Friday, May 28, 2010

Slate on Elizabeth Loftus, Memory & the Myth of Repressed & Recovered Memory

Slate is publishing a fascinating series of articles on Professor Elizabeth Loftus and her studies of memory and repressed and recovered memory. The series starts here. If you claim to be a well-educated person, you should read these articles.
But the articles overdo the praise for Loftus: she cannot be given sole credit for debunking "repressed and recovered memory." (In any event, U.S. States and jurisdictions have not yet reached a consensus that "repressed and recovered memory" is junk science. Social psychoanalysis suggests that the political and social pressures for the opposite conclusion remain strong -- too strong. For example, in Massachusetts the careers of a number of prominent politicians were partially built on the zealous pursuit of some cases based substantially on "repressed and recovered memories.")

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The dynamic evidence page
It's here: the law of evidence on Spindle Law. See also this post and this post.