Memory Distortion Research Articles

Non-linear Functional Brain Co-activations in Short-Term Memory Distortion Tasks.

Recent works shed light on the neural correlates of true and false recognition and the influence of time of day on cognitive performance. The current study aimed to investigate the modulation of the false memory formation by the time of day using a non-linear correlation analysis originally designed for fMRI resting-state data. Fifty-four young and healthy participants (32 females, mean age: 24.17 ± 3.56 y.o.) performed in MR scanner the modified Deese-Roediger-McDermott paradigm in short-term memory during one session in the morning and another in the evening. Subjects’ responses were modeled with a general linear model, which includes as a predictor the non-linear correlations of regional BOLD activity with the stimuli, separately for encoding and retrieval phases. The results show the dependence of the non-linear correlations measures with the time of day and the type of the probe. In addition, the results indicate differences in the correlations measures with hippocampal regions between positive and lure probes. Besides confirming previous results on the influence of time-of-day on cognitive performance, the study demonstrates the effectiveness of the non-linear correlation analysis method for the characterization of fMRI task paradigms.

Brain activities of reconsolidation: Nuances in post-retrieval interference led to optimal alterations of episodic memories

When memories are reactivated, they enter a period of instability in which they can be affected by a variety of follow-up manipulations. The existence of this type of memory reconsolidation offers the potential for clinical interventions of maladaptive memory. However, such potential cannot be fully exploited until the internal mechanisms of memory changes via reconsolidation are better understood. In the current study, we used a three-day AB-AC paradigm that included self-referential simulation processing and employed electroencephalogram (EEG) techniques to explore how post-retrieval updates of episodic memory come about. Behaviorally, we found that reactivation alongside interference learning (ReI-L, AB-AC, n = 52) can produce much more false memories compared to no reactivation new learning (New-L, AB-DC, n = 31) and reactivation repetitive learning (Rep-L, AB-AB. n = 30). More importantly, ERP results revealed that trials from ReI-L in which memory distortions subsequently occurred showed an observable (compared to the new-learning without memory reactivation) but attenuated (compared to trials associating with later intact memory) amplitude of frontal N400, indicating a moderate level of early conflict reactivation is necessary to trigger crucial memory instability. In addition, to promote optimal distortion of the original memory, a sufficient later constructional processing is also required, reflecting in these intrusive/later false trials showed a larger amplitude of late posterior negativity (LPN). A linear classifier employing neuro features of FN400 and LPN during the reconsolidation phase could predict the original memory retention with 72% accuracy. The present findings indicate that nuance in post-retrieval interference, moderate conflict with protracted construction can lead to optimal alterations of episodic memories.

False Memories in Native and Foreign Languages.

Human memory is prone to memory errors and distortion. Evidence from studies on cognitive functions in bilinguals indicates that they might be prone to different types of memory errors compared to monolinguals; however, the effect of language in false memories is still understudied. Source monitoring processes required for proper memory functioning, presumably, rely on inhibitory control, which is also heavily utilized by bilinguals. Moreover, it is suggested that thinking in a second language leads to more systematic and deliberate reasoning. All these results lead to expect that bilinguals are more analytical when processing information in their second language overcoming some memory errors depending on the language of information. To test this hypothesis, we run a classical misinformation experiment with an explicit source monitoring task with a sample of Russian–English bilinguals. The language of the misinformation presentation did not affect the degree of the misinformation effect between the Russian and English languages. Source monitoring demonstrated an overall higher accuracy for attributions to the English source over the Russian source. Furthermore, analysis on incorrect source attributions showed that when participants misattributed the sources of false information (English or Russian narrative), they favored the Russian source over the not presented condition. Taken together, these results imply that high proficiency in the second language does not affect misinformation and that information processing and memory monitoring in bilinguals can differ depending on the language of the information, which seems to lead to some memory errors and not others.

