The article Are the “Memory Wars” Over? A Scientist-Practitioner Gap in Beliefs about Repressed Memory examines the current thoughts of undergraduates, clinicians, and researchers in regards to repressed memories and compares their beliefs with the beliefs of clinicians and scientists of the 1990s. The article is written by Lawerence Pathis, Lavina Y. Ho, Ian W. Tingen, Scott O. Lilienfeld, and Elizabeth F. Loftus. In the 1990s there was controversy about repressed memories and if a person could accurately remember them. The debate that reached its heighted in the 1990s was characterized by two sides. One side believed that memories of traumatic events could be repressed and could also be remembered with the help of a therapist. The other side doubted the idea of repressed memories and the belief that they could be recovered. At the time, little scientific evidence existed in support of repressed memories. Beliefs about repressed memories can have a significant effect on the way clinicians help and give advice to their clients. There are important ramifications for the criminal system as well, because eyewitness accounts in the courtroom have a significant impact on the prosecution of criminals. …show more content…
Clients were sharing the stories of their abuse from memories that thought they had repressed. Researchers were skeptical and wondered if the rise was due to the techniques used by therapists. They began to try to determine if the beliefs of the therapists were influencing the rise in reports of abuse. Additional studies found that many lay people believe that it is possible to repress memories. Among graduate students less than half believed in repression except for graduate students who were studying education, health, and
6. With respect to the controversy regarding reports of repressed memories of sexual abuse, statements by major psychological and psychiatric associations suggest that:
The influence of the investigators parallels the influence of therapists in cases of sexually abused children's recovered memories. Works Cited 1)Silverglate, Harvey A; Takei, Carl:Mistrial- The Capturing of Friedman's DVD sheds new light on the case.
Many counselors attribute their clients' woes to long-buried "repressed" memories of childhood sexual abuse. They help clients to unlock these, and rewrite their pasts. Clients sever all former ties with "families of origin" and surround themselves only with other "survivors", to prevent confirmation or denial.
Retrieved November 14, 2013, from http://ritualabuse.us/research/memory-fms/the-alleged-ethical-violations-of-elizabeth- loftus-in-the-case-of-jane-doe/ Carroll, R. (n.d.). repressed memory. - The Skeptic's Dictionary. Retrieved November 14, 2013, from http://www.skepdic.com/repressedmemory.h Costandi, M. (n.d.). Falsifying memories.the Guardian.
For this book report, I decided to read Hugo Münsterberg's On the Witness Stand. This book contains essays on psychology and crime and eyewitness testimony. Today this book is used as a reference for many issues in forensic psychology. For this report, I focused on two chapters of the book: Illusions and the Memory of the Witness. I am going to first summarize the two chapters I read then talk about what was going on at the time this book was written. I will then report some of the research in the book, and finish with my opinion on how this book has contributed to the literature and how it relates to the current knowledge of forensic psychology.
Those who are in favor of retrieved memories state that these memories can be repressed and remain unattainable for years until an individual seeks therapy, where these memories can often be uncovered and trauma related to them can be treated (Freyd, 1994). On the other hand, some individuals have expressed concerns with the concept of repressed memories since, according to them, there is little scientific evidence that can support the theory (Patihis, Ho, Tingen, Lilienfeld & Loftus, 2014). In other words, cases where individuals experience traumatic events but often lack memories of these, often do not provide sufficient reliable evidence to make credible arguments. Memory research offers further insight into the controversial topic of “memory wars” by explaining if the notion of repressing memories and placing them into the unconscious is a feasible hypothesis. Furthermore, research presented in this brief will discuss the reliability and usefulness of using recovered memories as evidence in a court cases. Due to the controversial nature of recovered memories in judicial courts and scientific communities, it is important to consider research in the area to determine truthfulness in allegations involving recovered memories, as these have previously posed
False memories being created is obvious through many different ways, such as eye-witness testimonies and past experiments that were conducted, however repression is an issue that has many baffled. There seems to be little evidence on the factual basis of repressed memories, and many argue that it does not exist. The evidence for repression in laboratories is slowly emerging, but not as rapidly as the evidence for false memories. It has been hard to clinically experiment with repressed memories because most memories are unable to be examined during the actual event to corroborate stories. Experimenters are discovering new ways to eliminate this barrier by creating memories within the experiment’s initial phase. This is important for examining the creation of false memories during the study phase. This research study will explore the differences between recovered memories and false memories through research and experiments. Other terms and closely related terms will be discussed, while examining any differences, in relation to repressed memories. The possibility of decoding an actual difference between recovered memories and false memories, through biological techniques. Because false memories can be created, examining these creations in a laboratory setting can shed light on facts overlooked. Exploring these issues will also help with the development of better therapeutic techniques for therapists in dealing with memories. This can lead to an easier process for patients and therapists if they must go through the legal system in relation to an uncovered memory.
