Chris Green said: > You may recall that, a while ago, Stephen Black (I think) told us of a > challenge by the McLean Hospital Psychiatry Lab, which would give $1000 > to anyone who could find an account of repressed memory, fictional or > not, prior to the year 1800. The aim of the challenge was to prove that > the whole idea of repressed memory was a recent cultural construct, not > something that naturally occurs in the human brain. It turns out that > the challenge has been met, though admittedly, not by very much. An > example of repressed memory has been found from 1786.
Would it be churlish of me to point out that I posted on this development back on March 31, 2007? It's probably overweening hubris to expect that anyone would remember, but as you didn't, I inflict my post on you again. However, it does have a few details not mentioned in the more recent posts. Stephen ------- Forwarded message follows ------- From: Self <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: TIPS <[email protected]> Subject: Pope's repressed memory challenge Date sent: Sat, 31 Mar 2007 22:22:30 -0400 There are two very interesting things in the current issue of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation newsletter (see http://www.fmsfonline.org/currentnewsletter.pdf ) but I only have time for one of them now. We've previously discussed Harrison Pope's $1000 challenge to find a published example of repressed memory, fact or fiction, before the year 1800. Pope's opinion seems to be that the idea of repressed memory is a relatively recently-invented concept lacking scientific validity. In his view, the failure to find an example of it prior to 1800 would strengthen the case for interpreting it as a culturally-determined invention. He widely advertised his challenge and its $1000 inducement to prove him wrong. Sure enough, an article has recently appeared from Pope et al (2007), in which they report that no one has provided a satisfactory example worthy of the prize. They therefore concluded: "It appears that dissociative amnesia [repressed memory] is not a natural neuropsychological phenomenon, but instead a culture-bound syndrome, dating from the nineteenth century." But hold the presses! The FMSF newsletter has a cryptic update. It says: "Since the publication of the article and ensuing publicity, the authors awarded the $1,000 to someone who found an example in a 1786 opera". The comment is referenced only by the statement that this is based on a personal communication from Harrison Pope dated March 27, 2007, which is pretty close to right now. No other details. Intrigued, I went looking for the winning entry and for the winner, Mr. Someone. What I came up with was a one-act comic opera called _Nina_ by Marsollier and Dalayrac, which premiered in Paris in 1786. I didn't have a summary of the libretto but it formed the basis of a later opera (1789) with the same name by Piasiello. The plot of that opera featured a young woman exposed to a traumatic event who subsequently lost all memory for it . (She sees her love apparentlly slain in a duel and her father demanding that she marry the killer. That's gotta hurt! But you'll be relieved to know that it all turns out ok in the end; otherwise it wouldn't be a comic opera, would it?) Searching still further, I was also able to identify Mr. Someone, who turns out to be George Simmers. Here's his account of how he came to win the prize (although he writes before his success was declared): http://greatwarfiction.wordpress.com/2007/03/06/repression-challenge-my- contender/ http://tinyurl.com/2wgjkb Mr. Simmers is not forthcoming with details, but still more searching led me to identify him as a Ph.D. student (probably of literature) at Oxford Brookes University in the UK. I understand that this institution is not the same as another university over there called Oxford, although the similarity of name does invite confusion. Congratulations, George! Stephen Reference Pope HG Jr, Poliakoff MB, Parker MP, Boynes M, Hudson JI (2007). Is dissociative amnesia a culture-bound syndrome? Findings from a survey of historical literature. Psychol Med. 2007 Feb;37(2):225-33. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology, Emeritus Bishop's University e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 2600 College St. Sherbrooke QC J1M 1Z7 Canada ----------------------------------------------------------------------- --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
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