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Parsons 6109023

Essay

461.721 Consciousness and Cognition p1

False and Recovered Memory


or

Controversial memory/experience claims


Abstract The debate over recovered memories has polarised specialists in the field. Experiment demonstrates that memory is a construct that is often unreliable. However, many clinical practitioners and many members of the general public strongly maintain that recovered memories usually represent real events, and can even provide credible evidence in criminal cases. The crediting of recovered memories, and their creation, are phenomena that have propagated like an infectious disease. Explanations based on the meme concept may be useful. Although many recovered memories are bizarre from a common sense standpoint, lack any credible evidence, have been falsified repeatedly, and have been shown to be inducible by well known techniques, the belief of the believers remains firm. Such propagation and conviction are in themselves remarkable psychological phenomena, especially when the believers include trained and licensed professionals. Several aspects of these phenomena resemble known features of cults. Our factual knowledge of memory formation and retrieval is advancing rapidly with the aid of both behavioural and brain imaging experiments. However, similar research is needed in the formation and propagation of strongly held irrational beliefs and pseudomemories. It is suggested that direct measurement of brain activity might be used to determine whether the temporal lobe patterns known to be involved in religious feelings are also associated with the emotional commitment to belief in the more bizarre sorts of recovered memories, and whether such neural activity can also determine which individuals are more (or less) likely to be susceptible to induced pseudomemories. Introduction Memory of any sort is not simple. We might call accurately recalled and unaltered memories of correct perceptions of real situations true-true memories. The most naive view of memory holds that true-true memories are the only kind, and are subject to just one kind of modification: forgetting.

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However, memories are often inaccurate (Loftus, 1993; Loftus, 1997). An individual may misperceive or misinterpret events. These false impressions, accurately recorded, then become false memories in the sense of not representing events with fidelity, although they are true records of an individual's state of conscious awareness at some point in time. Another difficulty is that once recorded, any type of memory is subject to revision. Not only the record of events can be modified, but also the aspect of a memory that locates the recorded event in time. This may be related to the familiar "I always knew that" phenomenon that falsely locates knowledge in the period before it was known. Furthermore, we all have memories of memories, which are no more reliable than direct memories. Thus one can forget that one used to remember something, making it possible to recover a true-true memory that was once unavailable, yet still have an incorrect memory of the time during which the memory was unavailable (Schooler, Bendikson, & Ambadar, 1997). When memory is seen as a record of a state of consciousness, it becomes clearer that such records need not resemble events actually experienced by the individual (except in the sense that viewing a movie, hearing a story, or imagining an event can be said to be real experiences). At the moment of production, memories can depict imaginary events apparently located at any time in the very distant or very recent past. These are the false memories that are the source of much controversy, and the main focus of this essay. The ongoing debate between proponents and opponents of the credibility of recovered memories is "the most passionately contested battle that has ever been waged about the nature of human memory" (Schacter, Norman, & Koutstaal, 1997). Memories lost and regained Really? There appear to be genuine cases of lost and recovered true-true memories of trauma, especially sexual abuse. The DSM-IV identifies dissociative amnesia as a condition "characterized by an inability to recall important personal information, usually of a traumatic or stressful nature, that is too extensive to be explained by ordinary forgetfulness" (American Psychiatric Association, 1994), p.477). However, much about this condition, including its incidence, remains controversial.