Systematic transition from boundary extension to contraction along an object-scene continuum

After viewing a picture of a scene, our memory of it typically extends beyond what was presented—a phenomenon called boundary extension (Intraub et al, 1992). However, recent work has found evidence for boundary contraction as well (Bainbridge & Baker, 2020), proposing different outcomes for object-focused and scene-focused images. In naturalistic visual experience, there is a continuum of views that naturally transition between scene-focused and object-focused, e.g., as an observer enters an indoor environment and moves toward an object. Here, we examined how memory for a view of an environment changes along this object-scene continuum. We constructed 3D indoor environments using a virtual-reality game engine, allowing for tight control of their spatial dimensions and object content, and captured a series of images at systematic distances from a center object within each environment. We found continuous progression from boundary-extension in close-up views to boundary-contraction in distant views, with a consistent transition point across environments, and a clear relationship between the magnitude of the memory distortion and the position along the continuum. In a series of subsequent experiments, by manipulating the number of objects in the environment, we found that the memory transition point is not linked to a specific depicted distance per se, e.g., the transition between reachable and non-reachable space. Rather, the position at which boundary extension transitions to boundary contraction seems to track with the views that “looked best,” as judged by independent observers. Taken together, these results demonstrate that there is indeed a systematic link between the direction of memory distortion and the depicted scale of the space, but where object content has a clear influencing role. Further, the correspondence between the best view and the transition point suggests a common underlying mechanism, providing new empirical inroads for articulating the mechanisms of visual scene encoding.

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Over the Right Anterior Temporal Lobe Does Not Modulate False Recognition.

Non-invasive transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the left anterior temporal lobe (ATL) has been shown to cause a reduction in the rate of false memories with semantically related words. Such a reduction seems to be specific to false memories induced by the study of associative lists, but is not observed when the studied lists are categorical in nature. These findings are interpreted as evidence that the left ATL functions as an integration hub that is crucial for the binding of semantic information into coherent representations of concepts. In order to investigate whether the right ATL might also contribute to semantic integration in the processing of verbal associative material, a follow-up tDCS study was conducted with the stimulation at study lateralized on the right ATL. A sample of 75 undergraduate students participated in an experiment in which they studied 8 associative lists and 8 categorical lists. One third of the participants studied all their word lists under anodal stimulation, another third studied under cathodal stimulation and the other third under sham stimulation. Results showed that stimulation of the right ATL by tDCS does not modulate false recognition for either association-related critical words or category-related critical words. These results provide preliminary support to views positing asymmetric connectivity between the anterior temporal lobes and the semantic representational network, and provide evidence for understanding bilateral brain dynamics and the nature of semantically induced memory distortions.

Semantic influences on episodic memory distortions.

Prior knowledge has long been known to shape new episodic memories. However, it is less clear how prior knowledge can scaffold the learning of a new class of information, and how this can bias memory for the episodes that contributed to its acquisition. We aimed to quantify distortions in episodic memories resulting from the use of prior category knowledge to facilitate learning new information. Across 4 experiments, participants encoded and retrieved image-location associations. Most members of a category (e.g., birds) were located near each other, such that participants could leverage their prior category knowledge to learn the spatial locations of categories as they encoded specific image locations. Critically, some typical and atypical category members were in random locations. We decomposed location memory into 2 measures: error, a measure of episodic specificity; and bias toward other category members, a measure of the influence of newly-learned information about category locations. First, we found that location memory was more accurate for images whose locations were spatially consistent with their category membership. Second, when images were spatially inconsistent (i.e., in random locations), retrieval of typical category members was more biased toward their category's location relative to atypical ones. These effects replicated across 3 experiments, disappeared when images were not arranged by category, and were stronger than effects observed with images arranged by visual similarity rather than category membership. Our observations provide compelling evidence that memory is a reconstruction of multiple sources of prior knowledge, new learning, and memory for specific events. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

The Iraqi Ba'ath Archives: Collective Memory Loss and Authoritarian Nostalgia in the Post-Saddam Era

Abstract This article analyzes how the seizure of the Ba'ath archives from Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003 influenced the country's memory landscape and rise in pro-Ba'ath authoritarian nostalgia (hanin). Literature on the Ba'ath archives has focused on the ethics of their removal, custodianship, and laws governing war archives. However, there has been virtually no literature analyzing the long-term consequences of this removal on Iraqi collective memory or examining Ba'ath nostalgia in a larger dialogue about Iraqi archives. Has the removal of the Ba'ath records distorted Iraq's post-regime memory landscape, and is this a factor in the rise of authoritarian nostalgia? By reviewing existing literature on archives and collective memory, examining instances of Ba'ath nostalgia in Iraq, exploring effects of de-Ba'athification on the education system, and comparing Iraq's situation to South Africa, this article will contemplate the effects of archives loss on Iraqi memory distortion and authoritarian nostalgia.

Perceptual and Semantic Representations at Encoding Contribute to True and False Recognition of Objects.

