How we remember and misremember traumatic experiences. The project addresses a significant and important problem: the role of memory distortion in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a global disorder with significant personal, societal and economic costs. The aim of this project is to empirically investigate the extent, causes and triggering conditions of errors in memory for traumatic experiences; particularly exaggeration of these memories, which has been linked to poor psychological adjus ....How we remember and misremember traumatic experiences. The project addresses a significant and important problem: the role of memory distortion in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a global disorder with significant personal, societal and economic costs. The aim of this project is to empirically investigate the extent, causes and triggering conditions of errors in memory for traumatic experiences; particularly exaggeration of these memories, which has been linked to poor psychological adjustment. Understanding how people exposed to trauma remember, and misremember, aspects of their experiences in ways that influence their recovery is both theoretically and practically important. Indeed, it will help us refine theory and identify possible points of intervention for PTSD sufferers.Read moreRead less
How emotion shapes perception: delineating structural, temporal, and representational properties of emotion-induced blindness. Emotion helps shape conscious perception, with implications for public safety and mental health. This project will reveal mechanisms underlying emotion’s impact on perception. In doing so, it will advance theoretical understanding of basic processes and of how perceptual mechanisms might operate within and inform treatment of emotional disorders.