False memory
Encyclopedia
False memory syndrome describes a condition in which a person's identity and relationships are affected by memories which are factually incorrect but are strongly believed. Peter J. Freyd
originated the term, which the False Memory Syndrome Foundation
(FMSF) subsequently popularized.
False memories may be the result of recovered memory therapy
, a term also defined by the FMSF in the early 1990s, which describes a range of therapy methods that are prone to creating confabulation
s. Some of the influential figures in the genesis of the theory are forensic psychologist Ralph Underwager
, psychologist Elizabeth Loftus
and sociologist Richard Ofshe
. False memory syndrome is not recognized as an official mental health diagnosis but the principle that memories can be altered by outside influences is overwhelmingly accepted by scientists.
FMS is controversial. It is not included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
. Paul R. McHugh
, member of the FMSF, stated that the term was not adopted into the fourth version of the manual due to the pertinent committee being headed by believers in recovered memory
.
"Planted memories" differ from false memories in that the sufferer was very suggestible following or during hypnotherapy
. Medical ethics
forbid the practice. The sufferer may not be able to tell which memories are genuine and which are not. Confabulation
resultant from the planting of these memories resolves temporary conflicts in the sufferer's mind but chronic damage may become permanently disabling, resulting in one or more personality disorders.
"Indoctrinated memories" differ yet again in that the sufferer has been subtly reduced to believe propaganda
. Mind control
experiments in the Soviet Union
, North Korea
and China
proved how far false memory syndrome can be used in the control of combat troops, who may come under orders to violate the rules of war specified under the Geneva Convention. Persons who have been severely enough indoctrinated may never recover any moral perspective, resulting in reprobation
and other serious disciplinary problems.
, sedatives and probing questions where the therapist believes repressed memories of childhood sexual abuse
or other tramatic events are the cause of their client's problems. The term is not listed in DSM-IV or used by any mainstream formal psychotherapy modality.
Memory consolidation
becomes a critical element of false memory and recovered memory syndromes. Once stored in the hippocampus
, the memory may last for years or even for life, regardless that the memorized event never actually took place. Obsession
to a particular false memory, planted memory, or indoctrinated memory can shape a person's actions or even result in delusional disorder
.
Mainstream psychiatric and psychological professional associations now harbor strong skepticism towards the notion of recovered memories of trauma. They argue that self-help books, such as The Courage to Heal
, and recovered memory therapists can influence adults to develop false memories. According to this theory, psychologists and psychiatrists may accidentally implant these false memories. The American Psychiatric Association
and American Medical Association
condemn such practices, whether they are formally called "Recovered Memory Therapy" or simply a collection of techniques that fit the description. In 1998, the Royal College of Psychiatrists Working Group on Reported Recovered Memories of Sexual Abuse wrote:
That such techniques have been used in the past is undeniable. Their continued use is cause for malpractice
litigation worldwide. An Australian psychologist was de-registered for engaging in them.
is created and highly suggestible, and a wide variety of innocuous, embarrassing and frightening memories can be falsely created through the use of different techniques, including guided imagery, hypnosis and suggestion by others. Though not all individuals who are exposed to these techniques will develop memories, experiments suggest a significant number of people will and will actively defend the existence of the events, even if told they were false and deliberately implanted. The questions about the possibility of false memories created an explosion of interest in suggestibility of human memory and resulted in an enormous increase in the knowledge about how memories are encoded
, stored
and recalled
, producing pioneering experiments such as the lost in the mall technique
. In Roediger and McDermott's (1995) experiment, subjects were presented with a list of related items (such as candy, sugar, honey) to study. When asked to recall the list, participants were just as, if not more, likely to recall semantically related words (such as sweet) than items that were actually studied, thus creating false memories. This experiment, though widely replicated, remains controversial due to debate considering that people may store semantically related items from a word list conceptually rather than as language
, which could account for errors in recollection of words without the creation of false memories.
that someone has later recalled has contributed to some investigations and court cases, including cases of alleged sexual abuse
or child sexual abuse
. Some such recollections have been supported by enough corroborating evidence to enable successful prosecution, while others have been deemed confabulation
s or "false memories" that were not legally admissible.