When encoding new episodic memories, visual and semantic processing is proposed to make distinct contributions to accurate memory and memory distortions. Here, we used fMRI and preregistered representational similarity analysis to uncover the representations that predict true and false recognition of unfamiliar objects. Two semantic models captured coarse-grained taxonomic categories and specific object features, respectively, while two perceptual models embodied low-level visual properties. Twenty-eight female and male participants encoded images of objects during fMRI scanning, and later had to discriminate studied objects from similar lures and novel objects in a recognition memory test. Both perceptual and semantic models predicted true memory. When studied objects were later identified correctly, neural patterns corresponded to low-level visual representations of these object images in the early visual cortex, lingual, and fusiform gyri. In a similar fashion, alignment of neural patterns with fine-grained semantic feature representations in the fusiform gyrus also predicted true recognition. However, emphasis on coarser taxonomic representations predicted forgetting more anteriorly in the anterior ventral temporal cortex, left inferior frontal gyrus and, in an exploratory analysis, left perirhinal cortex. In contrast, false recognition of similar lure objects was associated with weaker visual analysis posteriorly in early visual and left occipitotemporal cortex. The results implicate multiple perceptual and semantic representations in successful memory encoding and suggest that fine-grained semantic as well as visual analysis contributes to accurate later recognition, while processing visual image detail is critical for avoiding false recognition errors.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT People are able to store detailed memories of many similar objects. We offer new insights into the encoding of these specific memories by combining fMRI with explicit models of how image properties and object knowledge are represented in the brain. When people processed fine-grained visual properties in occipital and posterior temporal cortex, they were more likely to recognize the objects later and less likely to falsely recognize similar objects. In contrast, while object-specific feature representations in fusiform gyrus predicted accurate memory, coarse-grained categorical representations in frontal and temporal regions predicted forgetting. The data provide the first direct tests of theoretical assumptions about encoding true and false memories, suggesting that semantic representations contribute to specific memories as well as errors.

Remembrance and Denial of Genocide: On the Interrelations of Testimonial and Hermeneutical Injustice

ABSTRACT Genocide remembrance is a complex epistemological/ethical achievement, whereby survivors and descendants give meaning to the past in the quest for both personal-historical and social-historical truth. This paper offers an argument of epistemic injustice specifically as it occurs in relation to practices of (individual and collective) genocide remembrance. In particular, I argue that under conditions of genocide denialism, understood as collective genocide misremembrance and memory distortion, genocide survivors and descendants are confronted with hermeneutical oppression. Drawing on Sue Campbell’s relational, reconstructive account of remembering, I argue that genocide denialism involves disrespectful challenges to memory, which systematically misrecognize rememberers. Adopting the case of Turkey’s denialism of the Armenian genocide, I discuss two interrelated mechanisms through which this can happen: i) through the systematic portrayal of survivors and descendants as vicious rememberers, and ii) through distortions of the very concept of ‘genocide’. Based on this, I show how hermeneutical and testimonial injustice are crucially interrelated when it comes to ‘contested’ memories of historical injustice and the biographical testimony it gives rise to.

항공 셀프서비스 특성, 계획행동이론, 행동의도 간의 영향 관계

The purpose of this work was to present a model of how aerial self-service characteristics affect user behavior and to clarify the relationship between these factors. The time range of the study was set for the base year in 2021. The target range was ordinary adults aged 20 or older who had experience using self-service devices while touring abroad within the past three years. The survey method was conducted using a mobile, self-inputting questionnaire method through a survey company. A total of 214 copies were distributed and recovered, and a total of 189 copies were used for empirical analysis, except for 25 questionnaires with low response rates or biased responses. Empirical analysis was analyzed using the SPSSWIN Ver 22.0 statistical package program after questioners were collected. A total of six hypotheses have been established to achieve the objective of this study. The hypothesis test confirmed that six out of six hypotheses were adopted or partially adopted, and the relevance of aviation self-service characteristics to the effect on users' behavioral intentions was verified. In this study, the time range was set to three years in consideration of Covid-19, but there may be time gaps that can cause distortion of memory, so future studies need to re-scope the time range to derive the results.

