Despite scientific evidence suggesting that hypnosis can help improve certain health and psychological issues, there is no evidence supporting its positive impact on memory.
The issue is that even if we vaguely acknowledge the existence of hypnosis, it turns out that many people are completely unable to be hypnotized. Hypnosis researcher and Professor of Psychiatry at Stanford University, David Spiegel, shares that: “Although it’s not precisely known, he estimates that about 25% of us belong to the group of people who cannot be hypnotized.”
Clearly, research on hypnosis requires participants who can be hypnotized. Therefore, if researchers claim that 80% of the sample provides research value, while it sounds impressive, it only applies to a small group of us.
Many people are completely unable to be hypnotized (Illustration: Leonardo).
If you are wondering whether you belong to the group that can be hypnotized, you need look no further than the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale.
The Stanford scale includes several assessment activities under the guidance of a supervisor.
For example, participants may be asked to stretch out their arms. At that point, the supervisor suggests that they are holding a heavy object, asking them to imagine and feel the weight pulling their arms down. If the person’s arm begins to drop in response to the suggestion, they have passed this test, indicating that they are likely part of the group that can be hypnotized.
While this method explains participants’ responses, some psychologists might view this reaction simply as a form of suggestibility or compliance. As hypnosis researcher Graham Wagstaff states: “Much heated debate argues that considering this special state as a result of hypnosis neglects the power of social pressure and the capability of a normal person.”
Like many scientists in psychology, he believes that the positive effects sometimes seen in those deemed to be hypnotized may stem from ordinary phenomena, such as relaxation, imagination, and expectation.
Now, let’s return to semantics. For those who simply want to use hypnosis as a term encompassing the ordinary psychological phenomena that Wagstaff refers to, particularly the power of suggestion, I will let them continue to think that way.
Asking someone to close their eyes and listen to instructions, imagine wonderful things, or not feel pain may also provide some benefits. Relaxation, gentleness, positivity, encouragement – all sound great. This even helps us focus on different parts of the brain, various perceptual activities, and different stimuli. It has practical, scientific effects.
We can fully recognize this without relying on the troublesome and meaningless state of consciousness formed by hypnosis.
Individuals under hypnosis direct their attention to what the hypnotist says; they choose to be hypnotized and engage in the subsequent behaviors. This means their attention remains active and engaged, allowing them to perform actions and experience psychological consequences from the stimuli they encounter.
Although there is scientific evidence that hypnosis can help improve certain health and psychological issues, there is no evidence of its positive impact on memory. The idea that hypnosis enhances memory likely comes from the media – there are hundreds of books, TV shows, and movies portraying hypnosis as the key to unlocking hidden memories. Unfortunately, this is completely untrue.
When eliciting an event with someone who has entered a suggestible state sometimes referred to as hypnosis, the probability of them imagining and generating false memories about non-existent events significantly increases.
For example, in a study from 1962, medical scientist Theodore Barber from Boston University found that among those guided to recall childhood memories, many exhibited childlike behaviors and asserted they were reliving their childhood memories.
However, upon closer examination, the responses of these participants who were “age-regressed” did not align with what children would do, say, feel, or comprehend. Barber argued that participants might feel as if they were reliving their childhood days, but in reality, that experience was merely a creative reconstruction, not genuine memories being rediscovered. Similarly, when applied in therapy, open-ended questions and probing combined with hypnosis can generate vivid and complex false memories about trauma.
