PAST-LIFE IDENTITIES, UFO ABDUCTIONS, THE SATANIC RITUAL ABUSE - THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF MEMORIES

People sometimes fantasize entire complex scenarios and later define t hese experiences as memories of actual events rather than as imagining s. This article examines research associated with three such phenomena : past-life experiences, UFO alien contact and abduction, and memory r eports of childhood ritual satanic abuse. In each case, elicitation of the fantasy events is frequently associated with hypnotic procedures and structured interviews which provide strong and repeated demands fo r the requisite experiences, and which then legitimate the experiences as ''real memories.'' Research associated with these phenomena suppor ts the hypothesis that recall is reconstructive and organized in terms of current expectations and beliefs.