1,049
Views
7
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Articles

Danger! Negative memories ahead: the effect of warnings on reactions to and recall of negative memories

Pages 319-329 | Received 13 Oct 2020, Accepted 12 Feb 2021, Published online: 09 Mar 2021

References

  • Abu-Rus, A., Bussell, N., Olsen, D. C., Davis-Ku, M. A., Alissa, L., & Arzoumanian, M. A. (2018). Informed consent content in research with survivors of psychological trauma. Ethics & Behavior, 29(8), 595–606. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508422.2018.1551802
  • Adler, O., & Pansky, A. (2020). A “rosy view” of the past: Positive memory biases. In T. Aue & H. Okon-Singer (Eds.), Cognitive biases in health and psychiatric disorders (pp. 139–171). Elsevier.
  • Altis, K. L., Elwood, L. S., & Olatunji, B. O. (2015). Ethical issues and ethical therapy associated with anxiety disorders. In G. Lee, J. Illes, & F. Ohl (Eds.), Ethical issues in behavioral neuroscience. Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences, (Vol. 19, pp. 265–278). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/7854_2014_340
  • Bellet, B. W., Jones, P. J., & McNally, R. J. (2018). Trigger warning: Empirical evidence ahead. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 61, 134–141. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbtep.2018.07.002
  • Benedetti, F., Lanotte, M., Lopiano, L., & Colloca, L. (2007). When words are painful: Unraveling the mechanisms of the nocebo effect. Neuroscience, 147(2), 260–271. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2007.02.020
  • Berntsen, D. (1996). Involuntary autobiographical memories. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 10(5), 435–454. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-0720(199610)10:5<435::AID-ACP408>3.0.CO;2-L
  • Berntsen, D., & Rubin, D. C. (2006). The centrality of event scale: A measure of integrating a trauma into one's identity and its relation to post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 44(2), 219–231. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2005.01.009
  • Boals, A., Hathaway, L. M., & Rubin, D. C. (2011). The therapeutic effects of completing autobiographical memory questionnaires for positive and negative events: An experimental approach. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 35(6), 544–549. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-011-9412-9
  • Bower, G. H. (1987). Commentary on mood and memory. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 25(6), 443–455. https://doi.org/10.1016/0005-7967(87)90052-0
  • Brainerd, C. J., Stein, L. M., Silveira, R. A., Rohenkohl, G., & Reyna, V. F. (2008). How does negative emotion cause false memories? SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1159170
  • Bridgland, V. M. E., Green, D. M., Oulton, J. M., & Takarangi, M. K. T. (2019). Expecting the worst: Investigating the effects of trigger warnings on reactions to ambiguously themed photos. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 25(4), 602–617. https://doi.org/10.1037/xap0000215
  • Carter, A. M. (2015). Teaching with trauma: Disability pedagogy, feminism, and the trigger warnings debate. Disability Studies Quarterly, 35(2). https://doi.org/10.18061/dsq.v35i2.4652
  • Crawford, J. R., & Henry, J. D. (2004). The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS): Construct validity, measurement properties and normative data in a large non-clinical sample. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 43(3), 245–265. https://doi.org/10.1348/0144665031752934
  • D’Argembeau, A., Comblain, C., & Van Der Linden, M. (2003). Phenomenal characteristics of autobiographical memories for positive, negative, and neutral events. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 17(3), 281–294. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.856
  • Ehlers, A., Hackmann, A., & Michael, T. (2004). Intrusive re-experiencing in post-traumatic stress disorder: Phenomenology, theory, and therapy. Memory, 12(4), 403–415. https://doi.org/1010.1080/09658210444000025
  • Faul, F., Erdfelder, E., Buchner, A., & Lang, A.-G. (2009). Statistical power analyses using G*Power 3.1: Tests for correlation and regression analyses. Behavior Research Methods, 41(4), 1149–1160. https://doi.org/10.3758/brm.41.4.1149
  • Field, A. (2005). Discovering statistics using SPSS (2nd ed.). Sage.
  • Folkman, S., & Lazarus, R. S. (1985). If it changes it must be a process: Study of emotion and coping during three stages of a college examination. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 48(1), 150–170. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.48.1.150
  • Folkman, S., Lazarus, R. S., Dunkel-Schetter, C., DeLongis, A., & Gruen, R. (1986). The dynamics of a stressful encounter: Cognitive appraisal, coping and encounter outcomes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50(5), 992–1003. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.50.5.992
  • Folkman, S., & Moskowitz, J. T. (2004). Coping: Pitfalls and promise. Annual Review of Psychology, 55(1), 745–774. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.55.090902.141456
  • Friday, A. (2016, August 31). What our culture gets wrong about trigger warnings. Medium. Retrieved May 15, 2020, from https://medium.com/the-establishment/what-our-culture-gets-wrong-about-trigger-warnings-52b868437fb0
  • Funder, D. C., & Ozer, D. J. (2019). Evaluating effect size in psychological research: Sense and nonsense. Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science, 2(2), 156–168. https://doi.org/10.1177/2515245919847202
  • Gross, J., & John, O. P. (2003). Individual differences in two emotion regulation processes: Implications for affect, relationships, and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85(2), 348–362. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.85.2.348
  • Hackmann, A., Ehlers, A., Speckens, A., & Clark, D. M. (2004). Characteristics and content of intrusive memories in PTSD and their changes with treatment. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 17(3), 231–240. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JOTS.0000029266.88369.fd
  • Haslam, N. (2017, May 19). A short history of trigger warnings. Retrieved December 9, 2020, from https://psychlopaedia.org/society/republished/whats-the-difference-between-traumatic-fear-and-moral-anger-trigger-warnings-wont-tell-you/
