Repressed Memory
If someone asks me, "Where were you on September 11, 2001?" I would be able to give that person an accurate answer. It seems impossible to ever forget the events of that day. How could one forget such a traumatic day? It seems like life changing events would stay with a person forever. However, there are many victims of, let's say, child abuse that cannot remember the actual abuse. The memories of such horrors have been erased so there is no recollection of the events. Being a skeptic, I am not sure if I would be able to forget such horrific events. Repressed memories can also be recovered, through therapeutic treatment. It seems odd how people can forget certain traumas, but still able to remember others. How does memory actually work, and how can one selectively repress certain memories?
Memory and the I-function seem to be closely related. Memory allows individuals to store and retrieve information gained from previous experience. It can then be used to predict human response to certain stimuli. Optic neurons often "make things up as it goes along". The I-function relies on memory in order to do this. Memory is used to perform tasks such as comprehension and production of language, reasoning, and recognition of declarative. Memory is also necessary for skill acquisition. Different models of memory have been proposed. One is that there is a limited capacity for the amount of information that can be stored. Memory can decay, and the longer a memory has been stored and not used, the less available it will be. As new information enters the memory, it may be harder to access other information and cognitive system seems to be less efficient (2).
Memory consists of three basic functions: enco...
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...althier than repressing them. I do not quite fully understand why the brain would repress memories in order to protect the person. The mind is a web of mysteries, and memory repression is just on thread of the web.
References
1)Elizabeth Loftus,
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro02/web3/www.muskingum.edu/psychology/psyweb/history/loftus.htm
2)About Memory,
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro02/web3/www.acm.org/sigchi/chi96/proceedings/doctoral/Bryne/mbd_txt.htm
3)Mechanim of Memory
http://www.wm.edu/psych/psy201efr/intro_72.htm
4)Encoding memory,
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro02/web3/www.brainchannel.com/Memory/encoding/encoding.html
5)Skeptic's Dictionary,
http://skepdic.com/repressedmemory.html
6)Process Healing,
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro02/web3/www.process-healing.com/description.htm
Friar Lawrence is a humble and holy who is respected by the other characters. Figurative language and dramatic conventions give a well-grounded understanding of his motives, traits and values. His main motive is peace between the families he “All I had wanted to achieve was peace.” As a friar he respects the Montague’s and Capulet’s. The quote represents his motive that he wanted the feuding to stop. When he married Romeo and Juliet he wished for more then their happiness. He hoped that the marriage would bring families together. When witnessing the deaths he says in sorrow, “I’m a friar holy and peaceful.” “Oh lord the poor deaths that lie in front of me. Are due to my greed to resolve the feud.” The term friar represents his traits, being
Friar Lawrence felt an internal conflict within him – the conflict of self against self. He knew in his mind that it was wrong to help a teen run away with her lover, who happened to be a murderer. But he also felt himself reach out to them, as he had known them as his own children for a very long time. He knew what a desperate situation Juliet and Romeo were in, and knew that he could prevent their lives from being ruined. But the problem was that the only way to solve everything, was to take a ‘wrong path’, that everyone opposed. In the end, he ends up helping his fellow children. But by this decision, he affected the whole plot of the play, and caused it to turn greatly. This plan would have turned out marvelously, but he made a few mistakes.
Friar Lawrence, when approached by Romeo, was skeptical about marrying him to Juliet. He pointed out that “Rosaline, that thou didst love so dear, so soon [is] foresaken” and that “much salt water [was] thrown away in waste” (). The Friar also risked hate from both the Capulet and Montague families, both of which held much prominence and power in Verona. However, Friar Lawrence did agree to wed the lovers because he believed “this alliance may so happy prove to turn your households’ rancor to pure love” (). However, the Friar’s dreams of happily ever after were torn apart in the worst possible way: Juliet and Romeo both committed suicide. In marrying Romeo and Juliet, the Friar married two star-crossed lovers, which caused “a greater power than we can contradict” to end both Romeo and Juliet’s lives (). Friar Lawrence’s dream, one filled with good intent, lead to the deaths of two teenagers.
False memories being created is obvious through many different ways, such as eye-witness testimonies and past experiments that were conducted, however repression is an issue that has many baffled. There seems to be little evidence on the factual basis of repressed memories, and many argue that it does not exist. The evidence for repression in laboratories is slowly emerging, but not as rapidly as the evidence for false memories. It has been hard to clinically experiment with repressed memories because most memories are unable to be examined during the actual event to corroborate stories. Experimenters are discovering new ways to eliminate this barrier by creating memories within the experiment’s initial phase. This is important for examining the creation of false memories during the study phase. This research study will explore the differences between recovered memories and false memories through research and experiments. Other terms and closely related terms will be discussed, while examining any differences, in relation to repressed memories. The possibility of decoding an actual difference between recovered memories and false memories, through biological techniques. Because false memories can be created, examining these creations in a laboratory setting can shed light on facts overlooked. Exploring these issues will also help with the development of better therapeutic techniques for therapists in dealing with memories. This can lead to an easier process for patients and therapists if they must go through the legal system in relation to an uncovered memory.
