The facade of scientific documentation: A case study of Richard Ofshe's analysis of the Paul Ingram case.

Abstract

The case of Paul Ingram, a man who pleaded guilty to sexually abusing his daughters, has received widespread media attention. Richard Ofshe (1992, 1994) set forth a narrative of the case, which included his account of an experiment to test the veracity of Ingram’s confessions and concluded that the inadvertent use of hypnosis during Ingram’s interrogation resulted in the creation of pseudomemories that convinced Ingram of his guilt. On the basis of an examination of the original source documents, the authors discuss the errors of fact, methodological flaws, and confounding factors in Ofshe’s rendering of this case of alleged child abuse. They also cite examples of the extent to which Ofshe’s imperfect narrative of this case and pseudoscientific conclusions have been uncritically accepted and repeated in the literature, thus becoming an academic version of an urban legend.

“The Reality of Repressed Memories” Revisited and Principles of Science

“…443). There was also corroborating evidence of abusive tendencies by Ingram's wife Sandy, who "reported instances of sexual abuse" (Olio & Cornell, 1998;p. 1184).…”

“…Dr. Ofshe fabricated a story of sexual abuse with the objective of inducing Ingram to believe the made-up event. This, in turn, we are told was the controlling factor in Ingram's voluntarily submission of a written confession to the fabricated crime (Olio & Cornell, 1998).…”

Are the American Psychological Association’s Detainee Interrogation Policies Ethical and Effective?

“…They can become, in the words of Olio and Cornell (1998), “an academic version of an urban legend” (p. 1195). APA’s official statements in its news releases, on its web site, in its journal of record, and elsewhere should be reliable, trustworthy, and valid.…”

Confabulation: Implications for Criminal Justice, Forensic Mental Health, and Legal Professionals

“…The relationship is less than straightforward, but the frontal lobe, executive function, and confabulation have been consistently linked in the scientific literature [64,65]. Specifically, damage or disorders impacting the frontal lobe often co-occur with executive functioning deficits [64].…”

“…In contrast, another study failed to establish an association between the Provoked Confabulation Test and the Stroop Color-Word Test. Despite these inconsistencies, mental health professionals should be familiar with the symptoms of executive dysfunction and its possible relationship with confabulation until research clarifies the nature of the relationship between these constructs [65].…”