memoria falsa Flashcards
what is a false memory
an episodic memory which is objectively false but in which the person strongly believes
memory for an entire event that was never experienced in an individual’s lifetime
how is false memory different from memory suggestibility
similar but different to suggestibility, which focuses more on changing an aspect of an episodic memory, such as a detail about a colour or an object e.g. seeing a stop sign rather than a Yield sign
what are delayed (non-recent) allegation cases
non-recent complaints’ are those that occurred more than 28 days prior to the report
many delay are much longer
big problem in UK in recent years
e.g. the proportion of sexual offences reported to the police that are non-recent now comprise 30-40% of all recorded serious sexual offences (college of policing, 2019)
challenges for the police investigating delayed allegations
the longer the delay between the event and report, the more opportunity for evidence to be altered, damaged, destroyed or lost
relating to corroboration evidence
corroboration is the process of confirming or supporting a statement
if someone says something happened, corroboration is proof from another angle that shows it likely did
corroboration comes from thorough investigation and seeking the fine-grain detail that may seem peripheral to the investigation
- potential documentary evidence might include photos, diaries, school reports, employment records, medical records
- more recent investigations reflect technology changes, social media and other online content, computer analysis, phone data
- scene visits to venues of significance
- local enquiries to find other witnesses
relating to memory recall
the completeness and accuracy of recall decreases as the delay between witnessing and recall increases
ppl forget things, peripheral but important details can be lost
memories become gist-based
memories fragment
implications for uncovering information that might not prove the offence, but support consistency and corroboration (and therefore, credibility)
relating to memory accuracy
memory is fallible
increased risk of suggestibility after a delay
increased risk of source-monitoring errors and misidentification following a delay
increased risk of suggestibility and error following poor encoding
potential risk of false memory
questions and considerations
to what extent can we trust decades-old memories
what factors make them more or less reliable
is it possible to gather sufficient reliable evidence in such cases
can the suspect defend themselves against such allegations
George Franklin, Sr.
Redwood City, California, 1990
Franklin stood trial for murdering Susan Nason (8 year old) on september 22nd, 1969
his daughter Eileen, only 8 at the time of the murder, claimed to have witnessed it, repressed it, and then recovered her memory
Eileen’s memory report was believed by her therapist, some of her family, and by the San Mateo County district attorney’s office, which chose to prosecute her father
the case
lack of physical evidence, so court relied on expert witnesses on the repression and recovery of memory:
- psychiatric testimony from Dr Terr about repression
- psychological testimony from Prof Loftus about memory
Terr’s testimony accepted as scientific fact; Loftus’s testimony rejected on the basis that Loftus was not a clinician
The jury, impressed by Eileen’s detailed and confident memory, found her father guilty of murder in the first degree in 1990
1st time an American citizen had been tried and convicted of murder on the basis of a repressed memory
a judge found errors during the original trial, so Franklin’s conviction was overturned in 1995
while waiting for a new trials, Eileen’s sister came forward and admitted that Eileen’s memories were recovered using hypnosis
originally both sisters denied hypnosis was involved - which is important bc hypnosis can make memories less reliable or even create false memories
the state’s Supreme court had already ruled that any testimony based on hypnotically recovered memories is unreliable and not allowed in court
Eileen later claimed she remembered her father committing 2 other murders
but DNA evidence proved he didn’t commit them, which made her look unreliable
with her credibility destroyed, the case against Franklin fell apart
he was released from prison in 1996
increase of cases going to court
growing numbers of individuals claiming recovered memories of CSA (child sexual abuse) led to changes in the law in UK and USA
legislation now allows for the delayed reporting of childhood abuse to be admissible in court
USA: has to be reported within 3 years of the time they remembered the abuse
this led to an increase of cases going to court
backlash against accusations
During the 1990s and 2000s, as more people (often adults) came forward with “recovered memories” of child sexual abuse (CSA), some of them accused parents, carers, teachers, and others of abuse that supposedly happened years or even decades earlier.
