Repressed Memories and World War II: Some Cautionary Notes

In a recent article in this journal, B. P. Karon and A. J. Widener (1997) argued that clinical data derived from WWII veterans provide unambiguous evidence for the existence of repressed and recovered memories. In response, the authors contend that (a) the research evidence for the existence of repression is considerably weaker than asserted by Karon and Widener, (b) the use of hypnosis and sodium pentathol to recover memories is more problematic than implied by Karon and Widener, and (c) the case study presented by Karon and Widener is difficult to interpret for a variety of reasons. The authors conclude that although further examination of case reports from WWII veterans is clearly warranted, it would be premature to conclude that these reports confirm the existence of repressed and recovered memories.