The defense in sexual abuse cases may offer their own "expert testimony to counter the plaintiff's scientific evidence that the mind can avoid or repress traumatic information and then recall it years later." Murphy believes that there is "overwhelming evidence that the mind is capable of repressing traumatic memories of child sexual abuse." Whitfield states that the "false memory" defense is "seemingly sophisticated, but mostly contrived and often erroneous." He states that this defense has been created by "accused, convicted and self-confessed child molesters and their advocates" to try to "negate their abusive, criminal behavior." Brown states that when pro-false memory expert witnesses and attorneys state there is no causal connection between CSA and adult psychopathology, that CSA doesn't cause specific trauma-related problems like borderline and dissociative identity disorder, that other variables than CSA can explain the variance of adult psychopathology and that the long-term effects of CSA are non-specific and general, that this testimony is inaccurate and has the potential of misleading juries.
and satanic ritual abuse
.
Some of these suits were brought by individuals who later deemed their recovered memories of incest and/or satanic ritual abuse to be false. The False Memory Syndrome Foundation
uses the term "retractors" to describe these individuals and have shared their stories publicly. There is debate regarding the total number of retractions as compared to the total number of allegations, and the reasons for retractions.
Peter J. Freyd
Peter J. Freyd is an American mathematician, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, known for work in category theory and for founding the False Memory Syndrome Foundation.- Mathematical work :...
originated the term, which the False Memory Syndrome Foundation
False Memory Syndrome Foundation
The False Memory Syndrome Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded in 1992 by Pamela and Peter Freyd, after being accused by their adult daughter Jennifer Freyd of sexual abuse when she was a child...
(FMSF) subsequently popularized.
False memories may be the result of recovered memory therapy
Recovered memory therapy
Recovered-memory therapy is a term coined by affiliates of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation in the early 1990s, to refer what they described as a range of psychotherapy methods based on recalling memories of abuse that had previously been forgotten by the patient...
, a term also defined by the FMSF in the early 1990s, which describes a range of therapy methods that are prone to creating confabulation
Confabulation
Confabulation is the process in which a memory is remembered falsely. Confabulations are indicative of a complicated and intricate process that can be led astray at any given point during encoding, storage, or recall of a memory. Two distinct types of confabulation are often distinguished...
s. Some of the influential figures in the genesis of the theory are forensic psychologist Ralph Underwager
Ralph Underwager
Ralph Underwager was an American minister and psychologist who rose to prominence as a defense witness for adults accused of child sexual abuse in the 1980s and 1990s. Until his death in 2003, he was the director of the Institute for Psychological Therapies, which he founded in 1974...
, psychologist Elizabeth Loftus
Elizabeth Loftus
Elizabeth F. Loftus is an American psychologist and expert on human memory. She has conducted extensive research on the misinformation effect and the nature of false memories. Loftus has been recognized throughout the world for her work, receiving numerous awards and honorary degrees...
and sociologist Richard Ofshe
Richard Ofshe
Richard Ofshe is a Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a member of the advisory board of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation advocacy organization, and is known for his expert testimony relating to coercion in small groups, confessions, and...
. False memory syndrome is not recognized as an official mental health diagnosis but the principle that memories can be altered by outside influences is overwhelmingly accepted by scientists.
Definition
False memory syndrome is defined as:[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. The person may become so focused on memory that he or she may be effectively distracted from coping with the real problems in his or her life. Emphasis in original
FMS is controversial. It is not included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is published by the American Psychiatric Association and provides a common language and standard criteria for the classification of mental disorders...
. Paul R. McHugh
Paul R. McHugh
Paul Rodney McHugh is an American psychiatrist, researcher, and educator. He is University Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the author, co-author, or editor of seven books within his field.- Education :McHugh was born in Lawrence,...
