International Hypnosis Research Institute - Learning and Memory

Immediate and persisting effects of misleading questions and hypnosis on memory reports

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 12:18:00 -0500

Immediate and persisting effects of misleading questions and hypnosis on memory reports were assessed. After listening to a story, 52 highly suggestible students and 59 low and medium suggestible students were asked misleading or neutral questions in or out of hypnosis. All participants were then asked neutral questions without hypnosis. Both hypnosis and misleading questions significantly increased memory errors, and misleading questions produced significantly more errors than did hypnosis. The 2 effects were additive, so that misleading questions in hypnosis produced the greatest number of errors. There were no significant interactions with level of hypnotic suggestibility. Implications of these findings for the per se exclusion of posthypnotic testimony are discussed. J Exp Psychol Appl. 2002 Mar;8(1):26-32. Scoboria A, Mazzoni G, Kirsch I, Milling LS. Department of Psychology, University of Connecticut, USA.

Neuroscientists at Case Western Reserve University store information in isolated brain tissue

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 14:55:00 -0500

WEBWIRE ? Monday, December 28, 2009

Study in Nature Neuroscience uncovers possible basis of short-term memory
CLEVELAND - Ben W. Strowbridge, PhD, associate professor of neuroscience and physiology/biophysics, and Phillip Larimer, PhD, a MD/PhD student in the neurosciences graduate program at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, are the first to create stimulus-specific sustained activity patterns in brain circuits maintained in vitro.
Their study, entitled, "Representing information in cell assemblies: Persistent activity mediated by semilunar granule cells" will be published in the February 2010 issue of Nature Neuroscience and is currently available online.
Neuroscientists often classify human memory into three types: declarative memory, such as storing facts or remembering specific events; procedural memory, such as learning how to play the piano or shoot basketballs; and working memory, a type of short-term storage like remembering a phone number. With this particular study, Strowbridge and Larimer, were interested in identifying the specific circuits that could be responsible for working memory.
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The influence of instructions and terminology on the accuracy of remember-know judgments

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 02:20:00 -0500

The remember-know paradigm is one of the most widely used procedures to examine the subjective experience associated with memory retrieval. We examined how the terminology and instructions used to describe the experiences of remembering and knowing affected remember-know judgments. In Experiment 1 we found that using neutral terms, i.e., Type A memory and Type B memory, to describe the experiences of remembering and knowing reduced remember false alarms for younger and older adults as compared to using the terms Remember and Know, thereby increasing overall memory accuracy in the neutral terminology condition. In Experiment 2 we found that using what we call source-specific remember-know instructions, which were intended to constrain remember judgments to recollective experiences arising only from the study context, reduced remember hits and false alarms, and increased know hits and false alarms. Based on these data and other considerations, we conclude that researchers should use neutral terminology and source-specific instructions to collect the most accurate reports of the experiences of remembering and knowing arising from the study context. Conscious Cogn. 2009 Jun;18(2):401-13. Epub 2009 Mar 31. McCabe DP, Geraci LD. Department of Psychology, Colorado State University, Campus Box 1876, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1876, USA.

Are subjective memory problems related to suggestibility, compliance, false memories, ...

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 16:56:00 -0500

Full Title: Are subjective memory problems related to suggestibility, compliance, false memories, and objective memory performance? The relationship between subjective memory beliefs and suggestibility, compliance, false memories, and objective memory performance was studied in a community sample of young and middle-aged people (N = 142). We hypothesized that people with subjective memory problems would exhibit higher suggestibility and compliance levels and would be more susceptible to false recollections than those who are optimistic about their memory. In addition, we expected a discrepancy between subjective memory judgments and objective memory performance. We found that subjective memory judgments correlated significantly with compliance, with more negative memory judgments accompanying higher levels of compliance. Contrary to our expectation, subjective memory problems did not correlate with suggestibility or false recollections. Furthermore, participants were accurate in estimating their objective memory performance. Am J Psychol. 2009 Summer;122(2):249-57. Van Bergen S, Jelicic M, Merckelbach H. Department of Clinical Psychological Science, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands. s.venbergen@psychology.unimaas.nl

Experimental production of past-life memories in hypnosis.

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:21:00 -0500

To explore the nature of past-life memories in hypnosis, 64 normal male adults aged 21 to 23 were selected using the Korean version of the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility (HGSHS:K) and a simple belief in past-life scale. They all received hypnotic past-life regression 3 times. The influence of HGSHS:K scores on the production rate of past-life memories was statistically significant; however, the influence of belief was not. The percentage of subjects who responded to hypnotic past-life regression increased with hypnotizability. Content analysis showed that cultural background and religious concepts influenced past-life memory production. Animals as past-life identities, for example, were reported whereas all past-life identities were human in a Canadian study. Int J Clin Exp Hypn. 2009 Jul;57(3):269-78. Pyun YD, Kim YJ. Pyun Neuropsychiatric Clinic, Seoul, South Korea. pyunyd@naver.com

Remembering words not presented in sentences: how study context changes patterns of false memories.

