Vivid memories of distant trauma: Examining the characteristics of trauma memories and the relationship with the centrality of event and posttraumatic stress 26 years after trauma

In the present study, we investigated the phenomenological characteristics of distant trauma memories and the relationship between the vividness of trauma memories, the centrality of event and symptoms of posttraumatic stress in two groups with different types of trauma exposure, namely survivors and bereaved, from the fire on the passenger ferry, Scandinavian Star, 26 years earlier. More than two decades after the fire, the traumatic event was represented as a vivid, emotional recollection for many of the victims. For both the survivors and the bereaved, a higher degree of vividness of trauma memories and centrality of the event were associated with higher levels of posttraumatic stress. The present findings show that even very distant trauma memories can be represented as vivid recollections. Furthermore, the findings suggest that both vividness of trauma memories and event centrality may contribute to explain how posttraumatic stress reactions can remain present over a very long time.     

On the interaction between memory scanning and response set

In the first of two item recognition experiments, a study by Egeth, Marcus, and Bevan (1972) was duplicated, but using a within-Ss design. Consistent with their findings, analogous differences obtained between mean RTs to positive set sizes of one and three were found to be significantly greater when Ss pressed two different keys to indicate whether or not a test letter was a member of the positive set (two-response condition) than when Ss pressed a single key to indicate only that a test letter was a positive set member (one-response condition). The number of set sizes used and results obtained for the two-response condition, which were inconsistent with characterization of the search process as either serial and exhaustive or serial and self-terminating, both limited and complicated interpretation of the obtained interaction. Further, these results suggested that the procedures used differed in important ways from those known to consistently produce linear and parallel item recognition functions for both positive and negative trials for the two-response condition. In Experiment II, those item recognition procedures which are known to allow serial exhaustive search to occur were used, and data were collected for four positive set sizes. Reaction time was a linear function of set size for both response conditions, the slopes of the functions did not differ significantly, and absolute slope values were consistent with previously reported findings for the two-response condition and letter stimuli. It is concluded that response requirements sometimes have effects on memory scanning (the slope of the item recognition function). Such an effect was observed when the experimental conditions were such as to allow neither serial and exhaustive nor serial and self-terminating memory search to occur. But, response requirements do not always have effects on memory scanning, and this was found to be the case when the experimental conditions were such as to allow serial and exhaustive memory search to occur and it was shown to occur.     

Treatment of a selectively mute third-grade child

A third-grade girl who did not speak in school was treated by school personnel using principles of behavior modification. A step-by-step procedure was designed which first encouraged speech in a one-to-one setting with an adult. Gradually elements of the regular school situation were introduced into the setting. The final phrase of treatment involved moving the elements back into the regular classroom. At the end of the school year, $\text{2}\text{1}\text{2}$ months following termination of treatment, the subject was still speaking freely.     

Experiments on habit reversal in the white rat following electro-convulsive treatment

Rats in a T-maze were taught two opposite habits successively, the first being heavily over learned compared to the second. One group of 14 rats was then given a series of 6 electroconvulsive shocks. The control group of 11 rats underwent a dummy procedure.

Tested subsequently the control group maintained the second habit but among the shocked animals some adopted the second habit and some the first. This was no evidence of habit reversal, however, for the behaviour of the shocked animals at the choice point was not distinguishable statistically from random behaviour.

The data of earlier workers are re-examined and, in all cases, animals said to have undergone habit reversal act as if at random.     

TIME RELATIONS OF OBJECTIVE AND SUBJECTIVE REACTIONS TO D-AMPHETAMINE AND PENTOBARBITONE

Successive measurements of pulse rate, blood pressure, objective and subjective reaction speed, and six mood variables were made on 12 healthy subjects during 135 min. periods following the intake of either 15 mg d-amphetamine, 200 mg Pentobarbitone, or a placebo. It was shown that (1) the two drugs had essentially opposite effects on all objective and most subjective variables; (2) after d-amphetamine subjective effects appeared earlier and reached their maximum more rapidly than objective effects; (3) both types of reaction were less pronounced after Pentobarbitone than after d-amphetamine under the present dose conditions; and that (4) after Pentobarbitone maximum objective effects were attained at an earlier point in time.     

Bayley‐III: Cultural differences and language scale validity in a Danish sample

The purpose of this study was to investigate cultural differences between Danish and American children at 2 and 3 years as measured with the developmental test Bayley‐III, and to investigate the Bayley‐III Language Scale validity. The Danish children (N = 43) were tested with the Bayley‐III and their parents completed an additional language questionnaire (the MacArthur‐Bates CDI). Results showed that scores from the Danish children did not differ significantly from the American norms on the Cognitive or Motor Scale, but the Danish sample scored significantly higher on the Language Scale. A comparison of the Bayley‐III Language subtests with the CDI showed that the two measures correlated significantly, but the percentile score from the CDI was significantly higher than the percentile score from the Bayley‐III Language subtests. This could be because the two instruments measure slightly different areas of language development, or because the Bayley‐III overestimates language development in Danish children. However, due to the limitations of the current study, further research is needed to clarify this issue.     

Behavioral and Psychophysiological Effects of a Yoga Intervention on High-Risk Adolescents: A Randomized Control Trial

The purpose of this study was to conduct a pilot randomized control trial to test whether a mindful yoga intervention had a beneficial impact on substance use and its psychological and psychophysiological correlates in high-risk adolescents. Research on yoga has generated growing evidence for its positive effects on physical and emotional health. However, most studies are conducted with adults, with few controlled studies conducted with youth. We designed a 20-session mindful yoga intervention for adolescents attending a school for students at high-risk for dropping out. The 50-min classes were offered three times a week. The participants (mean age = 16.7 years) were randomly assigned to control and intervention groups. Multi-rater (student, teacher), multi-method (survey, cognitive, psychophysiological) data were collected before and after the yoga curriculum. At post-test, students in the yoga condition, as compared to control students, exhibited trends toward decreased alcohol use and improved teacher-rated social skills (p < .10); and showed a non-significant increase in arousal in response to relevant stimuli as measured in skin conductance. Significant effects were not found on hypothesized proximal measures of self-regulation, mood, mindfulness, or involuntary engagement coping. Future research is needed to replicate and expand upon our findings. Studies are also needed with larger samples to further investigate potential mediators and moderators of yoga’s effects.     

The Launching and Ensnaring Effects of Construing a Traumatic Event as Central to One's Identity and Life Story

Construing a traumatic event as central to one's life story and identity is associated with posttraumatic stress. The longitudinal relationship between centrality of event and trajectories of posttraumatic stress was examined. Data from ministerial employees were collected 10 months, 2 years, and 3 years after the 2011 Oslo bombing (N = 259). Using structural equation modeling, the launch and the snare hypotheses were tested. Support for the launch hypothesis was found; higher levels of event centrality 10 months after the attack were associated with higher levels of posttraumatic stress across time. Support for the snare hypothesis was also found; higher levels of centrality 10 months and 2 years after the bombing were related to higher levels of posttraumatic stress, beyond what could be anticipated based on the individual's general trajectory. This suggests that event centrality can influence the overall trajectory, and may also have additional time‐specific effects on posttraumatic stress.Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.