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In an attempt to provide balance in a field where a multitude of claims was supported by only one published case of verified recovered memory, Schooler et al. reported finding six factually corroborated cases of recovered memory of abuse (Schooler et al., 1997). They also noted the serious social and personal consequences of recoveries of "incredible events, such as alien abductions," and that these "seem best explained in terms of memory fabrication". However, they devoted most of their efforts to the discovery and scrutiny of four cases, which in the end were not typical of the spectacular and bizarre claims that attract the most attention and produce the most significant consequences. The types of experiences attracting the "widespread public attention" and "major legal decisions" mentioned as concerns by Schooler et al are those of the more spectacular sort. They fall into a few broad categories, including alien abduction, satanic ritual cult abuse, and individual sexual abuse (usually as a child). Each has similarities to certain memetic features of cults (Blackmore, 1999; Dawkins, 1976; Dawkins, 1982; Lynch, 1996). Furthermore, the mechanisms of suggestion that produce the palpably false and bizarre memories, and the zeal of their defenders, also resemble cult phenomena (Galanter, 1989; Lofland, 1977; Singer, 1995). Each will be dealt with in its own section of this essay. Alien abduction A major figure in alien abduction circles is John E. Mack, M.D, tenured Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Mack apparently finds it useful to promote several memes typical of cults. He has published two best-selling books on alien abduction (Mack, 1995; Mack, 1999). Mack notes that the memories of abductions are often unavailable for many years, only being recovered with the proper triggering stimulus. Skeptics note that the very stimuli said to be required are indistinguishable from the type of suggestions that are known to create false memories. The sexual themes and incongruities are similar to those seen in other types of bizarre recovered memories. Aliens capable of interstellar travel float helpless victims through walls and into their ship, then use cold, metallic, scar-forming medical instruments to painfully probe their reproductive organs. In a televised interview, Mack promoted a persecuted-in-group meme: "When abductees went on television with me during the spring of 1994, during my book tours, and wanted to communicate and educate about it, a number of them received threats to their jobs. Some of them lost them..." (Mack, 1996)

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Mack has presented a number of other memes often associated with cults, including: There are big secrets that only we know. (Space considerations prevent the detailed
documentation of Mack's presentation of these memes, but the interested reader will easily find examples.)

We are persecuted now but the future will be ours. They scoff but these are the simple facts. What we know explains many mysteries that puzzle the uninitiated. We must help others to see the truth. Also, they should send money. Mack's own taxexempt funding source is his Center for Psychology and Social Change. He also has a Program for Extraordinary Experience Research, from which specially autographed copies of his books can be purchased (PEER, http://www.peermack.org) The Master is infallible (because of his clever bafflegab) and in contact with higher powers and processes
"I cannot avoid the fact that a co-creative process such as this may yield information that is in some sense the product of the intermingling or flowing together of the consciousnesses of the two (or more) people in the room . . . Something may be brought forth that was not there before in exactly the same form. Stated differently, the information gained in the sessions is not simply a remembered 'item,' lifted out of the experiencer's consciousness like a stone from a kidney. It may represent instead a developed or evolved perception, enriched by the connection that the experiencer and the investigator have made. From a Western perspective this might be called 'distortion'; from a transpersonal point of view the experiencer and I may be participating in an evolution of consciousness."

Clearly, the master is also aware of charges that recovered memories are the product of suggestion rather than the record of a verifiable experience. Satanic cult rituals and group child abuse The story of the McMartin pre-school in Manhattan Beach, California, is widely known, and details are available from many sources, as debate on the issues continues (Earl, 1999; Garven, Wood, Malpass, & Shaw, 1998; Mason, 1991; McGough, 1994; Schindehette, 1990; Summit, 1994). The school, and the lives of many associated with it, were destroyed by a barrage of accusations of bizarre child abuse. The stories included themes now known to be typical of the genre: nudity, group sexual abuse, the making of pornographic films, sadomasochism involving bizarre and physically impossible acts, murder, mutilation, the

