Memory for Complex Emotional Material in Dissociative Identity Disorder

Abstract

Eleven women with dissociative identity disorder (DID) participated in an experiment that included a variety of memory measures. DID participants were faster than a group of 13 female students at producing autobiographical memories in response to cue words. DID participants had difficulty answering detailed questions about a story containing fear compared with a neutral story; the student group did not. The DID group reported experiencing significantly more childhood trauma than did the student group. Effect sizes were moderate to high. This preliminary study uses a broad conceptualization of memory functioning, combining ecologically valid testing with experimental paradigms and addressing the impact of emotion on memory in trauma survivors.

Keywords:

• dissociative identity disorder
• memory
• trauma
• emotion

Acknowledgments

Funding for this research was provided by a 2005 Dissertation Research Award from the American Psychological Association, a University of Oregon Graduate School Research Award, and a University of Oregon Department of Psychology Graduate Education Committee Award. Portions of this research were presented at the 49th Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Chicago, Illinois, November 14, 2008.

The author would like to thank Jennifer Freyd and Jim Chu for their aid in conceptualizing and implementing this research, as well as Joanna Lahey for valuable comments on this article.