Myers L B, Brewin C R, Power M J
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences, University College London Medical School, England.
J Abnorm Psychol. 1998 Feb;107(1):141-8. doi: 10.1037//0021-843x.107.1.141.
Using a directed forgetting task, the authors tested in 2 experiments the hypothesis that repressors would be superior to controls in forgetting negative experimental material. Consistent with previous studies, there was an overall directed forgetting effect, with significantly more to-be-remembered material recalled than to-be-forgotten (TBF) material. In both experiments, repressors forgot more negatively valenced words in the TBF set than did nonrepressors, suggesting that repressors have an enhanced capability for using retrieval inhibition. The data offer preliminary support for a cognitive account of repressors' deficits in recalling negative autobiographical memories.
