Repressed Memories Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Repressed Memories - Research Paper Example For example, an undesirable thought may interfere with day-today work, causes anxiety, loss of sleep, or simply it is annoying. In the extreme cases, potential suppressors are the victims of physical, verbal, or sexual abuse, or have visions of a loved one dying, that may cause impairments in all aspects of the experiencer’s life. This motivated forgetting comes in two forms: unconscious, as in the controversial and contentious repressed memory literature, and conscious, as in the attempted suppression of undesirable thoughts (Bjork, Bjork, & Anderson, 1998). Controversy surrounding the concept of repression and the recovery of repressed memories has been brought to the forefront of recent literature. Jurors are being faced with the difficult task of evaluating testimony from alleged victims claiming to have recovered previously forgotten memories of childhood sexual abuse. The role of jury members is to determine the innocence or guilt of the accused - a task which is particularly difficult given that the events in question have typically taken place many years previously. Unfortunately, such cases are also characterized by a lack of evidence, aside from the testimonial accounts of the alleged victim and the accused. A recovered memory is one which is suppressed or forgotten for a period of time and then later recalled. In order to further our understanding of recovered memories, a review of why individuals forget is warranted. There are currently four prominent explanations behind why people might seem to forget and then later recall traumatic events: 1) ordinary forgetting, 2) false memories, 3) dissociation, and 4) repression. Loftus, Gary, and Feldman (1994) suggest that memory of traumatic events may be no different from memory of regular events. Therefore, one would expect the process of forgetting to be the same, resulting from normal processes such as interference and decay. As noted by Brewin and Andrews (1998),