An attorney interviews you as a potential jury member in the case of a 21-year-old woman [plaintiff] claiming a local priest sexually molested her as a child. The plaintiff claims she repressed the memory for 16 years until she experienced a clear and vivid recall of the event during an intense therapy session her therapist used—a guided imagery-visualization technique.

1. In the course of questioning potential jury members, the attorney asks if you've ever heard about false memory or recovered memory. The attorney asks what you think about repressed memory, false memory, and the idea that "children don't lie about being sexually abused". Using information from your chapter on memory, and Tavris' article, how would you respond to these questions? [Don't worry about legal issues or statues in answering this question.]

2. A psychologist is called in by the defense as an expert witness to give testimony about research on the accuracy of memory, the validity of repressed memory, and the reliability of recovering memories from childhood during therapy.  What important things did the psychologist want the jury panel to consider in evaluating information presented about repressed and recovered memories?

3, The psychologist expert witness was asked whether testimony is more accurate if a plaintiff was 5 years old or 15 years old at the time of the alleged sexual assault. Would it matter if the witness appeared confident about her recollection and identification of the suspect?  Why or why not?

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

1 I would acknowledge the existence of research on false memory and the controversy surrounding repr... View the full answer