In psychology repressions are traumatic forgotten memories that cannot be remembered easily. The common cause may be an individual undergoing shocking event in life then blocking it in the sub- conscious mind to escape the heart ache. Several researchers have documented their work:
Sigmund Freud wrote the essay- “On the etiology of hysteria”. His research showed being of the repressed memory phenomena. So does the research by Fisler and Van der Kolk which support that these memories can be recovered? “Recovered Memories of Sexual Abuse- Scientific Research & Scholarly Resources” by Jim Hopper, Ph. D. explores the subject especially with recent prosecutions of individuals in relation to child abuse especially sexually many years ago and recounting of long forgotten memories are used in court as evidence. Active research here has been instrumental in ascertaining credibility and admissibility of proof.
A good case study is of Eileen Franklin testifying in a California court against her father accused of killing her infant buddy- 8 year old Susan Nason. Prosecutors relied on her recovered murder scene recollection of the happening 20 years later. She vividly described the crime scene and events that she might not have known let she was a first witness. 8 years after serving jail term, the father George Franklin senior leaves jail after overturning of evidence used to prosecute him. Apparently, Eileen lied about having taken hypnosis session before testifying. She could also have been shown some news paper cutting and discrepancies in her evidence gave the defendants point to discredit her.
Eileen and siblings describe their father as very abusive bodily and sexually. After witnessing the murder of her best friend, she could have repressed the memories only for them to get retriggered two decades later. Another side to the story is with an abusive childhood, she may have grown an inherent want to get back at her father. This is where cognitive psychology comes in: As she underwent hypnosis, the therapist applied interactive activation. He/ she may have used specific words say ‘Susan- best friend- secrets’ to tap into the lost memory. At this state, she could have developed multiple personality disorder and got the false believe that her dad murdered her best friend or got the real memories which were so harrowing for a little girl that she repressed the memories (Dowd, 2010).
Abusive child hood may have left her with no self esteem; all that was requires was ‘a tip of the tongue’ therapy to show her the way. Priming within semantic networks; fan effect, cognitive psychology, mental rotation are some ways that can be attested to coaching Eileen if time proves she is gave wrong evidence. To support this line we can quote the fact that her testimony changed severally when presented with certain facts she had not mentioned .This is one way to send an individual to jail. There is no clear guideline to determine realities of recovered memories and the truth at large. In our court structure, there have been incidences of coached witnesses’. But refusing the same can be an act of justice denied. In the Eileen- George Franklin case, George might be a man who went to jail and has served time innocently. His daughter might be suffering from childhood abuse pains and wants to get back at him to get leverage. Eileen on the other hand may truly believe that her dad is guilty. She may be a victim of mind manipulation which is sad as she may not realize it. She will send her dad to jail for life this time (Dane, 2010).
We may argue about admissibility of repressed memories, are they natural occurrence or not, are the products of culture and society that originated in the nineteenth century? The fact is that through cognitive psychology, we can help many people in dilemma in their lives on problems that are semantic related or we will understand language and people relations better.
References
Dowd, E., Clen, S. L., & Arnold, K. D. (2010). The specialty practice of cognitive and behavioral psychology. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 41(1), 89-95. doi:10.1037/a0018321
Corballis, M. C. (2009). Mental time travel and the shaping of language. Experimental Brain Research, 192(3), 553.
DANE, E. (2010). RECONSIDERING THE TRADE-OFF BETWEEN EXPERTISE AND FLEXIBILITY: A COGNITIVE ENTRENCHMENT PERSPECTIVE. Academy of Management Review, 35(4), 579-603. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