As a result, groups formed to support people who believed they were falsely accused, especially when the accusations were based on recovered memories.
In the UK, the ‘British False Memory Society’ started in 1992
Now there are several large organisations including:
-Victims of child abuse laws (VOCAL)
-United campaign against false allegations of abuse (UCAFAA)
-Falsely accused carers and teachers (FACT)
Gary Ramona
successful executive, married with 3 children
his daughter, Holly (19 years), had sought therapy for bulimia and depression
her therapist told her that 80% of bulimia cases were a result of being sexually abused as a child
Holly subsequently reported a recovered memory of being abused by her father
no physical evidence
mother sided with the daughter and filled for divorce
the case 1991
father brought suit against the therapists involved
expert evidence again from Loftus and Terr
jury decision= Holly’s psychiatrist and therapist had developed false memories of sexual abuse through irresponsible and negligent therapeutic practice
Ramona awarded $500,000 in damages
however, in the process Ramona lost his wife, children, home, job, reputation, friends, money and house
This landmark case established a parents’ right to sue the therapists for planting false memories of sexual abuse in child’s mind
questions
how should the legal system deal with evidence based on repressed/recovered memory claims
should evidence based on recovered memories be admissible
are recovered memories reliable
is it possible that recovered memories are sometimes false
investigating the authenticity of recovered memories has led to a serious and emotionally charged false memory debate “the memory wars”
what are the 2 sides of the debate
therapists’ position (psychoanalysis)
- memories are reproductive
- people repress memories of traumatic events
- helping people recover repressed memories allows them to heal
psychologists’ position
- memories are reconstructive
- the recovered memories are likely to be products of the therapeutic process itself
repressed memory recovery techniques
suggestion:
- if you have a feeling that something abusive happened to you, it probably did
- many women don’t have memories … this doesn’t mean they weren’t abuse
guided imagery and use of photos:
- take an image from a past memory and tell a story about it; truth or fantasy is irrelevant
hypnotic age regression:
- believed to tap the unconscious and facilitate the retrieval of repressed memories
dream interpretation:
- dreams are channels to unconscious and must be interpreted
- nightmares, recurring dreams, dreams with access signals (e.g. locked doors, phallic symbols secret passages) interpreted as cues to sexual abuse
group therapy:
- share stories
- believe each other
- they have similar experiences
- normalise the recovery of repressed memories
Freud (1856-1939)
founder of psychoanalysis
a person’s thoughts and behaviours emerge from tension generated by unconscious motives and unresolved childhood conflicts
repressed memories of trauma -> present day dysfunction
finding the cause was thought to be key to alleviate problems
childhood trauma is often thought to be a cause
Freud believed that he could not influence his patients during therapy
he believed that the pressure was justified because his patients often resisted the idea that they had been abused
overcoming such resistance, according to Freud, was crucial to the success of the treatment
is there evidence that individuals repress or dissociate memories of traumatic events
events of our past may sometimes come back to us in sudden recollection, but research finds no evidence that this happens with traumatic memories
prospective research (following people after a traumatic event) finds that though trauma victims would like to forget their experiences, they do not
are recovered memories products of the therapeutic process itself
trauma or abuse are suggested as a potential cause of the present day problem
clients are encouraged to imagine this might have happened
clients are encouraged to elaborate on any thoughts or beliefs of trauma/abuse
disclosed information is taken at face value
is it possible to implant memories
is it possible for people to come to report compelling and vivid memories of events that did not happen
there have been paradigms used to explore the possibility of false memories
what is 1 paradigm that has been used to explore the possibility of false memories
DRM paradigm
Roediger & McDermott (1995)
participants study lists of semantically related words
- sour, candy, sugar, bitter, good, taste, tooth
when later testes, ps often falsely recall non-presented critical lures (sweet)
is this convincing evidence for the existence of false memories
- the lost in the mall paradigm Loftus and Pickrell (1995(
24 participants received suggestions from a sibling
siblings said that they were lost in a mall
6 ps (25%) had full or partial memory for the event