Mon, 04 May 2009 16:36:00 -0500

People falsely endorse semantic associates and morpheme rearrangements of studied words at high rates in recognition testing. The coexistence of these results is paradoxical: Models of reading that presume automatic extraction of meaning cannot account for elevated false memory for foils that are related to studied stimuli only by their visual form; models without such a process cannot account for false memory for semantic foils. Here we show how sentence and list study contexts encourage different encoding modes and consequently lead to different patterns of memory errors. Participants studied compound words, such as tailspin and floodgate, as single words or embedded in sentences. We show that sentence contexts led subjects to be better able to discriminate conjunction lures (e.g., tailgate) from old words than did list contexts. Conversely, list contexts led to superior discrimination of semantic lures (e.g., nosedive) from old words than did sentence contexts. Mem Cognit. 2009 Jan;37(1):52-64. Matzen LE, Benjamin AS. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, USA. lematze@sandia.gov

The effects of social influence on children's memory reports

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 16:32:00 -0500

Children in two age groups (7 vs. 12 yrs, N= 174) individually interacted with a stranger and were later interviewed about this event. Right before the interview, each child encountered the stranger once again and he engaged in a conversation where he either suggested that a (central or peripheral) detail originally present in the event had actually not been there or that an originally non-present (central or peripheral) detail had in fact been there. It was hypothesized that the two types of misinformation would result in omission and commission errors respectively. The results showed that the social influence resulted in an asymmetric effect (i.e., more commission than omission errors). Importantly, we also found that the children made more errors with respect to the peripheral detail (a suitcase), compared to the central detail (a passenger). Younger children did not make more errors (neither omission nor commission errors) than older children. Scand J Psychol. 2008 Dec;49(6):507-13. Hjelmsäter ER, Granhag PA, Strömwall LA, Memon A. Department of Psychology, University of Gothenburg, P.O. Box 500, SE 405 30, Göteborg, Sweden. emma.roos@psy.gu.se

Imagining nice and nasty events in childhood or adulthood

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 16:30:00 -0500

We explored whether event recency and valence affect people's susceptibility to imagination inflation. Using a three-stage procedure, subjects imagined positive and negative events happening in their distant or recent past. First, subjects rated how confident they were that they had experienced particular positive and negative events in childhood or adulthood using a Life Events Inventory (LEI). Two weeks later, they imagined two positive and two negative events from the LEI. Finally, they rated their confidence on the LEI a second time. For positive events, subjects showed more imagination inflation for adulthood than childhood events. For negative events, they showed no difference in imagination inflation for adulthood and childhood events. We discuss factors that may influence source confusions for memories of the past and highlight directions for future research. Acta Psychol (Amst). 2008 Oct;129(2):228-33. Sharman SJ, Barnier AJ. School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia. s.sharman@unsw.edu.au

Déjà vu in the laboratory.

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 16:25:00 -0500

This experiment aimed to create a laboratory analogue of déjà vu. During hypnosis, 1 group of high hypnotizables completed a puzzle game and then received a posthypnotic amnesia suggestion to forget the game (PHA condition). Another group of highs were not given the game but received a posthypnotic familiarity suggestion that it would feel familiar (PHF condition). After hypnosis, all participants were given the game and described their reactions to it. Whereas 83% of participants in both conditions passed their respective suggestions, more in the PHF condition felt a sense of déjà vu. An EAT inquiry revealed that they experienced sensory fascination and confusion about the source of familiarity, akin to everyday déjà vu. These findings highlight the value of using hypnosis as a laboratory analogue of déjà vu and provide a framework for investigating clinical manifestations of this phenomenon. Int J Clin Exp Hypn. 2008 Oct;56(4):425-50. O'Connor AR, Barnier AJ, Cox RE. University of Leeds, United Kingdom. aoconnor@wustl.edu

What the stories children tell can tell about their memory.

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 16:24:00 -0500

The authors examined the relation between children's narrative ability, which has been identified as an important contributor to memory development, and suggestibility. Across 2 studies, a total of 112 preschool-aged children witnessed a staged event and were subsequently questioned suggestively. Results from Study 1 indicated that children's ability to provide a high-quality narrative of the event was related to resistance to suggestive questions, and narrative ability appeared to supersede age as a predictor of such resistance. In Study 2, children's general language and narrative abilities were measured in addition to their ability to produce a high-quality narrative about the target event. These results replicated Study 1's findings that children's ability to produce a high-quality narrative of a previously experienced event predicted resistance to suggestion. However, the quality of children's autobiographical memory narratives predicted shifting from denial to assent. Findings are considered in light of narrative's role in memory development and underlying mechanisms that may explain children's suggestibility. Dev Psychol. 2008 Sep;44(5):1442-56. Kulkofsky S, Klemfuss JZ. Department of Human Development & Family Studies, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA. sarah.kulkofsky@ttu.edu

