Normative, group, and hypnotic influences on early autobiographical memory reports.
This study examines the effects of expectancies, group versus individual interview procedures, and recall trial on reports of early autobiographical memories. No effect for interview procedure or expectancy information was obtained. However, participants reported earlier memories during hypnosis than they did both prior to hypnosis and prior to memory recovery instructions. A third of the 85 participants reported memories below the cutoff of infantile amnesia (i.e., age 2) after they received suggestions that they could recall earlier memories. Two thirds of participants reported such memories during hypnosis. Even after being debriefed and contacted by telephone outside the experimental context, more than a third (37%) of the participants continued to report memories prior to age 2.
Marmelstein
L R
LR
Psychology Department, State University of New York at Binghamton 13902, USA.
Lynn
S J
SJ
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001325:Autobiographies as Topic; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012919:Social Behavior; D013404:Suggestion; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires