What does research reveal about the accuracy of memory under hypnosis? Design your own experiment to investigate this topic. How accurate are memories related to the kind of traumatic amnesia discussed in Chapter 10 (Memory)?

What will be an ideal response?

Answer: A good answer will include the following key points.
? Research shows that hypnosis may increase the amount of material remembered, but it also increases the inaccuracy of the memory and may even produce false memories.
? To test this, an experiment might be done.
? All subjects would view a film of a crime in progress.
? After an interval of time (such as a week), the control group would be quizzed on their memory of the film.
? The experimental group would be tested after the same time interval, but while hypnotized.
? The amount remembered and the number of errors could then be compared for the two groups.
? Traumatic amnesia allegedly involves the burying of specific traumatic events for a long period of time, often for many years. When the memory returns, it is supposedly immune to the usual processes of distortion and confabulation, and is recalled with perfect accuracy.
? Because traumatic amnesia lacks good empirical support, psychological scientists are skeptical about its validity and about the accuracy of "recovered memories."