The Response Criterion Problem in Tests of Hypnosis and Memory

Abstract

Past experimental research on the effects of hypnosis on memory indicates both that hypnosis produces increases in correct recalls and that hypnosis produces increased vulnerability to misleading information and intrusions in recall. The present paper uses the framework of signal detection theory to account for this pattern of data. It suggests that the effects of hypnosis on memory cannot be ascertained from previous work, because of a general failure to discriminate between effects on the amount of information retrieved from memory and the criterion adopted by Ss for reporting what they remember.