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killing of animals as threats and sacrifices, the presence of trapdoors, secret basement rooms and tunnels. However, no such memories were available until the "recall" of hundreds of them was prompted by police and therapists. Jurors noted the leading quality of the therapists' questions. Children were asked repeatedly to "help" with the aid of anatomically detailed dolls, and questioners accepted no negative answer as final, offering expressions of satisfaction when accounts of abuse were produced (even when contradicted in the next breath). The "interviews" resembled the shaping of behaviour used to train animals. The initial triggering event was an accusation that did not withstand even the most casual investigation. However, that accusation ignited a wave of increasingly bizarre claims, resulting in the longest and most expensive criminal trial in California's history up to that time (1983-1990). Those who credited the accusations formed a cult-like group that persisted for years after the trial itself concluded with no convictions. Michael Hill, professor of sociology at Victoria University, Wellington, has produced a study of the McMartin phenomenon and its aftermath. In the following account I have drawn heavily on his essay "Satan's Excellent Adventure in the Antipodes" (Hill, 1998), in which he traces the path of memetic contagion from the McMartin pre-school to Australia and thence to New Zealand, the memes being spread by professionals, pseudo-professionals, parents and the media. Going Downunder In August 1986, several key figures in the McMartin case gave addresses about their work to the Sixth International Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect in Sydney. The therapist central to the McMartin case, Kee MacFarlane, was invited to conduct a further workshop after the conference, for the benefit of local child abuse experts. In just two years, Sydney would see events reminiscent of the McMartin case: a woman reported to police her suspicion that her three-year-old daughter was being abused at her day care centre by a man named "Mr. Bubbles" The mother had also contacted other parents and expressed her suspicions about the day care centre, and in the ensuing interviews with police and social workers, children attending the day care centre "claimed they had been abducted, given drugs, assaulted with knives, hammers and pins, sexually abused, filmed for pornographic movies, and forced to watch animal sacrifices and satanic rituals".

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Therapists linked with this case were also involved in accusations made by Mrs. Franca Arena, an MP in the Upper House of the NSW Parliament, who alleged that there was a major suppression of evidence about paedophiles and that this had been orchestrated by the NSW Premier, the Leader of the opposition, and Justice Wood of the Royal Commission. In later hearings before the Privileges Committee, Arena said that she relied heavily on her advisors in the matter of the credibility of the "abuse survivor", who had provided testimony embodying many elements typical of this genre:
Judge B then dragged me downstairs to the basement. There were bodies strung up around the walls. He took me around to all the dead men and made me suck all the blood off their penises. I was later taken to the furnace room where they had a big incinerator and a stainless steel table where they were burning all the bodies. They quite often burned bodies there. There was a pipe which went to the outside of the building and up past the roof level. It made me sick whenever I saw smoke pouring out of it because I knew they were burning some bodies My mother grabbed me by the hair and shoved a penis in my mouth that she cut off one of the bodies. It had blood all over it. I gagged and nearly threw up. I shook my head to try to get it out. Judge B was holding down my arms and body. He yelled, "You little bitch," and took the penis off my mother and turned me on to my stomach and pushed the penis into my anus. He said, "See how you like that." He left it there and dragged me outside the room. He then took me into the bathroom and I just stared at the bath. Someone had filled it with blood and body parts. There were arms and legs and a head. I pulled the penis out of my bottom. He said, "What are you doing?" He picked me up and threw me in the bath. I was horrified. He then took off his clothes quickly and got into the bath with me.

When asked by a member of the Privileges Committee, "Do you believe that nonsense?," Arena's reply was "I do not know," but she went on to quote the opinion of the psychiatrist who had treated the woman, who had written:
I have been seeing "A" [the "survivor"] once a week, at times more often, for two and one-half years. During that time I have become very familiar with her character and personality. During that time her behaviour has been consistently that of a highly ethical and scrupulously truthful person in all

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areas of her life. She has a very strong religious faith and tries to live by those principles. She has at times been severely depressed but never been delusional

The layperson who trusts the therapist who trusts her client (as long as she likes the client's story, which she may have helped to create) is a recurring theme. Onward to New Zealand: Christchurch Civic Creche case Peter Ellis the next victim. In August 1991, Mitchell Whitman, a Christian sexual abuse therapist from the USA, was in Christchurch as a guest of the Open Home Foundation, a Christian Child and Family Support agency. His message, which was reported in the Christchurch Press (Christchurch Press, August, 27, 1991), was that American research showed that about half of the children with multiple personality disorder were victims of satanic ritual abuse. Within days, other presenters from overseas expanded on the ritual abuse theme. The message was that an unsuspecting New Zealand was as yet unaware of the ritual abuse phenomenon so well known in the US. People must awaken to the fact that day care centres, churches and summer camps are used for the dehumanisation and induction of children into satanic cults through being forced to have sex with animals, drinking blood and urine, participating in ritual murders of animals, and being terrorised into silence . . . in short the whole familiar catalogue of McMartin fantasies. Less than a month after this story appeared, the first allegations were made against Peter Ellis. The mother who laid the charges had earlier written a pamphlet on sexual abuse. The clear similarities between the McMartin and the Christchurch creche case were less apparent then than now, because the more bizarre allegations were suppressed and Ellis was tried on only those charges that were not prima facie absurd. However, "Anyone familiar with the American day-care cases would immediately recognize the Civic scenario as a carbon copy of numerous scandals in California and elsewhere" (McLoughlin, 1996) Individual sexual abuse also validated by American "experts" On the far side of the globe in Europe, this case of therapist-suggested recovered memory might not have happened at all, and certainly would not have been taken so

