“Recovered memories are not accurate. They cannot be trusted.”
“There is no evidence that recovered memories accurately reveal the specifics of long-ago events.” - August Piper, in the FMSF Newsletter. [1]
“Although belief in historically accurate recovered repressed memories is frequently found in books and movies, it is just that: fiction.” - Pamela Freyd, in the FMSF Newsletter. [2]
“Dr. [Harrison] Pope testified that even if there really was such a thing as a repressed or recovered memory, that to a reasonable degree of psychiatric certainty, one cannot evaluate the accuracy of retrieved memories without corroborating evidence." - Published in the FMSF newsletter. [3]
Refutation
Citations
[1 ] Piper, August. (2008, Fall). What’s Wrong with Believing in Repression? FMS Foundation Newsletter. 17(4), 5.
[2] Freyd, Pamela. (2008, Winter). Skeptical Review. FMS Foundation Newsletter. 17(1), 6.
[3] Rivers v. Father Flanagan's Boys Home and James E. Kelly, Doc. 1024 No. 743 (District Court of Douglas County Nebraska, 2005).
Cited in Legal Corner. (2006, January/February) FMS Foundation Newsletter. 15(1), 8.
[4] Bower, Bruce. (1993, September 18). Sudden recall: adult memories of child abuse spark a heated debate. Science News, 144(12), 184-86.
[5] Powell, Adam. (2002, July 24). After 24 years a daughter’s memory sends killer to jail. Daily Mail, p. 37. http://netk.net.au/UK/UK115.asp
[6] Williams, L. M. (1995). Recovered memories of abuse in women with documented child sexual victimization histories. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 8, 649-673.