Degrading negative and positive memories
Earlier studies have shown that horizontal eye movements (EM) during retrieval of a negative memory reduce its vividness and emotionality. This may be due to both tasks competing for working memory (WM) resources. This study examined whether playing the computer game “Tetris” also blurs memory. Participants recalled negative and positive memories in three conditions: recall only, recall with concurrent EM, and recall with playing Tetris. Before and after these conditions, vividness, emotionality, and physiological startle responses during recall were measured. A reaction time task showed that EM and Tetris both draw on WM, compared to no dual-task. Compared to recall only, EMand Tetris both decreased reported emotionality and startle responses. The effects of EM and Tetris did not differ, even though the tasks differed in the degree of taxing WM. This suggests that taxingWMand its effects on emotional memories may not be linearly related. Potential clinical implications are discussed.
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Notes
De gemiddelde score was: 14.98 (SD=18.65) voor ‘alleen ophalen’, 15.87 (SD=19, 21) voor oogbewegingen en 16.50 (18.80) voor Tetris.
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Dit is een bewerking van een Engelstalig artikel: Engelhard, I.M., van Uijen, S.L., & van den Hout, M.A. (2010). The impact of taxing workingmemory on negative and positive memories. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 1: 5623 - DOI: 10.3402/ejpt.v1i0.5623, met toestemming van de uitgever en overeenkomstig de voorwaarden van de licentieovereenkomst: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/
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Engelhard, I., van den Hout, M. & van Uijen, S. Het vervagen van negatieve en positieve herinneringen. PSYCHOL. GEZONDH. 39, 61–69 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12483-011-0017-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12483-011-0017-5