title: Let's use those tests! Evaluations of crime-related amnesia claims.
abstract: Suspects awaiting trial often claim that they cannot remember important parts of their violent crimes. It is not unusual that forensic experts readily accept such claims and interpret them in terms of dissociative amnesia or, more specifically, a "red-out". This interpretation hinges on the assumption that heightened levels of stress implicated in violent crimes interfere with memory. We argue that the notion of red-out is a priori not plausible and that alternative interpretations-primarily malingering and substance-induced organic amnesia-should be considered and ruled out first before concluding that memory loss is dissociative in nature. We illustrate our point with four cases that superficially have the contours of red-out tragedies. We believe that, in such cases, neuropsychological tests and/or psychopharmacological information on dose-response relationships can assist forensic experts to exclude malingering or substance-induced amnesia. There is no reason for not using tests and tools from neuropsychology and psychopharmacology.
authors: a Department of Clinical Psychological Science , Maastricht University , Maastricht , The Netherlands.|b The Maastricht Forensic Institute, Maastricht University , Maastricht , The Netherlands.
authors: Maarten J V
authors: MJV
authors: Peters
authors: a Department of Clinical Psychological Science , Maastricht University , Maastricht , The Netherlands.|b The Maastricht Forensic Institute, Maastricht University , Maastricht , The Netherlands.
authors: Kim I M
authors: KIM
authors: van Oorsouw
authors: a Department of Clinical Psychological Science , Maastricht University , Maastricht , The Netherlands.|b The Maastricht Forensic Institute, Maastricht University , Maastricht , The Netherlands.
authors: Marko
authors: M
authors: Jelicic
authors: a Department of Clinical Psychological Science , Maastricht University , Maastricht , The Netherlands.|b The Maastricht Forensic Institute, Maastricht University , Maastricht , The Netherlands.
authors: Harald
authors: H
authors: Merckelbach
keywords: Crime-related amnesia; Malingering; Neuropsychological testing; Psychopharmacology; Red-out