Assessing the validity of amnesia in dissociative identity disorder: A dilemma for the DSM and the courts.

Allen, John J. B.; Iacono, William G.

doi:10.1037/1076-8971.7.2.311

Cited by 16 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 77 publications

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“…the isolation of material within a dissociative identity) and transfer (i.e. the transmission of material across dissociative identities; Allen and Iacono, 2001; Dorahy, 2001b). This follows the lead of early investigations (Prince and Peterson, 1909) and is associated with the well-documented apparent amnesia between some dissociative identities for cognitive representations of experience.…”

Section: Psychobiological Findings Related To Didmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dissociative identity disorder: An empirical overview

Dorahy

Brand

Şar

et al. 2014

Aust N Z J Psychiatry

163

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Objective: Despite its long and auspicious place in the history of psychiatry, dissociative identity disorder (DID) has been associated with controversy. This paper aims to examine the empirical data related to DID and outline the contextual challenges to its scientific investigation. Method: The overview is limited to DID-specific research in which one or more of the following conditions are met: 1) a sample of participants with DID was systematically investigated, 2) psychometrically-sound measures were utilised, 3) comparisons were made with other samples, 4) DID was differentiated from other DID: An empirical overview 2 disorders, including other Dissociative Disorders, 5) extraneous variables were controlled or 6) DID diagnosis was confirmed. Following an examination of challenges to research, data is organised around the validity and phenomenology of DID, its aetiology and epidemiology, the neurobiological and cognitive correlates of the disorder, and finally its treatment. Results: DID was found to be a complex yet valid disorder across a range of markers. It can be accurately discriminated from other disorders, especially when structured diagnostic interviews assess identity alterations and amnesia. DID is aetiologically associated with a complex combination of developmental and cultural factors, including severe childhood relational trauma. The prevalence of DID appears highest in emergency psychiatric settings and affects approximately 1% of the general population. Psychobiological studies are beginning to identify clear correlates of DID associated with diverse brain areas and cognitive functions. They are also providing an understanding of the potential metacognitive origins of amnesia. Phase-oriented empirically-guided treatments are emerging for DID. Conclusions: The empirical literature on DID is accumulating, although some areas remain under-investigated.Existing data show DID as a complex, valid, and not uncommon disorder, associated with developmental and cultural variables, that is amenable to psychotherapeutic intervention. KeywordsDissociative identity disorder, validity, phenomenology, aetiology, psychobiology, [see Taylor, 1983 ], Janet, 1907Prince, 1905). More recently DID has become the subject of considerable debate (e.g., Dalenberg et al., 2012;Gleaves, 1996;McHugh and Putnam, 1995;Merskey, 1992), especially around its validity, aetiology and prevalence. Often This overview is designed to provide a current "broad-brush" outline of the scientific foundation of DID by focusing on DID-specific research. Thus the overview excludes opinion pieces and papers without DID data and is confined to studies identified in searches of major psychological (e.g., Psycinfo) and psychiatric databases (e.g., Medline) which investigated individuals with DID where one or more of the following conditions were met: 1) a sample of participants with DID was systematically investigated, 2) psychometrically-sound measures were utilised, 3) comparisons were made with other samples, 4) DID was differentiat...

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Section: Psychobiological Findings Related To Didmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dissociative identity disorder: An empirical overview

Dorahy

Brand

Şar

et al. 2014

Aust N Z J Psychiatry

163

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…The literature is replete with case vignettes of dissociative amnesia and sophisticated discussions about how one can conceptualize the memory impairments in these cases (e.g., whether they are manifestation of implicit or explicit processes; e.g., Allen & Iacono, 2001). We would argue that intentional symptom distortion is a primary issue in such cases and that this issue may be addressed with the type of forced-choice SVTs described above (see also Merckelbach & Rasquin, 2001;Merckelbach, Merten, & Lilienfeld, 2011).…”

Section: Case Example: Dissociative Amnesiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Forced-Choice Tests as Single-Case Experiments in the Differential Diagnosis of Intentional Symptom Distortion

Merten

2012

Journal of Experimental Psychopathology

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Symptom validity testing has become a prolific research field in neuropsychology. Its original and most powerful version is the forced-choice procedure that continues to play an important role because it allows for an experimental approach to test the hypothesis of intentional symptom distortion. When conducting forced-choice tests, below-chance response patterns are considered to be indicative of this type of distortion. In this article, we discuss the rationale behind the forced-choice technique and its historical development. We also present three case vignettes that illustrate the experimental background of forced-choice testing and how it may help to clarify diagnostic issues. The diagnostic considerations in these cases concerned (1) complete memory loss, (2) Ganser syndrome, and (3) dementia. Employing forced-choice methodology, intentional false symptom production could be demonstrated in all three patients. Thus, the cases demonstrate how, in the context of substantial external benefits, forced-choice testing may help to determine whether healthy individuals try to appear psychologically impaired.

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“…So far, to our knowledge, it has not yet been tested how memory for emotional material is affected by switching states. In recent years, an alternative interpretation has been proposed suggesting that the differential effects on memory tasks may instead be related to the sensitivity of the tasks to the participants' ability to control or inhibit responses, assuming that DID patients may withhold their responses in more transparent, often explicit, memory tasks, but may not be able to do so in more indirect measures of memory (see Allen & Iacono, 2001;Bowers & Schacter, 1990).…”

Section: Dissociative Identity Disorder (Did) Is An Intriguing and Comentioning

confidence: 99%

Directed forgetting between, but not within, dissociative personality states.

Elzinga¹,

Phaf

Ardon

et al. 2003

Journal of Abnormal Psychology

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To investigate amnesia between identities in dissociative identity disorder (DID), the authors assessed explicit and implicit memory performance on a directed-forgetting task in 12 DID patients who switched from one state to an "amnesic" state between presentation and memory testing. DID patients were instructed either to remember or to forget neutral and emotional words. Besides an overall decrease in explicit memory, patients demonstrated selective forgetting of to-be-forgotten, but not of to-beremembered words in the amnesic state. Patients did not exhibit any directed forgetting within the same state. Implicit memory was fully preserved across states. Independent of state, patients recalled more emotional than neutral information. These results may extend the conceptualization of memory processes in DID, suggesting an important role for retrieval inhibition.

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Assessing the validity of amnesia in dissociative identity disorder: A dilemma for the DSM and the courts.

Cited by 16 publications

References 77 publications

Dissociative identity disorder: An empirical overview

Dissociative identity disorder: An empirical overview

Forced-Choice Tests as Single-Case Experiments in the Differential Diagnosis of Intentional Symptom Distortion

Directed forgetting between, but not within, dissociative personality states.

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