Synopses & Reviews
How accurate is memory? Are there important differences in how and what we remember across the life span? What is the prevalence of "repressed memory" for traumatic events? What is the best way for therapists to elicit accurate memories from someone who may be a victim of incest? This book addresses these and other compelling questions reflecting deep divisions in scientific opinion, professional practice, and legal decision making. Leading researchers and practitioners review the current literature, describe new findings and clinical techniques, and draw upon their extensive experience in the field to provide diverse perspectives on the place of memory in our lives and the impact upon memory of personal, interpersonal, and situational influences.
Review
"It is difficult to imagine a more timely book than
Truth in Memory. The diverse group of contributors provides revealing analyses of theoretical, clinical, and legal issues. This volume is essential reading for anyone seriously interested in understanding the nature of memory and its profound impact on our everyday lives." --Daniel L. Schacter, PhD, Professor and Chair of Psychology, Harvard University, and author of
Searching for Memory"Given all the heat in the recovered memory controversy, it is time for some light. This book focuses the light of recent as well as classic research on the question of how and when memory is truthful. The book's perspective is guided by a clear vision of the role of hypnotic phenomena in memory. These balanced and informative chapters bring together the work of the very best scientists and clinicians." --Daniel M. Wegner, PhD, Professor of Psychology, University of Virginia, and author of White Bears and Other Unwanted Thoughts
Synopsis
How accurate is memory? Are there important differences in how and what we remember across the life span? What is the prevalence of "repressed memory" for traumatic events? What is the best way for therapists to elicit accurate memories from someone who may be a victim of incest? This book addresses these and other compelling questions reflecting deep divisions in scientific opinion, professional practice, and legal decision making. Leading researchers and practitioners review the current literature, describe new findings and clinical techniques, and draw upon their extensive experience in the field to provide diverse perspectives on the place of memory in our lives and the impact upon memory of personal, interpersonal, and situational influences.
About the Author
Steven Jay Lynn, PhD, is Professor of Psychology at the State University of New York at Binghamton. He is a former President of the American Psychological Association's Division of Psychological Hypnosis; and a Fellow in the American Psychological Association, the American Psychological Society, and the Association for Applied and Preventive Psychology. Dr. Lynn is a consulting Editor of the
Journal of Abnormal Psychology and has published more than 175 articles on memory, trauma, dissociation, and hypnosis.
Kevin M. McConkey, PhD, is Professor of Psychology and Head, School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. A graduate of the University of Queensland, he has held academic positions in Australia, Canada, and the United States. Professor McConkey is a Fellow and has served as President of the Australian Psychological Society
Table of Contents
I. Foundation1. Exhumed Memory, John F. Kihlstrom
2. Truth in Memory: Caveat Emptor, David G. Payne and Jason M. Blackwell
3. Expectancy Effects in Reconstructive Memory, Edward R. Hirt, Hugh E. McDonald, and Keith D. Markman
4. Psychotherapy and Reports of Early Sexual Trauma: A Conceptual Framework for Understanding Memory Errors, Michael R. Nash
II. Early Autobiographical Memories
5. The Assessment, Reliability, and Determinants of Early Memory Reports, Peter Malinoski, Steven Jay Lynn, and Harry Sivec
6. Tales from the Crib: Age Regression and the Creation of Unlikely Memories, Susan C. DuBreuil, Maryanne Garry, and Elizabeth F. Loftus
III. Suggestion and Suggestibility in Children
7. Memory and Suggestibility in Maltreated Children: New Research Relevant to Evaluating Allegations of Abuse, Mitchell L. Eisen, Gail S. Goodman, Jianjian Qin, and Suzanne L. Davis
8. Interviewing the Child Witness: Maximizing Completeness and Minimizing Error, Karen J. Saywitz and R. Edward Geiselman
IV. Memory and Psychotherapy: Research Findings and Clinical Considerations
Hypnosis and Pseudomemory: Understanding the Findings and Their Implications, Kevin M. McConkey, Amanda J. Barnier, and Peter W. Sheehan
10. Repressed Memories of Ritualistic and Religion-Related Child Abuse, Jianjian Qin, Gail S. Goodman, Bette L. Bottoms, and Phillip R. Shaver
11. Abducted by Aliens: Spurious Memories of Interplanetary Masochism, Leonard S. Newman and Roy F. Baumeister
12. Reflections on the Traumatic Memories of Dissociative Identity Disorder Patients, Richard P. Kluft
13. From Memories of Abuse to the Abuse of Memories, Jean-Roch Laurence, Duncan Day, and Louise Gaston
V. False Memories in the Domains of the Law, Textbooks, and the Media
14. Memory, Media, and the Creation of Confusion, Jeanne Albronda Heaton and Nona Leigh Wilson
15. Textbook Models of Multiple Personality: Source, Bias, and Social Consequences, Jean Maria Arrigo and Kathy Pezdek
16. Recovered Memories in the Courtroom, Ralph Underwager and Hollida Wakefield
VI. A Way Forward
17. Psychotherapy without Repressed Memory: A Parsimonious Alternative Based on Contemporary Memory Research, George A. Bonnano and David J. Keuler
18. Practical Truths in Memory, Michael M. Gruneberg and Douglas S. Hermann
19. Depolarizing Views on Recovered Memory Experiences, D. Stephen Lindsay