Recovered Memory and the Daubert Criteria: Recovered Memory as Professionally Tested, Peer Reviewed, and Accepted in the Relevant Scientific Community

• NCJ Number: 216163
• Journal: Trauma, Violence, & Abuse: A Review Journal Volume: 7 Issue: 4 Dated: October 2006 Pages: 274-310
• Author(s): Constance Dalenberg
• Date Published: October 2006
• Length: 37 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article evaluates the evidence for recovered memory and for the most common supposed mechanisms of recovered memory, followed by an introduction to the Daubert criteria.

Abstract

The phenomenon of recovered memory is difficult to understand, as well as to believe. It is hard to believe that someone could forget an important negative or traumatic event that they now remember clearly and just as hard to believe that the negative event that they do remember could be a false memory. However, scientists have established that the phenomena can be replicated in laboratory experiments. The full weight of the evidence for the recovered memory phenomena is massive. The words dissociation and repression have interfered with the process of accepting this new unconscious, recovered memory. It has been clearly shown that (1) in individual cases, trauma can be blocked from memory through motivated or automatic processes, (2) this lost memory can re-emerge with reminders, and (3) the cognitive or emotional aspects of the memory can be independently present or absent. This evidence allows the recovered memory victim and those who are accused to come before the court for a fair evaluation. In the last 10 years, the concept of traumatic amnesia has come under attack with the most recent form coming from the 1993 Daubert challenge in Daubert versus Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals. This is where experts are placed on the stand to argue that the concept of recovered memory is not an accepted scientific phenomenon. If the challenge is successful, the alleged victim is prevented from coming forward and presenting his or her factual case. This article presents an answer to the Daubert challenge, evaluating the evidence for recovered memory and for the most common purported mechanisms of recovered memory. A brief historical review is presented, followed by an introduction to the Daubert criteria. The evidence for the phenomenon of recovered memory and the mechanisms for it are then reviewed. References