Episodic memory false recognition for familiar information in Alzheimer’s disease

ABSTRACT Patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) suffer from various types of memory distortions. We showed that confabulations are plausible memories, mainly reflecting the recall of repeated personal events mistakenly considered by confabulating patients as specific and unique events. The aim of this study is to see whether the notion that over-learned information interferes in episodic memory recall, as it does in confabulation, can be extended to another type of memory distortion, namely false recognition (i.e., a claim to recognize something that was not encountered previously). If this is the case, it should be expected that in an episodic recognition memory task AD patients produce more false recognition for well known non-studied, non to-be-remembered material than for unknown non-studied, non to-be-remembered material. In order to verify this prediction, AD patients and normal controls (NC) were administered two experiments. In Experiment 1, we presented pictures, of which half were supposed to be well known and the other half unknown monuments. For each picture, participants were asked to say whether or not the monument was known or not to them. Immediately following this semantic encoding task, participants were administered an episodic recognition memory task in which, in the same way as in the previous phase, among the non-studied items, half were supposed to be well known and the other half unknown. In Experiment 2 the same procedure was used employing well known and unknown symbols. It was predicted that AD patients make more false recognitions for non-studied well-known items than for non-studied unknown items. The results show that this is actually the case, suggesting that confusion between “uniqueness,” i.e., specific unique events, and “multiplicity,” i.e., repeated events, is also involved in false recognition.

Media, Technology, and the Sins of Memory.

Human memory is prone to error and distortion. Schacter (1999, 2001) proposed that memory's misdeeds can be classified into seven categories or "sins". This article discusses the impact of media and technology on four memory sins, transience (forgetting over time), absent-mindedness (lapses in attention that produce forgetting), misattribution (attributing a memory to the wrong source), and suggestibility (implanted memories). Growing concerns have been expressed about the negative impact of media and technology on memory. With respect to transience, I review research regarding the impact of the Internet (ie, Google), GPS, and photographs. Studies have documented impaired memory following specific tasks on which people rely on media/technology (eg, poor memory for a route after using GPS), but have revealed little evidence for broader impairments (eg, generally impaired memory in GPS users), and have also documented some mnemonic benefits (eg, reviewing photos of past experiences). For absent-mindedness, there is strong evidence that media multitasking is associated with poor memory for a target task (eg, a lecture) because of attentional lapses, suggestive evidence that chronic media multitasking could be associated with broader memory problems, and emerging evidence that technology can help to reduce certain kinds of absent-minded errors. Regarding misattribution and suggestibility, there is clear evidence that manipulated or misleading photos are associated with false memories for personal events and fake news, but no evidence of broader effects on susceptibility to memory distortion. Further study of the impact of media and technology on the memory sins is a fruitful pursuit for interdisciplinary studies.

An Evaluation on the 6-7 September 1955 Events in the Context of the Post-Truth, Fake News and the Dynamics of Distortion in Collective Memory

Hakikat ötesi, hakikatin anlamını yitirdiği, belirsizleştiği ve bu doğrultuda politikaların belirlendiği bir dönemi ifade etmektedir. Hakikat ötesinin kullanım araçlarından biri olan yalan haber ise bilginin eksik ve kasıtlı bir biçimde aktarılmasıdır. Bu iki yaklaşım veya kavram sosyal bilimler alanında yapılan çalışmaların konuları arasında yer almaya başlamıştır. Hakikat ötesi ve yine bunun bir aracı olarak kabul edilen yalan haber konusunda çeşitli disiplinlerde tarihsel ve toplumsal olay örnekleri üzerinden çeşitli çalışmalar yapılmıştır. Ancak tarih alanında aynı sıklıkta çalışmalara yer verilmemiştir. Kolektif bellek ve kolektif belleği çarpıtma dinamikleri ise toplum, siyaset, basın ve tarihi olaylar üzerine yapılan araştırmalarda ele alınan, ilişkilendirilen kuram ve yaklaşımlardır. 
 Yunanistan’ın 1940’lı yıllarda başlattığı faaliyetlerle ortaya çıkan Kıbrıs sorunu, sonraki yıllarda Türkiye, Yunanistan ve ada halkının gündemini oluşturan önemli bir konu haline gelmiştir. 6-7 Eylül 1955 Olayları ise Kıbrıs sorunun çözümü konusunda Türkiye ve Yunanistan arasında sürdürülen diplomatik görüşmelerin devam ettiği esnada yaşanmıştır. Bu olaylar, yakın döneme dair tarih araştırmalarının konusu haline gelmiş ve yine farklı disiplinlerde bu konuyla ilgili çok sayıda çalışma yapılmıştır. Bu çalışmada 6-7 Eylül 1955 Olayları; hakikat ötesi, yalan haber ve kolektif belleği çarpıtma dinamikleri bağlamında incelenmiş ve tartışılmıştır. Bu dönemin basın faaliyetleri, olayların öncesi ve sonrasında yapılan haberler, çalışmanın temel inceleme konusunu oluşturmaktadır. Çalışmada son dönemlerde sosyal bilimler alanında çok daha fazla ele alınan yeni yaklaşımlar bağlamında tarihi ve toplumsal bir olayın nasıl değerlendirilebileceği ve yorumlanabileceği konusunda bir yöntem çalışması elde edilmeye çalışılmıştır. Çok daha ayrıntılı çalışmaları gerektiren 6-7 Eylül Olaylarının faillerinin tespiti ve olayların ideolojik nedensellikleri çerçevesinde yapılan tartışmalar ise bu çalışmanın kapsamı dışındadır.

