Autobiographical memories for the September 11th attacks: reconstructive errors and emotional impairment of memory.
College students were asked about their personal memories from September 11, 2001. Consistency in reported features over a 2-month period increased as the delay between the initial test and 9/11 increased. Central features (e.g., Where were you?) were reported with greater consistency than were peripheral features (What were you wearing?) but also contained a larger proportion of reconstructive errors. In addition, highly emotional participants demonstrated poor prospective memory and relatively inconsistent memory for peripheral details, when compared with less emotional participants. Highly emotional participants were also more likely to increase the specificity of their responses over time but did not exhibit greater consistency for central details than did less emotional participants. The results demonstrated reconstructive processes in the memory for a highly consequential and emotional event and emotional impairment of memory processing of incidental details.
Psychology Department, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, Tennessee 37132, USA. sschmidt@mtsu.edu
Stephen R
SR
Schmidt
D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D001325:Autobiographies as Topic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D011939:Mental Recall; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D023481:Terrorism