repressed memory

(noun)

A hypothetical concept used to describe a significant memory, usually of a traumatic nature, that has become unavailable for recall.

Related Terms

  • pseudomemory
  • encode

Examples of repressed memory in the following topics:

  • Repressed Memories

    • The issue of whether memories can be repressed is controversial, to say the least.
    • However, whether these memories are actively repressed or forgotten due to natural processes is unclear.
    • Some speculate that survivors of childhood sexual abuse may repress the memories to cope with the traumatic experience.
    • Psychological disorders exist that could cause the repression of memories.
    • Given research showing how unreliable memory is, it is possible that any attempt to "recover" a repressed memory runs the risk of implanting false memories.
  • Hypnosis

    • When a person is in this altered state of perception, it is thought that he or she can be guided to experience a reduction in pain, alter ineffective cognitions or beliefs, or remember forgotten memories, among other things.
    • Hypnotherapy has been used to address addiction, weight loss, fears and phobias, and to release repressed memories, which may have given rise to negative effects.
  • Amnesia

    • Amnesia refers to any form of memory loss; there are many causes and types.
    • Amnesia is a condition in which one's memory is lost.
    • Anterograde amnesia is the loss of long-term memory, which can manifest itself as the loss or impairment of the ability to form new memories through memorization.
    • Repressed memory, which refers to the inability to recall information, usually about stressful or traumatic events in persons' lives (e.g. a violent attack or disaster).
    • The memory is stored in long term memory, but access to it is impaired because of psychological defense mechanisms.
  • The Nature and Meaning of Dreams

    • Freud's theory centered around the notion of repressed longing or wish fulfillment—the idea that dreaming allows us to sort through unresolved, repressed wishes.
    • In effect, the expectation is fulfilled (the action is "completed") in a metaphorical form so that a false memory is not created.
    • They are merely electrical brain impulses that pull random thoughts and imagery from our memories.
    • The hypothesis states that the function of sleep is to process, encode, and transfer data from short-term memory to long-term memory through a process called consolidation.
    • NREM sleep processes the conscious-related memory (declarative memory), and REM sleep processes the unconscious related memory (procedural memory).
  • The Transfer of Authority

    • These efforts can be both judicial and non-judicial, and refer to actions, policies or institutions that are enacted at a point of political transition from violence or repression to societal stability.
    • In the context of transitional justice, memorialization is used to honor the victims of human rights abuses.
    • By demonstrating respect and acknowledging the past, national memorials can help governments reconcile tensions with victims.
  • Detail on Types of Long-Term Memory

    • As the name already suggest, Long Term Memory stores memory for an extended period of time and perhaps indefinitely.
    • Explicit memory, also known as conscious or declarative memory, involves memory for facts, concepts and events that require conscious recall of the information.
    • Episodic memory, on the other hand, is used for more contextualized memories.
    • Autobiographical memory - memory for particular events within one's own life - is generally viewed as either equivalent to, or a subset of, episodic memory.
    • Semantic and episodic memory are closely related; memory for facts can be enhanced with episodic memories associated with the fact, and vice versa.
  • Sensory Memory

    • In sensory memory, no manipulation of the incoming information occurs as it is transferred quickly to working memory.
    • It is assumed that there is a subtype of sensory memory for each of the five major senses (touch, taste, sight, hearing, and smell); however, only three of these types have been extensively studied: echoic memory, iconic memory, and haptic memory.
    • Iconic memory has a duration of about 100 ms.
    • Echoic memory is the branch of sensory memory used by the auditory system.
    • Haptic memory is the branch of sensory memory used by the sense of touch.
  • Introduction to Memory Storage

    • Memory storage is achieved through the process of encoding, through either short- or long-term memory.
    • During the process of memory encoding, information is filtered and modified for storage in short-term memory.
    • Items stored in short-term memory move to long-term memory through rehearsal, processing, and use.
    • In order to explain the recall process, however, a memory model must identify how an encoded memory can reside in memory storage for a prolonged period of time until the memory is accessed again, during the recall process.
    • Note that all models use the terminology of short-term and long-term memory to explain memory storage.
  • Short-Term and Working Memory

    • Short-term memory, which includes working memory, stores information for a brief period of recall for things that happened recently.
    • Though the term "working memory" is often used synonymously with "short-term memory," working memory is related to but actually distinct from short-term memory.
    • Baddeley and Hitch's 1974 model of working memory is the most commonly accepted theory of working memory today.
    • It also links the working memory to the long-term memory, controls the storage of long-term memory, and manages memory retrieval from storage.
    • This is a function of time; that is, the longer the memory stays in the short-term memory the more likely it is to be placed in the long-term memory.
  • Long-Term Memory

    • Long-term memory is the final, semi-permanent stage of memory.
    • Long-term memory has also been called reference memory, because an individual must refer to the information in long-term memory when performing almost any task.
    • Long-term memory can be broken down into two categories: explicit and implicit memory.
    • Episodic memory is used for more contextualized memories.
    • Contrast the different ways memories can be stored in long-term memory
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