Often, false memories develop because there's exposure to external suggestive information," Loftus says. Our memory is inherently fallible therefore false accusations and memories of abuse are common. When asked a question repeatedly, a child will most likely change their original answer. So, the question of sexual abuse was eventually confirmed by the preschooler. The debates that ensued between those who thought memories could be repressed by trauma and those who thought that most “repressed” memories were false or induced are known today as the “memory wars.” Eventually a certain pattern started forming in many inexplicable stories of abuse. I also still occasionally have paranoia and false memories or delusions and don’t remember important things people have told me and am absolutley certain it was not mentioned. False Memories for Repeated Experiences However, many of the legal cases brought to court concern alleged victims who talk about memories of abuse for repeated experiences. The McMartin preschool case is an example of such cases. A distorted memory or the introduction of later, false information can affect how we recall events we experienced firsthand. Their central concern is that when clinicians ask about repressed memory, many clients will form false memories of child abuse. In 1996 the Johnsons sued Rogers Memorial Hospital in Oconomowoc, where their daughter was admitted for treatment. "Or, people can suggest things to themselves - autosuggestion. It was years ago and since that time I haven’t used any illegal drugs and I try to let it go, but its like I get flashbacks to this memory. Charles and Karen Johnson, of St. Louis, say the abuse never happened and that mental health treatment providers encouraged and fostered false memories of abuse. Human memory is pliable and easy to manipulate. A false memory is a false belief about one’s own life. These false memories, with more or less detail, of course do not prove that repressed memories of abuse that return are false. Another line of false memory research has shown that false memories for repeated events can also be created . For example, in 1994 a 26-year-old preschool teacher served four years in prison after being convicted of 115 counts of sexually abusing 20 children in her care. 3) research raises questions about balancing risks of false memories with risks of not treating childhood trauma that may have been forgotten. The false memories range from the relatively trivial (e.g., remembering voting) to the bizarre (e.g., remembering forcing one's daughter and son to have sex). In these cases -- which occur mostly in women -- the memories of abuse, although vivid, are false, induced by suggestion in therapy. 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