Question

Why do researchers such as Loftus, question the existence of repressed memories? Explain why these researcher believe that a search for repressed memories may do more harm than good.

Answer 1

Repressed memory refer to those memories that are unconsciously blocked because it is normally related to an unpleasant or tragic event. The individual cannot bring this memory consciously but they may still haunt them. Although few psychologists argued that these memories can be brought into consciousness through therapy, others argued that there is no such memory and it cannot be brought back by any therapy. They also argued that such memory can be only falsified memory with newly created events and surroundings.

One of the famous experiments ‘Lost in the Mall’ conducted by Elizabeth Loftus proved that repressed memory doesn’t exist. Loftus mentioned four childhood events happened in the participants’ life as given by the participants’ relatives and one among the four was a fictitious event lost in a mall. Most of the participants elaborated the fourth events with newly constructed ideas, which was not real.