This would help us in understanding the reconstructive aspect of memory further. Thereupon conscious efforts could be taken to reduce false memories in individuals suffering from psychological disorders. As some disorders are usually a result of misinterpretation of events in life due to perverted inner beliefs or fears, this can be an appropriate intervention . Classically, it is true for adult reconstruction of childhood abuse and trauma which is widely studied. The research shows that these sort of memories are often distorted and self created, with no relevance to reality.
Repressed memory is the involuntary block on a memory considered to be extremely stressful and appalling in nature. It is theorized that repressed memory is a form of amnesia that is not associated with typical forgetfulness in a person. When a person experiences something extremely severe in nature, such as childhood sexual abuse for example, their mind sometimes refuses to remember that event because it is so painful to recall. In some cases events of extreme trauma, often during adulthood such as post-traumatic stress, can actually cause a reverse effect and an increase in memorability. Some even believe that it is possible to repress memories voluntarily. It has been a topic that has eluded many psychologists today and has been thoroughly researched for the past century. This paper will explore different theories and ideas on whether or not repression is true or just another pseudo-science.
An alternative view to this debate, are from practicing therapist who argue that most recovered memories are true, and that there is still some evidence to support the concept of repressed memories (Briere & Conte, 1993). They claim that traumatic memories such as sexual abuse tend to be different from ordinary memories because they are encoded in a way that prevents them from being accessible in everyday life. In addition, they argue that certain procedures during therapy are necessary in order to bring the repressed memories back into conscious awareness, and this is deemed necessary in order to help the patient recover. Despite these claims, there is little evidence to support the validity of reported cases of recovered memories, and most of the theories are mainly based on speculation rather than scientific evidence. However, there have been some cases in which a recovered memory did corresponded to an actual event that occurred. For example, an article by Freyd (1999), reported a case in which a man called Frank Fitzpatrick recovered memories of sexual abuse from childhood. Although this
What has attracted the most controversy and attention in false memory syndrome is that memories can be recovered during therapy. According to Raitt and Zeedyk (2003), “This is because there are concerns that poor therapeutic practice may ‘‘implant’’ false memories, rather than assist in the ‘‘recovery’’ of accurate ones” (p. 454). I found a case report in the article Is There A False Memory Syndrome? A Review of Three Cases written by Robert Kaplan and Vijaya Manicavasagar about a woman who was the age of 40 and had a history of anxiety and agoraphobia. She had been seeing a psychologist, but developed a fear of dying which was interfering with her daily life. Her anxiety had increased over the years resulting her in having panic attacks and agoraphobia. To overcome her problems she saw several counselors for hypnosis, but they did not work so she never stayed with them for long. Five years before appearance, she began seeing a psychologist who interpreted her anxiety symptoms as being due to childhood
To conclude, it is clear from the results of Odinot et al. (2009) that although most of the information remembered by eyewitness memory was correct, there are still substantial proportion of incorrect eyewitness memory. In Morgan et al. (2007) study has proposed that a large proportion of inaccuracy of eyewitness memory to perceived and recall for past events under high stress. These two studies examine the eyewitness memory by different methods and both studies give a clear point that eyewitness memory is not reliable to recall past events. These two studies have strongly support the argument for this article. Thus, it is very important that judges and juries need to consider the eyewitness testimony carefully as there is a significant result of inaccurate and low correlation of confidence.
In recent years there has been a hot debate between "repressed" vs. "false" memories. Neurobiological studies show that both suppression and recall and the creation of false memories are possible. This paper evaluates the evidence but forth by both sides of the controversy and concludes that both are feasible and separate phenomenon, which occur at significant rates in our society.
The center for any treatment under psychological treatment is to aid a patient in salvaging their mental life. Psychotherapists probe deliberately into the realm of conscious and unconscious thoughts. The processes by which one undergoes treatment allows the patient to become a survivor rather than a victim. (Loftus, 1993) However, repressed memories formulated to be protective arise at a substantial cost to the patient.
One of the most significant analytical approaches of sexual citizenship refers to the work of Richardson (1998, 2000a, 2000b, 2004) and Richardson and Monro (2012, 2013, 2014). Richardson’s criticism are based on the British context in the 1990s where the British government and political parties showed very rare concern about gay and lesbian on both local and national levels. With a plenty of issues surrounding gay men and lesbian movement and campaigns due to claiming equal rights, Richardson argued that gay men and lesbians were being excluded from the dominant model of citizenship, and they were not given the same rights as heterosexual couples. Be it social rights of welfare or financial support to gay and lesbians on micro or macro level, all these aspects suggested a disadvantaged position of gay men and lesbians. Regarding the construction of nationality, it links only to heterosexuality that has always been the only socially approved form, and this brings about penetrating against gay and anti-lesbian atmosphere.