Are False Memories Reliable

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When a person sits backs thinks on their childhood they may be flooded with extensive memories going back to toddlerhood. These memories may be vivid and clear seeming as realistic the room around them. The possibly that these memories could be false wouldn’t even run through the persons mind. But could the memories be false? It is possible for the memories that guide how you interact with the world around you, to be false? These is a very real possible, under the right circumstances. False memories can be constructed when actual memories are combined with the suggestion received from an outside party. As Loftus explains through various sources this can have a profoundly negative effective on people’s lives whether it is through psychotherapy or witness testimony. …show more content…

Two main examples were Nadean Cool and Beth Rutherford. Nadean went to a psychiatrist who performed hypnosis on her making her memory being in a satanic cult, eating babies, being raped and more outlandish memories. The psychiatrist even performed exorcisms on her, these went on until she realized the memories were false and planted were she later sued the psychiatrist. Beth Rutherford had a similar story where she went to doctor and formed memories of being raped by her father and of her mother even helping her father sometimes by holding her down. These memories were debunked when medical examinations showed that she was a virgin. Both of these examples show the power of external suggestion on forming things like imagination inflation and impossible memories which lead to false

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