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Hypnosis and eyewitness memory

Dr. Graham Wagstaff

In the late 1970s and early 1980s a number of books and articles were published describing the extraordinary capacities of hypnosis to enhance memory in police investigations. Until the late 1980s there were many reports of the use of hypnosis as an interview procedure by the police in countries including the UK, USA, and Australia. Since then, however, the use of hypnosis as an investigative procedure has declined in popularity; indeed, some experts have suggested that the dangers inherent in hypnosis procedures are such that no witness who has previously been hypnotised should be allowed to give evidence in court. In this paper, the evidence both for and against hypnosis as a procedure for facilitating eyewitness memory will be evaluated. Particular attention will be paid to comparisons with alternative non-hypnotic interview procedures, and the idea that, notwithstanding the problems associated with hypnosis, practitioners of hypnosis may still have access to a range of useful interviewing tools and skills.

Dr. Graham Wagstaff is Reader in Psychology at the University of Liverpool. He lectures mainly in the general areas of social and forensic psychology, but has researched and published widely in his specialist topics of justice and hypnosis, particularly as they relate to law. In addition to his academic work, he has also appeared as an expert witness in the High Court.

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