NCJ Number
123613
Date Published
Unknown
Length
31 pages
Annotation
An experimental study gathered information from 72 volunteers to compare the effects of cognitive interviews and hypnosis to enhance eyewitness memory. Data set archived by the NIJ Data Resources Program at the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data, located at URL http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/nacjd.
Abstract
The participants viewed a short film depicting an armed bank robbery followed by a chase, a shooting, and the robber's escape in a getaway car driven by an accomplice. Previous research showed that witnessing this film often resulted in amnesia for certain details. About one week after seeing the film each participant provided a detailed written account of the film's events. They then were administered either hypnosis, the cognitive interview, or a control procedure. Results showed that hypnosis increased the productivity, but not the accuracy of recall. In addition, the motivating control procedure was just as effective as the cognitive interview. Thus, findings confirmed the prevailing scientific view that hypnosis is an unreliable technique for refreshing memory. Moreover, the systematic use of repeated recall efforts in motivated subjects may be far more important for eliciting increased memory than is the use of any special cognitive strategy. Tables, footnotes, and 43 references.