flashbulb memory
a vivid, enduring memory associated with a personally significant and emotional event, often including such details as where the individual was or what he or she was doing at the time of the event. People often believe that such memories have the quality of a photograph taken at the moment they experienced the event, and they believe with high confidence that these memories are accurate. However, recent research has shown that although flashbulb memories are more likely to be retained than the memory of an everyday event, they are not always accurate. [first described in 1977 by U.S. psychologists Roger Brown and James Kulik (1940– ) in their study of people’s recollection of public events, such as U.S. President John F. Kennedy’s assassination]