False Memories Petition
The problem of a witness recall of memory based on psychiatric intervention- the evidence of which is unreliable

It is humbly submitted that oral evidence all over the world forms the primary form of evidence. What a person sees, hears and probably experiences are part of the testimony which can be rebutted by a cross examination. In the adversarial form of criminal law, evidence of this type must be subject to a cross examination by the defence. In the case of a person submitting evidence based on the recall of past events that spans years previously, mostly a result of intervention by a third agent -- a doctor or other operator who using a drug, powerful suggestions or hypnotic trance induce the witness to give evidence based on what they submit is from the 'subconscious'. The problem with this evidence is that it cannot be put to the test…...

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References

Caselaw. (2011) "State v. King: STATE of North Carolina v. Melvin Charles KING.

No. COA10 -- 1237." Retrieved 16 April, 2012 from  http://caselaw.findlaw.com/nc-court-of-appeals/1576370.html 

Elbow, Steven. (2010) "Memories on trial: Parents say therapists gave daughter false memories of abuse" The Capital Times, Retrieved 16 April, 2012 from http://host.madison.com/news/local/crime_and_courts/memories-on-trial-parents-say-therapists-gave-daughter-false-memories/article_56549e30-0c89-11e0-a44f-001cc4c03286.html#ixzz2QcOsRE2N

False Memory Syndrome Foundation Staff. (2013) "False Memory Syndrome Foundation

false memoies. Reseach indicates that many subjects of abuse o othe taumatic occuences often develop false memoies. They emembe events eithe diffeently than they actually occued, o they foget them entiely. One study by Doctos Roedige & McDemott in looked at undegaduates and how they pocessed memoies. Deep and shallow encoding was used to help them emembe lists of wods. Some emembeed the wods coectly, while othes emembeed them falsely. The deepe encoding method povided moe eliable esults. Many scientists and psychologists have studied the fomulation of false memoies and why they occu. False memoies can ceate poblems with a peson's view of the past and thei view of themselves, and most expets believe fo a peson to be "whole again," they must econstuct these memoies o thei psyche will be split in seveal diections.
Past eseach began as ealy as 1932 on false memoies, although liteatue and study has…...

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references and choices. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 4(2), 135-139. Retrieved September 15, 2009.

Bjorklund, D.F. (2000). False-memory creation in children and adults: Theory, research, and implications. Mahwah, N.J.: L. Erlbaum.

Brainerd, C.J., & Reyna, V.F. (2005). The science of false memory. Oxford psychology series, no. 38. New York: Oxford University Press.

Conway, M.A. (1997). Recovered memories and false memories. Debates in psychology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Corson, Y., Verrier, N., & Bucic, A. (2009, July). False memories and individual variations: The role of field dependence-independence. Personality and Individual Differences, 47(1), 8-11. Retrieved September 15, 2009.

Psychology
Memories are an important part of the human experience. They help us define who we are, based on our past experiences, the people we have met, the places we have been and the things that we have done. Yet, there is much that we take for granted about memories, and they are often misunderstood. Consider for example criminal trials, where testimony is given on the basis of what people remember about an incident. This is just one example of how we rely on memories, but examples exist throughout human society. The problem is that memories are not perfect. They are sometimes inaccurate -- we remember things differently from how they occurred, we confuse time frames, and over time it becomes more difficult to remember specific details. Psychologists have dedicated a substantial amount of study to memories, and the different factors that influence memory formulation, retention and recall. Consider that the…...

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References

Chan, J., Thomas, A. & Bulevich, J. (2009). Recalling a witnessed event increases eyewitness suggestibility. Psychological Science. Retrieved April 3, 2016 from https://public.psych.iastate.edu/ckchan/ISU_Site_for_Chan/Publications_files/Chan%20et%20al%202009%20Psych%20Sci.pdf

Schacter, D. (1999). The seven sins of memory. American Psychologist. Vol. 54 (3) 182-203.

Loftus, E. & Pickrell, J. (1995). The formation of false memories. Psychiatric Annals. Vol. 25 (12) 720-725.

epressed Memory
At first glance, The Myth of epressed Memory seems like it might be an offensive read that denigrates the experiences of millions of abuse and incest survivors. Yet according to Elizabeth Loftus and Katherine Ketcham, the phenomenon of repressed memory is largely a myth. The authors' motives for writing The Myth of epressed Memory seem noble enough on the surface: to retain the credibility of their professions and prevent the unnecessary traumatizing of clients who were never abused but who are instead duped into believing so. Yet the reader cannot help but wonder why Loftus and Ketcham are so adamant, almost angry, about the scores of stories related to repressed memory.