, member of the FMSF, stated that the term was not adopted into the fourth version of the manual due to the pertinent committee being headed by believers in recovered memory
Recovered memory
Recovered memory is the description given to the apparent resurrection of the memory of events that had been forgotten or suppressed for a relatively long time. Retrograde amnesia secondary to physical or emotional trauma , or the suppression of painful memories from any cause, is an accepted concept...
.
"Planted memories" differ from false memories in that the sufferer was very suggestible following or during hypnotherapy
Hypnotherapy
Hypnotherapy is a therapy that is undertaken with a subject in hypnosis.The word "hypnosis" is an abbreviation of James Braid's term "neuro-hypnotism", meaning "sleep of the nervous system"....
. Medical ethics
Medical ethics
Medical ethics is a system of moral principles that apply values and judgments to the practice of medicine. As a scholarly discipline, medical ethics encompasses its practical application in clinical settings as well as work on its history, philosophy, theology, and sociology.-History:Historically,...
forbid the practice. The sufferer may not be able to tell which memories are genuine and which are not. Confabulation
Confabulation
Confabulation is the process in which a memory is remembered falsely. Confabulations are indicative of a complicated and intricate process that can be led astray at any given point during encoding, storage, or recall of a memory. Two distinct types of confabulation are often distinguished...
resultant from the planting of these memories resolves temporary conflicts in the sufferer's mind but chronic damage may become permanently disabling, resulting in one or more personality disorders.
"Indoctrinated memories" differ yet again in that the sufferer has been subtly reduced to believe propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
. Mind control
Mind control
Mind control refers to a process in which a group or individual "systematically uses unethically manipulative methods to persuade others to conform to the wishes of the manipulator, often to the detriment of the person being manipulated"...
experiments in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, North Korea
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
and China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
proved how far false memory syndrome can be used in the control of combat troops, who may come under orders to violate the rules of war specified under the Geneva Convention. Persons who have been severely enough indoctrinated may never recover any moral perspective, resulting in reprobation
Reprobation
Reprobation, in Christian theology, is a corollary to the Calvinistic doctrine of unconditional election which derives that some of mankind are predestined by God for salvation. Therefore, the remainder are left bound to their fallen nature and certain damnation. This same state of unbelief is...
and other serious disciplinary problems.
Recovered memory therapy
Recovered memory therapy is used to describe the therapeutic processes and methods that are believed to create false memories and false memory syndrome. These methods include hypnosisHypnosis
Hypnosis is "a trance state characterized by extreme suggestibility, relaxation and heightened imagination."It is a mental state or imaginative role-enactment . It is usually induced by a procedure known as a hypnotic induction, which is commonly composed of a long series of preliminary...
, sedatives and probing questions where the therapist believes repressed memories of childhood sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include asking or pressuring a child to engage in sexual activities , indecent exposure with intent to gratify their own sexual desires or to...
or other tramatic events are the cause of their client's problems. The term is not listed in DSM-IV or used by any mainstream formal psychotherapy modality.
Memory consolidation
Memory consolidation
Memory consolidation is a category of processes that stabilize a memory trace after the initial acquisition. Consolidation is distinguished into two specific processes, synaptic consolidation, which occurs within the first few hours after learning, and system consolidation, where...
becomes a critical element of false memory and recovered memory syndromes. Once stored in the hippocampus
Hippocampus
The hippocampus is a major component of the brains of humans and other vertebrates. It belongs to the limbic system and plays important roles in the consolidation of information from short-term memory to long-term memory and spatial navigation. Humans and other mammals have two hippocampi, one in...
, the memory may last for years or even for life, regardless that the memorized event never actually took place. Obsession
Fixation (psychology)
Fixation: 'concept originated by Sigmund Freud to denote the persistence of anachronistic sexual traits'. Subsequently '"Fixation" acquired a broader connotation...
to a particular false memory, planted memory, or indoctrinated memory can shape a person's actions or even result in delusional disorder
Delusional disorder
Delusional disorder is an uncommon psychiatric condition in which patients present with circumscribed symptoms of non-bizarre delusions, but with the absence of prominent hallucinations and no thought disorder, mood disorder, or significant flattening of affect...
