title: Contextual representations of negative images modulate intrusion frequency in an intrusion provocation paradigm.
abstract: To understand how memories of negative events become highly accessible in the context of trauma, we tested the hypothesis that contextual information modulates how easily intrusions can be provoked by perceptual stimuli..
  
  
  
  Healthy participants viewed pictures depicting trauma scenes either with or without accompanying moderate (i.e. survival, recovery) or severe (i.e. fatality, permanent injury) outcome information. All participants viewed the same depictions of trauma scenes. Involuntary memories for the pictures were assessed using self-report diaries and an adapted version of the Impact of Event Scales (IES). A blurred picture perceptual priming paradigm was adapted to be used as an intrusion provocation task.
  
  
  
  The severe outcome group experienced a significantly higher frequency of intrusions on the intrusion provocation task in comparison to both moderate outcome and control (no-context) conditions. The severe outcome condition did not increase intrusions on the self-report diaries or the adapted IES. There was no effect of condition on ratings for the emotionality, self-relevance, valence, or seriousness of the trauma scenes.
  
  
  
  The analogue method should not be generalized directly to incidences of real-life trauma. It was unclear why differences in intrusion frequency were found in the provocation task only. The relative amount of individual conceptual and data-driven processing adopted by the participants was not assessed.
  
  
  
  Manipulating contextual information that determines the meaning of sensory-perceptual features for a trauma scene can modulate subsequent intrusion frequency in response to visually similar cues.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia; Clinical Psychology, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Krans
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK. Electronic address: david.pearson@anglia.ac.uk.
authors.forename: D G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Pearson
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Maier
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Moulds
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D003463:Cues; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000523:psychology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Analogue trauma; Intrusive memory; Perceptual priming; Voluntary memory