REMEMBERING THE EIGHTIES - SUBJECTIVE DATING OF EVENTS PRESENTED IN THE MEDIA

The question is addressed of how good subjects are at estimating the year in which events as presented in the mass media during the 1980s had happened. In two studies, N = 38 subjects and N = 40 subjects were given the task of estimating the year in which N = 66 media events from 1980 to 1988 had happened. In the second study, subjects were asked in addition to estimate their exactness of recall and their emotional involvement with each event. The results show that the time estimates are generally rather inaccurate deviating from the correct year both in absolute and in relative terms. Events further in the past are judged least correctly, but are located ''too close'' to the present. These stable findings can hardly be explained by media interests and the amount of media consumption of subjects. However, the exactness of recall and emotional involvement are important predictors of the absolute (but not the relative) errors in time estimates. The results are discussed with respect to processes of memory storage and with respect to media impact on memory.