Recovered Memories of
Childhood Sexual Abuse
Outline

Background information

Prevalence of childhood sexual abuse

Recovered memory therapy

The case against RMT

Professional consensus on recovered memories

Directions for future research
Background information

1988-1993 - epidemic of childhood sexual abuse accusations
and court cases based on recovered memories, some of which
were very bizarre.

Alleged perpetrators successfully sued by their children who
used recovered memories as their primary source of evidence.

Debate about between RM therapists and experimental
psychologists about whether recovered memories are accurate
representations of the past or illusory memories created
during therapy.
Who are the accusers?*

92% are female

74% are between ages 31 and 50

31% have at least some post-secondary education
60% report having memories of abuse stemming
from events occurring prior to age 4

*Based on statistics from the False Memory Syndrome
Foundation
What types of accusations are
commonly made?*

62% accuse their fathers of abuse.

30% accuse both mother and father of abuse.
18% make allegations of satanic or ritualistic
abuse.

*Based on statistics from the False Memory Syndrome
Foundation
Outline

Background information

Prevalence of childhood sexual abuse

Recovered memory therapy

The case against RMT

Professional consensus on recovered memories

Directions for future research
Prevalence of Childhood Sexual Abuse

Prevalence estimates vary considerably
across studies.

Burnam (1985) - 6%

Wyatt (1985) - 62%
Recovered Memory Therapy
(RMT)
Theoretical Basis for RMT

Freud and Repression

Emotionally threatening
experiences (e.g.,CSA) are
banished to the unconscious.

Memories are potentially
recoverable from unconscious, if
anxiety associated with the memory
is removed
Popular Books

“The Courage to Heal”
(Ellen Bass & Laura
Davis, 1988)

“Secret Survivors:
Uncovering Incest and its
Aftereffects in Women”
(E. Sue Blume, 1990)
RMT movement argue…
(1) CSA is very common.
(2) Memories of CSA are often repressed.
(3) Common forms of physical and psychological
distress are often symptomatic of CSA.
(4) Individuals who exhibit symptoms should
attempt to recover their abuse memories.
What happens in Recovered Memory
Therapy?
1
Visit therapist
for unrelated
reason
2
Therapist
suggests
symtoms
resemble those
of previous
RMS clients
3
Sessions to
recover
repressed
memories
(visualisation,
hypnosis,
journalling, etc.)
4
Recovery (or
reconstruction)
of repressed
memories
(often very vivid
and intense)
5
Initially
sceptical client
becomes
convinced he or
she was
abused
Recovery Techniques

Remember childhood event, and attempt link
abuse to that event

Link abuse to family photographs

View horror films depicting sexual violence

Massage (body memories)

Stream of consciousness journaling

Hypnotic regression
Evidence for repression?

Williams (1994) interviewed 129 adults who, as
children, were taken to emergency rooms for
abuse-related injuries.

Two decades later, 20 indicated that they could
not remember their hospitalization.

Williams found that those who had be most
severely abused were more likely to have
forgotten the experience.
Outline

Background information about the debate

Prevalence of childhood sexual abuse

Recovered memory therapy

The case against RMT

Professional consensus on recovered memories

Directions for future research
The case against RMT

Evidence against repression

Empirical demonstrations of the creation of
false memories.
Evidence Against Repression

Individuals often have “recurrent, intrusive
thoughts” about traumatic events (e.g.,
PTSD symptoms).

Holmes (1990) review of 60 years of
repression research.


All studies supporting the repression concept were
flawed.
No controlled laboratory studies support the
existence of repression.
Demonstrations of implanted
false memories

Roediger & McDermott (1995)

Lost in a shopping mall (Loftus &
Pickrell, 1995)
Lost in a shopping mall study
(Loftus & Pickrell, 1995)

Goal: To instill a false memory
for a mildly traumatic event using
techniques similar to those used in
RMT.

Reminiscence game technique.
Results from 14 year old subject
Day 1
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
M em ory
im planted
by older
sibling
S recalls
general
feelings
about
being lost
S recalls
conversing
w ith
m other
afte r be ing
found
Recalls
additional
details
about m an
w ho found
him
Recalls
spe cific
store s in
m all and
conversation
w ith m an
Evidence against implantation of
“implausible” false memories

Pezdek and Hodge (1999)

Sample = 39 children aged 5 to 12

Used a procedure similar to Loftus &
Pickrell (1995) to compare the ease with
which “plausible” and “implausible”
memories could be implanted.
Results (Pezdek & Hodge, 1999)
25
20
Number of
participants who
recalled false
events.
15
10
5
0
Plausible
Both
Only Implausible
Only
Neither
Problems with Pezdek

Ss in Pezdek’s were asked to try to recall
memories over a 3-day period. RMT often
goes on for months or years.

Research by Ceci suggests that the longer
people think about “non-events” the more
likely they are to believe them.
Problems with Pezdek

Pezdek assumes that people do not have
well-developed scripts for implausible
events such as CSA and ritualistic abuse.

But… many people in RMT are
encouraged to read abuse self-help books,
which will facilitate the development of
such scripts.
How exactly are false memories
created anyway?

Heightened client suggestibility combined
with bad therapy.

Source confusion
Heightened Suggestibility
Long delay
between
event and
recall
Source of
misinformation
perceived to be
credible
Heightened
Suggestibility
Use of
hypnosis or
relaxation
techniques
Individual
Differences
+
Bad
Therapy
Illusory
Memory
Source Confusion
True
Memories
False
Memories
Imaginings
Key areas of consensus in the
recovered memory debate.
Most psychologists agree…

CSA occurs at an unacceptably high level
within society.

Satanic and ritualistic abuse is very rare.

CSA is positively correlated with
psychopathology in adults.
Most psychologists also agree…

Most people who are victims of CSA
remember all or part of what happened to
them.

Continuous memories of CSA are likely to
be accurate.

Memories of abuse from early infancy are
highly unreliable (“infantile amnesia”).
And most psychologists also agree…

It is possible to implant false memories using
techniques similar to those used in RMT.

False memories can be incredibly vivid.

The confidence with which one holds a memory
is not predictive of the accuracy of that memory.

It is impossible to separate accurate from
inaccurate memories if RMT has been used.
Recovered memories of abuse are not reliable
evidence that abuse has actually occurred.

Future research is needed to…

Determine which therapeutic techniques put
clients most at risk for developing false
memories.

Determine which techniques are most effective in
recovering accurate memories.

Understand the impact of trauma on memory
processes.

Determine which types of people are most
susceptible to memory suggestion, and why?