The O.J. Simpson acquittal study showed that we aren't infallible. Our memories can change after an emotional and surprising event without us even noticing it. People have argued about where they were when something really important happened, both swear they are right - but they can't both be. One of their interpretations is that there is a rapid initial period of forgetting followed by long-term retention. A future study should be carried out to investigate precisely the type of information that is forgotten or retained over time.
Flashbulb memories are memories of special emotional events in our lives.
However, there has not been an examination of some of the precise types of memory information which is lost, for example it may be that sensory information is retained whereas episodic is lost. In order to examine whether or not this is the case, one must look at the type of information that is forgotten over time. There are two possible ways of testing this - free recall or specific questions in the format of a questionnaire for example. Methodology Participants would be randomly selected. The questionnaire method was chosen as this is the easiest way to control which types of memory are tested.