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Relation of perception of threat and biases of implicit memory with phenomenological characteristics of autobiographical memory in the context of exposure to traumatic events

Abstract:

Holmes and Rahe (1967) recognize that traumatic experiences are independent of the emotional valence of the event, and the perception of threat has an impact on how these experiences are processed. Perceptual priming studies have identified that people with post-traumatic stress disorder (ptsd) have advantages in processing traumatic information. On the other hand, studies in the autobiographical memory of trauma report that some phenomenological characteristics are distinctive to the memory of positive events. This study aims to explore the implicit memory bias and its relationship with the phenomenological characteristics of autobiographical memories in a non-clinical population and to evaluate what happens when a threat is perceived. We evaluated 42 university students, who were asked to describe an autobiographical positive or traumatic event and the perceived threat level of it. The results evidenced significant differences in perceptual priming as a function of the perceived threat of the event and allowed to identify an in-verse relationship between priming and recurring conver-sations about the event. The implications of these results are discussed in the line of memory and trauma studies.