Memory Distortion and Dissociation: Exploring the Relationship in a Non-Clinical Sample

ABSTRACT

There is a growing interest in the relationship between the tendency to have dissociative experiences and performance on several cognitive tasks, in particular the susceptibility to memory distortions. Participants are shown a video of a crime and then are given a post-event questionnaire that has several misleading questions. Later, participants are questioned about the event. The sample showed a large range in susceptibility to the post-event misleading information. This susceptibility was related to their responses to a dissociative experiences questionnaire (based on the DES) adapted for non-clinical populations (DES C). The results are discussed in relation to theories of memory distortion.

KEYWORDS:

• Memory distortion
• dissociative experiences scale
• cognitive tasks