On Thu, 29 Jun 2000, Jim Guinee wrote:
> It's the never-ending story...
>
> http://fmsf.net/apa-complaint.shtml
>
Once again, and against my better judgement, I'm sucked in by one
of Jim's provocative posts. Despite the enigmatic comment "It's
the never-ending story" and indignant disclaimers which will
follow this post, I have little doubt that Jim posted this
because he thinks it's a powerful and damning indictment of
Elizabeth Loftus.
I think otherwise. First, from poking around the links from this
site, it's clear it's from an advocacy organization dedicated to
promoting recovered memory therapy and attacking its opponents,
notably the False Memory Syndrome Foundation. So in reading it,
keep in mind that you've heard only one side of the story.
Second, the associated links describe various controversies that
I have some knowledge of. At these sites they're described in a
highly distorted, dishonest, and partisan way, which leads me to
believe this is also true of Jim's url which led me to them.
Third, we should remember that the cases cited in the article in
favour of recovered memories were decided at a time when courts
were still under the impression that this was a valid scientific
premise. The situation has now changed dramatically. Many of
these cases have been reversed on appeal, and courts no longer
accept the validity of such claims of recovered memory. On the
contrary, in an increasing number of cases, therapists have been
successfully sued for malpractice in making use of recovered
memory techniques. In any case, court decisions should never be
confused with scientific proof.
Fourth, more important than the question of why Elizabeth Loftus
actually resigned from the APA is the question of the ethical
breaches she is alleged to have committed. They strike me as
remarkably trivial. One example is Loftus' ethical breach in
describing an accusor as a musician when she was actually a
"software engineer". Shocking! Curiously, though, a related site
provides a biography which describes this individual as a
"concert harpist", which surely sounds like a musician to me.
Another example is the accusation that because Loftus is not a
clinician and is ignorant of "the processes of traumatic memory",
it is therefore unethical for her to voice opinions on memory
retrieval.
In fact, the tenor of these accusations seems to be directed at
silencing Loftus by labeling as "unethical" opinions these
advocates find disagreeable. I find that disturbing. It reminds
me of that shameful episode at McGill University at the height of
the recovered memory craze, when a respected academic was shouted
down and prevented from speaking. This was because what he was
about to say was not pleasing to the devotees of this sadly
misguided and exceedingly destructive "therapy". Fortunately, it
seemsat last to be fading away.
-Stephen
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Stephen Black, Ph.D. tel: (819) 822-9600 ext 2470
Department of Psychology fax: (819) 822-9661
Bishop's University e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Lennoxville, QC
J1M 1Z7
Canada Department web page at http://www.ubishops.ca/ccc/div/soc/psy
Check out TIPS listserv for teachers of psychology at:
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