Abstract

Erdelyi's “unified theory of repression” attempts to rehabilitate psychoanalytic doctrine by exaggerating its compatibility with the findings of cognitive science. In addition, Erdelyi treats Freud's writings as holy writ, any portion of which can be quoted to prove a point. He also relies on a long-discredited account of Freud's “seduction theory” and ignores important links between Freudian assumptions and our recent recovered memory movement.