Repressed memories

[Jabberwocky]

If it's repressed, I don't remember it, do I?

[Alvecia]

If it's repressed, I don't remember it, do I?

I believe the point is that these memories were previously repressed.

[36 Camera Perspective]

If it's repressed, I don't remember it, do I?

I believe the point is that these memories were previously repressed.

Or that the memory "bubbles up" into consciousness through dreams and psychological complexes.

[Republic of the Cristo]

A lot ( I dare say most ) of the psych community doesn't believe in repressed memories. Just as an example, no one who was ever an inmate at Auschwitz ever forgot their time there.

Repressed memories are still a theory, and yet they have been used for convictions of possibly innocent men; Shanely spent 16 years in prison because of such a conviction.

It's doubtful Shanely was actually innocent.

True, but he shouldn't have been convicted in the manner that he was.

[A Trade Agreement With England]

Anything relevant to the case that a party would testify as truth should be admissible evidence. I can not believe that any court would genuinely use a single testimony alone as an indicator of guilt.

Even unrepressed memories are not enough in and of themselves to convict anybody, because people will misremember details. Every piece of evidence is taken together to create a larger picture.

[Cedoria]

It is my belief that repressed memories should be permitted as evidence but, as with lip-reading in the United Kingdom, the jury and judge should be made aware of its unreliability.

If it's unreliable, it cannot be considered evidence.

All evidence, particularly oral evidence, is unreliable to some degree.

I'm skeptical about this whole concept. Certainly I wouldn't base convictions on it, although I don't think it's unreasonable to take it into consideration with an adult witness. Children are a different story again.

[Des-Bal]

A repressed memory is something you don't remember without someone else leading you and should be treated as no more significant than anything else you don't remember.

[Xmara]

Anything relevant to the case that a party would testify as truth should be admissible evidence. I can not believe that any court would genuinely use a single testimony alone as an indicator of guilt.

Even unrepressed memories are not enough in and of themselves to convict anybody, because people will misremember details. Every piece of evidence is taken together to create a larger picture.

But they have, if I’m not mistaken.

[Esternial]

It doesn't seem that far-fetched to imagine that your brain can suppress memories when these inflict excess stress unto the body. The brain is capable of factoring out plenty of unnecessary information.

From my limited knowledge of neurobiology I'd say it's not impossible, but of course when talking about memories from childhood, they'll always be foggy. There's always a risk for memory implantation or modification, which I believe is pretty relevant to the entire "repressed memories" discussion.

A lot ( I dare say most ) of the psych community doesn't believe in repressed memories. Just as an example, no one who was ever an inmate at Auschwitz ever forgot their time there.

Repressed memories are still a theory, and yet they have been used for convictions of possibly innocent men; Shanely spent 16 years in prison because of such a conviction.

I was primarily talking about childhood trauma, given at that point the child's brain is still in development. Don't know all that much about the extent of plasticity of the adult brain that would allow memories to be repressed, but it's possible. Might be interesting to see if there are any visible/quantifiable differences in the brain of someone with repressed memories vs. non-repressed.

The problem is that, if one has repressed memories, it seems unlikely that they'd be entirely accurate when eventually recalled.

[36 Camera Perspective]

A lot ( I dare say most ) of the psych community doesn't believe in repressed memories. Just as an example, no one who was ever an inmate at Auschwitz ever forgot their time there.

Repressed memories are still a theory, and yet they have been used for convictions of possibly innocent men; Shanely spent 16 years in prison because of such a conviction.

I was primarily talking about childhood trauma, given at that point the child's brain is still in development. Don't know all that much about the extent of plasticity of the adult brain that would allow memories to be repressed, but it's possible. Might be interesting to see if there are any visible/quantifiable differences in the brain of someone with repressed memories vs. non-repressed.

Neuropsychoanalysis.

[Esternial]

I was primarily talking about childhood trauma, given at that point the child's brain is still in development. Don't know all that much about the extent of plasticity of the adult brain that would allow memories to be repressed, but it's possible. Might be interesting to see if there are any visible/quantifiable differences in the brain of someone with repressed memories vs. non-repressed.

Neuropsychoanalysis.

Umm...not sure I follow...

[United Muscovite Nations]

Repressed memories, along with shit like hypnosis, psychics, and criminal profiling, should be inadmissible to courts.

[36 Camera Perspective]

Neuropsychoanalysis.

Umm...not sure I follow...

Sorry, I was just saying that you are actually touching on a new field called neuropsychoanalysis, which is a research project designed to integrate recent findings in neuroscience with psychoanalytic concepts. For example, the psychoanalytic phenomenon of projection might be explained by neuroplasticity. I wasn't sure if you were referring to this field consciously or unconsciously (no pun intended).

[Diopolis]

It's doubtful Shanely was actually innocent.

True, but he shouldn't have been convicted in the manner that he was.

Well, yes, but I'm just pointing out that that particular example was problematic.