Abstract
“Generic recall” occurs when the person has the idea of the general nature of the information that is to be remembered, but cannot gain complete access to the particular memory. Memory reports from 725 hypnotized subjects were inspected by independent blind raters for instances of generic recall. During suggested posthypnotic amnesia, generic recall occurred significantly more often in the memory reports of hypnotizable than insusceptible subjects, and was inversely related to the actual number of items recalled. There was a marked shift from generic to particular recall after the amnesia was lifted. Posthypnotic amnesia may provide a useful method for the study of episodic memory for personal experiences.
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This study was conducted at the Unit for Experimental Psychiatry, The Institute of Pennsylvania Hospital, and was supported in part by Grant MH-19156 from the National Institute of Mental Health, United States Public Health Service, and in part by a grant from the Institute of Experimental Psychiatry. J. F. Kihlstrom served as one of the blind raters throughout, and was joined by Maribeth A. Miller on Sample A and Mary Anne Iselin and Martin Korn on Sample B; F. J. Evans served as the third judge who resolved our disagreements. The standardized scoring criteria were developed by the authors collaboratively with Maribeth A. Miller and Emily Carota Orne. We thank Paul Rozin for giving us access to Sample A, and our colleagues for their helpful comments during the preparation of this paper: Heather A. Brenneman, A. Gordon Hammer, Pamela A. Markowsky, Emily Carota Orne, Martin T. Orne, Helen M. Pettinati, William M. Waid, and Stuart K. Wilson.
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Kihlstrom, J.F., Evans, F.J. Generic recall during posthypnotic amnesia. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 12, 57–60 (1978). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03329624
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03329624