were more accurately recalled than everyday autobiographical events. In some cases, consistency of flashbulb memories and everyday memories do not differ, as they both decline over time. Ratings of vividness, recollection and belief in the accuracy of memory, however, have been documented to decline only in everyday memories and not flashbulb memories. The latent structure of a flashbulb memory is taxonic, and qualitatively distinct from non-flashbulb memories. It has been suggested that there are "optimal cut points" on flashbulb memory features that can ultimately divide people who can produce them from those who cannot. This follows the idea that flashbulb memories are a recollection of "event-specific sensory-perceptual details" and are much different from other known autobiographical memories. Ordinary memories show a dimensional structure that involves all levels of autobiographical knowledge, whereas flashbulb memories appear to come from a more densely integrated region of autobiographical knowledge. Flashbulb memories and non-flashbulb memories also differ qualitatively and not just quantitatively. Flashbulb memories are considered a form of autobiographical memory but involve the activation of episodic memory, where as everyday memories are a semantic form of recollections. Being a form of autobiographical recollections, flashbulb memories are deeply determined by the reconstructive processes of memory, and just like any other form of memory are prone to decay. Importance of an event Brown and Kulik (1977) emphasized that importance is a critical variable in flashbulb memory formation. In a study conducted by Brown and Kulik, news events were chosen so that some of them would be important to some of their subjects, but not to others. They found that when an event was important to one group, it was associated with a comparatively high incidence of flashbulb memories. The same event, when judged lower on importance by another group, was found to be associated with a lower incidence of flashbulb memory. The retelling or rehearsal of personally important events also increases the accuracy of flashbulb memories. Personally important events tend to be rehearsed more often than non-significant events. A study conducted on flashbulb memories of the Loma Prieta earthquake found that people who discussed and compared their personal stories with others repeatedly had better recall of the event compared to Atlanta subjects who had little reason to talk about how they had heard the news. Therefore, the rehearsal of personally important events can be important in developing accurate flashbulb memories. There has been other evidence that