.
Mainstream psychiatric and psychological professional associations now harbor strong skepticism towards the notion of recovered memories of trauma. They argue that self-help books, such as The Courage to Heal
The Courage to Heal
The Courage to Heal: A Guide for Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse is a popular self-help book written by Ellen Bass and Laura Davis that discusses the impact of child sexual abuse and how to address it. The primary thrust of the book is that individuals with a vague set of symptoms have...
, and recovered memory therapists can influence adults to develop false memories. According to this theory, psychologists and psychiatrists may accidentally implant these false memories. The American Psychiatric Association
American Psychiatric Association
The American Psychiatric Association is the main professional organization of psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists in the United States, and the most influential worldwide. Its some 38,000 members are mainly American but some are international...
and American Medical Association
American Medical Association
The American Medical Association , founded in 1847 and incorporated in 1897, is the largest association of medical doctors and medical students in the United States.-Scope and operations:...
condemn such practices, whether they are formally called "Recovered Memory Therapy" or simply a collection of techniques that fit the description. In 1998, the Royal College of Psychiatrists Working Group on Reported Recovered Memories of Sexual Abuse wrote:
No evidence exists for the repression and recovery of verified, severely traumatic events, and their role in symptom formation has yet to be proved. There is also striking absence in the literature of well-corroborated cases of such repressed memories recovered through psychotherapy. Given the prevalence of childhood sexual abuse, even if only a small proportion are repressed and only some of them are subsequently recovered, there should be a significant number of corroborated cases. In fact there are none.
That such techniques have been used in the past is undeniable. Their continued use is cause for malpractice
Malpractice
In law, malpractice is a type of negligence in, which the professional under a duty to act, fails to follow generally accepted professional standards, and that breach of duty is the proximate cause of injury to a plaintiff who suffers harm...
litigation worldwide. An Australian psychologist was de-registered for engaging in them.
Evidence for
Human memoryMemory
In psychology, memory is an organism's ability to store, retain, and recall information and experiences. Traditional studies of memory began in the fields of philosophy, including techniques of artificially enhancing memory....
is created and highly suggestible, and a wide variety of innocuous, embarrassing and frightening memories can be falsely created through the use of different techniques, including guided imagery, hypnosis and suggestion by others. Though not all individuals who are exposed to these techniques will develop memories, experiments suggest a significant number of people will and will actively defend the existence of the events, even if told they were false and deliberately implanted. The questions about the possibility of false memories created an explosion of interest in suggestibility of human memory and resulted in an enormous increase in the knowledge about how memories are encoded
Encoding (Memory)
Memory has the ability to encode, store and recall information. Memories give an organism the capability to learn and adapt from previous experiences as well as build relationships. Encoding allows the perceived item of use or interest to be converted into a construct that can be stored within the...
, stored
Storage (memory)
Storage in human memory is one of three core process of memory, along with Recall and Encoding. It refers to the retention of information, which has been achieved through the encoding process, in brain for prolonged period of time until it is accessed by the recall process...
and recalled
Recall (memory)
Recall in memory refers to the retrieval of events or information from the past. Along with encoding and storage, it is one of the three core processes of memory. There are three main types of recall: free recall, cued recall and serial recall...
, producing pioneering experiments such as the lost in the mall technique
Lost in the mall technique
The "Lost in the Mall" technique is an experimental procedure that was used to demonstrate that confabulations can be created through suggestions made to experimental subjects...
. In Roediger and McDermott's (1995) experiment, subjects were presented with a list of related items (such as candy, sugar, honey) to study. When asked to recall the list, participants were just as, if not more, likely to recall semantically related words (such as sweet) than items that were actually studied, thus creating false memories. This experiment, though widely replicated, remains controversial due to debate considering that people may store semantically related items from a word list conceptually rather than as language
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
, which could account for errors in recollection of words without the creation of false memories.
