Can Memories be Recovered Through Hypnosis PDF

Preview

Summary

second paper...

Description

Running header: HYPNOSIS

1

Can Memories be Recovered Through Hypnosis? Psychology 101 INDIANA STATE UNIVERSITY 17 February 2017

The Accuracy of Hypnosis

HYPNOSIS

2

There are many differing opinions regarding the accuracy of evoking memories through hypnosis. Researchers have frequently alternated their opinions concerning this subject. Some studies have shown promise of accurate memories being recovered from hypnosis, while others have shown flaws in responses from subjects regarding memories. By conducting many trials, researchers have attempted to settle the debate over hypnosis. It seems impossible for researchers to gather data that completely supports that one side of this subject is correct, but is there a way to finally determine the effectiveness of hypnosis regarding memory? What is hypnosis? Hypnosis is typically used to get answers from a subject, whether they are secret answers or unconsciously forgotten. When a person is in this state of mind, they typically lose their ability to filter their thoughts. They are also more susceptible to suggestion, meaning that the person could be influenced to think or act in a certain way. Therefore, if a researcher or anyone at the upper-hand of this situation wanted to influence the responses of a subject, they most likely could. While hypnosis is exciting, this leaves many researchers with uncertainty. Since people under hypnosis can be influenced, can we even believe that they are testifying conscious thoughts? Because of this researchers have put this subject to test through many methods. As researchers have looked farther into this phenomenon, more varied results have surfaced. During studies, researchers have hypnotized subjects, and then asked them to recall details from a previous event, such as a robbery. The researchers suggested false details from the robbery to the subjects and their answers reflected it. The study also included asking nonhypnotized subjects the same questions. Although it was rumored that hypnosis enhanced memory, the researchers were surprised to see that the hypnotized subject’s answers had more

HYPNOSIS

3

errors (Yuille & McEwan 1985). With these varied results, the answer to whether hypnosis is beneficial to memory remains unanswered. As researchers continued to search for answers, another method of studying this phenomenon surfaced. Researchers gathered undergraduate students and asked them to recall certain memories from their childhood. Some subjects were asked questions while hypnotized, some were asked questions immediately after being hypnotized, and some were told to fake being hypnotized as a simulation. After gathering information from the subject’s responses, researchers referred to the parents of the subjects to check the reliability of the answers. After analyzing their data, including the parent’s input, researchers concluded that the responses of the subjects who faked being hypnotized were much more accurate than the responses of the groups who had been hypnotized at all. Even the group whose questions were asked directly after hypnosis had answered questions incorrectly (Nash, Drake, Wiley, Khalsa, & Lynn 1986). While studying the effectiveness of hypnosis on a person’s memory, researchers have uncovered unexpected results. Although hypnosis is very interesting, by studying research studies and considering large amounts of tested results, such as asking about child hood experiences or encouraging a subject to recall details of a robbery, we can conclude that hypnosis is an ineffective way to recall memories in most cases. At times hypnosis can be beneficial in recovering memories, but the inaccuracies of this method are too noticeable to ignore in real world situations. While it would be useful to society to be able to recover memories through hypnosis, it is an unreliable alternative to uncovering the truth on many subjects.

HYPNOSIS

4

References Nash, M.R., Drake, S.D., Wiley, S, Khalsa, S. & Lynn, S.J. (1986). Accuracy of recall by hypnotically age-regressed subjects. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 95(3), 298-300. Yuille, J.C., & McEwan, N.H. (1985). Use of hypnosis as an aid to eyewitness memory. Journal of Applied Psychology, 70(2), 389-400....