Amnesia for Traumatic Experiences (original) (raw)

Recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse: Current findings and their legal implications

Legal and Criminological Psychology, 2008

Recent research on recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse has shown that there are at least two types of recovered memory experiences: those that are gradually recovered within the context of suggestive therapy and those that are spontaneously recovered, without extensive prompting or explicit attempts to reconstruct the past. By focusing on well-known imperfections of human memory, we were able to find differing origins for these recovered memory experiences, with people recovering memories through suggestive therapy being more prone to forming false memories, and with people reporting spontaneously recovered memories being more prone to forgetting prior incidences of remembering. Moreover, the two types of recovered memory reports are associated with differences in corroborative evidence, suggesting that memories recovered spontaneously, outside of suggestive therapy, are more likely to correspond to genuine abuse events. In this paper, we summarize recent research on recovered memories and we argue that these scientific findings should be applied in the justice system, but also in clinical practice.

A Prospective Study of Memory for Child Sexual Abuse

Psychological Science, 2003

Previous research indicates that many adults (nearly 40%) fail to report their own documented child sexual abuse (CSA) when asked about their childhood experiences. These controversial results could reflect lack of consciously accessible recollection, thus bolstering claims that traumatic memories may be repressed. In the present study, 175 individuals with documented CSA histories were interviewed regarding their childhood trauma. Unlike in previous studies, the majority of participants (81%) in our study reported the documented abuse. Older age when the abuse ended, maternal support following disclosure of the abuse, and more severe abuse were associated with an increased likelihood of disclosure. Ethnicity and dissociation also played a role. Failure to report CSA should not necessarily be interpreted as evidence that the abuse is inaccessible to memory, although inaccessibility or forgetting cannot be ruled out in a subset of cases.

Forgetting of Prior Remembering in Persons Reporting Recovered Memories of Childhood Sexual Abuse

Psychological Science, 2006

Case studies of individuals reporting recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse suggest that some overestimate their prior forgetting of the abuse. People reporting recovered or continuous memories of childhood sexual abuse and control subjects reporting no history of abuse participated in two experiments examining this ''forgot it all along'' phenomenon. Participants in Experiment 1 were more likely to forget that they had previously recalled a studied item if they were cued to think of it differently on two recall tests than if they were cued to think of it in the same way on the two tests. This effect was stronger for recovered-memory participants than for continuous-memory and control participants. In Experiment 2, participants recalled autobiographical events three times over a period of 4 months. Much as in Experiment 1, they underestimated prior remembering when the events had been recalled in a different emotional frame (positive vs. negative) on the previous occasion. This underestimation was more pronounced for recoveredmemory participants than for continuous-memory and control participants.

Memories of Childhood Abuse: Dissociation, Amnesia, and Corroboration

American Journal of Psychiatry, 2014

Objective: This study investigated the relationship between self-reported childhood abuse and dissociative symptoms and amnesia. The presence or absence of corroboration of recovered memories of childhood abuse was also studied. Method: Participants were 90 female patients admitted to a unit specializing in the treatment of trauma-related disorders. Participants completed instruments that measured dissociative symptoms and elicited details concerning childhood physical abuse, sexual abuse, and witnessing abuse. Participants also underwent a structured interview that asked about amnesia for traumatic experiences, the circumstances of recovered memory, the role of suggestion in recovered memories, and independent corroboration of the memories. Results: Participants reporting any type of childhood abuse demonstrated elevated levels of dissociative symptoms that were significantly higher than those in subjects not reporting abuse. Higher dissociative symptoms were correlated with early age at onset of physical and sexual abuse and more frequent sexual abuse. A substantial proportion of participants with all types of abuse reported partial or complete amnesia for abuse memories. For physical and sexual abuse, early age at onset was correlated with greater levels of amnesia. Participants who reported recovering memories of abuse generally recalled these experiences while at home, alone, or with family or friends. Although some participants were in treatment at the time, very few were in therapy sessions during their first memory recovery. Suggestion was generally denied as a factor in memory recovery. A majority of participants were able to find strong corroboration of their recovered memories. Conclusions: Childhood abuse, particularly chronic abuse beginning at early ages, is related to the development of high levels of dissociative symptoms including amnesia for abuse memories. This study strongly suggests that psychotherapy usually is not associated with memory recovery and that independent corroboration of recovered memories of abuse is often present.

Cognitive Mechanisms Underlying Recovered-Memory Experiences of Childhood Sexual Abuse

Psychological Science, 2009

People sometimes report recovering long-forgotten memories of childhood sexual abuse. The memory mechanisms that lead to such reports are not well understood, and the authenticity of recovered memories has often been challenged. We identified two subgroups of people reporting recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse. These subgroups differed dramatically in their cognitive profiles: People who recovered memories of abuse through suggestive therapy exhibited a heightened susceptibility to the construction of false memories, but showed no tendency to underestimate their prior remembering. Conversely, people who recovered memories of abuse spontaneously showed a heightened proneness to forget prior incidences of remembering, but exhibited no increased susceptibility to false memories. This double dissociation points to mechanisms that underlie recovered-memory experiences and indicates that recovered memories may at times be fictitious and may at other times be authentic.

Recovered memories of traumaPhenomenology and cognitive mechanisms

Clinical Psychology Review, 1998

We outline four current explanations for the reported forgetting of traumatic events, namely repression, dissociation, ordinary forgetting, and false memory. We then review the clinical and survey evidence on recovered memories, and consider experimental evidence that a variety of inhibitory processes are involved in everyday cognitive activity including forgetting. The data currently available do not allow any of the four explanations to be rejected, and strongly support the likelihood that some recovered memories correspond to actual experiences. We propose replacing the terms repression and dissociation as explanations of forgetting with an account based on cognitive science. © 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd IN THE LAST few years doubt has been repeatedly cast over whether individuals can forget significant traumatic experiences and then recover essentially accurate memories of these events. The strongest doubts have been expressed over recovered memories of repeated childhood sexual abuse (e.g.

Recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse: Searching for the middle ground in clinical practice

Canadian Psychology / Psychologie canadienne, 1998

This paper briefly examines the debate regarding adult memories of childhood sexual abuse and suggests a reasoned clinical response. The perspective related to "false memories" of abuse, as well as that of advocates of recovered memories, are considered. It is concluded that although there is considerable rhetoric on this topic, there is little definitive information to support one position or the other. A middle ground perspective, that recognizes both the legitimacy of childhood abuse and its negative influences, as well as the possibility of poor clinical practice leading to false reports of abuse, is advocated. Implications of this middle ground perspective for clinical practice, training and research are discussed.

Traumatic memories are not necessarily accurate memories

Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie, 2005

Some therapists, as well as other commentators, have suggested that memories of horrific trauma are buried in the subconscious by some special process, such as repression, and are later reliably recovered. We find that the evidence provided to support this claim is flawed. Where, then, might these memory reports come from? We discuss several research paradigms that have shown that various manipulations can be used to implant false memories--including false memories for traumatic events. These false memories can be quite compelling for those who develop them and can include details that make them seem credible to others. The fact that a memory report describes a traumatic event does not ensure that the memory is authentic.