Recovered and False Memories 1&2 (wk 6) Flashcards
Eileen Franklin-Lipsker Case Study
-Eileen Franklin-Lipsker dobbed in her father (George Franklin) for her friend’s murder (Susan Nanson, age 8) 20 years after the event.
-She had no memory of the event until then, which came flooding back to her after therapy that used hypnosis/guided imagery techniques.
-Her memory matched things about the case, but importantly all the details recalled by Eileen had been publicized by the media.
-Elizabeth Loftus went to stand to talk about the misinformation effect/ the fact that memory can be distorted. The jury did not believe her that an individual could have a false memory for an entire event.
-George Franklin was convicted, but eventually, the conviction was overturned because you can’t use evidence recovered by hypnosis in California law cases.
-Additionally, Eileen accused George of another murder that he could not have ever committed (had an alibi) and so that called into question her reliability as a witness.
Why can’t use use hypnosis as evidence by California law- what makes it different to normal interviewing techniques?
It’s a lot more speculative than just interviewing about the case
Are repressed/ recovered memories all fairly vague?
No, they can range in detail from super vague to incredibly specific
The Notion of Repression
-The notion of repression was introduced by Sigmund Freud.
-Traumatic events are banished from conscious recall until we are able to cope with them.
-Emotion seeps into everyday life.
-When uncovered, memories are in pristine condition (not subject to normal processes of decay)
Self-Help Books
-Encouraged those with no memory to dig deeper and almost ‘look’ for abuse
-Pushed the narrative that abuse is really common and that you may just not recall it. Lead to an increase in people with a range of issues in their life wondering if they had been abused in the past
-Examples of statement from self help books “If you think you were abused, and your life shows the symptoms, then you were.”
“Symptom” Lists
- Depressive symptoms
- Feeling anxious
- Being scared or having phobias
- Sexual difficulties
- Sense of failure or helplessness
These lists have been critiqued because they are an “all-purpose female checklist” (Carol Tavris, 1993). In other words most people have these ‘symptoms’ to some degree- it does not mean they were abused necessarily!
Dangerous Therapy
Therapy can result in false memories of traumatic events, including abuse, due to the use of techniques that encourage patients to “remember” past events that may not have occurred.
A Priori Assumptions
Beliefs held by a therapist or patient before therapy begins that may influence the course of treatment and the interpretation of the patient’s experiences.
Confirmation Bias
The tendency to search for, interpret, and remember information in a way that confirms preexisting beliefs or hypotheses. This can be problematic in therapy.
Plausibility-enhancing Evidence
Information or experiences that seem to support a particular belief or hypothesis, even if they do not provide conclusive proof e.g. patients presenting with evidence that ‘matches the description’ of being abused
How does this quote illustrate dangerous therapy techniques:
“I kept trying to talk about the things that were painful in my life and she kept saying that there was something else.”
This quote illustrates how a therapist’s a priori assumptions can influence the course of therapy, potentially leading the patient to “remember” traumatic events that did not actually occur.
How does this quote illustrate dangerous therapy techniques:
“For the past 2 years, I’ve done little else but try and remember.”
his quote demonstrates the potential dangers of therapy, as patients may become fixated on trying to remember past traumatic events that may not have actually occurred, potentially leading to psychological harm.
Questionable Therapy Techniques
-Guided Imagery
-Rebirthing (controlled breathing exercises to release repressed emotions and traumatic memories)
-Hypnosis
-Age Regression (attempt to get individual to shift back to the age when they ‘experienced’ the traumatic event)
-Dream Work
-Past Life Analysis
Memory Wars
“This is not [only] an intellectual war, but a war that is being fought in the media, the courtroom, and in legislative chambers” Bloom (1995)
-A term used to describe the controversy surrounding the reliability of recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse.
-This issue was not only debated in academic and scientific circles but also became a public matter, with a significant impact on the media, the courtroom, and the legislative chambers.
-As Bloom (1995) suggests, this was not just an intellectual debate, but a real “war” with significant social and legal implications.
-The memory wars pitted therapists, patients, and advocates of the recovered memory movement against skeptics, critics, and opponents who questioned the validity and accuracy of such memories.
Memory Wars
“This is not [only] an intellectual war, but a war that is being fought in the media, the courtroom, and in legislative chambers” Bloom (1995)
-A term used to describe the controversy surrounding the reliability of recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse.
-This issue was not only debated in academic and scientific circles but also became a public matter, with a significant impact on the media, the courtroom, and the legislative chambers.
-As Bloom (1995) suggests, this was not just an intellectual debate, but a real “war” with significant social and legal implications.
-The memory wars pitted therapists, patients, and advocates of the recovered memory movement against skeptics, critics, and opponents who questioned the validity and accuracy of such memories.
Three-Pronged Evidence Approach (Pope & Hudson, 1995)
- That the abuse did take place
- That it was forgotten and inaccessible for some time
- That it was later remembered
Retrospective Studies
- Individuals are interviewed today
- Asked about history of abuse
- Asked about the memory continuity
Prospective Studies
-Individuals with a documented history of abuse (it is known they were abused)
- Interviewed many years later
My understanding is that prospective studies involve planning ahead from the time of abuse. i.e. we know this child has been abused, lets interview them years later.
Case Studies
- Individual cases or groups of cases presented alongside interpretation of repression from therapist or researcher
-Can be retrospective or prospective
Williams (1994)
-Women with documented records of sexual abuse between the ages of 10 months and 12 years
-Interviewed around 17 years later
-38% did not mention the abuse
-Interpreted as evidence for repression
-Many of the abusive events occurred during a period characterized by childhood amnesia
-Repression is not the only reason that someone wouldn’t report abuse in an interview
-Participants were never directly asked about the documented event
-Participants reported abusive events outside of the documented event
Summary of findings for evidence for recovered memories…
-To date, there is no good evidence to support the repression and recovery of traumatic memories
-Evidence does not suggest anything beyond ordinary forgetting and remembering
-Methodological concerns are rife in the existing repressed memory literature
Some recovered memories have been shown to be impossible:
- psychologically (e.g. children recalling things from they were 6 months- that is not possible as falls
under the childhood amnesia period) - biologically (e.g. broken bones, scars would be present if the memory was ‘true’)
- geographically
- factually (the person they accused wasn’t present)
These memories still involve a burden of proof in that despite the events not being possible the memory is very real for the person.
“Retractors” as evidence for false memories…
-Hundreds of individuals that recovered memories of abuse eventually retracted their allegations
-Many have sued their therapists
-Retractors have enabled psychologists to gain insight into the processes by which the memories were uncovered
-Retractions seemed primarily based on qualities of the memories (e.g. too detailed or too vague to be plausible)
Laboratory research as evidence for false memories…
A vast body of research has shown that memories for non-experienced events can be relatively easily implanted
