Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 12, 2026

Using Practice Testing, Public Speaking, and Source Monitoring to Examine the Influences of Learning Strategies and Stress on Episodic Memory
Published on: June 14, 2019
The public's preparedness: self-reliance, flashbulb memories, and conservative values
Michael R Greenberg1, Susannah Dyen, Stacey Elliott
1Edward J Bloustein School, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901-1958, USA.
Objectives:
We surveyed how many US residents engaged in 6 preparedness activities and measured the relationship between engagement and personal experience in hazard events, flashbulb memories of major events, self-reliance, and other indicators of a conservative philosophy.
Methods:
We used random digit dialing for national landline (75%) and cell phone (25%) surveys of 1930 US residents from July 6, 2011, to September 9, 2011; 1080 of the sample lived near 6 US Department of Energy nuclear waste management facilities and 850 were a national random sample.
Results:
The median respondent engaged in 3 of the 6 activities; those who disproportionately engaged in 4 or more had experienced a hazard event, had distressing and strong flashbulb memories of major hazard events, and had strong feelings about the need for greater self-reliance. The results for the national and US Department of Energy site-specific surveys were almost identical.
Conclusions:
A cadre of US residents are disproportionately engaged in disaster preparedness, and they typically have stronger negative memories of past disasters and tend to be self-reliant. How their efforts can or should be integrated into local preparedness efforts is unclear.
Related Concept Videos
Preparedness and Phobias
Flashbulb Memory
The Availability Heuristic
Hindsight Biases
Bystander Effect
Social Proof
