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Case 1:20-cr-00330-PAE Document 424-3 Filed 11/08/21 Page 12 of 29 106 J. Engle and W. O'Donobue harder to remember whether any abuse may have occurred (as cited in Loftus, 2003). Indeed, there have been several legal cases in which therapy clients or their relatives successfully sued or received settlements from their therapists for using therapy techniques that may have induced patients into creating false memories of past abuse (Loftus, 1997). In one such case in 1986, Nadeen Cool sued her therapist who used hypnosis and other suggestive therapeutic techniques to uncover “lost memories” of abuse (Loftus, 1997). Through therapy, Cool remembered being in a satanic cult, eating babies, and being raped, among other horrific events. She came to believe she had more than 120 different personalities and even underwent an exorcism led by her therapist who sprinkled holy water and demanded Satan to leave her body. Later, Cool realized that her memories were not real and were planted by her therapist. The therapist settled out of court for $2.4 million. Though the false memories discussed thus far have all been entirely fab- ricated, some false memories are created surrounding real events. Memories of an event can be tampered by exposure to subtle misinformation after the event has occurred (Loftus & Palmer, 1974; Loftus, 1975; Loftus, Miller, & Burns, 1978). In one famous study by Loftus and Palmer (1974), researchers showed participants short clips of traffic accidents and were asked to rate the speed at which the accident happened. However, when questioning the participants, researchers cleverly manipulated the use of verbs. For instance, some participants were asked the speed at which vehicles smashed into each other. Other participants were asked to report the speed at which vehicles bit, collided with, bumped, or contacted each other. Participants respond- ing to the word smashed not only reported a higher speed at which the cars were travelling but weeks later were more likely to recall having seen broken glass at the scene. These findings in addition to Loftus’s later work on the nature of leading questions (Loftus, 1975; Loftus et al., 1978) revealed how subtle information introduced after an event may alter the memory of that event. Loftus and her students have since conducted more than 200 stud- ies with more than 20,000 participants demonstrating how misinformation introduced after an event can induce people into creating false memories (Loftus, 1997). Repressed memories have not been disproved. However, scientific stud- ies have demonstrated that significant errors in memory and the creation of false memories of traumatic events are possible. When the claimant suddenly recovers a memory of a past sexual assault, investigation of the events surrounding the recovery of the memory, including suggestive ther- apy and investigative techniques (e.g. events surrounding police lineups and questioning), must be examined and may shed light on the validity of the recovered memory. DOJ-OGR-00006280