-Caveat Lector- Hi ! Here's some information about traumatic memory. Sincerely, Neil Brick Excerpts from: http://www.smith-lawfirm.com/Murphy_Memory_Article.html#The reality of traumatic memories Victims Law Debunking 'false memory' myths in sexual abuse cases By Wendy J. Murphy Wendy J. Murphy is of counsel with the Boston law firm of Brody, Hardoon, Perkins & Kesten and a Sr. Legal Analyst with MSNBC. She acknowledges the contributions of Professors Cynthia Bowman and Elizabeth Mertz of Northwestern University School of Law, who generously shared with the author a legal brief in which they compiled much of the scientific research on recovered memories. � 1997, Wendy J. Murphy The reality of traumatic memories Of course, plaintiff lawyers who file this type of motion must understand the research that supports the reliability of traumatic memories and be able to argue its validity effectively. Research conducted over more than 100 years shows that the mind can avoid conscious narrative or visual recall of traumatic information and recover it years later. Several recent publications provide good overviews of the scientific support for recovered memories of sexual abuse survivors./7/ In studies dating back to the 19th century, French philosopher and psychologist Pierre Janet found evidence that victims of trauma experienced amnesia for some or all aspects of the trauma./8/ According to Janet, traumatic memories consist of images, sensations, and emotional and behavioral states. This is different from narrative memory-what laypeople commonly refer to as memory-otherwise known as symbolic or explicit memory. Janet observed that intense emotional experiences could lead to continuous and retrograde amnesia that splits off the traumatic memories from ordinary consciousness. The traumatic information is nonetheless retained as "unconscious fixed ideas" that cannot be assimilated into consciousness as long as they have not been acknowledged and understood. Inability to understand and face the trauma causes it to intrude into consciousness in the form of terrifying perceptions, obsessional preoccupations, and anxiety disorders. Janet's findings have consistently been confirmed in studies over the past century, including several in recent years (see accompanying sidebar). His research helps explain why some visual memories are recovered when stimulated by an emotional reminder of the traumatic event. To some extent, this is like the emotional reminder a person experiences when he or she hears an old love song or smells the cologne or perfume of a loved one. Because of strong support in the research, recovered memory science has been recognized as valid by a number of medical authorities: American Psychiatric Association. The DSM-IV recognizes the existence of posttraumatic stress disorder, dissociative amnesia, and dissociative identity disorder.9 Each of these terms, which refer to what laypeople usually call "repression," describes a fragmenting of the brain during a traumatic experience. This fragmenting process illustrates why trauma victims often cannot relate a cohesive visual narrative of child sexual abuse and why sometimes the memories of those incidents resemble seemingly unconnected and sometimes objectively unbelievable pieces of events. These diagnoses reflect a well-established scientific recognition that the mind can avoid conscious visual recall of traumatic experiences. In most cases, the mere fact that these diagnoses are listed in the DSM-IV should be ample evidence to establish the reliability of expert scientific testimony about recovered memories. The association has also issued a formal "Statement on Memories of Sexual Abuse," which noted, Children and adolescents who have been abused cope with the trauma by using a variety of psychological mechanisms. In some instances, these coping mechanisms result in a lack of conscious awareness of the abuse for varying periods of time. Conscious thoughts and feelings stemming from the abuse may emerge at a later date./10/ American Medical Association. A report of the AMA's Council on Scientific Affairs confirmed that there are cases in which amnesia resulted from childhood sexual abuse and that the "recovered memories proved to be correct."/11/ British Psychological Society. This organization issued a working group report that called the false memory position on repression "extreme." According to the report, the scientific evidence reveals that between one-third and two-thirds of abuse victims had periods when they "totally or partially forgot the abuse." The report also noted that there is "much less evidence on the creation of false memories."/12/ American Psychological Association. A recent association report acknowledged that "it is possible for memories of abuse that have been forgotten for a long time to be remembered."