ABSTRACT
COGNITION AND EMOTION, 2004, 18(4), 449-455 It was dubbed the memory wars. Psychology and psychiatry were showing their dirty
laundry in full view of the courts, the media, and heated debates at conferences and workshops (McNally, 2003). As memory researchers we felt a sense of importance. Instead of writing articles just for fellow academics, we were addressing critical questions about recovered memories that were of interest to the readers of Time and Newsweek. The term “recovered memories” referred to recollections of trauma (usually sexual abuse) that emerged in individuals who previously thought that their life had been uneventful. The debate was between those who believed that many of the memories were created in people’s imagination (sometimes with guidance from mental health professionals) and those who believed that many of the memories were previously inaccessible, but basically accurate, accounts of past events. There are two distinct questions here. Can false memories for entire events be created in people’s memories? And, what happens to memories of true emotional events?
