Here is a rather extreme example, which illustrates the principle:

In my last reincarnation I knew the case of a bandit who was shot; his execution happened on a road. This bandit was called by the nickname “Golondrino” (wanderer). He fell into the hands of justice, was tied to a tree, and received the death sentence.

Much later, that man was reborn into a feminine body. So, one day her relatives asked me for help. This young and very distinguished lady—within which the soul of the “Wanderer” had reincorporated—was foaming at the mouth and her body was writhing horribly while shouting, full of terror, the following phrases: “The police are already coming for me, they say that I am a thief, a road bandit, they have tied me to this tree and they are going to shoot me.” The last words were always accompanied by movements of her hands making effort as if she wanted to untie invisible bows, strange cords.

Our investigations revealed to us this concrete case; it was therefore related to a mental repetition of the final episode of the previous life of the soul incarnated in the woman’s body. - Beyond Death

Thus, those who die traumatically retain psychological "scars" or tendencies.