Abstract
Imagery is integral to autobiographical memory (AM). Past work has highlighted the benefits of high trait imagery on episodic AM, including faster, more detailed, and more vivid retrieval. However, these advantages may come with drawbacks: Following potentially traumatic events, strong visual imagery could promote the intrusions characteristic of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Conversely, spatial imagery could schematize potentially traumatic events, countering vivid recollection and reducing distress. We examined relationships between trait object imagery (e.g., color, shape), spatial imagery (e.g., abstract representations, locations), and PTSD symptoms in two independent samples: trauma-exposed adults (n = 806) and undergraduates (n = 493). As predicted, higher object imagery was associated with more PTSD symptoms in both samples. Higher spatial-schematic processing was associated with fewer PTSD symptoms in the trauma-exposed sample, although this effect was confined to men in the undergraduate sample. Different forms of imagery have different—or even opposing—relationships with episodic AM that affect PTSD symptoms.
Keywords
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
