Adriel Boals Department of Psychology 1155 Union Circle #311280 Denton, TX 76203 Email: adriel@unt.edu Phone: 940-369-8443
University of North Texas
Research Summary:
My primary research is stress and memory. For example, how stress impairs working memory resources and how subsequent expressive writing about the stressful event leads to a subsequent increase in available working memory resources. This finding has led me to explore what mechanism is responsible for the efficacy of the expressive writing procedure, including use of ‘cognitive’ words when people describe stressful or traumatic events. I am also interested in the role of autobiographical memory in posttraumatic stress disorder. My latest research interest is the potential role of executive functions in the ability to suppress thoughts, emotions, and impulsive behaviors.
Representative
Publications:
*Indicates Student author
Boals, A. & Hathaway, L.M.* (in press). The Importance of the DSM-IV E and F Criteria in Self-Report Assessments of PTSD. Journal of Anxiety Disorders.
Boals, A. & Rubin, D.C. (in press). The integration of emotions in traumatic memories: Cognitive-emotional distinctiveness and posttraumatic stress disorder. Applied Cognitive Psychology.
Klein, K. & Boals, A. (in press). Coherence, cohesiveness and narrative structure in personal accounts of stressful experiences. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology.
McLaughlin, P.D*. & Boals, A. (in press). Perception can affect performance on rhythmic tasks. Psychology of Music.
Hathaway, L.M.*, Boals, A., & Banks, J.B*. (in press). PTSD symptoms and dominant emotional response to a stressful event: An examination of DSM-IV criterion A2. Anxiety, Stress, and Coping.
Rubin, D. C., Boals, A., & Klein, K. (in press). Voluntary and involuntary autobiographical memories for very negative events: Effects of writing about and rating memories. Cognitive Therapy and Research.
Boals, A. (in press). Autobiographical memories that have become central to identity: Gender differences in the Centrality of Events Scale for positive and negative events. Applied Cognitive Psychology.
Boals, A. & Perez, A.S.* (in press). Language use predicts phenomenological properties of Holocaust memories and health. Applied Cognitive Psychology.
Boals, A. & Schuettler, D.* (2009). PTSD symptoms in response to traumatic and non-traumatic events: The role of respondent perception and the A2 criterion. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 23, 458-462.
Boals, A. (2008). Intrusive thoughts and everyday cognitive failures in Holocaust survivors. Stress and Health, 24, 401-405.
Rubin, D. C., Boals, A., & Berntsen, D. (2008).
Memory in posttraumatic stress disorder: Properties of voluntary and
involuntary, traumatic and non-traumatic autobiographical memories in people
with and without PTSD symptoms. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General,
137, 591-614.
Boals, A., Rubin, D.C., & Klein, K. (2008). Memory and coping with stress: The relationship between cognitive-emotional distinctiveness, memory valence, and distress. Memory, 16, 637-657.
Boals, A. & Klein, K. (2005a). Cognitive-emotional distinctiveness: Separating emotions from non-emotions in the representation of a stressful memory. Memory, 13, 638-648.
Boals, A. & Klein, K. (2005b). Word use in emotional narratives about failed romantic relationships and subsequent mental health. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 24, 252-268.
Klein, K. & Boals, A. (2001a). Expressive writing can increase working memory capacity. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 130, 520-533.
Klein, K. & Boals, A. (2001b). The relationship of life stress and working memory. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 15, 565-579.