Jane is a 28-year old legal secretary who has struggled for years with problems of depression, low self-esteem, and an eating disorder. She entered therapy last year with Mike Green. When Mr. Green asked about her childhood, Jane said that she didn

1

• Jane is a 28-year old legal secretary who has
  struggled for years with problems of depression,
  low self-esteem, and an eating disorder. She
  entered therapy last year with Mike Green. When
  Mr. Green asked about her childhood, Jane said
  that she didnt really remember all that much,
  especially from when she was very young. Mr.
  Green suggested that Janes symptoms were
  consistent with someone who had been sexually
  abused as a child. Jane denied this suggestion,
  but agreed to undergo some memory work to
  clarify her memories of early childhood. Using
  techniques of dream interpretation,
  journalling, and occasional hypnosis, Jane and
  her therapist worked together over the next 6
  months to recover her early memories. Jane
  recovered detailed memories of physical and
  sexual abuse by her father and her uncle,
  starting when she was just over two years old and
  continuing until she was 16. Jane had completely
  repressed these memories, and had never told
  anyone about her ordeal. When Jane confronted her
  father and uncle, they denied the charges. Janes
  mother and younger sister also refuse to believe
  her, although her uncles daughter is supportive.
  There is no physical evidence left after over a
  decade, so it is Janes word against her
  familys. Jane has now broken off all contact
  with her family, and is suing her father and
  uncle for physical and mental anguish. Are
  Janes memories likely genuine, or are they more
  likely false or exaggerated?

2
Are recovered memories grounds for conviction of
child sexual abuse?

• Susan Beth Harvey

3
Definitions

• Repressed Memories
• Memories that are repressed or dissociated from
  consciousness and recovered at a later time
  (Madill Holch, 2004)
• Recovered Memories
• A recalled memory that was previously repressed
• False Memories
• Recovered memories that did not transpire, but in
  which an individual strongly believes (Madill
  Holch, 2004)

4
There are two sides to every story!

• Ost (2003)
• Two groups of people who carry opposite views
• Clinicians
• - Retrieval of long-forgotten memories is
  possible
• Academics
• - Consequence of unacceptable, suggestive therapy
  

5

• Retrieved Memories WERE Repressed Memories

6
Coping Mechanisms

• Coping mechanisms strategies that are activated
  by a traumatic event
• Hunter (1997)
• Out-of body experience
• Conscious attempt to blank out
• Imagination
• Repression of and Recovery of memories go hand in
  hand

7
How are memories of traumatic events processed
and retrieved?

• Retrieval Inhibition
• Brewin Andrews (1998) active inhibitory
  processes
• Johnson (1994) supports partial amnesia

8
Documented Cases

• Williams (1994) studied women who had documented
  cases of CSA
• 33 still had no recall of the event
• 16 claimed that at one time in their lives had
  no memory of it happening
• Williams (1995) Follow-up Study
• Compared current accounts of abuse (from the
  interviews) with the original documented accounts

9
Documented Cases (cont)

• Bull (1999) Case study
• Rachel came for individual psychotherapy
• Rachel suffered depression, suicidal actions and
  wasnt able to lead a normal life.
• What implications does this have for this debate?
  
• Strong evidence
• Recalled her memories prior to entering therapy
• Demonstrates retrieval inhibition Jim was
  necessary for the memory to be recalled.

10

• Recovered Memories ARE False Memories

11
False Memory Syndrome (FMS)

• Many researchers support FMS
• Especially if the memories arise after therapy
  without solid evidence
• Kaplan Manicavasagar (2001)
• What is FMS?
• Features of FMS

12
Are memories concrete?

• The Shopping Mall Experiment (Loftus and Ketcham,
  1994, as cited in Pope, 1996).
• Memories can be created/implanted
• Drawbacks not trauma
• What role does ethics play here?
• Childhood memories
• When do we start really remembering?

13
Recovered Memory Therapy

• Includes repeated questioning, dream
  interpretation, journaling, group therapy, art
  therapy, hypnosis
• Distrust amongst professionals in the field
• Therapists that use RMT have many more cases of
  recovered CSA memories

14
Hypnosis

• Scoboria et al. (2002)
• Studied 111 participants hypnosis accuracy
• Hypnosis increases production of incorrect
  responses
• Greater sense of certainty
• Greater suggestibility

15
Potential Graduate Supervisors

• Dr. Albert Katz
• University of Western Ontario, ON
• Dept. of Psychology (Learning and Memory)
• MA PhD in Experimental Psychology
• Dr. Don Read
• Simon Fraser University, BC
• Dept. of Psychology
• MA PhD in Experimental Psychology
• Dr. Alan Scoboria
• University of Windsor, ON
• Dept. of Psychology
• MA PhD in Adult Clinical Psychology

16
Back to Jane

• What kind of therapy was used? What are the
  disadvantages of this therapy?
• Was the therapist neutral?
• What social impact do accusations of CSA based on
  retrieved memories have?
• Perhaps Jane is experiencing FMS. Do you think
  FMS should be included in the DSM? If so, under
  which category?

17
Lets look at the Research Critically

• Are theories of repressed memories able to be
  tested?
• Have the theories of repressed memories been peer
  reviewed?
• Is the rate of error in the studied high or low?
• Is the theory generally accepted or discredited
  among the scientific community?
• SO, Should repressed memories be used as evidence
  in court?

18
References

• Bull, D., (1999). A verified case of recovered
  memories of sexual abuse. American Journal of
  Psychotherapy, 53(2), 221-225.
• Brewin, C., Andrews, B. (1998). Recovered
  memories of trauma, phenomenology and cognitive
  mechanisms. Clinical Psychology Review, 18(8),
  949-970.
• Johnson, H., (1994). Processes of successful
  intentional forgetting. Psychological Bulletin,
  116(2), 274-292.
• Kaplan, R., Manicavasagar, V. (2001). Is there
  a false memory syndrome? A review of three cases.
  Comprehensive Psychiatry, 12 (4), 342-348.
• Knapp, S. VandeCreek, L. (2000). Recovered
  memories of childhood abuse Is there
• an underlying professional consensus?
  Professional Psychology Research
• Practice, 31(4), 365-371.
• Madill, A. Holch, P. (2004). A range of memory
  possibilities The challenge of the
• false memory debate for clinicians and
  researchers. Clinical Psychology and
• Psychotherapy, 11, 299-310.
• Ost, J. (2003). Seeking the middle ground in the
  memory wars. British Journal of
• Psychology, 94(1), 125-139.
• Pope, K. (1996). Memory, abuse, and science
  Questioning claims about the False Memory
  Syndrome epidemic Online Version. American
  Psychologist, 51 (9)
• Scoboria, A., Mazzoni, G., Kirsch, I., Milling
  L. (2002). Immediate and persisting effects of
  misleading questions and hypnosis on memory
  reports. Journal of Experimental Psychology
  Applied, 8(1), 26-32.
• Williams, L. (1994). Recall of childhood trauma
  A prospective study of womens memories of
  childhood sexual abuse. Journal of Consulting and
  Clinical Psychology, 62(8), 1167-1176.
• Williams, L. (1995). Recovered memories of abuse
  in women with documented child sexual
  victimization histories. Journal of Traumatic
  Stress, 8(4), 649-673.