Involuntary Cognitions about Trauma: Could Spontaneous Elaborative “Non-Memories” Explain Memory Amplification?

We investigated the content and phenomenology of involuntary cognitions in a trauma-exposed sample. A subset (18.8%) of cognitions involved imagination of non-experienced details; more frequent among people with a probable-PTSD diagnosis. Our findings may explain why victims remember exposure to more distressing experiences later, compared to immediately after, trauma exposure.