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Episodic and semantic memory in posthypnotic amnesia: A reevaluation
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
|September 1, 1982
Summary
Hypnotic amnesia may not be a memory dissociation. Instead, subtle changes in suggestion wording reveal it as a strategic enactment influenced by participant expectations.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Psychology
Background:
- Previous research suggested hypnotic amnesia dissociates episodic and semantic memory.
- Highly susceptible individuals showed impaired episodic recall but intact semantic retrieval.
Purpose of the Study:
- To test if hypnotic amnesia findings are due to experimental demands or a true memory dissociation.
- To investigate the role of suggestion wording in hypnotic amnesia effects.
Main Methods:
- Manipulating the wording of posthypnotic amnesia suggestions.
- Assessing episodic memory recall and semantic memory association tasks.
- Comparing performance across different suggestion conditions.
Main Results:
- Replicating previous findings of episodic-only impairment with specific wording.
- Inducing both episodic and semantic impairments by altering suggestion wording.
- Demonstrating that suggestion wording significantly influences amnesia manifestation.
Conclusions:
- Hypnotic amnesia is not a dissociation between memory types.
- Findings support hypnotic amnesia as a strategic enactment influenced by situational expectations.
- The wording of hypnotic suggestions plays a critical role in shaping memory performance.