recovered mempries? can they occur

Many people seem to have recovered memories on a day to day basis, although research has shown that not all of our recovered memories are accurate. An autobiographical memory is a form of episodic memory in a person's recollections of experiences in their life. There are three levels to this type of memory going from life time periods, to general events, to event specific knowledge. Even in the event specific stage most memories are some facts along with myths (1). Loftus did a lot of research as a psychologist; she deeply investigated the eyewitness testimony memory. She wondered why or how people stored memory from a specific event, even more so she wondered how the memory worked in this event along with its accuracy (2). Loftus was also convinced that false memories could become created by others, especially through hypnosis (1). Recovered memory therapy, many psychologists have used hypnosis in order to recover memories although Loftus' research proved that in many cases even the slight inclination of the event happening can make the individual really think that the event occurred(1). Through their acts of trying to help people recover memories of their past many have created this false memory syndrome, in which people truly believe something happened that indeed did not. Along the issue of a recovered memory versus a pseudo memory, the final answer is still unknown, along with many other issues (3). But most researchers in the field of recovered memory therapy agree that although it is a rare occurrence, a memory of early childhood abuse that has been forgotten can be remembered later. However, these leaders also agree that it is possible to construct convincing pseudo memories for events that never occurred, thus creating false memory syndrome (3).I have personally experience the false memory syndrome, I seem to have dreams that I really think are real sometimes because I always swear that my boyfriend and I have been somewhere that we have not. I thought we had been to this particular restaurant at least three or four times but for some reason a few of them were a little more cloudy and it is those times that we actually didn't go. It was really funny at first because I would argue that we had just been there, when in all actuality I would later remember that we hadn't been there but only once or twice. I really enjoyed researching this topic; it helped me figure out why that happens to me all the time. I am going to have to agree with Loftus, I think that a lot of our recovered memories are false ones. I know there is no real way to tell for each individual if their memories are accurate or false, but I believe that they are constructed rather than recovered(2). Works cited:1) Textbook 2) http://faculty.washington.edu/eloftus/ [Elizabeth Loftus' home page.]3). http://www.apa.org/topics/memories.html