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False memory syndrome

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False memory syndrome (FMS) describes a condition in which a person's identity and relationships are affected by memories which are factually incorrect but are strongly believed.[1] Peter J. Freyd originated the term,[2] 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,[3] which describes a range of therapy methods that are prone to creating confabulations. 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[4][5][6][7] but the principle that memories can be altered by outside influences is overwhelmingly accepted by scientists.[8][9][10][11]

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.[12] Emphasis in original

FMS is controversial.[13] 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.[2]

"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.[citation needed]

"Indoctrinated memories" differ yet again in that the sufferer has been subtly reduced to believe propaganda. Thought 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.[citation needed]

Recovered memory therapy

Main article: 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 hypnosis, 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.[14] The term is not listed in DSM-IV or used by any mainstream formal psychotherapy modality.[3]

Memory consolidation becomes a critical element of false memory and recovered memory syndromes. Once stored in the hippocampus the memory may persist 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.

FMS advocates harbor strong skepticism towards any therapist who they believe encourages a client to identify repressed memories. 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.[citation needed] 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.

That such techniques have been used in the past is undeniable. Their continued use is cause for malpractice litigation worldwide.[15] An Australian psychologist was de-registered for engaging in them.[16]

Evidence for

Human 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, stored and recalled, producing pioneering experiments such as the lost in the mall technique.[17] 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.[18] 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.

Court cases

Sexual abuse cases

The question of the accuracy and dependability of a repressed memory that someone has later recalled has contributed to some investigations and court cases, including cases of alleged sexual abuse or child sexual abuse.[19][20] Some such recollections have been supported by enough corroborating evidence to enable successful prosecution,[21] while others have been deemed confabulations or "false memories" that were not legally admissible.[citation needed]

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."[22] 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."[23] 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.[24]

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, incest and satanic ritual abuse.[25]

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.[26] There is debate regarding the total number of retractions as compared to the total number of allegations,[3] and the reasons for retractions.[27]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ McHugh 2008, pp. 66–7.
  2. ^ a b McHugh 2008, p. 55.
  3. ^ a b c Whitfield, Charles L. (2001). Misinformation Concerning Child Sexual Abuse and Adult Survivors. Haworth Press. p. 56. ISBN 0789019019. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help) Cite error: The named reference "Whitfield" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  4. ^ Appelbaum, Paul S. (1997). Trauma and memory: clinical and legal controversies. Oxford University Press. p. 438. ISBN 0195100654. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ Rix, Rebecca (2000). Sexual abuse litigation: a practical resource for attorneys, clinicians, and advocates. Routledge. p. 33. ISBN 0789011743.
  6. ^ Gilmore, Leigh (2001). The limits of autobiography: trauma and testimony. Cornell University Press. p. 28. ISBN 0801486742.
  7. ^ Sparta, Steven N. (2006). Forensic mental health assessment of children and adolescents. Oxford University Press. p. 83. ISBN 0195145844. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ Paterson, H. M., Kemp, R. I., & Forgas, J. P. (2010). "Co-witnesses, confederates, and conformity: The effects of discussion and delay on eyewitness memory.," Psychiatry, Psychology and Law.
  9. ^ Loftus, Elizabeth F. Memory: Surprising New Insights Into How We Remember and Why We Forget (Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley Pub. Co., 1980).
  10. ^ Schacter, Daniel L. The Seven Sins of Memory : How the Mind Forgets and Remembers (Houghton Mifflin Co., 2001).
  11. ^ Association for Psychological Science (2008, August 20). "False Memories Affect Behavior."
  12. ^ McHugh 2008, pp. 67–68.
  13. ^ Dallam, S. (2002). "Crisis or Creation: A systematic examination of false memory claims". Journal of Child Sexual Abuse. 9 (3/4): 9–36. doi:10.1300/J070v09n03_02. PMID 17521989. Retrieved 2008-06-27.
  14. ^ McHugh 2008, p. 63.
  15. ^ "Malpractice Suit Against Dr. Bennett Braun". Fortea.us. Retrieved 2010-12-12.
  16. ^ "HEALTH CARE COMPLAINTS COMMISSION v TYNAN [2010] NSWPST 1". Austlii.edu.au. 10 February 2010. Retrieved 2010-12-12.
  17. ^ Schacter, DL (2002). The Seven Sins of Memory: How the Mind Forgets and Remembers. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. pp. 123–30. ISBN 0618219196.
  18. ^ Roediger, Henry L. (1995). "Creating False Memories: Remembering Words Not Presented in Lists". Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition. 4. 21: 803–814. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  19. ^ "Are Recovered Memories Reliable?". Religioustolerance.org. Retrieved 2010-12-12.
  20. ^ Colleen Born. "Elizabeth Loftus". Muskingum.edu. Retrieved 2010-12-12.
  21. ^ "The Recovered Memory Project". Brown.edu. 1993-05-03. Retrieved 2010-12-12.
  22. ^ Template:Cite article
  23. ^ Whitfield, C. (2002). "The "False Memory" Defense Using Disinformation and Junk Science In and Out of Court". Journal of Child Sexual Abuse. 9 (3/4): 53–78. doi:10.1300/J070v09n03_04. Retrieved 2008-01-11. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  24. ^ Brown, D. (2001). "(Mis)representation of the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Sexual Abuse in the Courts". Journal of Child Sexual Abuse. 9 (3/4): 79–107. doi:10.1300/J070v09n03_05. PMID 17521992. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
  25. ^ "Recovered Memory Lawsuit Sparks Litigation". Psychiatrictimes.com. Retrieved 2010-12-12.
  26. ^ Macdonald, G (1999). [Women Against Women Women Against Women]. Making of an Illness: My Experience with Multiple Personality Disorder. Laurentian University Press. p. 111. ISBN 0886670454. {{cite book}}: |chapter-url= missing title (help); Check |chapter-url= value (help); External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)
  27. ^ Summit, R. (1983). "The child sexual abuse accommodation syndrome". Child Abuse & Neglect. 7 (2): 177–193. doi:10.1016/0145-2134(83)90070-4.

References

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