screen memory

noun Psychoanalysis.

a childhood memory, perhaps recalled falsely, that screens out a more distressing recollection.

Origin of screen memory

First recorded in 1920–25

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British Dictionary definitions for screen memory

screen memory

noun

psychoanal a memory that is tolerable but allied to a distressing event and which is unconsciously used to hide the distressing memory

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

screen memory in Medicine

screen memory

In psychoanalysis, the memory of an unacceptable but tolerable experience that unconsciously serves the purpose of concealing the memory of an associated experience that is more significant but emotionally more difficult to recall.