No description available.

The present research is a field investigation of trauma and its cognitive and emotional consequences. One hundred and nineteen sex trade workers were interviewed about sexually traumatic experiences. The primary focus of this research was an examination of the quantity and quality of memory for sexual trauma. Various predisposing, precipitating, and perpetuating factors were examined regarding their influence on memory and posttraumatic stress. One objective of this study was to test certain assumptions of the biopsychosocial model of eyewitness memory (Hervé, Cooper, & Yuille, 2007), which proposes that individuals differ along a continuum of arousal sensitivity and predicts the quantity and quality of recall. Up to three types of memory narratives were elicited from each participant: (a) one positive event (b) one well-remembered sexual assault, and (c) one sexual assault for which the participant had poor recollection. Each memory was assessed for peritraumatic and posttraumatic factors. The participants also filled out a number of individual differences measures. The results indicated that the participants had extensive histories of trauma, many of which began in their childhood. It was shown that well-remembered sexual assaults contained more narrative details than memories of positive events and less-well-remembered sexual assaults. Such variability of memory for sexual violence is in line with Hervé et al.'s model as well as other field studies of traumatic memory. This was the first study to demonstrate such variability within-subjects. Various moderating factors of memory were examined, for example, dissociation and different symptoms of posttraumatic stress. Some of the findings were at odds with traditional theories, laboratory findings, and certain assumptions held by many eyewitness memory experts regarding the relationship between stress and memory. A second objective of this dissertation was to examine predictors of post traumatic stress disorder. The findings largely confirmed the literature. Men and women did not differ in their levels of posttraumatic stress. Overall, the complexity of clinical symptoms in survivors of repeated sexual violence is highlighted. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for theory development, future research, the criminal justice system, and in terms of their relevance for treatment providers and assessors.

The present research is a field investigation of trauma and its cognitive and emotional consequences. One hundred and nineteen sex trade workers were interviewed about sexually traumatic experiences. The primary focus of this research was an examination of the quantity and quality of memory for sexual trauma. Various predisposing, precipitating, and perpetuating factors were examined regarding their influence on memory and posttraumatic stress. One objective of this study was to test certain assumptions of the biopsychosocial model of eyewitness memory (Hervé, Cooper, & Yuille, 2007), which proposes that individuals differ along a continuum of arousal sensitivity and predicts the quantity and quality of recall. Up to three types of memory narratives were elicited from each participant: (a) one positive event (b) one well-remembered sexual assault, and (c) one sexual assault for which the participant had poor recollection. Each memory was assessed for peritraumatic and posttraumatic factors. The participants also filled out a number of individual differences measures. The results indicated that the participants had extensive histories of trauma, many of which began in their childhood. It was shown that well-remembered sexual assaults contained more narrative details than memories of positive events and less-well-remembered sexual assaults. Such variability of memory for sexual violence is in line with Hervé et al.'s model as well as other field studies of traumatic memory. This was the first study to demonstrate such variability within-subjects. Various moderating factors of memory were examined, for example, dissociation and different symptoms of posttraumatic stress. Some of the findings were at odds with traditional theories, laboratory findings, and certain assumptions held by many eyewitness memory experts regarding the relationship between stress and memory. A second objective of this dissertation was to examine predictors of post traumatic stress disorder. The findings largely confirmed the literature. Men and women did not differ in their levels of posttraumatic stress. Overall, the complexity of clinical symptoms in survivors of repeated sexual violence is highlighted. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for theory development, future research, the criminal justice system, and in terms of their relevance for treatment providers and assessors.

