Assignment: False memory syndrome

Assignment: False memory syndrome

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Assignment: False memory syndrome

A great deal of controversy has surrounded the phenomenon of “false memory syndrome” and the implications that it has had in our society, particularly in the legal realm. One of the most influential psychologists in the area of memory and eye witness testimony is Dr. Elizabeth Loftus, who has spent three decades as a research psychologist and memory expert in legal cases. To learn more about the controversy surrounding “false memory syndrome,” visit the online LA Weekly website at
to read the article, “.”

Based on the points that the Loftus article brings up and our textbook readings this week, what kind of implications do particular limitations of human memory have on the use of eye-witness testimony in criminal and civil court cases?

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Mahler thought that the degree of integration and separation between parent and child contributed greatly to healthy and unhealthy relationships in adulthood. What might be examples of healthy and unhealthy degrees of closeness between parents and children?

Mahler thought that the degree of integration and separation between parent and child contributed greatly to healthy and unhealthy relationships in adulthood. What might be examples of healthy and unhealthy degrees of closeness between parents and children?

False memory syndrome, a condition in which a person’s identity and relationships are affected by strongly believed but false memories of traumatic experiences. Source-monitoring error, an effect in which memories are incorrectly attributed to different experiences than the ones that caused them.

Factors that can influence false memory include misinformation and misattribution of the original source of the information. Existing knowledge and other memories can also interfere with the formation of a new memory, causing the recollection of an event to be mistaken or entirely false