PTSD psychiatric patients exhibit a deficit in remembering

This study investigated the effects of PTSD on levels of awareness in a recognition memory task. A group of PTSD psychiatric patients and a control group without any traumatic experience were compared in remembering (R) versus knowing (K) recognition using non-trauma-related words. Results showed that overall recognition did not differ between the two groups, but in the PTSD group a significantly different pattern of Remember and Know responses was produced, indicating a shift from remembering to knowing. However, this shift from remembering to knowing in individuals with PTSD is associated with modifications in the trait anxiety level. These results are interpreted within theoretical frameworks in which R responses could be associated with distinctiveness (Rajaram, 1996 Rajaram, S. 1996. Perceptual effects on remembering: Recollective processes in picture-recognition memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 22: 365–377. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and conceptual processing (Ehlers & Clark, 2000 Ehlers, A. and Clark, D. M. 2000. A cognitive model of post-traumatic stress disorder. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 38: 319–345. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). These collective findings would suggest the possibility that a poor general ability in the formation of source memory may eventually be a common characteristic across different types of PTSD.