title: What Do People Believe About Memory? Implications for the Science and Pseudoscience of Clinical Practice.
abstract: We examine the evidence concerning what people believe about memory. We focus on beliefs regarding the permanence of memory and whether memory can be repressed and accurately recovered. We consider beliefs about memory among the undergraduate and general population, mental health professionals, judges, jurors, and law enforcement officers to provide a broad canvass that extends to the forensic arena, as well as to psychiatry, psychology, and allied disciplines. We discuss the implications of these beliefs for the education of the general public and mental health professionals regarding the science and pseudoscience of memory and the use of suggestive procedures in psychotherapy.
authors.affiliation: Professor, Binghamton University, Binghamton, New York.
authors.forename: Steven Jay
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Lynn
authors.affiliation: Graduate Research Associate, Binghamton University (SUNY), Binghamton, New York.
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.affiliation: Professor, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec.
authors.forename: Jean-Roch
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Laurence
authors.affiliation: Professor, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Scott O
authors.initials: SO
authors.lastname: Lilienfeld
mesh_terms: D001290:Attitude; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003469:Culture; D006282:Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D007603:Jurisprudence; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D016495:Police; D011570:Psychiatry; D011584:Psychology; D012094:Repression, Psychology; D013404:Suggestion