Forgetting Trauma Stimuli
Psychological SciencePublished 16 June 2004
Anne P. DePrince, Jennifer J. Freyd
Citations156
SJR quartileQ1
SJR score2.50
SNIP2.29
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TL;DR
Under divided-attention demands, high dissociator have impaired memory for words associated with trauma but not for neutral words, as compared with low dissociators, consistent with the proposal that dissociation may aid individuals with histories of betrayal traumas to keep threatening information out of awareness.
Abstract
Previous work reported in this journal suggested that the cognitive capacities of high dissociators are impaired under conditions of focused (selective) attention, but not under conditions of divided attention, compared with the cognitive capacities of low dissociators. Using a directed-forgetting paradigm, the current study demonstrated that under divided-attention demands, high dissociators have impaired memory for words associated with trauma (e.g., incest) but not for neutral words, as compared with low dissociators. In addition, high dissociators reported significantly more trauma history and significantly more betrayal trauma (abuse by a caregiver) than low dissociators. These results are consistent with the proposal that dissociation may aid individuals with histories of betrayal traumas to keep threatening information out of awareness.
Keywords
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