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seriously by legal authorities, without the influence of purported American research (hrstrm, 1996). In Sweden in 1995-96, Martin K spent 566 days in jail and almost lost his wife and his home when his stepdaughter Lotta accused him of a years-long pattern of rape and sexual abuse. The 17-year-old had in fact been raped when she unwisely stayed the night at the apartment of a young man she had just met. However, according to Lotta's account, the police referred her to a therapist who displayed little interest in the rape she had reported. Instead she spent a long series of sessions hearing the therapist talk about the abuse of young children she had treated, and how much they had in common with Lotta. The therapist encouraged Lotta to remember when she had first been raped in childhood, since that was the event that set the stage for the recent rape, which was just a reenactment staged by Lotta. When Lotta, after much pressure by the therapist, recalled the first rape by her stepfather when she was 11 years old, the therapist wanted to know about all the other incidents that must have followed. Lotta obliged. Long after her stepfather had been convicted, while he was denied parole, and lost an appeal, Lotta continued seeing the therapist. However, the therapist made a series of seriously incorrect statements that undermined her credibility with Lotta. She maintained (quite falsely) that Lotta would be unable to enjoy sex with her boyfriend until the entire childhood abuse episode had been dealt with. In Lotta's words:
She twisted me against Martin, then against my boyfriend, and finally against my mother. The therapist, the police, and my lawyer wanted me to keep mother outside of everything . . . . However, mother lent a strong arm of support when I was pregnant. When I got the positive result of the pregnancy test I was thrilled. But the therapist said I should consider my own needs and have an abortion. She told me to get rid of it. It was then I started to feel that she did not have my best interests in mind. "My boyfriend had supported me all the time and was mighty happy when I got pregnant. . . . When I visited the therapist shortly before giving birth, she said I would probably have a psychosis during delivery. I would go completely nuts. She handed me all of her telephone numbers and asked me also to pass them on to my boyfriend. She said that my boyfriend should tell the doctors at hospital what had happened to me. But he did not give a damn about her ideas. And of course I did not get any psychosis and of course I would accept my child. My daughter is the best thing that has ever happened to me.

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When the therapist lost her aura of authority, Lotta once again began to question the reality of the recovered memories. She recalled the actual loss of her virginity at age 17, and other true memories began to crowd out the false ones. She realised that the abuse memories were false, and distinguishably different from her real memories, but she still retained access to them.
I could see images, what he had looked like and what he had worn. These became memories. These images are clear to this very day. I thought these real memories.

However, her recantation was not accepted. Legal authorities sided with the therapist, who had not lost faith in the accusations. Choosing whom to believe, they cited "the long professional experience of the therapist in regard to children exposed to sexual abuse." Furthermore, Lotta's lawyer said that, although Martin's denials were credible, American studies proved that traumatic events were usually repressed, and that Martin must have committed the incest. Prosecutor Sigurd Dencker cited psychiatrists who maintain that stories that are retracted are a sign confirming that incest has really occurred. This echoes a meme from the McMartin case, and others in the US: accusations, once elicited, are unfalsifiable. Retractions are additional proof of the accusation's truth. Proof? For which side? The incidence of recovered true-true memories may be much lower than is generally thought, if the four cases discussed by Schooler et al. (1997) are typical. In all four cases, the memory aberrations were more surprising than the traumatic events themselves. There was no bizarre quality to the original events, such as mutilation, murder, or kidnapping by aliens. In three of the four cases, there was ample evidence that the memory of abuse was retained and acted upon for long periods (even for several years) before being temporarily lost. Thus they differ significantly from the type of recoveredmemory cases that appear to be the products of suggestion, and whose spectacular nature makes good headlines and influences public policy. Furthermore, many cases cited as evidence by professionals may instead be evidence that the odd phenomenon of excessive credulity is not limited to producers of the bizarre types of recovered memories. Respected professionals and professional organisations can

