemic-related variables on FBM. Participants had detailed memories of the date and others present when they heard the news, and had partially detailed memories of the place, activity, and news source. China had the highest FBM specificity. All countries considered the COVID-19 emergency as highly significant at both the individual and global level. The Classification and Regression Tree Analysis revealed that FBM specificity might be influenced by participants’ age, subjective severity (assessment of COVID-19 impact in each country and relative to others), residing in an area with stringent COVID-19 protection measures, and expecting the pandemic effects. Hierarchical regression models demonstrated that age and subjective severity negatively predicted FBM specificity, whereas sex, pandemic impact expectedness, and rehearsal showed positive associations in the total sample. Subjective severity negatively affected FBM specificity in Turkey, whereas pandemic impact expectedness positively influenced FBM specificity in China and negatively in Denmark.

Original language	English
Journal	Memory
Volume	32
Issue	2
Pages (from-to)	264-282
Number of pages	19
ISSN	0965-8211
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2024.2310554
Publication status	Published - 2024

Keywords

autobiographical memory
canonical categories
COVID-19
cross-national study
Flashbulb memory

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Lanciano, T., Alfeo, F., Curci, A., Marin, C., D’Uggento, A. M., Decarolis, D., Öner, S., Anthony, K., Barzykowski, K., Bascón, M., Benavides, A., Cabildo, A., de la Mata-Benítez, M. L., Ergen, İ., Filip, K., Gofman, A., Janssen, S. M. J., Kai-bin, Z., Markostamou, I., ... Watson, L. A. (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

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title = "The flashbulb-like nature of memory for the first COVID-19 case and the impact of the emergency: A cross-national survey",

abstract = "Flashbulb memories (FBMs) refer to vivid and long-lasting autobiographical memories for the circumstances in which people learned of a shocking and consequential public event. A cross-national study across eleven countries aimed to investigate FBM formation following the first COVID-19 case news in each country and test the effect of pandemic-related variables on FBM. Participants had detailed memories of the date and others present when they heard the news, and had partially detailed memories of the place, activity, and news source. China had the highest FBM specificity. All countries considered the COVID-19 emergency as highly significant at both the individual and global level. The Classification and Regression Tree Analysis revealed that FBM specificity might be influenced by participants{\textquoteright} age, subjective severity (assessment of COVID-19 impact in each country and relative to others), residing in an area with stringent COVID-19 protection measures, and expecting the pandemic effects. Hierarchical regression models demonstrated that age and subjective severity negatively predicted FBM specificity, whereas sex, pandemic impact expectedness, and rehearsal showed positive associations in the total sample. Subjective severity negatively affected FBM specificity in Turkey, whereas pandemic impact expectedness positively influenced FBM specificity in China and negatively in Denmark.",

keywords = "autobiographical memory, canonical categories, COVID-19, cross-national study, Flashbulb memory",

author = "Tiziana Lanciano and Federica Alfeo and Antonietta Curci and Claudia Marin and D{\textquoteright}Uggento, {Angela Maria} and Diletta Decarolis and Sezin {\"O}ner and Kristine Anthony and Krystian Barzykowski and Miguel Basc{\'o}n and Alec Benavides and Anne Cabildo and {de la Mata-Ben{\'i}tez}, {Manuel Luis} and İrem Ergen and Katarzyna Filip and Alena Gofman and Janssen, {Steve M.J.} and Zhao Kai-bin and Ioanna Markostamou and Mat{\'i}as-Garc{\'i}a, {Jose Antonio} and Veronika Nourkova and Sebastian Oleksiak and Andr{\'e}s Santamar{\'i}a and Karl Szpunar and Andrea Taylor and Watson, {Lynn Ann}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2024 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.",

year = "2024",

doi = "10.1080/09658211.2024.2310554",

language = "English",

volume = "32",

pages = "264--282",

journal = "Memory",

issn = "0965-8211",

publisher = "Taylor and Francis Ltd.",

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Lanciano, T, Alfeo, F, Curci, A, Marin, C, D’Uggento, AM, Decarolis, D, Öner, S, Anthony, K, Barzykowski, K, Bascón, M, Benavides, A, Cabildo, A, de la Mata-Benítez, ML, Ergen, İ, Filip, K, Gofman, A, Janssen, SMJ, Kai-bin, Z, Markostamou, I, Matías-García, JA, Nourkova, V, Oleksiak, S, Santamaría, A, Szpunar, K, Taylor, A & Watson, LA 2024, 'The flashbulb-like nature of memory for the first COVID-19 case and the impact of the emergency: A cross-national survey', Memory, vol. 32, no. 2, pp. 264-282. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2024.2310554

The flashbulb-like nature of memory for the first COVID-19 case and the impact of the emergency: A cross-national survey. / Lanciano, Tiziana; Alfeo, Federica; Curci, Antonietta et al.
In: Memory, Vol. 32, No. 2, 2024, p. 264-282.

