Junk Skepticism and Recovered Memory: A Reply to Piper

Abstract

Self-styled skeptics of recovered memory claim that no scientific evidence supports the claim that traumatic childhood events can be forgotten at the time, only to be remembered later in life. The archive of corroborated cases of recovered memory was created to document the growing number of cases that have been ignored or distorted, often by advisory board members of a prominent advocacy group for parents accused of sexual abuse, the so-called False Memory Syndrome Foundation (FMS Fl. August Piper, an FMSF advisory board member, dismisses all of the cases in this archive in the name of skepticism. His argument provides an ideal vehicle for exploring the difference between true skepticism and junk skepticism. Piper's (1999/this issue) argument is characterized by three features of junk skepticism: evasion, distortion, and double standards. Piper's claims about specific cases are undocumented and inaccurate, and his argument demonstrates a phenomenon that has largely escaped notice in the debate over recovered memory: the use of rumor, innuendo, and false-accusation folklore to impugn those who have proven their cases in court. This article provides a detailed response to every case that Piper impugns, concluding with some observations about the politics of the false memory movement and the morality of tactics that apparently violate the ethical code in the profession of psychiatry.