THE BELIEVABILITY OF REPRESSED MEMORIES

Two experiments investigated how mock jurors react to a case involving a repressed memory of child sexual assault. Subjects read a fictional civil trial (Experiment 1) or criminal trial (Experiment 2) summary i nvolving the sexual assault of a 6-year-old female. The summary was pr esented in one of three conditions: (a) child condition: the alleged v ictim reported her memory of the assault in the same year that the ass ault occurred; (b) repressed condition: the alleged victim reported th e assault 20 years later, after remembering it for the first time; or (c) no-repressed condition: the alleged victim reported the assault 20 years later, but the memory of the assault had been present for the 2 0 years. Although the testimony of the alleged victim was believed to some extent in all conditions, the alleged victim in the child conditi on was believed at the highest level, and this was associated with mor e decisions against the defendant. The results are discussed in terms of how delayed reporting of child sexual assault crimes is associated with lower believability of the alleged victim.