Forensic Psychology Topic: False Memories

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Dear Student,
Hi and thank you for your trust. As promised, I have put together some related research for you on the topic of false and recovered memories. I have suggested this as a topic because it is one of the most contented subjects in forensic psychology. For this particular paper, I have looked into the case of Ron Cotton and the research of Goodman. Certain concepts and debates have also been embedded. I hope you will find it as interesting as I have. I suggest the following outline:

1. Title: On False Memories
2. Opening statement
3. Background of study
4. Problem statement
5. Purpose of the study
6. Research question(s) and hypotheses
7. Theoretical framework
8. References

Of course this is the plan, not the research itself. What this plan will do is provide you a good research base in case this becomes the main topic of interest for your research in your study of forensic psychology. Good luck with your studies.

Sincerely,
AE 105878/Xenia Jones

On False Memories

Is human memory trustworthy enough to be the basis of validation of actions and evidence that can verify the occurrence and conduction of a criminal act? Memory is one of the most important topics in forensic psychology and false and recovered memories have been hotly debated in the field, primarily between clinical and experimental psychologists. Essentially, when police officers are investigating a crime that has occurred, to close a case, to find the culprit, they often center on the search for witnesses and their testimony becomes the evidence that in turn becomes the basis for conviction. In the case of sexual abuse, assault and other traumatic criminal acts, the testimony of victims are often always enough to put an accused behind bars. Victim testimony is so strong that it has massive impact, especially in adversarial systems (such as the justice system in the US and the United Kingdom). Even in the absence of corroborating evidence, the case of victim-statements as witnesses are so compelling for juries that a conviction is often made.

Background

In this study however, I am going to explore the malleability of memory, especially in the case of recovered and memories that when validated are deemed to be false. I have come across the ...