False memory syndrome (FMS) describes a condition in which a person's identity and relationships are affected by memories which are factually incorrect but are strongly believed. Peter J. Freyd originated the term, which the False Memory Syndrome Foundation (FMSF) subsequently popularized.
False memories may be the result of recovered memory therapy, a term also defined by the FMSF in the early 1990s, which describes a range of therapy methods that are prone to creating confabulations. Some of the influential figures in the genesis of the theory are forensic psychologist Ralph Underwager, psychologist Elizabeth Loftus and sociologist Richard Ofshe. False memory syndrome is not recognized as an official mental health diagnosis but the principle that memories can be altered by outside influences is overwhelmingly accepted by scientists.
Read more about False Memory Syndrome: Definition, Recovered Memory Therapy, Evidence For
Famous quotes containing the words false, memory and/or syndrome:
“A blunt statement can be as false as any other.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“Language was not powerful enough to describe the infant phenomenon. “I’ll tell you what, sir,” he said; “the talent of this child is not to be imagined. She must be seen, sir—seen—to be ever so faintly appreciated.”... The infant phenomenon, though of short stature, had a comparatively aged countenance, and had moreover been precisely the same age—not perhaps to the full extent of the memory of the oldest inhabitant, but certainly for five good years.”
—Charles Dickens (1812–1870)
“Women are taught that their main goal in life is to serve others—first men, and later, children. This prescription leads to enormous problems, for it is supposed to be carried out as if women did not have needs of their own, as if one could serve others without simultaneously attending to one’s own interests and desires. Carried to its “perfection,” it produces the martyr syndrome or the smothering wife and mother.”
—Jean Baker Miller (20th century)