Does Alexithymia Affect Memory for a Crime? The Relationship Between Alexithymia, Executive Functions, and Memories.

Prior studies on alexithymia and memory have found a negative association between the two constructs, especially when emotional memories are considered. Moreover, it has been demonstrated that also the executive functioning (EF) of the individuals influences this relationship. Thus, the goal of this study is to verify whether alexithymia can influence the memory accuracy for a violent crime in people with different levels of EF resources in terms of both correct details and memory distortions (i.e., omissions and commissions) reported. We assessed the alexithymia and EF resources of individuals and showed participants a video of a violent crime (i.e., murder). We then asked participants to testify about the content of the video by imagining to be witnesses of the crime. A memory test was run on two moments in time: immediately after the video presentation and after 10 days. Findings demonstrated that alexithymia influences the recall of the event both in proneness to report correct details and memory distortions of the participants (i.e., omissions and commissions). Additionally, we found a contribution of EF resources in this relationship. The findings provide new information for legal professionals on memory functioning.

Post-retrieval Distortions of Self-Referential Negative Memory: Valence Consistency Enhances Gist-Directed False, While Non-negative Interference Generates More Intrusive Updates.

According to the theory of reconsolidation, the contents of an original memory can be updated after reactivation with subsequent new learnings. However, there seems to be a lack of an appropriate behavioral paradigm to study the reconsolidation of explicit self-related memory, which is of great significance to further explore its cognitive neural mechanism in the future. In two separate experiments, we adapted a trial-by-trial interfering paradigm with a self-episodic simulation process and investigated (1) whether it is possible to reconsolidate negative memories under the new behavioral paradigm and (2) how the emotional valence of post-retrieval interference material affects the reconsolidation of negative memories. The results showed that the negative memories under trial-by-trial self-simulation can be degraded and updated via post-retrieval interference processes. Individuals whose original memories were reactivated by initial background cues and who were then presented with new interference situations were less able to recall original scenes and showed more memory intrusions on these scenes than those who had experienced new learning without reactivation or only reactivation without interference. Furthermore, the extent and manner of memory change/updating were greatly influenced by the characteristics of interference information. For memories with negative valences, new learning materials with the same valence produced superior interference effects in the form of lower correct recalls and more integrated false; whereas the neutral interference materials can cause more memory intrusion. Post-retrieval memory distortions of negative self-memory may underlie different functional mechanisms.

Manipulations of List Type in the DRM Paradigm: A Review of How Structural and Conceptual Similarity Affect False Memory.

The use of list-learning paradigms to explore false memory has revealed several critical findings about the contributions of similarity and relatedness in memory phenomena more broadly. Characterizing the nature of “similarity and relatedness” can inform researchers about factors contributing to memory distortions and about the underlying associative and semantic networks that support veridical memory. Similarity can be defined in terms of semantic properties (e.g., shared conceptual and taxonomic features), lexical/associative properties (e.g., shared connections in associative networks), or structural properties (e.g., shared orthographic or phonological features). By manipulating the type of list and its relationship to a non-studied critical item, we review the effects of these types of similarity on veridical and false memory. All forms of similarity reviewed here result in reliable error rates and the effects on veridical memory are variable. The results across a variety of paradigms and tests provide partial support for a number of theoretical explanations of false memory phenomena, but none of the theories readily account for all results.

