Comments on: Memory and Manipulation

Memory and Manipulation

homunculus — Thu, 19 Aug 2004 13:03:18 -0800

Memory and Manipulation. The trials of Elizabeth Loftus, a psychologist who questions the reliability of recovered memories. [Via Disinformation.]

By: mr.marx

mr.marx — Thu, 19 Aug 2004 13:44:36 -0800

Very interesting. Thanks, homunculus!

By: Danf

Danf — Thu, 19 Aug 2004 15:10:11 -0800

This case occured in my home community. It created schisms that likely still exist. I remember seeing many bumper stickers reading "I believe the Kids." And it is pretty clear, my now, that the alledged activities never happened.

By: LimePi

LimePi — Thu, 19 Aug 2004 21:56:31 -0800

I met Dr. Loftus at a family dinner party (my grandfather's sister's son's 70th birthday [what does that make him?... a Xth cousin Y removed...]) near the Irvine area. We had an interesting discussion about the politics of higher education and some of her research, etc. My father came over and tried to join the conversation. Me: Dad, this is Elizabeth Loftus. She is a psychologist who specializes in recovered memories. Dad: Can you help me find my car keys? Me: I don't think she can help you with that. When we start finding bodies under the house, give her a call. Dr. Loftus: *chuckle* (note: transcript certainly not verbatim. no siree)

By: caitlinb

caitlinb — Fri, 20 Aug 2004 17:59:24 -0800

I've had hypnotherapy sessions. I was looking for some help thinking outside the box about some confusing choices I was facing. It was an astonishing, emotional experience. I feel like I re-learned things I had forgotten and got a better sense of how to use past experience to help me in the moment. I cried every time, as you might expect in a process that is basically about churning stuff up, but it got me closer to where I wanted to be. Obviously the whole premise of my sessions was very different from the abuses in the news. For one thing, in our case, it didn't matter whether I remembered something "wrong," since we were expressly looking for patterns and ways to approach problems; any deviation from historical accuracy would probably be significant and useful, even without knowing the truth. (Loftus talks about this, too - even false memories can be strong and have a clear impact. Michael Rugg goes on to suggest that the perception of truth is more important than the truth value itself. These observations are constructive if respected.) One thing surprised (and reassured) me, going in, too: The therapist asked me to sign a release before we started, agreeing not to use any information that arose in our sessions to bring charges against another person - not just her, anyone.