What Loftus and Ketcham describe in The Myth of epressed Memory is disturbing; that psychologists routinely tell their patients that buried deep within their psyche is a sexual abuse memory that is causing their current state of anxiety, addition,…...

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References

Loftus, E. & Ketcham, K. (1994). The Myth of Repressed Memory. New York: St. Martin's.

Pettus, A. (2008). Repressed memory? Harvard. Retrieved online:  http://harvardmagazine.com/2008/01/repressed-memory.html

Memory: How it Works and ecovering Lost Memories
The concept of memory and what comprises memory is often controversial. Loftus (1998) cites an article reporting on the case of a woman whose family accepted a large settlement on the grounds that health care professionals planted false memories into her mind. The woman suggested that she had been persuaded to believe multiple misconceptions regarding her history via drug therapy and hypnosis. While the case cited in this story is among the first involving allegation that psychotherapists may induce false memories, there is a long history of such cases brought to trial (Loftus, 1998).

How can this happen? The fact of the matter is that memory is for many a big mystery. Psychologists and researchers have been studying memory for some time (Goldsmith, Koriat & Pansky, 2000). The fact of the matter is no consistent conceptual framework exists for defining memory or completely understanding…...

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References:

Goldsmith, M., Koriat, A. & Pansky, A. (2000). "Toward a psychology of memory accuracy." Annual Review of Psychology, 481.

Loftus, E.F. (1998). "The price of bad memories." Skeptical Inquirer, 22: 23-24. 12, Nov

2005:  http://faculty.washington.edu/eloftus/Articles/price.htm

Hearing the sound of a large truck that sounds similar to a garbage truck will also remind me.
Some cues make remembering easier as well, by being a specific reminder. If someone asked me if I had done everything I needed to do today, I might remember that I need to take out the trash. However, if someone asked me if I had taken out the trash, I would almost definitely remember that I need to do so.

Finally, I am more likely to remember something if I have repeated it to myself several times. If I keep telling myself or being reminded by other people that I need to take out the trash, I am far more likely to remember it than if I only had one reminder. This is because I need the repetition to move the information from my short-term memory. Short-term memory can only store a limited…...

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Works Cited

Stasko, J. (1997) Human memory. Human-computer interface, Winter. Retrieved on November 11, 2004, at  http://www.cc.gatech.edu/classes/cs6751_97_winter/Topics/human-cap/memory.html 

Ward, K. (2004, 15 October) Psychology of memory: remembering. Ken Ward's creative memory course. Retrieved November 11, 2004 at  http://www.trans4mind.com/personal_development/creative-memory/psychology.htm 

Loftus, E. (1997, September) Creating false memories. Scientific American, volume 277, #3. 70-75. Retrieved November 11, 2004 at  http://faculty.washington.edu/eloftus/Articles/sciam.htm

umors of the impact of repressed memory are prevalent, "yet data on cognitive functioning in people reporting repressed and recovered memories of trauma have been strikingly scarce" (McNally 2011). Part of the explanation for this lack of evidence is the high rate of failure to actually pull out repressed memories within the context of the lab. Many studies examining the issue focused on using psychologists using hypothetical scenarios "hoping that this guided-imagery technique will unblock the presumably repressed memories" (McNally 2011). ather than providing the guidance that would help the participant show repressed memories, "unfortunately, this procedure may foster false memories," therefore jeopardizing the entire study (McNally 2011). As such, evidence for repressed memories remains elusive.
As a future professor, it is important to understand how memory works within the minds of one's students. There are a number of different strategies one can use to help students remember the most…...

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References

Kensinger, Elizabeth a. (2007). Negative emotion enhances memory accuracy. Association for Psychological Science, 16(4), 213-219.

