Fakery — Heather Kendrick by John Paul Dowling

False Memories

Though it is a controversial and widely debated topic, a large number of people are unaware of the existence of False Memory, let alone the horrors of what it can involve. This book attempts to give an overview of False Memory, taking into account both sides of the debate surrounding the subject.

Contents

An Introduction to Memory

False Memories

Memories: Delayed or Imagined

The Birth of a Syndrome?

References and Further Reading

01 An Introduction to Memory

“Why should this absolutely God-given faculty retain so much better the events of yesterday than those of last year, and, best of all, those of an hour ago? Why, again, in old age should it’s grasp of childhood’s events seem firmest? Why should repeating an experience strengthen our recollection of it? Why should drugs, fevers, asphyxia, and excitement resuscitate things long since forgotten? Evidently, the faculty does not exist absolutely, but works under conditions; and the quest of the conditions becomes the psychologist’s most interesting task.” 1

Without memory we would be unable to speak, read, identify objects, navigate our way round our environment or maintain personal relationships.

memory:

an organism’s ability to store, retain, and recall information and experiences.2

Memory is far more than bringing to mind information encountered at some previous time. Whenever the experience of some past event influences someone at a later time, the influence of the previous experience is a reflection of memory for that past event. There are three key processes involved in memory; Sensory, Short-term and Long-term.

It is tempting to assume that our long-term memories are static and unchanging, but they’re not. Memory is dynamic, often a blend of the original event and our current state of mind. Our memories are subject to revision and change almost every time we remember something, and they are very susceptible to external manipulation. Essentially a memory is formed from a real experience, but could somebody plant an entirely false memory in our heads? Is it possible to believe we experienced something that never actually took place?

corresponds approximately to the initial 200–500 milliseconds after an item is perceived. The ability to look at an item, and remember what it looked like with just a second of observation, or memorisation, is an example of sensory memory. sensory memory

short-term memory is the capacity for holding a small amount of information in mind in an active, readily available state for a short period of time.

long -term memory can store much larger quantities of information for potentially unlimited amounts of time, sometimes for an entire lifespan. Unlike Sensory or Short-term memory, the capacity of Long-term memory is immeasurably large.

02 False Memories

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The difference between false memories and true ones is the same as for jewels: it is always the false ones that look the most real, the most brilliant.â&#x20AC;? 3

In some cases, false memories can rip families apart.

A false memory is a distortion of an actual experience, or the spontaneous narrative report of events that never happened. For example, a memory of your Mother throwing a glass of milk over you Father, when it was in fact your Father who threw the milk is a false memory based on an actual experience. You may remember the event vividly and be able to ‘see’ the action clearly, but only corroboration by those present can determine whether your memory of the event is accurate. Distortions such as switching the roles of people in one’s memory are quite common.

However, a false memory is not the same as a lie, the subject really does believe what they think they remember. It’s just that the memory itself is false. The memory can be very vivid and held with high confidence, and it can be difficult to convince someone that the memory in question is wrong. In some cases, false memories can rip families apart. If one develops a false memory of being abused as a child and begins to make accusations, the case can be taken to court and lead to the prosecution of the ‘accused’. But how can we tell if a memory is true or false?

Many false memories involve mixing or confusing fragments of memory events, some of which may have happened at different times, but are being remembered as occurring together. Some involve treating dreams as if they were playbacks of real experiences. More controversially, some false memories, in particular those of abuse experienced in childhood, are believed to be the result of prodding, leading and suggestions by therapists and counselors during Recovered Memory Therapy which will be explored further in section 03.

A false memory is not the same as a lie, the subject really does believe what they think they remember.

03 Memories: Delayed or Imagined

“The repressed memory is like a noisy intruder being thrown out of the concert hall. You can throw him out, but he will bang on the door and continue to disturb the concert. The analyst opens the door and says, ‘If you promise to behave yourself, you can come back in.” 4

It is virtually impossible to tell whether somebody has recovered a repressed memory or imagined a false one.

False memory has become an important area of psychological research and also a controversial one. In the early 1990’s several landmark legal cases in the United States centered around the issue of recovered memory. Recovered memories occur when a victim of some sort of trauma, such as child abuse, recovers a repressed memory often with the help of psychotherapy. But it is virtually impossible to tell whether somebody has recovered a repressed memory, or imagined a false one. Furthermore, many psychologists maintain that their colleagues doing Repressed Memory Therapy are encouraging, prodding and suggesting false memories of abuse to their patients.

horrific satanic rituals involving human sacrifices and cannibalism. In situations like this, where does the truth lie? The memories are real and horrible to the patient, their suffering is real and families are torn apart, regardless of whether the memories are real or imagined. A wave of recovered memory cases prompted research psychologist Elizabeth Loftus to investigate whether or not it was possible to lead someone to believe something that in fact was not true. After working on dozens of cases, Loftus claimed that it was possible for recovered memories to be fabricated as a result of the very therapeutic process that was designed to aid the alleged victim. She succeeded in planting a range of traumatic experiences in people’s memories, which included getting lost for long periods of time as a child, watching animals dying and even being witness to demonic possession. All of the subjects truly believed they had undergone these experiences when in fact they hadn’t.

