ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the types of naive beliefs that affect the judicial system and provides the scientific counterpoint to these beliefs. It begins with beliefs about memory in general, including a discussion concerning naive beliefs about how memories are formed and subsequently retrieved. The chapter turns to naive beliefs about the effects of stress and trauma on encoding, storage, and retrieval, including views about repressed memories and their subsequent recovery. It discusses naive beliefs about children's memories, how these memories are preserved into adulthood, and their subsequent reliability as evidence in the courtroom. The chapter also discusses naive beliefs concerning trauma and repression, but a related question arises as to the reliability of early childhood memories that arise for the first time in therapy. A large majority of laypeople and professionals in Europe and the USA agree that such memories are likely to be true.
