What is one possible barrier to retrieval associated with traumatic events?

The answer is based on the concept of suppression, which is a psychological defense mechanism that can occur in response to traumatic events. When individuals experience trauma, they may consciously or unconsciously suppress memories associated with that event as a way to protect themselves from distressing emotions or anxiety. This suppression can serve as a barrier to retrieval because it actively inhibits access to those memories.

Traumatic memories may not be easily recalled, and the individual might find certain details or even entire events inaccessible due to this protective mechanism. Over time, this can contribute to issues with remembering aspects of the trauma, impacting both emotional processing and recovery.

In contrast, decay refers to the loss of memory over time, encoding issues relate to how information is processed for storage, and recognition failure focuses on difficulties in identifying previously learned information when it is presented again. While these are also important psychological concepts, they do not specifically address the unique challenges presented by trauma-related memory retrieval, making suppression a more relevant barrier in this context.