Gender Differences in Vivid Memories

Seventy-four adults (50% women) individually completed a memory questionnaire. They were given a definition of a flashbulb memory and were asked to describe their 3 most vivid memories. In addition, participants rated the described events for various characteristics (e.g., emotional load and personal importance) and provided their best estimate of the date of each event. Effects of gender on the content of vivid memories, their form, and their distribution were found. The influence of identity on the recollection of personal experiences and gender differences in the development of autobiographical memory are discussed.     

The role of tonic immobility and control in the development of intrusive memories after experimental trauma

ABSTRACT

Tonic immobility (TI; state of motor inhibition during threat) has been implicated in the onset of intrusive trauma memories, while controllability was associated with reduced anxiety. The present study investigated the interaction between TI and control in the development of intrusive memories of an analogue trauma. Sixty-four participants watched negative pictures while being allowed to close their eyes (InControl) or not (NoControl). They completed measures for spontaneous TI afterwards and recorded intrusive memories of the pictures in a diary in the subsequent week. Bayesian analyses were used to test informative hypotheses. Spontaneous TI during picture viewing was positively associated with increased intrusion frequency. Intrusion frequency did not differ for InControl versus NoControl. Moderation (control x TI) and non-moderation (main effect of TI only) were both adequate models, with no preference. Our results confirm the importance of TI in PTSD development. Implications of the findings regarding control merit more research.     

Studies in Binocular Interdependence: III. an Active Principle

Explanations of the nature of thought and the methods of study underlying such explanations were explored from the viewpoints of introspective psychology, methodological behaviorism, and radical behaviorism. Empirical support for the radical behaviorists' interpretation of thought as covert operant behavior was examined. An experimental method was developed which attempted to analyze the functional properties of responsereinforcement connections in the environment inside our skins. Verbal reports of the thought behaviors of a group of graduate students in educational psychology were examined and coded in terms of B. F. Skinner's verbal operant categories. The reported thought units were coded in relation to the environmental contexts in which they were reported, and in relation to the environmental contexts in which the thoughts had actually occurred. Major differences in the verbal operant codings, and in the interrater reliabilities of such codings were discovered depending upon the particular environmental context utilized. Results obtained by scoring the reported thought units in relation to the environments in which the thoughts actually occurred were congruent with the paradigm of operant behavior.     

Recurrent involuntary imagery in people who stutter and people who do not stutter

Objective

To compare intrusive memories in groups of people who do (PWS), and who do not (PWNS), stutter.

Method

Twenty-one participants who stuttered and 21 matched controls were given a semi-structured interview which explored imagery in speaking situations. The data were analyzed using a Content Analysis approach. Other outcome measures were the Beck Anxiety Inventory, the Beck Depression Inventory, the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD, Symptom Scale: Self-Report Version.

Results

Significantly more stuttering participants than control participants indicated both recurrent imagery and associated memories. Content Analysis revealed themes of disfluency, anxiety, negative social evaluation, self-focus and pressure to speak that were common to both groups’ reports. Additional themes of helplessness, shame, sadness and frustration were found only in the images and memories of the stuttering group. No group differences were evident for the number of sensory modalities involved in images and memories, or for ratings of their vividness or strength of associated emotions, or on self-reports of depression, anxiety and trauma.

Conclusions

Recurrent imagery about events in childhood is a potent factor in the memories of PWS. It is worth modifying interventions that have been successfully applied for treating social anxiety for use with people who stutter.Educational objectives: After reading this article, participants will be able to: (a) identify the role of intrusive memories in psychiatric disorders and stuttering; (b) investigate how DSM criteria can be employed with people who stutter; (c) employ anxiety instruments used for assessing psychiatric disorders for stuttering; (d) distinguish between the intrusive memories experienced by people who stutter, and people who do not stutter; (e) apply treatments for intrusive memories in psychiatric disorders to work with people who stutter.