The Memory Wars Then and Now: The Contributions of Scott O. Lilienfeld

Abstract

In this review, honoring Scott O. Lilienfeld, we reflect on key conflicts, controversies, and flash points in the so-called memory wars that have captured headlines, affected legislative action, and influenced civil suits and criminal trials. We trace the memory wars, beginning in the 1990s to the present. From the outset, the memory wars featured debates regarding repressed memories, recollections of trauma, and the hazards of memory recovery therapy, and these disagreements persist today in controversies concerning dissociative amnesia, beliefs about memory, suggestive psychotherapies, and the genesis of dissociative identity disorder (DID). We acknowledge Lilienfeld’s contributions, particularly to the sociocognitive model of DID, reviewed in the second half of the article, and to a recent transtheoretical framework that contrasts sharply with the posttraumatic view of DID. The memory wars greatly enhanced scientific understanding of memory, trauma, iatrogenic psychotherapies, and dissociative disorders. We conclude with suggestions for future research to deepen understanding of issues stimulated by the memory wars.