Posthypnotic Amnesia For Autobiographical Episodes: Influencing Memory Accessibility and Quality

The authors examined the impact of posthypnotic amnesia on the accessibility and quality of personal memories. High, medium, and low hypnotizable individuals recalled two autobiographical episodes and rated those memories. During hypnosis, subjects were given a posthypnotic amnesia suggestion that targeted one of the episodes. After hypnosis, they recalled and rated their memories of the episodes. The posthypnotic amnesia suggestion influenced the accessibility and quality of autobiographical memory for high and some medium, but not low, hypnotizable participants. The article discusses these findings in terms of investigating and understanding the impact of posthypnotic amnesia on autobiographical memory.