McNally, Richard J. (2011). Recovering memories of trauma: A view from the laboratory. Psychological Science. Harvard University Department of Psychology. Web.  http://www.psychologicalscience.org/journals/cd/12_1/McNally.cfm

Cognitive
False Beliefs new

False Beliefs and Their Behavioral Consequences

Human psychology is so amazing that it can control human behavior with and without his conscious will. People often develop habits, behaviors or routines that become a vital part of their lives and once they become used to these habits, there are often negative aspects associated to these routines and habits that develop false believe in them (False Memories Can Influence Behavior, 2008). When there are false believes in the minds of people, they observe the world with same negative believes and perceptions and respond accordingly. The paper investigates whether the childhood memories affect the behavior in later age or not and how long-term or short-term it can be that the believes affect behavior.

Summary

The false believes are such a disease that is often beyond a person's ability to control. These believe inculcate in the minds of people and then limit the optimistic thinking…...

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References

False Memories Can Influence Behavior, (2008), Retrieved from:

 http://www.spring.org.uk/2008/10/false-memories-can-influence-behaviour.php 

Geraerts, E, Bernstein, D.M., Merckelbach, H., Linders, C., Raymaekers, and Loftus, E.F.,

(2008), "Lasting False Beliefs and Their Behavioral Consequences," Association for Psychological Science, 19(8), pp. 749-753

Memory
Is repression a valid and legitimate process in the sense that Freud portrayed it or, alternatively, as might be presented in a more modern explanation?

According to Freud we 'repress' aspects of our memory we find unpleasant by relegating them to what Freud called our subconscious, versus our conscious mind (Ciccarelli 2013: 180). Scientists today are more inclined to view repression in light of the faulty operations of long-term memory retrieval. As new memories are created in a subject's long-term memory, existing memories can become distorted or replaced (Ciccarelli 2013: 182). Also, every time a memory is retrieved it is slightly altered, as it is affected by the memories that have been subsequently formed. Memory can also become distorted by current misinformation. We may think we have remembered something but we are really affected by the prompting of others.

Thus, repression can be legitimate in the sense that not all memories are…...

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References

Ciccarelli, S.K., & White, J.N. (2013). Psychology: An Exploration (2nd ed.). U.S.A.: Pearson

Education, Inc.

Johnson, Kareem J. & Barbara L. Fredrickson. (2005). "We all look the same to me:"

Positive emotions eliminate the own-race bias in face recognition.

False Identification and Lineup Instructions Biased/Unbiased
There are many instances where people have been wrongly accused only because they were falsely identified or either because there was not enough evidence present that would prove them guilty. George Allen Jr. was convicted in 1983 on the charges of capital murder, rape, sodomy and first degree burglary. It has been noted that the reason for his false conviction was false confession, invalid or improper forensic evidence and government misconduct (Innocenceproject.org, 2013). Another case is of Barry Gibbs who was charged with second degree murder in the year 1988. He was wrongly charged due to eyewitness misidentification and government misconduct. It was noted that Barry Gibbs served 17.5 years of jail time before he was exonerated in the year 2005. (Innocenceproject.org, 2013)

These cases therefore give an idea that eyewitness misidentification is a very important cause of wrongful convictions all over the country and the…...

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References

Brandon, R. & Davies, C. (1973). Wrongful imprisonment. [Hamden, Conn.]: Archon Books.

Buckhout, R. & Others (1974). Determinants of eyewitness performance on a lineup.. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 4 (3), 191-192.

Christianson, S. (1992). Emotional stress and eyewitness memory: a critical review. Psychological bulletin, 112 (2), 284.

Grether, W.F., & Baker, C.A. (1972). Visual presentation of information. In H.P. Van Cott & R.G. Kinkade (Eds.), Human engineering guide to equipment design (pp. 41-121). Washington, D.C.: American Institutes for Research

Its a good idea to leave behind information that is not necessary for us any more like past phone numbers and names of strangers whom we may not meet again.
Episodic Memories

Episodic memories are the autobiographical events of a person's life based on his or her experiences, relationships, learning and ideas. In a loss of episodic memory, the links that exist in the temporal and frontal lobes of the brain are broken. This happens when the patient has suffered a head injury or has been in any form of trauma. Also, episodic memory failure happens when the frontal lobes are damaged and as a result, the patient is able to remember some information though not in the order in which it happened. Further more, this leads to false recollection of events that could not have happened.

Implicit memories

Implicit memories are those that do not require intentional remembering or recollection and include…...

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References

Gibb, Barry. (2007). The Rough Guide to the Brain. New York: Penguin

Squire. L; Kandel. E. (2000). Memory: From Mind to Molecules. New York: Scientific American Library

Schacter, Daniel. (2001). The Seven Sins of Memory. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.

