This page will provide a list of resources for those interested in understanding the phenomenon of false memory.
Discussions
Dr Kevin Felstead Speaks with Dr Lawrence Patihis on False Memory and the BFMS
In a wide ranging conversation with Dr Lawrence Patihis, Dr Kevin Felstead, the Director of Communications for the BFMS, discusses false memory, repressed memory, the Carol Felstead case, the criminal justice system, and the work of the BFMS.
Science
A study of 496 cases from the BFMS archives, by Dr Julia Shaw, Maria-Bianca Leonte, Georgina Ball, and Dr Kevin Felstead.
Dr James Ost’s Contributions to the Work of the British False Memory Society
An excerpt from the academic journal ‘Memory’.
What You Need to Know About False Memory
A comprehensive overview of the nature of false memory, from the website healthline.com.
Introduction, definition, causes, impact and research on the subject, from the website verywellmind.com.
Research on real and false memories, from the journal ‘Frontiers in Psychology’.
The Return of the Repressed: The Persistent and Problematic Claims of Long-Forgotten Trauma
An article from ‘Perspectives on Psychological Science’ analysing the continuing belief in repressed memories.
Summary of research published in the journal ‘Clinical Psychological Science’.
Why Your Memories Can’t Be Trusted
The Guardian’s Max Sanderson explores the malleability of memory with Dr Julia Shaw and Professor Elizabeth Loftus.
Can We Always Trust Our Own Memory? Studying Memory Distortion
A speech given by Elizabeth Loftus at the University College Dublin in 2018.
How Widespread Are Purported Recovered Memories of Abuse in Therapy?
A detailed report analysing the numerical extent of recovered memories of abuse unearthed during therapy.
BBC World Service, The Why Factor – Why Would Anyone Allow A Stranger to Access Their Mind?
Recent research has shown that hypnosis and hypnotic trance may not be what they appear to be. With contributions from a range of experts and patients.
Elizabeth Loftus Awarded 2016 John Maddox Prize
Specialist in research on the accuracy of memory and how false childhood memories can be implanted into patients by therapists, Dr Loftus has been awarded the prize on the grounds of supporting sound science in the public interest, whilst facing difficulty and hostility to her findings.
Are Childhood Memories Reliable?
Dr Julia Shaw’s research on the nature of memory and false memory.
The Impact of Being Wrongly Accused
University of Oxford Centre of Criminology research project into the consequences of false accusations on the legally innocent.
The Brandon Report on Recovery Memory
An important report by the Royal College of Psychiatrists on recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse. It defines the nature of false memory and recovered memory.
Books
Mistakes Were Made – But Not By Me! – Book Review
Why people deceive themselves about the errors they make.
Bad Psychology: How Forensic Psychology Left Science Behind
An analysis of the failings of forensic psychology in the treatment of prisoners, calling for a return to scientific evidence rather than continuing the current reliance on subjective assessment.
The Secret Barrister Book Review
A book authored by a practising criminal law barrister on the current state of the collapsing British legal system.
A dramatised version of the damage recovered memory therapy inflicts on patients and their families.
Memory Warp: How the Myth of Repressed Memory Arose and Refuses to Die
Mark Pendergrast revisits the subject of repressed memory and debunks the discredited therapy that has destroyed the lives of millions, and continues to do so.
Freud – The Making of an Illusion – Book Review
Frederick Crews has written what is probably the most devastating critique of Freud ever published.
Review of the Strange Case of Thomas Quick
The astounding tale of the man who confessed to 36 murders he did not commit. One of the most spectacular cases of false memory ever.
The Science of False Memory – Book Review
Comprehensive overview of false memory research, aimed at a wide audience including child protective services workers, clinical psychologists, defense attorneys, elementary and secondary teachers, general medical practitioners, journalists, judges, nurses, police investigators, prosecutors, and psychiatrists.
Review of Witness Testimony in Sexual Cases
Witness Testimony in Sexual Cases focuses on legal and scientific considerations that arise when obtaining and evaluating sexual complaint testimony.
Review of Wrongful Allegations of Sexual and Child Abuse
A new major reference work for criminologists, sociologists, legal researchers and legal professionals, on the controversial issue of wrongful allegations of abuse and victims of untrue allegations.
The Memory Wars – Freud’s Legacy in Dispute
A critical dissection of Freudian psychoanalysis and the recovered memory movement.
The Ravages of False Memories – or Manipulated Memory
An analysis of the nature and origin of false memories, and the consequences for individuals and families.
Fractured Families – The Untold Anguish of the Falsely Accused
Real life accounts of the falsely accused.
Miscarriage of Memory – Historic Abuse Cases: A Dilemma for the Legal System
The inbuilt bias of the legal system against those accused of historic abuse. Includes articles and case histories.
Justice for Carol – The Creation of a Satanic Myth in the United Kingdom
False memory, misdiagnosis, institutional cover-up, and the origin of the Satanic Abuse Panic in the UK are all part of this groundbreaking book on the Carol Felstead case.
Abused by Therapy: How Searching for Childhood Trauma Can Damage Adult Lives
Abused by Therapy debunks an enduring myth dating back to Freud, that certain conditions are nearly always caused by childhood trauma.
Making Monsters – False Memories, Psychotherapy and Sexual Hysteria
Examining false memories and the therapy that creates them, Ofshe and Watters dissect one of the most pressing social and psychological issues of our time.
The Myth of Repressed Memory: False Memories and Allegations of Sexual Abuse
Explains the theory behind recovered memory therapy, argues that there is no scientific support for the theory, and describes the impact of false memory.
Victims of Memory – Incest Accusations and Shattered Lives
Can human beings completely forget years of traumatic events, only to recall them later? This book explores that question.
Understanding and analysing how trauma is remembered.
The Decline and Fall of the Freudian Empire
Professor Eysenck’s carefully reasoned demolition of Freud and psychoanalysis.
Freud’s False Memories – Psychoanalysis and the Recovered Memory Movement
A book examining the origins of the recovered memory movement in Freudian psychoanalytic theory.