Section 7-1: Flashbulb Firsts

Story time! The following describes my earliest vivid memory... I will use this story in the next two sections to   expand upon some of my thoughts in the field of memory.

-Courtesy of blogs.attask.com-

While I have glimpses and fuzzy visions of memories occurring prior to this story, this one stands out as the first clear and precise memory. This memory occurs somewhere between the ages of 3-4 years old, though if I were to guess I would say it was more likely 4, as it occurs in a late summer night shortly after one of my birthday celebrations. I was wearing my matching dinosaur shorts and T-shirt, I had an awful unisex bowl cut (that I'm told was "the style" of the time) and I was sitting in my newly acquired fuzzy  foam big-bird chair. (a chair which would later be ruined and destroyed in a basement flood 3 years later) I was seated at a plastic child's table which was ill-matched to said chair, and it was thunder storming outside. I was about to sit down and eat a bowl of Liptons chicken noodle soup in a Cambells soup bowl (the blasphemy!) paired with a can of Canada-Dry gingerale in a glass cup. As lighting struck near to the house the power was taken out. After this I was given a flashlight so I could see my food, and continue to eat it in peace. In order to make things work I had to hold the flashlight directly over my soup with one hand and my spoon with the other. Lighting struck again, fairly close to the house creating a loud boom. The startling and unexpected noise caused me to lose my grip on the flashlight and drop it into the soup below. The soup, still being incredibly hot splashed onto my face and caused some minor burns. While this event was not especially life threatening in any way, it was still painful and the event would form my relationship with thunder for the next decade.

Not cool bro.
-Courtesy of gizmodo.com.au-

How does this story relate to the topic of memory? It demonstrates three different topics presented to us in the chapter. Firstly that of flashbulb memories, which are especially vivid recollections of specific events. Second, long term memory and its resistance to decay as well as susceptibility, through my remembrance of everything about the event except for the exact age that I happened to be and lastly it is in itself an example of episodic memory. This event also demonstrates some of the topics used in learning so we will come back to this story later and address those subjects.