MEMORY, ABUSE, AND SCIENCE - QUESTIONING CLAIMS ABOUT THE FALSE MEMORY SYNDROME EPIDEMIC

Careful assessment of purported scientific discoveries and the resulti ng interpretations is a responsibility of every scientist. The area of memory, particularly memory for abuse, has recently seen new highly p ublicized claims. These include the proposal of a new diagnostic categ ory, the false memory syndrome; claims about the ease with which exten sive autobiographical memories can be implanted; and estimates of the extent therapists use risky practices likely to cause false memory syn drome. This article suggests questions to evaluate these claims and th e methods used to promote them. Implications for clinical standards an d malpractice are discussed.