Recollection

Recollection of Memory from Hypnosis

The work suggested in the article deals with memory recollection from college students. Nash et al., from the article, conducts an experiment using Ohio University undergraduates that were not previously exposed to hypnosis. People that have trouble remembering some things can possibly have recovery of memories recovered from early childhood by undergoing hypnosis. So is it really possible to recover memories after being hypnotized? This is what Nash et. al set out to prove.

To perform this experiment Nash and his colleagues gathered the students and split them into two groups. The dependent variable in this situation is the hypnosis. The independent variable in the experiment is the recollection of a transitional object in their memory. To conduct the actual experiment itself 16 students were selected from the original of 1200 to be a part of the hypnotized group, another 14 were added to make up the control, not hypnotized students. The hypnotized group was brought to a state of hypnosis then after the hypnosis the subjects were administered a 10 minute interview in which they were asked about a transitional object of their early childhood. The control group went through the exact same experiment however they were not actually hypnotized then reported their recollections of their childhood. After the subjects were administered the hypnosis the experimenters contacted the mothers of the subjects and had a phone interview about possible transitional object.

The results were tallied in a table that is found in the article. The results reveal that really hypnosis might have an effect on memory recognition. The hits actually increased in the subjects that were administered the hypnosis but actually the students that were not hypnotized had more hits than did the students that were hypnotized. In this case one can conclude that hypnosis may indeed help people to gain recollection of their memories but this is just a small...