The Daily Telegraph (London) had an interesting summary of an Ohio State University study of using hypnosis to recover memories . The results confirm a lot of skeptical suspicions about the practice — the memories of people who underwent hypnosis were no more accurate than those who had not undergone the procedure, but the subjects who were hypnotized were far more convinced that there erroneous memories were accurate than were the control group.
Subjects in the study were either hypnotized or given a relaxation exercise. They were then asked to estimate the dates that certain historical events took place, such as the Persian Gulf War. Both groups were just as likely to be accurate, but when their memories were faulty the group that had been hypnotized were more likely to insist that their memories were accurate even after the errors were pointed out.
As Joseph Green, an associate professor of psychology who conducted the study, said, “While hypnosis does not enhance the reliability of memory there is evidence that it leads to increased confidence in memories.”
Those two effects in combination — enhanced confidence without an increase in reliability — is a potentially dangerous combination and the results add yet one more nail into the coffin of the supposed benefits of using hypnosis to recover forgotten memories.
Source:
Hypnosis does not help accurate memory recall, says study. Celia Hall, The Daily Telegraph (London), August 27, 2001.