Posthypnotic amnesia

Post-hypnotic amnesia is the inability in hypnotic subjects to recall events that took place while under hypnosis. This can be achieved by giving individuals a suggestion during hypnosis to forget certain material that they have learned, either before or during hypnosis.[1] Individuals who are experiencing post-hypnotic amnesia cannot have their memories recovered once put back under hypnosis; it is therefore not state-dependent. Nevertheless, memories may return when presented with a pre-arranged cue. This makes post-hypnotic amnesia similar to psychogenic amnesia, as it disrupts the retrieval process of memory.[2] It has been suggested that inconsistencies in methodologies used to study post-hypnotic amnesia cause varying results.[3]

  1. ^ Barnier, A., Bryant, R. A., & Briscoe, S. (2001). Posthypnotic amnesia for material learned before or during hypnosis: Explicit and implicit memory effects. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 49(4), 286–304.
  2. ^ Kihlstrom, J.F. (1997). Hypnosis, memory and amnesia. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 352(1362), 1727–1732.
  3. ^ Dorfman, J. & Kihlstrom, J. F. (1994). Semantic priming in post-hypnotic amnesia. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Psychonomic Society, St. Louis, November 1994.