A study was made to investigate flashbulb theory. This theory states that these memories or recollections for the conditions in which one initially learned of an exceptionally consequential and emotionally triggering event. A critical aspect of this study was to inspect the supposition that individuals recall sorts of open public events exceeding those common occasions that happened similarly sometime in their past. Students at the University of Duke were notified and where assessed on their memories of the September 11th terrorist attacks in the United States as well as a recent mundane event in their lives. This study took place on the 12th of September 2001 and the students who partook were reimbursed for their time in this study with either 10 dollars or class credit. On the 12th of September all participants were questioned on how they found out about the attacks. The students were placed in one of three follow up groups which consisted of both males and females with each section of people cont
aining 18 people. The first group comprised of four males and fourteen females, who were tested a week later, after the attacks. The second group were tested 42 days later and consisted of 6 males and the last group had four males, who were tested 224 days after the event occurred. The study was conducted using autobiographical memory questionnaire and open-ended questionnaires. The autobiographical questionnaire used a rating scale measure intended to evaluate different properties of personal memory. The open-ended questions were asked during every study and primarily focused on inquiring into finding out explicitly about how the student knew about the terrorist attacks on the 11th of September, and the second set of questions subsequently probed into a regular occasion from the students life in the upcoming days before the attacks. The key features of biographical memories are the memory of the occasion and the conviction that the occasion happened are the conclusive properties of personal memory.