In Romeo and Juliet, a tragedy by William Shakespeare, Friar Lawrence plays a dominate role in the eventual death of Romeo and Juliet even though he is not on stage for most of the play. There are basically three major parts that lead to the tragedy; the marriage, the plan, and the inevitable deaths in all which Friar Lawrence plays a vital role.Friar Lawrence plays an essential role in the marriage of young Romeo and Juliet. At Romeo’s request Friar Lawrence states, "In one respect I’ll thy assistant be; for this alliance may so happy prove, to turn your households to pure love" (Act 2 Scene 3.) Friar Lawrence believes that this holy marriage would bring the Capulet family and Montuague family closer together, for he anticipates that the families will stop hating each other and be peaceful. His attempts to make the marriage of Romeo and Juliet are admirable but poorly planned.
Involuntary memories come into consciousness without any attempt, and they happen all day long. Before taking the effort to record my own involuntary memories, I was unaware that there was a concept for them and that they happened as frequently as they do. Both internal and external aspects can cue an involuntary memory, and involuntary memories can range from extremely negative to extremely positive. My personal experience with recording involuntary memories showed a pattern between my emotional state at the time of the memory and the emotional state of the memory itself.
Recovered memories of childhood trauma and abuse has become one of the most controversial issues within the field of psychology. Controversy surrounding repressed memory - sometimes referred to as the memory wars – reached its’ peak in the early 1990s, where there was a rise in the number of people reporting memories of childhood trauma and abuse that had allegedly been repressed for many years (Lindsay & Read, 2001). There are a number of different factors that have contributed to the dispute surrounding recovered memories. Firstly, there is an ongoing debate about whether these types of memories actually exist or whether these accusations arose as a result of suggestive therapeutic procedures. In particular, this debate focuses on two main
Kowalski, M.(1998, December). Applying the "two schools of thought" doctrine to the repressed memory controversy. The Journal of Legal Medicine. Retrieved September 14, 2000 from Lexis-Nexis database (Academic Universe) on the World Wide Web: http://www.lexis-nexis.com/universe
This paper discusses the current state of research into false memories and memory manipulation as well the therapeutic applications of this research. The paper describes studies that demonstrate the susceptibility of memory to change and influence to establish the viability of memory manipulation. Current and proposed applications of memory modification are described through the chronicling of research in the area. The ethical concerns of such research are discussed as well as potential subjects of future research. Utilization of mnemonic elasticity is determined to be a valuable asset that has great potential for present and future interventions.
Repressed memory therapy plays a very important role when it comes to validating a memory. According to one source “RMT is supposed to help psychotherapist patients recover from a childhood of sexual abuse even if there is no evidence that there is no proof they their patients were sexually abused. (Hockmann, John 1995). This is a treatment that helps individuals go into the place in their mind and retrieve the different memories that have been cause them trauma and effecting there emotional mind set. Therefore, the therapist doesn’t have to have and proof that they experienced anything traumatic they help them to come up with their diagnosis” (Hockmann, John 1995). It’s really hard to make this an accountable process because you have a psychotherapist
As I have been reading memoirs about memory for this class, each essay made me recall or even examine my past memory closely. However, the more minutely I tried to recall what happened in the past, the more confused I got because I could not see the clear image and believe I get lost in my own memory, which I thought, I have preserved perfectly in my brain. The loss of the details in each memory has made me a little bit sentimental, feeling like losing something important in my life. But, upon reading those essays, I came to realize that remembering correct the past is not as important as growing up within memory. However, the feelings that were acquired from the past experience tend to linger distinctly. The essay that is related to my experience
It has been stated “that having a traumatic dissociation or childhood sexual amnesia is very common and real. The human mind responds in various ways to trauma. People who have studied trauma and traumatic events have known for a long time that there are several kinds of amnesia that affects us. When something is overwhelming emotionally, some people block it out, separating the event from the rest of their memories”(www.allaboutcounseling.com). For example, people that were in a car accident forget parts of what happened. The psychological conclusion says that the stress of the moment was so traumatic that the person c...
Friar Lawrence plays an integral part in the action and plot of Romeo and Juliet by secretly marrying them, and giving Juliet the idea to fake her own death. Romeo and Juliet meet in the Friar’s cell for their marriage and the Friar says, “Come, come with me…For, by your leaves you shall not stay alone, Till Holy Church incorporate two in one.”(II.vi.35-37). The Friar marries the two in hopes “to turn [their] households rancor to pure love”(II.iii.99). The Friar is the binding power between Romeo and Juliet, by helping them be together. Without the Friar, Romeo and Juliet would have a difficult time trying to meet in secret with each other, but because of him, they are able to get married. Ultimately, the Friar’s wishes of ending the feud between the Montagues and Capulets are fulfilled, but the reason of their reconciliation being the death of their children. The deaths of Romeo ...
In layman’s terms when forming a memory, the brain takes what we see, hear, smell, feel and taste and fills in the blank spaces with information that we have perceived from common knowledge and stores it as a memory. But sometimes something happens that is so shocking that the mind grabs hold of the memory and pushes it underground into some inaccessible corner of the unconscious.
Violent video games are special games, which negatively influences to the attitude and behavior. These video games are popular between children and teenagers. Since 1980-s years violent games are in political discussion. Because when teenagers usually play violent video games, they are becoming aggressive and then they face with psychological problems. For this, some people claim that violent games are harmful for society and they affect to behavior and health.