Posted by:
robertb
(
)
Date: March 30, 2011 05:24PM
I wrote his a number of years ago and haven't updated it, but it may be helpful:
I read a study about how people develop "false memories" for implausible events that I believe sheds some light on the process of conversion. I’ve provided the authors’ summary of the study below and have briefly outlined how I think the process might be applied in the context of “gaining a testimony” of the Book of Mormon, the First Vision and other Mormon claims. It fits pretty well with what I did and was taught to do as a missionary.
Summary of Study
"We have proposed a three-processes model for the development of false memories for implausible events through suggestive procedures. The first process is to make an event be perceived as plausible, the second is to help individuals acquire the autobiographical belief that it is likely to have happened to them. The third, not examined in this study, is to help people interpret their thoughts and fantasies about the event happening as memories. Our data shed light on two of the three processes.
We have shown that information about an event from a presumably credible source can alter perceived plausibility of the event. Our results also indicated that this information can produce changes in the perceived likelihood of the event having occurred to the individual. When suggestive personalized information was added, the effects on autobiographical likelihood were substantially greater and a sizable minority of participants came to believe that the event probably happened to them. In addition, we have shown that this happened although the event continued to be seen by participants as relatively implausible. This provides evidence for the fact that even a relatively small increase in plausibility of an initially implausible event can pave the way for additional suggestion, so that some people increase the perceived likelihood of occurrence of the event in their life."
"Changing Beliefs About Implausible Autobiographical Events A Little Plausibility Goes a Long Way"
http://faculty.washington.edu/eloftus/Articles/mazzloft.htmMormon missionary work, as I experienced it, often incorporated the processes described in the study. Once someone is identified who may be susceptible to accepting Mormonism, the missionary "teaching" process begins. The purpose of the teaching process is to create interest and belief and to reduce skepticism. Joseph Smith created the story of the plates, possibly some plates themselves, and the Book of Mormon in order to increase his credibility with his target audience. The lessons, testimonies and stories of the missionaries and church members, appeals to the Bible (in which many people still have at least residual belief) serve a similar purpose today.
Next, it is important to suggest that the investigator has experienced an event related to becoming a Mormon. Suggest the person recall an experience that is like the one you have presented and reinterpret it favorably to Mormonism. Many people experience events that are unexplainable or mysterious to them. Missionaries often interpret these experiences to suggest "the Spirit" was already working in their lives to bring them into Mormonism. In this way, a person is encouraged to reframe the memory of an event to support their belief in Mormonism. Mormons are routinely exposed to this practice of reframing in General Conference talks.
The experience can be personalized even further and its sense of reality increased by encouraging the person to enact the experience mentally or physically. When I was a missionary, we had the set discussions which at one point encouraged investigators to imagine they were Joseph Smith. Using first-person active imagination has been shown experimentally to increase belief that something has actually happened. More powerfully perhaps, as a missionary I asked investigators to kneel in prayer (as my companion and I knelt to make the request harder to refuse) and encouraged investigators to pray for a “testimony” at the same time we coached them in what to experience. Often people will experience what is suggested they should experience.
Once an investigator "receives a testimony" the experience is reinforced and maintained by the missionaries and church members. They reward the "successful" investigator with approval, acceptance, and the designation of being special and of belonging. The investigator attends church meetings where his experience is regularly validated. The investigator’s desire for social acceptance along and his need for internal consistency will increase his belief in the experience and serve to filter out conflicting information.