The effects of hypnosis, context reinstatement, and anxiety on eyewitness memory
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Updated: Sep 25, 2026

Reducing State Anxiety Using Working Memory Maintenance
Published on: July 19, 2017
D J Ready1, R K Bothwell, J C Brigham
1Department of Psychology, Florida State University, Tallahassee 32306, USA.
Abstract:
The effects of hypnosis, context reinstatement, and motivational instructions on accuracy of recall for factual information and facial recognition accuracy following a stressful event were assessed. None of the three techniques had a significant effect on factual memory or susceptibility to suggestion as assessed by true-false and multiple-choice tests. However, participants high in hypnotic susceptibility showed somewhat better memory on the true-false test, and hypnosis affected performance on the two photograph line-ups. In addition, hypnosis appeared to enhance facial recognition accuracy for participants who were low in anxiety, but not for those high in anxiety. Finally, there was evidence of a curvilinear relationship between self-reported anxiety at time of retrieval and facial recognition accuracy.
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