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also participate in the propagation of the recovered-memory-is-true meme, as shown by the following example. A recent Reuters news release said in part:
Researchers at University College London claim their study of data from 236 adults with recovered memories shows many are of true past events. "There is now consistent evidence that 'False Memory Syndrome' cannot explain all, or even most, examples of recovered memories of trauma,'' the British Psychological Society said in a statement. "There is increasing evidence that many recovered memories cannot be explained by so-called False Memory Syndrome. To date there is no convincing evidence for a specific False Memory Syndrome,'' Dr. Bernice Andrews, who conducted the study, told Reuters. ``What we've shown is that a substantial proportion of these memories have been corroborated,'' she said in a telephone interview.(Reaney, 2000)

This claim might have escaped the attention of news services such as Reuters except that the century-old, 32,000-member British Psychological Society issued a press release making substantially similar claims (British Psychological Society, 2000). The basis for these reports was a study performed by Andrews and colleagues, and published in the British Journal of Clinical Psychology (Andrews et al., 2000). Due to sampling bias and Andrews' questionable interpretation of data, the study does not support the publicly presented conclusions. The methods section reveals that "Respondents were selected from a sample of practitioner members of the British Psychological Society (BPS) who had previously taken part in a questionnaire survey about recovered memory beliefs, experiences and practices". Of the 810 initial respondents (from an unknown number of initial contactees), 208 were willing to participate further. Thus 74% of those with prior experience of Andrews' surveys selected themselves out of this study. Of the remaining 208, 108 "gave valid interviews". Thus the pool of responding practitioners was reduced by another 48% to just 13% of initial respondents. However, the special selection did not end there. Andrews asked respondents for reports of clients who (a) recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse while in therapy with the practitioner, (b) similarly recovered memories of other trauma, (c) recovered trauma memories prior to any therapy. The 99 respondents "who fully answered these questions" told of 690 such clients, an average of seven per therapist. However, a maximum of three from each therapist was sought, one from

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each category if possible. This selection, presumably of the therapists' favorite cases, reduced the number of cases to the 236 mentioned in the press release, and on which Andrews' discussion and conclusions are based. The survey was conducted by telephone interviews of the selected practitioners, whose judgment with respect to corroboration of the recovered memories was accepted as accurate: "memories were commonly reported to have been corroborated" (Andrews et al., 2000). Later in the published study, we find the statement "This study was unable to confirm or disconfirm the authenticity of the recovered memories, although data on available corroborative evidence have been presented and suggest that a sizeable proportion are likely to have corresponded to actual events". This is rather a different conclusion than the public received from the BPS press release and Andrews' telephone interview with Reuters. Worse, the authoritative-sounding "data on available corroborative evidence" were mainly statistical and theoretical evaluations of the memories themselves, rather than independent evidence of verifiable events. In their discussion, Andrews et al repeated the caution: "Again, although the reliability and validity of information contained in therapists' notes are unknown, at present we do not know of any data to contradict the assumption that information from the therapists is as representative and reliable as the information from the clients themselves." In so saying, they display the uncritical attitude that resulted in the misleading publicity: patients' reports are considered true unless disproven. Interestingly, a (confusingly worded) statement in the study makes it appear that responding therapists "were more likely to have seen clients reporting satanic abuse" than those who did not choose to participate. Clearly, we would do well to learn more about the roots of credulity among therapists as well as in their patients.

