Repressed memories

Article By:

Newman, Eryn J. School of Psychology, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand.

Klemfuss, J. Zoe Department of Psychology and Social Behavior, University of California, Irvine, California.

Loftus, Elizabeth F. Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.

Last reviewed:2013

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.YB130062

In 1990, George Franklin stood trial in California for the murder of his daughter's friend, Susan Nason. However, this was unlike most murder trials. The key evidence against George Franklin was the eyewitness testimony of his daughter, Eileen. Eileen had been 8 years old at the time that her friend was murdered, and as an adult she recovered what she thought was a repressed memory of seeing her father strike and kill her friend. Eileen's recovered memory was convincing—George Franklin was convicted of the murder and completed more than 6 years of a life sentence before his conviction was overturned. This case was one of the earliest to raise concerns about psychological theory and clinical practice relating to repressed memories, beginning what became known as the memory wars.

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