Abstract
Pretending to suffer from amnesia for a mock crime has been shown to lead to memory impairments. Specifically, when people are asked to give up their role of simulators, they typically recall fewer crime-relevant details than those who initially confess to a crime. In the current review, we amassed all experimental work on this subject and assessed the characteristics of the memory-undermining effect of simulated amnesia for a crime procedure (i.e., crime stimuli, simulating amnesia instructions, memory tests, and memory outcomes). We specifically focused on the effect that crime-related amnesia claims may have on offenders' final memory reports. Our review showed that simulators who initially claimed amnesia might paradoxically experience some sort of forgetting pertaining to crime-related information. This issue could likely lead to legal complications that need be taken into account in crime-related amnesia cases.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 213-226 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | Psychological Injury and Law |
| Volume | 15 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Early online date | 21 Dec 2021 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jun 2022 |
Keywords
- Crime-related amnesia
- Malingering
- Simulating amnesia effect
- Memory impairments
- Legal implications
- NEURAL MECHANISMS
- CRIMINAL OFFENSES
- INFORMATION
- IMPAIRMENT
- CLAIMS
- ABUSE