Parsons 6109023 Imagery Studies

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As Schacter et al. note (Schacter et al., 1997) "visual imagery depends on some of the same brain mechanisms that are involved in visual perception (Kosslyn et al 1993, 1995)". Similarly, using ERP, Farah et al. found "support for the claim that mental images interact with percepts in the visual system proper and hence that mental images are themselves visual representations (Farah, Peronnet, Gonon, & Giard, 1988). More recently, Kosslyn found that when subjects either observed or visualized a target, "two-thirds of the activated areas were activated in common" (Kosslyn, Thompson, & Alpert, 1997). Thus the fact that brain states elicited by imagination are similar to those prompted by the environment is being established by neuroscience to be more than just speculation. Other studies indicate that certain patterns of activity in the temporal lobe may be characteristic of individuals who are experiencing, or are prone to experience, intense emotional states often associated with religious experiences (Persinger, 1983; Persinger, 1984). Stimulation of these areas can produce odd emotions, which may be interpreted according to one's predilections, according to Dr Michael Shermer, publisher of SKEPTIC magazine (Shermer, 1999). Shermer tried on Persinger's wired motorcycle helmet and experienced this stimulation personally. The question arises whether individuals predisposed to such experiences are also likelier to interpret mental images as fact and store them as memories. Discussion: We have seen a chain of events that has repeatedly shaped people's consciousness, memories, and awareness of the world. One credulous person, whether a misled child or an adult with special needs, comes to believe that imagined events really happened. The initial believer then makes converts. In Andrews' recently publicised study, the researchers believed the therapists, the therapists believed their patients, and many more members of the public will now believe in the prevalence and validity of recovered memories. One might invoke social identity theory and speculate that the small size of the believer group causes a perception of weakness, and that this can be overcome by increasing the number of believers.

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Hindsight makes it easy to see how the original false memories were created in the McMartin children and others. While it seems possible that any children could be similarly influenced, not all children were. This raises the question of whether susceptibility is correlated with personality type, cognitive style, or a tendency towards temporal lobe epilepsy. Also, the cult-like obsessions of some adults involved in these cases, together with their inability to recognise the improbability of many claims, again raises the question of special susceptibility. Were these adults distinguishably different from others? Would their EEG records show the same patterns found by Persinger to be correlated with mystical beliefs? Could children usefully be screened in this way before being questioned (or believed) on matters such as child abuse? Conclusions False memories are easily formed and easily mistaken for true records. The challenge facing psychologists, especially neuropsychologists, is to elucidate the processes by which memories are formed, maintained, and retrieved. Only when these can be mapped and observed in the brain can we seek characteristics that distinguish the memories of actual events from those that represent internal experiences. Until recently, the default assumption has been that the memory resembles a camcorder. Memory inaccuracy has been seen as a manifestation of flaws in recording, storage or retrieval (Schacter et al., 1997). The lesson of the false memory scandals, together with many laboratory studies (especially Loftus'), is that all memory is false to some degree. Only with corroboration should any memory be trusted. Much memory research has relied on inappropriate metaphors: the file system; the camera; the computer. The goal has been to find a thing. Where is the file drawer full of pictures? Where are the central processor and file allocation table? We now know how misleading these earlier metaphors have been, but their influence persists. The error is like that made by a tourist who seeks to photograph democracy in New Zealand, and asks where to aim his camera. Memory, like democracy, will be found to be more like a process than an object. It will best be understood when seen as a complex sequence of actions, which will differ slightly every time, as opposed to a solid structure whose file drawers or hard drives contain a clear and immutable record of reality.

