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Overgeneral autobiographical memory bias in clinical and non-clinical voice hearers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2018

Pamela Jacobsen Open the ORCID record for Pamela Jacobsen [Opens in a new window] ,
Emmanuelle Peters ,
Thomas Ward ,
Philippa A. Garety ,
Mike Jackson  and
Paul Chadwick
Pamela Jacobsen
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), London, UK
Emmanuelle Peters
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), London, UK South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
Thomas Ward
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), London, UK
Philippa A. Garety
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), London, UK South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
Mike Jackson
Affiliation:
Bangor University, School of Psychology, North Wales, UK Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, North Wales, UK
Paul Chadwick*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), London, UK
*
Author for correspondence: Paul Chadwick, E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Background

Hearing voices can be a distressing and disabling experience for some, whilst it is a valued experience for others, so-called ‘healthy voice-hearers’. Cognitive models of psychosis highlight the role of memory, appraisal and cognitive biases in determining emotional and behavioural responses to voices. A memory bias potentially associated with distressing voices is the overgeneral memory bias (OGM), namely the tendency to recall a summary of events rather than specific occasions. It may limit access to autobiographical information that could be helpful in re-appraising distressing experiences, including voices.

Methods

We investigated the possible links between OGM and distressing voices in psychosis by comparing three groups: (1) clinical voice-hearers (N = 39), (2) non-clinical voice-hearers (N = 35) and (3) controls without voices (N = 77) on a standard version of the autobiographical memory test (AMT). Clinical and non-clinical voice-hearers also completed a newly adapted version of the task, designed to assess voices-related memories (vAMT).

Results

As hypothesised, the clinical group displayed an OGM bias by retrieving fewer specific autobiographical memories on the AMT compared with both the non-clinical and control groups, who did not differ from each other. The clinical group also showed an OGM bias in recall of voice-related memories on the vAMT, compared with the non-clinical group.

Conclusions

Clinical voice-hearers display an OGM bias when compared with non-clinical voice-hearers on both general and voices-specific recall tasks. These findings have implications for the refinement and targeting of psychological interventions for psychosis.

Keywords

Auditory hallucinationsautobiographical memorycognitive behavioural therapypsychosis
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 49 , Issue 1 , January 2019 , pp. 113 - 120
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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