EFFECTS OF THOUGHT SUPPRESSION ON EPISODIC MEMORY

Subjects were shown a short film fragment. Following this, one group o f subjects (n = 26) was instructed to suppress their thoughts about th e film, while the other group (n = 24) received no instructions. After 5 hrs subjects returned to the laboratory and completed a questionnai re testing their memory about the film. Results showed that suppressio n subjects reported a higher frequency of thoughts about the film than control subjects. No evidence was obtained for Wegner, Quillian, and Houston's (1996; Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 680 -691) claim that suppression has an undermining effect on memory for c hronology. Possible causes for the differences between the results as obtained by Wegner et al., and those found in the present study are di scussed. These causes may pertain to the experimental design, but also to differences in emotional impact of the stimulus material that was used in both studies. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.