The present research is a field investigation of trauma and its cognitive and emotional consequences. One hundred and nineteen sex trade workers were interviewed about sexually traumatic experiences. The primary focus of this research was an examination of the quantity and quality of memory for sexual trauma. Various predisposing, precipitating, and perpetuating factors were examined regarding their influence on memory and posttraumatic stress. One objective of this study was to test certain assumptions of the biopsychosocial model of eyewitness memory (Hervé, Cooper, & Yuille, 2007), which proposes that individuals differ along a continuum of arousal sensitivity and predicts the quantity and quality of recall. Up to three types of memory narratives were elicited from each participant: (a) one positive event (b) one well-remembered sexual assault, and (c) one sexual assault for which the participant had poor recollection. Each memory was assessed for peritraumatic and posttraumatic factors. The participants also filled out a number of individual differences measures. The results indicated that the participants had extensive histories of trauma, many of which began in their childhood. It was shown that well-remembered sexual assaults contained more narrative details than memories of positive events and less-well-remembered sexual assaults. Such variability of memory for sexual violence is in line with Hervé et al.'s model as well as other field studies of traumatic memory. This was the first study to demonstrate such variability within-subjects. Various moderating factors of memory were examined, for example, dissociation and different symptoms of posttraumatic stress. Some of the findings were at odds with traditional theories, laboratory findings, and certain assumptions held by many eyewitness memory experts regarding the relationship between stress and memory. A second objective of this dissertation was to examine predictors of post traumatic stress disorder. The findings largely confirmed the literature. Men and women did not differ in their levels of posttraumatic stress. Overall, the complexity of clinical symptoms in survivors of repeated sexual violence is highlighted. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for theory development, future research, the criminal justice system, and in terms of their relevance for treatment providers and assessors. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

A combination of an original work of fiction, Alone Among Friends, and a critical discussion of masculinity in the work of Per Petterson, this dissertation joins a growing conversation in the field of Masculine Studies about the depiction of men in literature. Written in a spare and realistic style, Alone Among Friends is a novella that hopes to explore ideas of masculinity, friendship, success, and failure present in the mindset of the American Millennial generation. Takings its cues from The Sun Also Rises, Light Years, and The Salt Point, Alone Among Friends examines the destructive nature of hyper-masculinity and highlights the danger of attaching too much meaning to external validation as the measuring stick for one's self worth. Moreover, Alone Among Friends is also influenced by the themes of memory and knowing found within the work of Per Petterson. "How Memories of the Father Inform a Son's Understanding of Masculinity in the Novels of Per Petterson" discusses the ways in which Per Petterson, a Norwegian writer, has been both influenced by American notions of masculinity and also managed to incorporate European aspects of family into his work to create a unique hybrid perspective that merges the American idea of the emancipated male protagonist with the European family centered narrative. By tracing Petterson's influences, this dissertation will attempt to show how Petterson is a logical heir to such American writers as Ernest Hemingway and Richard Ford, and it will argue that, by firmly grounding his novels in the point of view of sons that study every aspect of their fathers, Petterson inhabits a space that has long been absent from both American and Norwegian literature alike. Through the examination of Out Stealing Horses and In the Wake, this dissertation focuses on the varying ways in which these direct comparisons between father and son influence the son's perception of his own success and failure as a man.

