Abstract
<p>The current study examined the impact of memory recovery techniques (guided imagery and dream interpretation) on mock jurors’ perceptions of recovered memories. Participants (<em>N</em> = 181) were randomly assigned to read one of four vignettes representing a therapist who uncovered memories of child sexual abuse in an adult female client using guided imagery, dream interpretation, technique concealed, or memories were continuous as opposed to recovered. Participants then responded to a series of questions regarding plaintiff credibility, defendant guilt, and external influences. Lower ratings of plaintiff credibility and defendant guilt emerged, along with higher ratings of external influence when guided imagery or dream interpretation was used by the therapist compared to when the technique was concealed. The same pattern of findings held when the dependent variables of interest reflected <em>credible vs. not credible</em> and <em>guilty vs. not guilty</em> decisions. The current study highlights the necessity of informing jurors as to the processes by which memories are recovered.</p>
Highlights
Understanding the mechanisms of the development of false memories of traumatic events is an important research endeavor given that such memories commonly appear in legal contexts, in part due to large numbers of lawsuits filed against parents (Loftus, 1993; Wakefield & Underwager, 1992)
Prosecuting witness credibility was significantly diminished in the guided imagery condition compared to the naive recovered memory control condition (p = .001, d = 1.14), and when the guided imagery condition was compared to the continuous memory control condition (p = .008, d = .65)
Prosecuting witness credibility was lower in the dream interpretation condition when compared to the naive recovered memory control condition (p = .001, d = 1.09), with the same pattern emerging when dream interpretation was compared to the continuous memory control condition (p = .007, d = .64)
Summary
Understanding the mechanisms of the development of false memories of traumatic events is an important research endeavor given that such memories commonly appear in legal contexts, in part due to large numbers of lawsuits filed against parents (Loftus, 1993; Wakefield & Underwager, 1992). A common avenue by which therapists create false memories of traumatic events occurs via the use of memory recovery techniques events (see Lynn, Krackow, Loftus, Lock, & Lilienfeld, 2015, for a review). The client comes to confidently believe the memory, in part because a byproduct of these techniques is that they increase confidence. This belief that memory recovery is necessary to reduce psychological symptoms is held despite data showing that participation in memory recovery therapy can be associated with negative life events and a reduction in the client’s quality of life (Loftus, 1997)
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