“Memories can’t be completely unavailable and then suddenly recovered. The person just chose not to think about it.”
“The memory problems that are mentioned actually refer to everyday forgetfulness -- not an inability to remember the trauma… Ordinary memory processes, not repression, explain the subjective experience of recovering a memory.” - FMS Foundation Staff, in the FMSF Newsletter. [1]
“Not thinking about a trauma for a long time is not the same as being unable to remember it.” - Richard McNally, in the FMSF Newsletter. [2]
Refutation
Citations
[1] FMS Foundation Staff. (2009, Spring). Understanding The Subjective Experience of Recovered Memories. FMS Foundation Newsletter. 18(2), 3.
[2] McNally, Richard. (2005). Debunking myths about trauma and memory. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 50(13). 817-822.
Cited in New Articles of Interest. (2006, March/April 2006). FMS Foundation Newsletter. 5(2), 4.
[3] Brown, D., Scheflin, A. W., & Whitfield, C. L. (1999). Recovered Memories: The Current Weight of the Evidence in Science and in the Courts. The Journal of Psychiatry & Law, 27(1), 5–156. doi:10.1177/009318539902700102
[4] Clark v. Edison, Memorandum and Order on Cross-Motions to Limit or Exclude Expert Testimony. Civil Action No.09-40040-FDS Document 156 (District Court of Massachusetts, 2012, July 25). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-mad-4_09-cv-40040/pdf/USCOURTS-mad-4_09-cv-40040-2.pdf
[5] Dalenberg, C. (2006). Recovered Memory and the Daubert Criteria. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 7(4), 274–310. doi:10.1177/1524838006294572
[6] MacLeod, C. M. (1998). Directed forgetting. In J. M. Golding & C. M. MacLeod (Eds.), Intentional forgetting: Interdisciplinary approaches (pp. 1–57). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
[7] Lewis, Kevin. (2014, September 11). Maryland swim coach Chris Huott sentenced to 10 years in prison for child sex abuse. WJLA
[8] Bidrose, S., & Goodman, G. S. (2000). Testimony and evidence: a scientific case study of memory for child sexual abuse. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 14(3), 197–213.
[9] Jacks, Timna. (2015, September 2). Sex abuse royal commission: Geelong Grammar student has “no memory” of repeated abuse at school. The Sydney Morning Herald.
[10] Schooler, J. W., Bendiksen, M., & Ambadar, A. (1997). Taking the middle line: Can we accomodate both fabricated and recovered memories of sexual abuse? In M. A. Conway (Ed.), Recovered memories and false memories. Oxford: Oxford University Press.