Intrusions are rich multi-modal mental images of highly detailed sensory impressions of the traumatic event. The current study examined (A) whether working memory capacity (WMC) can moderate the two peri-traumatic processes (conceptual processing and data-driven processing) to affect intrusions and (B) whether the patterns of this moderation effect are different in the general and the extreme groups. In this study, participants first completed symmetry span task, viewed a traumatic footage, and filled out a processing style questionnaire concerning the film. A week later, participants handed in a tabular diary recording their intrusions in the past week, completed free-recall and recognition task about the film, and then they were debriefed. Findings from a large sample showed that WMC can moderate the effect of processing styles, depending on different types of intrusions. In the prediction of intrusive thoughts in the general group, the conceptual processing score was shown to be a good predictor for intrusive thoughts in participants with higher WMC. When we classified the participants into conceptual and data-driven groups, the moderation patterns differed. High WMC was a good predictor for less overall intrusions and intrusive thoughts only in the extreme conceptual processing group. Implications of the current findings are thoroughly discussed in the article.
