Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder01:27

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric condition that arises following exposure to traumatic events such as natural disasters, forced displacement, or severe accidents. It significantly impairs individuals' ability to cope with daily activities and disrupts their emotional and psychological equilibrium.
Symptoms and Behavioral Manifestations
A spectrum of distressing symptoms characterizes PTSD. Recurrent flashbacks, where individuals involuntarily relive traumatic events, are a...
Flashbulb Memory01:16

Flashbulb Memory

A flashbulb memory is a highly vivid and detailed memory, often linked to events of significant emotional impact. These memories stand out in contrast to everyday memories due to their clarity and the precision with which they are recalled. The strong emotions associated with the event act as a catalyst, ensuring that specific details, such as one's location, actions, and even peripheral elements, are etched into memory with remarkable accuracy. For example, many people can vividly recall where...
Traumatic Memory01:20

Traumatic Memory

Emotionally traumatic events often lead to memories that are exceptionally vivid and enduring, sometimes persisting with remarkable clarity throughout an individual's life. A classic example of this phenomenon is a person who survives a car accident. Even years later, they may recall every detail of the event with startling accuracy — the screeching of the tires, the jarring impact, and the acrid smell of burning rubber. Such vividness contrasts sharply with how an individual remembers mundane...
False Memories01:18

False Memories

False memories represent a cognitive distortion in which individuals recall events that did not happen, or remember them in an altered form. This phenomenon highlights the brain's constructive nature in processing and recalling memories, emphasizing that memory is not a perfect representation of past events but rather a dynamic reconstruction influenced by various factors.
One primary source of false memories is misattribution, where individuals incorrectly associate external information with...
Eyewitness Memory01:22

Eyewitness Memory

Eyewitness memory refers to the recollection of events by someone who has directly witnessed them, often serving as critical evidence in legal settings. This type of memory is commonly used in criminal cases where a witness describes details like a suspect's appearance, clothing, or behavior during a crime. However, despite its perceived reliability, eyewitness memory is prone to significant errors.
One such error is memory distortion, which occurs because human memory does not function like a...
Repressed Memory01:16

Repressed Memory

Repressed memories are a psychological phenomenon where memories of traumatic events are unconsciously blocked from a person's awareness. This process occurs as a defense mechanism, protecting the mind from the emotional impact of distressing or painful experiences. For example, a person who has experienced childhood trauma may grow up with no conscious recollection of the event. In such cases, the memories are thought to be buried deep within the subconscious, inaccessible to the conscious...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Mental imagery and its role in the psychopathology and treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder: A systematic review and narrative synthesis.

Journal of anxiety disorders·2026
Same author

Spatial encoding of a traumatic virtual reality scene reduces intrusive memories.

Social cognitive and affective neuroscience·2026
Same author

A novel person-reported measure of safety-seeking behaviours: a preliminary study in older victims of community crime.

Behavioural and cognitive psychotherapy·2025
Same author

Memory and identity processes in ICD-11 complex posttraumatic stress disorder: Tests of a new theory.

Journal of anxiety disorders·2025
Same author

People Likely Aren't as Susceptible to False Memories as Researchers Thought: New studies underscore the difficulty of implanting entirely fictional events in a person's recollection.

Scientific American·2025
Same author

The International Trauma Interview (ITI): development of a semi-structured diagnostic interview and evaluation in a UK sample.

European journal of psychotraumatology·2025

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 21, 2026

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Neural Correlates of Emotional Autobiographical Recollection
11:30

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Neural Correlates of Emotional Autobiographical Recollection

Published on: August 26, 2011

Source memory errors associated with reports of posttraumatic flashbacks: a proof of concept study.

Chris R Brewin1, Zoe Huntley, Matthew G Whalley

  • 1Clinical, Educational & Health Psychology, University College London, UK. c.brewin@ucl.ac.uk

Cognition
|June 5, 2012
PubMed
Summary

Individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) experiencing flashbacks during memory tests showed better recall. However, flashbacks sometimes occurred for incorrect stimuli, potentially leading to false trauma memories.

More Related Videos

Use of a Psychophysiological Script-driven Imagery Experiment to Study Trauma-related Dissociation in Borderline Personality Disorder
09:55

Use of a Psychophysiological Script-driven Imagery Experiment to Study Trauma-related Dissociation in Borderline Personality Disorder

Published on: March 8, 2018

Using a Classroom-Based Deese Roediger McDermott Paradigm to Assess the Effects of Imagery on False Memories
08:53

Using a Classroom-Based Deese Roediger McDermott Paradigm to Assess the Effects of Imagery on False Memories

Published on: November 14, 2018

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 21, 2026

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Neural Correlates of Emotional Autobiographical Recollection
11:30

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Neural Correlates of Emotional Autobiographical Recollection

Published on: August 26, 2011

Use of a Psychophysiological Script-driven Imagery Experiment to Study Trauma-related Dissociation in Borderline Personality Disorder
09:55

Use of a Psychophysiological Script-driven Imagery Experiment to Study Trauma-related Dissociation in Borderline Personality Disorder

Published on: March 8, 2018

Using a Classroom-Based Deese Roediger McDermott Paradigm to Assess the Effects of Imagery on False Memories
08:53

Using a Classroom-Based Deese Roediger McDermott Paradigm to Assess the Effects of Imagery on False Memories

Published on: November 14, 2018

Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Neuroscience
  • Psychiatry

Background:

  • Flashbacks are involuntary, vivid experiences common in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
  • The nature of flashbacks may influence memory accuracy, potentially leading to source memory errors.
  • Understanding these memory processes is crucial for treating PTSD and associated memory disturbances.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between experiencing flashbacks during a recognition test and memory performance in individuals with PTSD.
  • To explore whether flashbacks can contribute to source memory errors and the formation of false trauma memories.

Main Methods:

  • Participants with PTSD wrote a trauma narrative, noting experiences of flashbacks.
  • During a recognition test, participants identified stimuli from their narrative amidst foils.
  • Participants reported any flashbacks elicited by stimuli and their source attribution.

Main Results:

  • Reporting a flashback during the recognition test was linked to significantly better overall recognition performance.
  • Flashbacks were sometimes reported for stimuli not originating from the participant's own narrative (foils).
  • When flashbacks occurred for foil stimuli, participants were more likely to incorrectly attribute them to their own narrative.

Conclusions:

  • Experiencing flashbacks during a recognition test may enhance memory performance for genuine trauma-related stimuli.
  • The occurrence of flashbacks for external stimuli suggests a potential cognitive mechanism for the development of false trauma memories in PTSD.
  • These findings highlight the complex interplay between intrusive memories and memory accuracy in PTSD.