Question

Every time you eat cotton candy, you are reminded of the time you went to a carnival with your best friend and ate cotton candy until you were sick. in this example, the cotton candy represents:

Answer 1

In this instance the cotton candy would be a trigger. In psychology a trigger is a stimulus (sound, smell or texture) that causes a memory tape or flashback. Often times triggers are associated with traumatic events, however this is not always the case.