Sexual abuse cases
The question of the accuracy and dependability of a repressed memoryRepressed memory
Repressed memory is a hypothetical concept used to describe a significant memory, usually of a traumatic nature, that has become unavailable for recall; also called motivated forgetting in which a subject blocks out painful or traumatic times in one's life...
that someone has later recalled has contributed to some investigations and court cases, including cases of alleged sexual abuse
Sexual abuse
Sexual abuse, also referred to as molestation, is the forcing of undesired sexual behavior by one person upon another. When that force is immediate, of short duration, or infrequent, it is called sexual assault. The offender is referred to as a sexual abuser or molester...
or child sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include asking or pressuring a child to engage in sexual activities , indecent exposure with intent to gratify their own sexual desires or to...
. Some such recollections have been supported by enough corroborating evidence to enable successful prosecution, while others have been deemed confabulation
Confabulation
Confabulation is the process in which a memory is remembered falsely. Confabulations are indicative of a complicated and intricate process that can be led astray at any given point during encoding, storage, or recall of a memory. Two distinct types of confabulation are often distinguished...
s or "false memories" that were not legally admissible.
The defense in sexual abuse cases may offer their own "expert testimony to counter the plaintiff's scientific evidence that the mind can avoid or repress traumatic information and then recall it years later." Murphy believes that there is "overwhelming evidence that the mind is capable of repressing traumatic memories of child sexual abuse." Whitfield states that the "false memory" defense is "seemingly sophisticated, but mostly contrived and often erroneous." He states that this defense has been created by "accused, convicted and self-confessed child molesters and their advocates" to try to "negate their abusive, criminal behavior." Brown states that when pro-false memory expert witnesses and attorneys state there is no causal connection between CSA and adult psychopathology, that CSA doesn't cause specific trauma-related problems like borderline and dissociative identity disorder, that other variables than CSA can explain the variance of adult psychopathology and that the long-term effects of CSA are non-specific and general, that this testimony is inaccurate and has the potential of misleading juries.
Malpractice cases
During the late 1990s, there were multiple lawsuits in the United States in which psychiatrists and psychologists were successfully sued, or settled out of court, on the charge of propagating iatrogenic memories of childhood sexual abuse, incestIncest
Incest is sexual intercourse between close relatives that is usually illegal in the jurisdiction where it takes place and/or is conventionally considered a taboo. The term may apply to sexual activities between: individuals of close "blood relationship"; members of the same household; step...
and satanic ritual abuse
Satanic ritual abuse
Satanic ritual abuse refers to the abuse of a person or animal in a ritual setting or manner...
.
Some of these suits were brought by individuals who later deemed their recovered memories of incest and/or satanic ritual abuse to be false. The False Memory Syndrome Foundation
False Memory Syndrome Foundation
The False Memory Syndrome Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded in 1992 by Pamela and Peter Freyd, after being accused by their adult daughter Jennifer Freyd of sexual abuse when she was a child...
uses the term "retractors" to describe these individuals and have shared their stories publicly. There is debate regarding the total number of retractions as compared to the total number of allegations, and the reasons for retractions.
See also
- False allegation of child sexual abuseFalse allegation of child sexual abuseA false allegation of child sexual abuse is an accusation that a person committed one or more acts of child sexual abuse when in reality there was no perpetration of abuse by the accused person as alleged. Such accusations can be brought by the alleged victim , or by another person on the alleged...
- Alien abduction
- ConfabulationConfabulationConfabulation is the process in which a memory is remembered falsely. Confabulations are indicative of a complicated and intricate process that can be led astray at any given point during encoding, storage, or recall of a memory. Two distinct types of confabulation are often distinguished...
- Lost in the mall techniqueLost in the mall techniqueThe "Lost in the Mall" technique is an experimental procedure that was used to demonstrate that confabulations can be created through suggestions made to experimental subjects...
- McMartin preschool trialMcMartin preschool trialThe McMartin preschool trial was a day care sexual abuse case of the 1980s. Members of the McMartin family, who operated a preschool in California, were charged with numerous acts of sexual abuse of children in their care. Accusations were made in 1983. Arrests and the pretrial investigation ran...
- Memory bias