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The Limitations of Our Knowledge About Social Influences on Memories of Sexual Abuse over the Long Term
Author(s) -
Koppel Jonathan,
Berntsen Dorthe
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
applied cognitive psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.719
H-Index - 100
eISSN - 1099-0720
pISSN - 0888-4080
DOI - 10.1002/acp.3191
Subject(s) - forgetting , psychology , term (time) , traumatic memories , sexual abuse , cognitive psychology , social psychology , poison control , human factors and ergonomics , medicine , physics , environmental health , quantum mechanics
Summary Fagin, Cyr, and Hirst provide an informed and insightful application of the social memory literature to the important question of how memories of sexual abuse may be re‐shaped, both over the short term and long term, by communication with others, as well as with oneself. In the following commentary, we outline several respects in which we believe that the application of this literature to memories of sexual abuse, particularly over the long term, is still open to debate. In particular, we focus on induced forgetting and social contagion for such memories, as well as the application of the social memory literature to intrusive involuntary memories of trauma. Where applicable, we offer suggestions for future research that may contribute towards addressing the limitations of the existing literature. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.