International Journal of Psychology and Psychological Therapy

A Comparison of Posthypnotic Amnesia and the Simulation of Amnesia Through Brain Injury [Una Comparación Entre la Amnesia Posthipnótica y la Amnesia Simulada Mediante Daño Cerebral]

Volume 1 Num. 1 - June 2001 - Pages 67-78

Authors:

G.F. Wagstaft, M. Parkes and J.R. Hanley , ,

Abstract:

Although the phenomenon of posthypnotic amnesia has been invoked in many applied contexts, its academic status remains unclear. This paper examines the claim that hypnotic amnesia and amnesia due to brain injury may share similarities in that, in both, implicit memory is spared. Hypnotically susceptible participants given an hypnotic suggestion for amnesia were compared to untreated controls and participants simulating amnesia on two memory tests, fragment completion and the coin in the hand test. As brain injured patients with amnesia typically perform better than simulators on these tests, it has been proposed that both may be useful for the detection of malingering in clinical contexts. On both tests, participants of high and medium hypnotic susceptibility performed similarly to simulators showing deficits in implicit memory not typically shown by brain injured patients. It is concluded that the results are most compatible with a response suppression account of hypnotic amnesia.

Key words:

Posthypnotic amnesia, Brain injury, Simulation, Memory

Full Article

More articles in this volume

• [1-10] Three Types of Selection and Three Centuries [Tres Tipos de Selección y Tres Siglos]
• [11-32] Inmigración, Prejuicio y Exclusión social: Reflexiones en Torno a Algunos Datos de la Realidad Española [Inmigration, Prejudice and Social Exclusion: Reflections on Some Data About the Spanish Situation]
• [33-45] Motivation and Social Cognition: Enemies or a Love Story? [Motivación y Cognición Social: ¿Enemigos o Una Historia de Amor?]
• [47-66] Shifting Differentiation and Its Implications for the Response Concept [Diferenciación Cambiante y sus Implicaciones Para el Concepto de Respuesta]
• [79-91] Evolución de las Características del Consumo de Tabaco: un Estudio Transversal [Evolution of the Characteristics of Smoking Habit: a Transversal Study]
• [93-113] Actitudes de los Adolescentes ante las Relaciones Sexuales [Teenagers Attitudes on Sexual Relationships]
• [115-136] Pre-requisitos Ontogenéticos Para la Emergencia de Relaciones Simétricas [Ontogenetic pre-requisites for the Emergence of Symmetric Relations]
• [137-149] Early Verbal Developmental History and Equivalence Relations [Historia de Desarrollo Verbal Temprano y Relaciones de Equivalencia]