Repressed Memory Paper

Amnesia

Anonymous student

PYSC 1504

University of the People

Word count 707

During the 1990s there were a lot of cases of reported child abuse based on repressed memory. Many individuals were arrested and jailed, many of which were innocent. Sigmund Freud believed that individuals repress their memories (not consciously) so that their painful effects would not have to be experienced.

There is a lot of controversy as to whether repressed memories can be trusted.

In this assignment, look for a news article (old or new) describing the resurface of a repressed memory or studies on it. Then write a 2 page paper summarizing the article, what was the conclusion of the story/study?

Based on your readings and assignments, under what circumstances

However, other individuals that suffer the same fate can never forget and replay the memory in their mind like a haunting film that has no end. Questions such as :can repressed memories be trusted? And why do some people repress memories? These questions I shall attempt to answer herein. Please note the study examined focused on sexual abuse, having been a victim of sexual abuse in the past this was the one article I finally settled on.

This study was conducted via questionnaire to 800 households, 724 households received the request and 505 households responded, fifty-five percent participants were female and the average age was 46 years old (Elliott & Briere, 1995, p.633) . Interestingly enough this particular study found that there was a distinct correlation between severe abuse and threats of bodily harm to subject and the repression of memory with delayed recall. Those that had been threatened, reported more incidences of either total or partial amnesia to the incident. No other factors could be attributed to the

Based on your readings and assignments, under what circumstances are repressed memories more likely to surface?

Trauma associated with the abuse caused victims to repress their memories, but what causes memories to resurface? Koul, (2015) said it was a laugh that brought back her haunting memories. Nosal (2015) claims that your memories come back when you are strong enough to handle them. Personally, I had repressed the memory of my abuse and it was hearing my abuser's name that brought back mine. While I was never threatened with violence, at the time the abuse happened (age 3- 4) I was far too young to actually know what was going on, it was only later around the age of seven that I remembered and understood what my abuser had done, after hearing his name for the first time in three years. Moreover, I was terrified at the thought of seeing him because I felt guilty about the