Parsons 6109023 References

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American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistic manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington DC. Andrews, B., Brewin, C. R., Ochera, J., Morton, J., Bekerian, D. A., Davies, G. M., & Mollon, P. (2000). The timing, triggers and qualities of recovered memories in therapy. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 39(1), 11-26. Blackmore, S. (1999). The Meme Machine. Oxford: Oxford University Press. British Psychological Society. (2000). Doubts about false memory syndrome. British Psychological Society. Available: http://www.bps.org.uk/ [14 March,2000]. Dawkins, R. (1976). The Selfish Gene. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Dawkins, R. (1982). The Extended Phenotype: the long reach of the gene. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Earl, J. (1999, Nov 14, 1999). The Dark Truth About the "Dark Tunnels of McMartin". Available: http://www.ipt-forensics.com/journal/volume7/j7_2_1_1.htm Farah, M., Peronnet, F., Gonon, M., & Giard, M. (1988). Electrophysiological evidence for a shared representational medium for visual images and visual percepts. J Exp Psychol Gen, 117(3), 248-57. Galanter, M. (1989). Cults: Faith, Healing, and Coercion. New York: Oxford University Press. Garven, S., Wood, J. M., Malpass, R. S., & Shaw, J. S. I. (1998). More than suggestion: The effect of interviewing techniques from the McMartin Preschool case. Journal of Applied Psychology, 83(3), 347-359. Hill, M. (1998, November 19, 1999). Satan's Excellent Adventure in the Antipodes. Available: http://www.ipt-forensics.com/journal/volume7/j7_2_1_1.htm. Kosslyn, S., Thompson, W., & Alpert, N. (1997). Neural systems shared by visual imagery and visual perception: a positron emission tomography study. Neuroimage, 6(4), 320-34. Lofland, J. (1977). Doomsday Cult: A Study of Conversion, Proselytization, and Maintenance of Faith. (Enlarged Edition). New York: John Wiley & Sons. Loftus, E. F. (1993). The Reality of Repressed Memories. American Psychologist, 48, 518-537. Loftus, E. F. (1997). Creating False Memories. Scientific American, 277(3), 70-75.

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Lynch, A. (1996). Thought Contagion. New York: Basic Books, HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. Mack, J. E. (1995). Abduction: Ballantine Group Paperback. Mack, J. E. (1996). Kidnapped by UFOs, an interview with John Mack. Available: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/aliens/johnmack.html. Mack, J. E. M. (1999). Passport to the Cosmos Human Transformation and Alien Encounters. New York: Crown Publishers. Mason, M. A. (1991). The McMartin case revisited: The conflict between social work and criminal justice. Social Work, 36(5), 391-395. McGough, L. S. (1994). Child witnesses: Fragile voices in the American legal system. New Haven, CT, USA: Yale University Press. McLoughlin, D. (1996, August 1996). Second Thoughts on the Christchurch Civic Creche Case; Has Justice Failed Peter Ellis? North and South, 54-69. hrstrm, L. (1996). Sex, Lgner och Terapi (Sex, Lies and Therapy) Norsteds Persinger, M. A. (1983). Religious and mystical experiences as artifacts of temporal lobe function: A general hypothesis. Perceptual & Motor Skills, 57(3, Pt2), 12551262. Persinger, M. A. (1984). People who report religious experiences may also display enhanced temporal-lobe signs. Perceptual & Motor Skills, 58(3), 963-975. Reaney, P. (2000, Monday, March 13, 2000 (9:07 PM US Eastern time). New Research Casts Doubt on False Memory Syndrome. Reuters news release. Schacter, D. L., Norman, K. A., & Koutstaal, W. (1997). The recovered memories debate: A cognitive neuroscience perspective. In M. Conway (Ed.), Recovered Memories and False Memories . Oxford: Oxford University Press. Schindehette, S. (1990, Feb 5, 1990). After the verdict, solace for none. (child molestation trial of McMartin case). People Weekly, 33, 70-78. Schooler, J. W., Bendikson, M., & Ambadar, Z. (1997). Taking the middle line: can we accommodate both fabricated and recovered memores of sexual abuse? In M. Conway (Ed.), Recovered Memories and False Memories . Oxford: Oxford University Press. Shermer, M. (1999, ). A skeptic in the trenches. Skeptic, 7, p10. Singer, M. T. (1995). Cults in Our Midst. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, Inc.

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Summit, R. C. (1994). The dark tunnels of McMartin. Journal of Psychohistory. Vol 21(4), Spr 1994, 397-416., 21(4), 397-416.

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