Memories are often mixed: some parts are accurate and some parts are not. Separating the two can be enough of a chore under ordinary circumstances. As an example, a woman might have consciously repressed childhood sexual abuse by a neighbour or relative. Some experience in adulthood may serve as a retrieval cue and she remembers the abuse. This disturbs her and disturbs her dreams. She begins to have nightmares, but now it is her Father or Grandfather or Priest who is abusing her. She enters Repressed Memory Therapy and within a few months she recalls vividly how her Father, Mother, Grandfather, Grandmother, Priest, etc, not only sexually abused her but also engaged in

This isn’t to say that all recovered memories are fabricated. Many people do genuinely experience and then for some reason repress traumatic events. But Loftus has revealed to us the reconstructive and ultimately fragile nature of memory; our past is continually being updated to fit our present, context and knowledge.

In evolutionary terms it makes sense for us to update our memories as this allows us to adapt to future threats or uncertainties as well as learn form our past mistakes.

Finally, those who find that it is their duty to determine whether a person has been sexually abused or whether a memory of such abuse is a false memory, should be well versed in the current scientific literature regarding memory. They should know that all of us are pliable and suggestible to some degree, but that children are especially vulnerable to suggestive and leading questioning. They should also remember that children are highly imaginative and that just because a child says he or she remembers something does not mean that he or she does. However, when children say they do not remember something, to keep questioning them until they do remember it, is not good interrogation.

The controversy lies in whether these â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;recovered memoriesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, real or imagined, should be taken at face value and accepted as true without any attempt to prove otherwise. Obviously it would be unconscionable to ignore accusations of sexual abuse. Likewise, it is unconscionable to be willing to see lives and families destroyed without at least trying to find out if any part of the memories of sexual abuse are false. It also seems inhumane to encourage patients to recall memories of sexual abuse. Unless one has a very good reason for doing so. Assuming all or most emotional problems are due to repressed memories of childhood sexual abuse is not a good enough reason to risk harming a patient by encouraging delusional beliefs and damaging familial relationships. A responsible therapist has a duty to help a patient sort out delusion from reality, dreams and confabulations from truth, and real abuse from imagined abuse. If good therapy means the encouragement of delusion as standard procedure, then good therapy may not always be worth it.

04 The Birth of a Syndrome?

â&#x20AC;&#x153;There seems something more speakingly incomprehensible in the powers, the failures, the inequalities of memory than in any other of our intelligences.â&#x20AC;? 5

The memory takes a life of itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own, encapsulated and resistant to correction.

false memory syndrome: a condition in which a person’s identity and interpersonal relationships are centered around a memory of traumatic experience which is objectively false but in which the person strongly believes. Note that the syndrome is not characterized by false memories as such. We all have memories that are inaccurate. Rather, the syndrome may be diagnosed when the memory is so deeply ingrained that it orients the individual’s entire personality and lifestyle, in turn disrupting all sorts of other adaptive behavior... False Memory Syndrome is especially destructive because the person assiduously avoids confrontation with any evidence that might challenge the memory. Thus it takes on a life of its own, encapsulated and resistant to correction.6

Jennifer Freyd graduated from high school in three years, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, got her doctorate at Stanford and was a research psychologist and tenured professor at University of Oregon when she was interviewed by The Oregonian regarding her accusations of childhood sexual abuse by her Father. She said she always remembered things her Father had done, “continual sex talk, sitting in a robe so his genitals showed.” After a therapy session she remembered abuse. Jennifer does not believe that her therapist planted the memories. She confronted her parents but did not attempt to sue or press charges. Fourteen months later, in 1992, Peter and Pamela Freyd formed the False Memory Syndrome Foundation. They saw a need for an organization that could document and study the problem of families that were being shattered when adult children suddenly claimed to have recovered repressed memories of childhood sexual abuse.

Paul R. McHugh, member of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation, stated that the reason the term was not adopted into the fourth version of the manual is because the pertinent committee is headed by believers in recovered memory. Repressed Memory therapist Dr. Hans TenDam believes that the False Memory Syndrome is like a bogeyman hindering the acceptance of his profession. While he doesn’t deny that false memories exist, he believes that they don’t have the character of a ‘syndrome’, but that it is just added to make it sound like a professional diagnosis, and make it appear as if people know what they are talking about. It seems increasingly difficult to apply the definition of the syndrome to all cases where the details are different. And so for now, the debate regarding recovered or imagined memories remains unsolved and open to opinion.

Like the notion of false memories, False Memory Syndrome is also controversial. It is important to note that it is not included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and thus not listed as an official syndrome, as of yet.

05 References and Further Reading

References 1. William, J. Principles of Psychology p.3 (Dover Publications 1950) 2. Author Unknown http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Memory [cited 28/11/2010] 3. Dali, S. http://www.quotegarden.com/memory.html [cited 28/11/2010] 4. Reik, T. http://thinkexist.com/quotation/the_repressed_ memory_is_like_a_noisy_intruder/346138.html [cited 28/11/2010] 5. Jane Austen in Foster, J. Memory: A Very Short Introduction p.3 (Oxford University Press Inc. 2009) 6. McHugh, P.R. Try to remember: Psychiatryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s clash over meaning, memory and mind p.67-68 (Dana Press 2008)