Berntsen and Thomsen (2005)

Participants

- 145 Danes, 72-89 years - Obtained through snowball sampling method

Results

- Almost all participants in sample of older Danes reported memories of invasion and liberation -> Answers to factual questions compared to historical records as well as answers from younger control group - Older participants more accurate, average accurate answers to 55% of questions vs. 11% in control group - Participants with reported ties to resistance movement had more vivid, detailed, and accurate memories than those w/out ties

Evaluation

- Control group provides clarity and comparison of experimental and control - Impossible to establish details witnesses observed and paid more attention to during the event - Use of network sample -> participants could have spent time together discussing the past

Procedure

- Participants asked for memories of first hearing news of Danish occupation (April 1940) and liberation (May 1945), asked to indicate role in war, and asked for detailed descriptions of the most positive and most negative memories of war - After, researchers gave them a questionnaire which asked for specific factual details about occupation and liberation of Denmark that could be matched to historical data -> Younger control group given exact same questions in questionnaire

Research Method

- Quantitative - Quasi-experiment

Aim

- Test the accuracy of flashbulb memory by using a historical event for which factual information could be verified