Learning, Motivation, and Male Dopamine Fatigue

Sun, 05 Apr 2009 10:13:00 -0500

by Tim Brunson DCH Occasionally I'll encounter 40-ish or older male patients who are encountering learning, memory, and motivation problems. During their intake and subsequent discussions I often detect similar patterns. They are individuals who are successful in their professional lives. Yet, they tend to be over controlling workaholics who equate effort with results. I've even heard more than one of them using the phrase "no pain, no gain." Indeed, too often they equate personal sacrifice with results. This leads to an unbalanced life which will eventually affect their effectiveness. In short, trying too hard will lead to ineffectiveness, a loss of control of their temper, and health problems. To merely treat the presenting memory and motivation problem blindly with hypnosis or allopathic remedies would be unfruitful and potentially harmfully. [More]

You say tomato? Collaborative remembering leads to more false memories for intimate couples.

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 15:36:00 -0500

Research on memory conformity shows that collaborative remembering--typically in the form of discussion--can influence people's memories. One question that remains is whether it matters with whom we discuss our memories. To address this question we compared people's memories for an event after they discussed that event with either their romantic partner or a stranger. Pairs of subjects watched slightly different versions of a movie, and then discussed some details from the movie, but not others. Subjects were better at remembering non-discussed details than discussed details: when remembering discussed details they incorrectly reported information from their partner's version instead of their own. In addition, subjects who discussed the event with their romantic partner (rather than with a stranger) were even more likely to report false memories. We discuss our findings in relation to other research on memory conformity, social influences on false memories, and memory systems within romantic relationships. Memory. 2008 Apr;16(3):262-73. French L, Garry M, Mori K. Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand.

False recognition following study of semantically related lists presented in jumbled word form.

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 15:33:00 -0500

Three experiments explored a jumbled word effect in false recognition. Lists of theme-related items were presented in word or nonword form. Results indicated that critical lures semantically related to studied items were falsely recognised regardless of whether they were presented as words or nonwords. High false recognition rates to either SLEEP or SELEP following study of an appropriate theme list of items in nonword form should only occur if nonwords are recoded at study. With study conditions conducive to recoding, jumbled words induced false recognitions based on semantic associations among their respective base words. Disrupting a recoding process by creating "difficult" letter rearrangements for jumbled words (Experiment 2) appeared to eliminate the false recognition effect. In Experiment 3, presentation durations ranged from 110 ms to 880 ms. Although there was little evidence of a semantic false recognition effect at the fastest presentation rate, the brief durations appeared to be effective in eliminating the effect when items were studied in nonword form. These results appear to be consistent with an encoding activation/retrieval monitoring model. Memory. 2008 May;16(4):443-61. Halcomb SH, Taylor JP, DeSouza KD, Wallace WP. Department of Psychology, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA. sara.haber@rice.edu

The child in time: the influence of parent-child discussion about a future experience.

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 15:32:00 -0500

We investigated the influence of preparation provided by parents on preschoolers' recall. One day before children participated in a staged novel event, parents discussed the event with their child either with (verbal+photos) or without (verbal) photographs. Parents and children in a control condition read an unrelated story. Then 8-10 days later the children were interviewed about the event. Children in the verbal+photos condition recalled significantly more than those in the control condition. Parental preparation style (e.g., evaluations, hypothetical language) was associated with the child's contributions to the preparatory discussion, but no aspect of parent or child style or content was associated with children's verbal recall. Similarly, there were no significant associations between children's performance on a task of episodic future thinking, and their preparatory discussion or recall, although episodic future thinking was strongly associated with language ability. The potential underlying mechanisms and theoretical implications are discussed. Memory. 2008;16(5):485-99. Salmon K, Champion F, Pipe ME, Mewton L, McDonald S. University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. Karen.Salmon@vuw.ac.nz

Emotional content of true and false memories.

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 15:31:00 -0500

Many people believe that emotional memories (including those that arise in therapy) are particularly likely to represent true events because of their emotional content. But is emotional content a reliable indicator of memory accuracy? The current research assessed the emotional content of participants' pre-existing (true) and manipulated (false) memories for childhood events. False memories for one of three emotional childhood events were planted using a suggestive manipulation and then compared, along several subjective dimensions, with other participants' true memories. On most emotional dimensions (e.g., how emotional was this event for you?), true and false memories were indistinguishable. On a few measures (e.g., intensity of feelings at the time of the event), true memories were more emotional than false memories in the aggregate, yet true and false memories were equally likely to be rated as uniformly emotional. These results suggest that even substantial emotional content may not reliably indicate memory accuracy. Memory. 2008;16(5):500-16. Laney C, Loftus EF. University of Leicester, UK. cl136@le.ac.uk