Hypnosis, Memory, and Incidental Memory

Baker, Robert A.; Haynes, Brian S.; Patrick, Bonnie S.

doi:10.1080/00029157.1983.10404111

Cited by 13 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 12 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In coming to this conclusion, experts in this area have placed considerable emphasis on the weight of evidence from experimental studies. Although there are a few exceptions (see, for example, Geiselman, Fisher, MacKinnon, & Holland, 1985;Ready, Bothwell, & Brigham, 1997), the evidence shows, fairly overwhelmingly, that hypnotic procedures do not signifi cantly improve accurate eyewitness recall to levels above those achievable under non-hypnotic conditions (for reviews, see Erdelyi, 1994;Kebbell & Wagstaff, 1998;McConkey & Sheehan, 1995;Smith, 1983;Steblay & Bothwell, 1994;Wagstaff, 1984; and for examples, see Baker, Haynes, & Patrick, 1983;Buckhout, Eugenio, Licitra, Oliver, & Kramer, 1981;Dywan & Bowers, 1983;Gregg & Mingay, 1987;Kebbell & Wagstaff, 1997;Mingay, 1986;Nogrady, McConkey, & Perry, 1985;Putnam, 1979;Register & Kihlstrom, 1987;Sanders & Simmons, 1983;Scoboria, Mazzoni, Kirsch, & Milling, 2002;Sheehan, Grigg, & McCann, 1984;Sheehan & Tilden, 1983, 1986Spanos, Gwynn, Comer, Baltruweit, & de Groh, 1989;Spanos, Quigley, Gwynn, Glatt, & Perlini, 1991;Wagstaff, 1982a ;Wagstaff & Ovenden, 1979;Wagstaff & Sykes, 1983;Wagstaff, Brunas-Wagstaff, Knapton, Winterbottom, Crean, Cole, & Wheatcroft, 2004;Wagstaff, Traverse, & Milner, 1982;Yuille & McEwan, 1985;Zelig & Beidleman, 1981). The absence of any superiority for hypnotic procedures is evident regardless of the nature of the hypnotic materials (objects, faces, people, words), the way they are presented (incidentally, intentionally, on slides, fi lms, ...…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is there a future for investigative hypnosis?

Wagstaff

2009

Journal Invest Psychology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is there a future for investigative hypnosis?

Wagstaff

2009

Journal Invest Psychology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…By and large, evidence in support of the phenomenon of hypnotic hypermnesia has been sporadic and unreliable. There is a clear indication that memory for nonsense syllables is not improved by the use of hypnosis (e.g., Baker, Haynes, & Patrick, 1983; Barber & Calverley, 1966; Dhanens & Lundy, 1975; White, Fox, & Harris, 1940; Young, 1925). On the other hand, the use of meaningful stimuli, such as films, pictures, prose, or poetry, does not ensure positive effects of hypnosis on subsequent memory tests.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating hypnotic memory enhancement (hypermnesia and reminiscence) using multitrial forced recall.

Dinges¹,

Whitehouse²,

Orne³

et al. 1992

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cogni

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Two experiments investigated whether hypnosis enhances memory retrieval per se or merely increases a person's willingness to report recollections. Both experiments assessed immediate and delayed (i.e., 1 week) recall for pictorial stimuli. In Experiment 1, following an initial waking baseline recall, subjects of high or low hypnotic ability completed a series of recall trials conducted either in hypnosis or in the walking condition. The classic hypermnesia effect was obtained, but with no supplemental contribution of hypnosis. In Experiment 2, hypnosis was introduced only after 6 waking-recall trials. Hypnosis again failed to enhance retrieval of new correct items, although it increased the production of new incorrect recall among hypnotizable individuals. The findings provide no evidence for alleged hypermnesic properties of hypnosis.

show abstract

“…There is virtual consensus among studies that hypnosis will fail to enhance recall if the to-be-remembered (TBR) material is devoid of either intrinsic, contextual, or personal meaning (e.g., Baker, Haynes,& Patrick, 1983;Barber &Calverley, 1966;Dhanens & Lundy, 1975); this is consistent with the view that stimulus meaningfulness may be a prerequisite for hypermnesia in general (e.g., Belmore, 1981;Erdelyi, Buschke, & Finkelstein, 1977). On the other hand, the use of meaningful TBR stimuli, such as pictures, stories, films, and so on, appears not to be sufficient to ensure the superiority of hypnotic over waking memory.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Hypnotic hypermnesia: Enhanced memory accessibility or report bias?

Whitehouse¹,

Dinges²,

Orne³

et al. 1988

Journal of Abnormal Psychology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Laboratory studies of hypnotic hypermnesia have yielded inconsistent evidence of memory enhancement, and the processes responsible for the occasional positive findings have eluded identification. The present experiment assessed delayed recall for filmed material under conditions in which subjects were required to answer all questions, by guessing if necessary. They also rated confidence in the accuracy of each response. After an initial wake-baseline forced-recall test, subjects were randomly assigned to hypnosis or waking conditions for a second forced-recall test. Both groups of subjects recalled additional correct details on the second test, but the magnitude of this hypermnesia was no greater for subjects exposed to the hypnosis treatment. Hypnotized subjects did, however, exhibit a significantly greater increase in confidence for responses designated as "guesses" on the prior waking test-a finding consistent with the view that hypnosis engenders a shift in the subjective criterion for what constitutes a "memory." Implications of these findings for the use of hypnosis in forensic situations are discussed.Anecdotal evidence from clinical and forensic sources suggests that hypnosis can be useful for the restoration of memory. Unfortunately, despite many positive claims, the value of such evidence in establishing the reality of memory enhancement (hypermnesia) by hypnosis is weak at best. A major limitation is that the correspondence between the hypnotically aided recollections and the events originally witnessed by the individual is, as a rule, not subject to independent verification; hence, there is no way to distinguish memories from pseudomemories.Controlled laboratory studies provide the means to determine the accuracy of hypnotic memory reports and to delineate the circumstances under which hypermnesia may occur. Accordingly, research on the topic has proliferated in recent years (for a review, see Orne, Whitehouse, Dinges, & Orne, 1988). These efforts have succeeded in identifying some of the conditions that determine whether hypnosis will increase recall as well as several consequences of the use of hypnosis to enhance

show abstract

Hypnosis, Memory, and Incidental Memory

Cited by 13 publications

References 12 publications

Is there a future for investigative hypnosis?

Is there a future for investigative hypnosis?

Evaluating hypnotic memory enhancement (hypermnesia and reminiscence) using multitrial forced recall.

Hypnotic hypermnesia: Enhanced memory accessibility or report bias?

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About