Unintentional memory inhibition is weakened in non-clinical dissociators

Abstract

Although participants with dissociation proneness showed inefficient cognitive inhibition, whether and under what stimulus-task contexts dissociators show inefficient memory inhibition remains inconclusive. This study investigated the relationship between trait dissociation and basic operation of memory control using a non-clinical sample. To reduce the involvement of strategic control and the influence of emotionality, the retrieval-practice paradigm was adopted to examine unintentional memory inhibition of neutral materials. Both the low- and middle-dissociation groups showed the forgetting effect, resulting from suppressing competing memories while retrieving a target. In contrast, the high-dissociation group did not show the forgetting effect although their performance in the baseline condition and in recalling practiced items was comparable to the other two groups. High dissociation proneness is linked with weakened memory inhibition that may cause diverse memory problems in clinical patients.