Abstract
This paper will present a critical evaluation of recent reports which suggest that hypnosis may be used to facilitate recall of witnesses for forensic purposes. Emphasis will be given to the fact that such anecdotal reports appear, at least superficially, to contradict a large body of experimental evidence which indicates that hypnotic procedures do not facilitate recall to a level greater than that achievable in a motivated waking state. However, experimental work in this area has previously not involved recall of material relevant to police work, and there have been no systematically controlled trials to determine the role of hypnotic induction per se in the interrogation of witnesses. This paper will present the results of studies which examine the relative importance of factors such as hypnotic induction, relaxation and situational factors in facilitating recall in contexts more relevant to police work. It is hoped that the identification of such factors in the hypnotic situation may also help to provide techniques for use outside the hypnotic situation for witnesses who are hypnotically insusceptible.
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© 1985 Plenum Press, New York
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Wagstaff, G.F. (1985). Hypnosis and the Law: The Role of Induction in Witness Recall. In: Waxman, D., Misra, P.C., Gibson, M., Basker, M.A. (eds) Modern Trends in Hypnosis. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-4913-6_29
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-4913-6_29
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