/13/ Defense evidence To counter this overwhelming evidence that the mind is capable of repressing traumatic memories of child sexual abuse, defendants will attempt to have their experts testify about "false memory syndrome," the "implanting" of "false memories," and the "highly memorable nature" of traumatic events. Plaintiff lawyers can make a strong case that none of these is reliable or relevant to child sex abuse cases. False memory syndrome. This simply does not exist as a recognized medical condition. The phrase was coined by the False Memory Syndrome Foundation, an organization formed to provide legal and emotional support to those accused of sexual abuse. While nobody would argue that memory is perfect, imperfection is hardly enough to merit recognition of a medical syndrome. Indeed, the DSM-IV nowhere recognizes this condition, and no studies or research exists to suggest that anyone suffers from it. Defense experts sometimes try to demonstrate that false memories exist because people have been known to allege that they were sexually abused as children, only to recant later. While recantations do occur, albeit infrequently, they usually occur because the victim was rejected by his or her family, because the memory was too painful to manage, or because the victim was threatened. Sometimes, a victim agrees to recant his or her story as part of a confidential settlement. Whatever the motivation for recantations, they hardly demonstrate the existence of "false" memories. Given the lack of any scientific basis for false memory syndrome evidence, testimony about the syndrome clearly cannot satisfy Daubert's reliability prong. Moreover, this testimony has no probative value in most of these cases. Without probative value or scientific integrity, this testimony should be excluded. "Implanted" memories. Defense experts often testify about studies showing that people are suggestible and may be misled to believe, for example, that they saw a certain color or witnessed a particular event. These studies do not involve protracted, secret child sexual abuse, so the testimony has no bearing on most recovered memory cases. Moreover, there is no scientific evidence to suggest that the mind is capable of being "implanted" with wholly false memories of sexual abuse. In a recent study, scientists tried to mislead adult test subjects to believe that they had been lost in a shopping mall as children. They also tried to convince them that they had experienced rectal enemas as children. While 3 out of 20 subjects erroneously claimed to have been lost in the mall (a relatively common and familiar experience), no subjects would erroneously agree that they had had a rectal enema./14/ Defense experts, nevertheless, will try to testify that it is possible to implant false memories of sexual abuse based simply on the fact that human beings are vulnerable to suggestion. To be sure, advertising would not exist if people were not suggestible to some degree. However, persuading a person to buy a product is a far cry from implanting a wholly false memory of rape. The highly memorable nature of traumatic events. Defense experts will try to offer anecdotal testimony about reactions to traumatic public events like the Challenger explosion and the assassination of John F. Kennedy. They seek to prove that these experiences are highly memorable and not capable of being repressed. But these public events in no way compare with the highly personal and often protracted trauma of child sexual abuse.... Supported studies on recovered memories The following research studies, among others, support the reality of traumatic memory loss as a result of sexual abuse. These studies should be included in the plaintiff's motion to exclude testimony by the defense on so-called false memories. �F. Albach et al., Memory Recovery of Childhood Sexual Abuse, Dissociation (1997, in press). �J. Briere & J. Conte, Self-reported Amnesia for Abuse in Adults Molested in Childhood, 6 J. Traumatic Stress 21 (1993). �A.W. Burgess et al., Memory Presentations of Childhood Sexual Abuse, 33 J. Psychosocial Nursing & Mental Health Servs. 9 (1995). �C. Cameron, Women Survivors Confronting Their Abusers: Issues, Decisions and Outcomes, 3 J. Child Sexual Abuse 7-35 (1994). �D.M. Elliott & J. Briere, Posttraumatic Stress Associated with Delayed Recall of Sexual Abuse: A General Population Study, 8 J. Traumatic Stress 629 (1995). �Shirley Feldman-Summers & Kenneth S. Pope, The Experience of "Forgetting" Childhood Abuse: A National Survey of Psychologists, 62 J. Consulting & Clinical Psychol. 636 (1994). �Judith Lewis Herman & Emily S. Schatzow, Recovery and Verification of Memories of Childhood Sexual Trauma, 4 Psychoanalytic Psychol. 1 (1987). �Richard P. Kluft, The Argument for the Reality of the Delayed Recall of Trauma, in TRAUMA AND MEMORY: CLINICAL AND LEGAL CONTROVERSIES 25 (Paul S. Appelbaum et al. eds., 1997). �Elizabeth F. Loftus et al., Memories of Childhood Sexual Abuse: Remembering and Reprising, 18 Psychol. Women Q. 67 (1994). �Melissa A. Polusny & Victoria M. Follette, Remembering Childhood Sexual Abuse: A National Survey of Psychologists' Clinical Practices, Beliefs, and Personal Experiences, 27 Prof. Psychol.: Res. & Prac. 41 (1996). �Catherine M. Roe & Mark F. Schwartz, Characteristics of Previously Forgotten Memories of Sexual Abuse: A Descriptive Study, 24 J. Psychiatry & L. 189 (1996). �T.A. Roesler & T.W. Wind, Telling the Secret: Adult Women Describe Their Disclosures of Incest, 9 J. Interpersonal Violence 327-38 (1994). �Lenore Terr, What Happens to Early Memories of Trauma? A Study �of Twenty Children Under Age Five at the Time of Documented Traumatic Events, 27 J. Am. Acad. Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 96 (1988). �B.A. van der Kolk, The Body Keeps the Score: Memory and the Evolving Psychobiology of Posttraumatic Stress, 1 Harv. Rev. Psychiatry 253 (1994). �B.A. van der Kolk & R. Fisler, Dissociation and the Fragmentary Nature of Traumatic Memories: Overview and Exploratory Study, 8 J. Traumatic Stress 505 (1995). �L.M. Williams, Recall of Childhood Trauma: A Prospective Study of Women's Memories of Child Sexual Abuse, 62 J. Consulting & Clinical Psychol. 1167 (1994). 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