  • Innocent Lives Foundation. (2020, December 16). Importance of trigger warnings: The innocent lives foundation. Retrieved December 16, 2020, from https://www.innocentlivesfoundation.org/importance-of-trigger-warnings/#:~:text=The%20American%20Psychological%20Association%20shares,intentionally%20thinks%20about%20their%20trauma
  • Jones, P. J., Bellet, B. W., & McNally, R. J. (2020). Helping or harming? The effect of trigger warnings on individuals with trauma histories. Clinical Psychological Science, 8(5), 905–917. https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/axn6z
  • Kilpatrick, D. G., Resnick, H. S., Milanak, M. E., Miller, M. W., Keyes, K. M., & Friedman, M. J. (2013). National estimates of exposure to traumatic events and PTSD prevalence using DSM-IV and DSM-5 criteria. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 26(5), 537–547. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.21848
  • Loftus, E. F. (2005). Planting misinformation in the human mind: A 30-year investigation of the malleability of memory. Learning & Memory, 12(4), 361–366. https://doi.org/10.1101/lm.94705
  • Loftus, E. F., & Teitcher, J. (2019). Invasion of the mind snatchers: A nation full of traumatic memories. Clinical Psychological Science, 7(1), 25–26. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167702618797107
  • LSA Inclusive Teaching Initiative. (2020, December 9). An introduction to content warnings and trigger warnings – inclusive teaching. Retrieved December 9, 2020, from https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/inclusive-teaching/inclusive-classrooms/an-introduction-to-content-warnings-and-trigger-warnings/
  • Marsh, B. U., Pezdek, K., & Lam, S. T. (2014). Imagination perspective affects ratings of the likelihood of occurrence of autobiographical memories. Acta Psychologica, 150, 114–119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2014.05.006
  • Marteau, T. M., & Bekker, H. (1992). The development of a six-item short-form of the state scale of the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 31(3), 301–306. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8260.1992.tb00997.x
  • McNeil, K. (2015, October 26). The importance of trigger warnings. Tufts Observer. http://tuftsobserver.org/the-importance-of-trigger-warnings/
  • Molla, R. (2020, January 6). Americans spent about 3.5 hours per day on their phones last year – a number that keeps going up despite the “time well spent” movement. Vox. https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/1/6/21048116/tech-companies-time-well-spent-mobile-phone-usage-data
  • Morgan, C. A., Southwick, S., Steffian, G., Hazlett, G. A., & Loftus, E. F. (2013). Misinformation can influence memory for recently experienced, highly stressful events. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 36(1), 11–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2012.11.002
  • Myers, M. G., Cairns, J. A., & Singer, J. (1987). The consent form as a possible cause of side effects. Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, 42(3), 250–253. https://doi.org/10.1038/clpt.1987.142
  • Oulton, J. M., & Takarangi, M. K. T. (2017). (Mis)remembering negative emotional experiences. In R. Nash & J. Ost (Eds.), False and distorted memories (pp. 9–22). Psychology Press.
  • Palmer. (2017, March 28). Monash University trigger warning policy fires up free speech debate. Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-28/monash-university-adopts-trigger-warning-policy/8390264
  • Pickrell, J. E., McDonald, D. L., Bernstein, D. M., & Loftus, E. F. (2017). Misinformation effect. In R. F. Pohl (Ed.), Cognitive illusions: Intriguing phenomena in thinking, judgment and memory (pp. 406–423). Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.
  • Qualtrics software. (Copyright © 2020). Qualtrics and all other Qualtrics product or service names are registered trademarks or trademarks of Qualtrics, Provo, UT, USA. https://www.qualtrics.com
  • Rubin, D. C., Boals, A., & Klein, K. (2010). Autobiographical memories for very negative events: The effects of thinking about and rating memories. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 34(1), 35–48. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-008-9226-6
  • Rubin, D. C., Deffler, S. A., & Umanath, S. (2019). Scenes enable a sense of reliving: Implications for autobiographical memory. Cognition, 183, 44–56. https://doi.org/1010.1016/j.cognition.2018.10.024
  • Rubin, D. C., & Feeling, N. (2013). Measuring the severity of negative and traumatic events. Clinical Psychological Science, 1(4), 375–389. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167702613483112
  • Sanson, M., Strange, D., & Garry, M. (2019). Trigger warnings are trivially helpful at reducing negative affect, intrusive thoughts, and avoidance. Clinical Psychological Science, 7(4), 778–793. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167702619827018
  • Shafir, R., & Sheppes, G. (2020). How anticipatory information shapes subsequent emotion regulation. Emotion, 20(1), 68–74. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000673
  • Sutin, A. R., & Robins, R. W. (2007). Phenomenology of autobiographical memories: The memory experiences questionnaire. Memory, 15(4), 390–411. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658210701256654
  • Takarangi, M. K. T., Segovia, D. A., Dawson, E., & Strange, D. (2014). Emotional impact feedback affects how people remember an analogue trauma event. Memory, 22(8), 1041–1051. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2013.865238
  • Takarangi, M. K. T., & Strange, D. (2010). Emotional impact feedback changes how we remember negative autobiographical experiences. Experimental Psychology, 57(5), 354–359. https://doi.org/10.1027/1618-3169/a000042
  • Talarico, J. M., & Rubin, D. C. (2003). Confidence, not consistency, characterizes flashbulb memories. Psychological Science, 14(5), 455–461. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9280.02453
  • Walker, W. R., & Skowronski, J. J. (2009). The fading affect bias: But what the hell is it for? Applied Cognitive Psychology, 23(8), 1122–1136. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.1614
  • Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(6), 1063–1070. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.54.6.1063
  • Weiss, D. S. (2007). The impact of event scale: Revised. In Cross-cultural assessment of psychological trauma and PTSD (pp. 219–238). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-70990-1_10

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.