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaper › Journal article › Research › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - The flashbulb-like nature of memory for the first COVID-19 case and the impact of the emergency

T2 - A cross-national survey

AU - Lanciano, Tiziana

AU - Alfeo, Federica

AU - Curci, Antonietta

AU - Marin, Claudia

AU - D’Uggento, Angela Maria

AU - Decarolis, Diletta

AU - Öner, Sezin

AU - Anthony, Kristine

AU - Barzykowski, Krystian

AU - Bascón, Miguel

AU - Benavides, Alec

AU - Cabildo, Anne

AU - de la Mata-Benítez, Manuel Luis

AU - Ergen, İrem

AU - Filip, Katarzyna

AU - Gofman, Alena

AU - Janssen, Steve M.J.

AU - Kai-bin, Zhao

AU - Markostamou, Ioanna

AU - Matías-García, Jose Antonio

AU - Nourkova, Veronika

AU - Oleksiak, Sebastian

AU - Santamaría, Andrés

AU - Szpunar, Karl

AU - Taylor, Andrea

AU - Watson, Lynn Ann

PY - 2024

Y1 - 2024

N2 - Flashbulb memories (FBMs) refer to vivid and long-lasting autobiographical memories for the circumstances in which people learned of a shocking and consequential public event. A cross-national study across eleven countries aimed to investigate FBM formation following the first COVID-19 case news in each country and test the effect of pandemic-related variables on FBM. Participants had detailed memories of the date and others present when they heard the news, and had partially detailed memories of the place, activity, and news source. China had the highest FBM specificity. All countries considered the COVID-19 emergency as highly significant at both the individual and global level. The Classification and Regression Tree Analysis revealed that FBM specificity might be influenced by participants’ age, subjective severity (assessment of COVID-19 impact in each country and relative to others), residing in an area with stringent COVID-19 protection measures, and expecting the pandemic effects. Hierarchical regression models demonstrated that age and subjective severity negatively predicted FBM specificity, whereas sex, pandemic impact expectedness, and rehearsal showed positive associations in the total sample. Subjective severity negatively affected FBM specificity in Turkey, whereas pandemic impact expectedness positively influenced FBM specificity in China and negatively in Denmark.

AB - Flashbulb memories (FBMs) refer to vivid and long-lasting autobiographical memories for the circumstances in which people learned of a shocking and consequential public event. A cross-national study across eleven countries aimed to investigate FBM formation following the first COVID-19 case news in each country and test the effect of pandemic-related variables on FBM. Participants had detailed memories of the date and others present when they heard the news, and had partially detailed memories of the place, activity, and news source. China had the highest FBM specificity. All countries considered the COVID-19 emergency as highly significant at both the individual and global level. The Classification and Regression Tree Analysis revealed that FBM specificity might be influenced by participants’ age, subjective severity (assessment of COVID-19 impact in each country and relative to others), residing in an area with stringent COVID-19 protection measures, and expecting the pandemic effects. Hierarchical regression models demonstrated that age and subjective severity negatively predicted FBM specificity, whereas sex, pandemic impact expectedness, and rehearsal showed positive associations in the total sample. Subjective severity negatively affected FBM specificity in Turkey, whereas pandemic impact expectedness positively influenced FBM specificity in China and negatively in Denmark.

KW - autobiographical memory

KW - canonical categories

KW - COVID-19

KW - cross-national study

KW - Flashbulb memory

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U2 - 10.1080/09658211.2024.2310554

DO - 10.1080/09658211.2024.2310554

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 38315731

AN - SCOPUS:85184389584

SN - 0965-8211

VL - 32

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JO - Memory

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IS - 2

ER -

The flashbulb-like nature of memory for the first COVID-19 case and the impact of the emergency: A cross-national survey

Abstract

Keywords

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