False Memory Syndrome

  What is False Memory Syndrome and how are false memories generated (according to skeptics)? What is Recovered Memory Therapy (RMT)? What is the evidence that would make one be skeptical of “recovered memories?” What implications might the research on memory reconstruction have for the credibility of “repressed” memories (e.g. of sexual/physical abuse in childhood) that are uncovered in psychotherapy? Does this credibility of repressed memories have any relationship to the type of questions or statements posed to the client/patient by the therapist? Explain. Lastly, be sure to include your opinion on the issue (with support, of course) of whether recovered memories are likely to be false or genuine, and how you can tell in any given case. If a repressed memory is simply a reconstructed (or false) memory that a person firmly believes is true, how can you explain how this reconstructed memory was created?