Deep memory distortions

Deep distortions are a new family of memory biases that comprise one of the two basic varieties of false memory. The first and older variety, surface distortions, are specific item or source memories that are erroneous because the events did not happen. The new variety, deep distortions, are emergent properties of multiple specific memories. They are relations among such memories that are false because they violate objective logical rules that real-world events must obey. I discuss four deep distortions for which substantial data have accumulated: overdistribution, super-overdistribution, non-additivity, and impossible conjunctions. These phenomena violate four axioms of classical probability (numerical bound, universal event, additivity, and countable additivity) and two rules that follow from them (empty set and monotonicity). Their psychological significance lies in four facts about them: (a) They demonstrate that although events in the real world are compensatory, our memories of them are not; (b) they establish that we persistently over remember experience; (c) they reveal that surface distortions are by-products of deep distortions; and (d) they pose the theoretical conundrum of how the structure of memory could so thoroughly misrepresent the objective structure of the events we are remembering.

The Dynamic and Fragile Nature of Eyewitness Memory Formation: Considering Stress and Attention.

Eyewitnesses are often susceptible to recollection failures and memory distortions. These failures and distortions are influenced by several factors. The present review will discuss two such important factors, attention failures and stress. We argue that acute stress, often experienced by eyewitnesses and victims of crimes, directly influences attentional processes, which likely has downstream consequences for memory. Attentional failures may result in individuals missing something unusual or important in a complex visual field. Amongst eyewitnesses, this can lead to individuals missing details, even unusual or important central details, regarding the crime. Surprisingly, few studies have investigated attentional failures in eyewitness scenarios, and none have investigated the relationship between stress, attention, and witness memory. This review will discuss the impact of attentional failures, mainly those resulting from inattentional blindness, in applied contexts in order to bridge to eyewitness scenarios. In addition, we will integrate the applied literature on attentional failures with literature that examines the influences of arousal and stress on attention. We will conclude by presenting how future research may tease apart the independent contributions of arousal and stress on attentional failures and successes and how this research may inform understanding of eyewitness reliability.

Paranoia is associated with impaired novelty detection and overconfidence in recognition memory judgments.

False recognition, or the mis-categorization of a "new" stimulus as "old," might support fixed false beliefs by blocking new learning or otherwise contributing to internal representations of the world that are at odds with reality. However, the mechanisms through which false recognition is facilitated among paranoid individuals remain unclear. We examined 2 phenomena that may contribute to this effect: an overreliance on fluency-based processes during recognition, manifesting as a lower threshold for judging items as recently studied, and a propensity to require less information to come to a highly confident judgment. The former would be expected to be particularly pronounced among items that are generally familiar, as opposed to completely novel. Here, we manipulated familiarity in a recognition memory paradigm by using stimuli that varied in their rate of extraexperimental exposure (i.e., real words vs. pseudowords). Further, to determine whether paranoia was associated with a tendency to differentially misallocate confidence to errors, we calculated a hierarchical Bayesian estimate of metacognitive sensitivity (meta-d') in addition to the more classic d'. In line with our hypotheses, paranoia was associated with an increased rate of false alarm errors, differentially so for familiar versus unfamiliar stimuli, suggesting that a context-agnostic, familiarity-based memory system might underlie observed memory distortions. What's more, paranoia was associated with heightened confidence on error trials and reduced metacognitive sensitivity. These findings highlight 2 distinct deficits-in both novelty detection and metacognitive monitoring-that contribute to false recognition judgments, offering targets for cognitive interventions to reduce memory distortion among paranoid individuals. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Proof of Concept for the Autobiographical Memory Flexibility (MemFlex) Intervention for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.

Autobiographical memory distortions are a key feature of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In this proof-of-concept randomized controlled trial (N = 43), we evaluated an autobiographical memory flexibility intervention, MemFlex. We aimed to determine whether the mechanism-focused intervention, which aims to improve autobiographical memory processes, may also affect other cognitive predictors of PTSD and potentially reduce PTSD symptoms in Iranian trauma survivors diagnosed with PTSD. Results indicated significant, moderate to large between-groups effect sizes in favor of MemFlex, relative to wait-list control, for the targeted cognitive mechanism of autobiographical memory flexibility and PTSD symptoms. A large, significant effect was also observed on maladaptive posttraumatic cognitions—a strong predictor of PTSD prognosis, which is a key target of high-intensity cognitive therapies for PTSD. Findings support future completion of a scaled-up trial to evaluate treatment efficacy of MemFlex for PTSD to determine whether MemFlex may offer a culturally adaptive, low-cost, low-intensity intervention able to improve cognitive mechanisms of PTSD.