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Recurrent and intrusive distressing recollections of trauma are a hallmark symptom of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The term ‘flashback’ is used in this thesis to refer to vivid, sensory perceptual (predominantly visual images), emotional memories from a traumatic event that intrude involuntarily into consciousness. Furthermore, intrusive image based memories occur in a number of other psychological disorders, for example, bipolar disorder and depression. Clinically, the presence and occurrence of flashbacks and flashback type memories are well documented. However, in terms of the neural underpinnings there is limited understanding of how such flashback memories are formed or later involuntarily recalled. An experimental psychopathology approach is taken whereby flashbacks are viewed on a continuum with other involuntary autobiographical memories and are studied using analogue emotional events in the laboratory. An initial review develops a heuristic clinical neuroscience framework for understanding flashback memories. It is proposed that flashbacks consistent of five component parts – mental imagery, autobiographical memory, involuntary recall, attention hijacking and negative emotion. Combining knowledge of the component parts helped provide a guiding framework, at both a neural and behavioural level, into how flashback memories may be formed and how they return to mind unbidden. Four studies (1 neuroimaging, 3 behavioural) using emotional film paradigms were conducted. In the first study, the trauma film paradigm was combined with neuroimaging (n = 35) to investigate the neural basis of both the encoding and the involuntary recall of flashback memories. Results provided a first replication of a specific pattern of brain activation at the encoding of memories that later returned as flashbacks. This included elevation in the rostral anterior cingulate cortex, insula, thalamus, ventral occipital cortex and left inferior frontal gyrus (during just the encoding of scenes that returned as flashbacks) alongside suppressed activation in the left inferior frontal gyrus (during the encoding of scenes that returned as flashbacks in other participants, but not that individual). Critically, this is also the first study to show the brain activation at the moment of flashback involuntary recall in the scanner. Activation in the middle and superior frontal gyri and the left inferior frontal gyrus was found to be associated with flashback involuntary recall. In the second study, control conditions from 16 behavioural trauma film paradigm experiments were combined (n = 458) to investigate commonly studied factors that may be protective against flashback development. Results indicated that low emotional response to the traumatic film footage was associated with an absence of flashbacks over the following week. The third study used a positive film to consider the emotional valence of the emotion component of the framework. Positive emotional response at the time of viewing the footage was associated with positive involuntary memories over the following week. The fourth study aimed to replicate and extend this finding, comparing the impact of engaging in two cognitive tasks after film viewing (equated for general load). Predictions were not supported and methodological considerations are discussed. Results may have implications for understanding flashbacks and involuntary autobiographical memories occurring in everyday life and across psychological disorders. Further understanding of the proposed components of the clinical neuroscience framework may even help inform targeted treatments to prevent, or lessen, the formation and frequency of distressing involuntary memories.

Aiming to make an intervention in both emerging Slow Cinema and classical Trauma Cinema scholarship, this thesis demonstrates the ways in which the post-trauma cinema of Filipino filmmaker Lav Diaz merges aesthetics of cinematic slowness with narratives of post-trauma in his films Melancholia (2008), Death in the Land of Encantos (2007) and Florentina Hubaldo, CTE (2012). Diaz has been repeatedly considered as representative of what Jonathan Romney termed in 2004 “Slow Cinema”. The director uses cinematic slowness for an alternative approach to an on-screen representation of post-trauma. Contrary to popular trauma cinema, Diaz’s portrait of individual and collective trauma focuses not on the instantenaeity but on the duration of trauma. In considering trauma as a condition and not as an event, Diaz challenges the standard aesthetical techniques used in contemporary Trauma Cinema, as highlighted by Janet Walker (2001, 2005), Susannah Radstone (2001), Roger Luckhurst (2008) and others. Diaz’s films focus instead on trauma’s latency period, the depletion of a survivor’s resources, and a character’s slow psychological breakdown. Slow Cinema scholarship has so far focused largely on the films’ aesthetics and their alleged opposition to mainstream cinema. Little work has been done in connecting the films’ form to their content. Furthermore, Trauma Cinema scholarship, as trauma films themselves, has been based on the immediate and most radical signs of post-trauma, which are characterised by instantaneity; flashbacks, sudden fears of death and sensorial overstimulation. Following Lutz Koepnick’s argument that slowness offers “intriguing perspectives” (Koepnick, 2014: 191) on how trauma can be represented in art, this thesis seeks to consider the equally important aspects of trauma duration, trauma’s latency period and the slow development of characteristic symptoms. With the present work, I expand on current notions of Trauma Cinema, which places emphasis on speed and the unpredictability of intrusive memories. Furthermore, I aim to broaden the area of Slow Cinema studies, which has so far been largely focused on the films’ respective aesthetics, by bridging form and content of the films under investigation. Rather than seeing Diaz’s slow films in isolation as a phenomenon of Slow Cinema, I seek to connect them to the existing scholarship of Trauma Cinema studies, thereby opening up a reading of his films.