Freshman flashbulbs: memories of unique and first-time events in starting college

Students from the Lafayette Class of 2011 (N=100) described events that occurred during their transition to college. Three were unique events (receiving their acceptance letter, being left alone on campus, and taking the class photograph) and three were first-time experiences (first seeing their dorm room, meeting their roommate, and attending their first college class). The definitional criteria for flashbulb memories (FBM) was met for all six events; memory reports included what participants were doing, where they were, who they were with, the emotions they experienced, and other idiosyncratic details. Therefore, transitional events are a productive analogue for traditional FBM research. Unique events were rated as more emotional and significant than first-time events, yet both were recalled with similarly enhanced vividness and confidence and both included similar content. Extensions of this method to investigations of other open questions in FBM research are discussed.