" In fact, in the 8 years since she wrote her article, physicians and other professionals have been leaving the profession in droves, simply because of the rise in lawsuits, and the coinciding rise in malpractice insurance that doctors must carry to do business today. Indeed, patients are suing for everything from shoddy psychiatric treatment to misdiagnosis and error during medical treatment. It seems as if some patients are simply waiting for a problem with their treatment, so they can take advantage of it and sue, hoping to collect a big award, just as some of the patients did in Loftus' article. The prevailing attitude among many patients is that doctors are all "wealthy" and thus they can afford these lawsuits, whether they deserve them or not.
This offers great implications for the future of healthcare. Just recently, a news report talked about the absence of newly graduated doctors going into…...

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References

Loftus, Elizabeth F. "The Price of Bad Memories." University of Washington. 1998. 14 Dec. 2006.  http://faculty.washington.edu/eloftus/Articles/price.htm

epressed and recovered memory has been the topic of much debate for the past ten years. Many feel that these psychological issues have been used to create chaos in the legal system and to destroy families. Professional organizations all over the world have commented on the controversy surrounding repressed and recovered memory.
The purpose of this discussion is to examine the issues and controversies that the psychiatric community is currently facing. We will also explore the research involving repressed and recovered memory. Let's begin by defining repressed memory and recovered memory.

Definition of epressed Memory and ecovered Memory

According to the Psychology Dictionary repression is a, "Psychoanalytic Theory, the defense mechanism whereby our thoughts are pulled out of our conscious and into our unconscious." (Psychology Dictionary) Many psychologists have concluded that the act of repressing memory is usually caused by a traumatic event. (Carroll 2002) These psychologists also contend that repressed memories can…...

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References www.questia.com/PM.qst?action=openPageViewer&docId=5000848529

Memories: true or false. (2002, Fall). Issues in Science and Technology, 19, 7+..

Psychology Dictionary (2003). Retrieved May 19, 2003, at   www.questia.com/PM.qst?action=openPageViewer&docId=5000917406http://allpsych.com/dictionary/r.html 

Alessi, H.D., & Ballard, M.B. (2001). Memory development in children: implications for children as witnesses in situations of possible abuse. Journal of Counseling and Development, 79(4), 398+.

Carroll, (2002). Repressed Memory. Retrieved May 20, 2003, at  http://skepdic.com/repressedmemory.html

Learning & Memory
The Accuracy of Memory

The research I completed for this assignment was fairly straightforward. Upstairs in my living room on a day in which I had yet to leave the house, I tried to imagine my front door. I did so without having looked at it for at least 14 hours -- since I had arrived at home the evening before. Once I was able to visualize the door, I then wrote down all of the details that I could conceive of related to its physical appearance. My annotations on this subject included the fact that the door is white and is at the base of approximately 20 steps which lead to the main unit of the domicile. In this tall foyer, the white of the door stands out against the creme color of the walls around it (I was able to see this same color on the walls…...

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References

Baars, B. (1997). In the Theater of Consciousness: the Workspace of the Mind. San Diego: Oxford University Press.

Dehon, H., Laroi, F. "Affective valence influences participant's susceptibility to False Memories and Illusory Recollection." Emotion. 10 (5): 627-639.

Gallo, D.A. (2010). "False memories and fantastic beliefs: 15 years of DRM illusion." Memory & Cognition. 38 (7): 833-848.

Lindsay, D.F., Read, D.J. (1994). "Psychotherapy and memories of childhood sexual abuse: a cognitive perspective." Applied Cognitive Psychology. 8: 281-338.

Emotions affect how memories are processed, stored, and retrieved, which also impacts how learning takes place. Perhaps more importantly, emotions impact cognitive processes and learning. Neuroscience shows the ways thoughts are processed depends on one's cultural context and also emotional states. Thinking styles may be also linked to the learning process, as Zhang & Sternberg (2010) point out, and thinking styles are themselves related to cultural variables. The ways people process information therefore has to do with social learning as well as emotional learning and memory. Certain types of emotions may be more conducive to specific types of learning styles or learning behaviors. Emotions can also promote synchronized or chaotic neurological responses. These findings have implications for classroom design and pedagogy.
Wealth means far more than just possession of material goods. As Zhang & Sternberg (2010) point out, capital refers not only to assets in the traditional sense but also to…...