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Implicit and explicit memory bias for threat in post-traumatic stress disorder.
1Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Scarborough, Ontario, Canada.
Behaviour Research and Therapy
|January 1, 1991
Summary
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patients show biased memory for combat words in both explicit and implicit recall tasks. This combat word memory bias may contribute to PTSD re-experiencing symptoms like intrusive thoughts.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
Background:
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with altered memory processing.
- Understanding memory biases in PTSD is crucial for explaining symptomology.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate explicit and implicit memory differences in Vietnam combat veterans with and without PTSD.
- To determine if memory biases are specific to trauma-related stimuli.
Main Methods:
- Cued recall (explicit) and word completion (implicit) tests were administered to PTSD and control groups.
- Participants encoded combat, social threat, positive, and neutral words under elaborative and non-elaborative conditions.
Main Results:
- Both groups recalled more combat words, but PTSD patients showed a relative explicit memory bias for combat words.
- PTSD subjects exhibited an implicit memory bias for combat words, which was greater for primed words.
Conclusions:
- PTSD is associated with both explicit and implicit memory biases favoring trauma-related (combat) words.
- These memory biases may contribute to the characteristic re-experiencing symptoms of PTSD, such as intrusive thoughts and nightmares.