ABSTRACT

Therapists, judges, law enforcement, and students often believe in the existence of automatic and unconscious repression. Such a belief can be perilous as it might lead therapists to suggestively search for repressed memories leading to false memories. Recovering therapy-induced false memories of criminal acts can have serious consequences. Here, we tested whether erroneous beliefs in repressed memories can be corrected. Surveying two cohorts of Forensic and Legal Psychology Master’s students, we examined whether education about the science of (eyewitness) memory can correct erroneous beliefs in repressed memories. Students assessed memory statements before taking a course on eyewitness memory, six weeks after the course exam, and 18 or 6 months later, respectively (Ns = 33-74 per cohort and measurement). As expected, students in both cohorts on average initially strongly agreed with the statement that memories of traumatic events can be unconsciously blocked, but strongly disagreed with the statement after the course. Belief-corrections also persisted after the longer delay. These findings show that educating people about the science of (eyewitness) memory can be effective in correcting false and controversial memory beliefs in general and the existence of repressed memories in specific.

摘要

治疗师，法官，执法人员和学生通常相信存在自动和无意识的镇压。这种信念可能是危险的，因为它可能导致治疗师暗示性地寻找导致虚假记忆的被压抑的记忆。恢复治疗引起的对犯罪行为的错误记忆可能会造成严重后果。在这里，我们测试了被压抑的记忆中的错误信念是否可以纠正。通过调查法医和法律心理学硕士的两个学生队列，我们​​研究了关于（目击者）记忆科学的教育是否可以纠正被压抑的记忆中的错误信念。学生在参加目击者记忆课程之前，课程考试后的六周和18或6个月后分别评估了记忆力陈述（Ns =每组和每个测量值的33-74）。正如预期的那样，这两个队列中的学生最初平均都同意以下说法：创伤事件的记忆可以在不知不觉中被阻止，但在课程结束后，他们对此表示强烈反对。在更长的延迟之后，信念校正也仍然存在。这些发现表明，对人们进行（目击者）记忆科学教育可以有效地纠正一般的错误和有争议的记忆信念，尤其是纠正被压抑的记忆的存在。