Written cues provoke involuntary cognitions about a trauma analogue

• Published in: Journal of applied research in memory and cognition Vol. 7; no. 2; pp. 270 - 279
• Main Authors: Oulton, Jacinta M., Takarangi, Melanie K. T.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washigton Elsevier Science 01.06.2018; Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition
• Subjects: Cognitions; Cues; Female; Human; Male; Memory; Trauma; Intrusions; Involuntary cognitions; Trauma
• ISSN: 2211-3681; 2211-369X
• DOI: 10.1037/h0101820

After trauma people commonly experience intrusive memories and involuntary elaborative cognitions, such as imagined future events. Involuntary elaborative cognitions differ from intrusive memories because they involve the construction of a novel scenario, rather than the retrieval of a specific past event. Presenting multiple, unrelated cues together-compared to isolated cues-might elicit more elaborative cognitions by encouraging the extraction of distinct memory traces to construct a novel event. Conversely, isolated cues might elicit more intrusive memories by encouraging retrieval of a specific memory. We investigated these ideas using a vigilance task consisting of written cues. Participants viewed negative photos and then viewed either no cues, single cues (e.g., knife), or cues presented together as randomly selected triplets (e.g., skull sick hunger). Cues encouraged involuntary cognitions. However, frequency of intrusive memories and involuntary elaborative cognitions did not depend on whether cues were presented singularly or as triplets. General Audience Summary Following traumatic experiences people often experience intrusive memories, such as a car crash victim remembering the moment of impact. In addition to intrusive memories, however, people can also experience thoughts or images about the trauma that include imagined details: involuntary elaborative cognitions. For example, a victim might involuntarily imagine their injuries from a car crash as more severe than they actually are. According to some theorists, imagining an event is different from remembering the past because it requires a person to bring to mind elements of several different memories-as opposed to a single memory-and combine these memories to construct a novel (i.e., non-experienced) event. One possibility, therefore, is that involuntary elaborative cognitions will occur more often when a person is presented with multiple cues that are related to different memories together, compared to when they are presented with an isolated cue related to one specific memory. We investigated this possibility by exposing participants (N = 162) to negative photos depicting graphic scenes, including death. After viewing the photos, participants saw line patterns and pressed a key whenever the lines were presented vertically. During this task, some participants saw words (cues) related to the photos (e.g., knife). Some participants saw single words; other participants saw randomly generated triplet words (e.g. skull sick hunger). Participants exposed to cues experienced more involuntary cognitions than participants who were not exposed to cues. However, it did not make a difference if cues were presented singularly or as a group of three. Highlights * Subjects saw negative photos and later viewed written photo-related cues or no cues. * Cues appeared singularly (e.g., "knife") or as triplets (e.g., "jaw die death"). * Cues provoked involuntary cognitions. * Cue type (single vs. triplet) did not affect cognition frequency, type, or features.