Enhancing witness memory with techniques derived from hypnotic investigative interviewing: focused meditation, eye-closure, and context reinstatement.
Graham F. Wagstaff, Jacqueline M. Wheatcroft, Andrea M Caddick, Lara J Kirby, Elizabeth Lamont
International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis April 1, 2011 DOI: 10.1080/00207144.2011.546180 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Experimental study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Children aged 6 to 7 in the first experiment; adults in the second experiment |
| Interventions | Focused meditation with eye-closure technique Context reinstatement |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Humans Hypnosis Memory Mental recall Forensic psychiatry Adolescent Child Female Young adult |
| Key findings | Focused meditation with eye-closure was comparable to context reinstatement in facilitating memory in children aged 6 to 7 without increasing errors or inflating confidence, and when combined with context reinstatement it was resistant to misleading information in adults. The authors propose that such procedures may be useful alternatives for investigative interviewing. |
Abstract
Due to several well-documented problems, hypnosis as a forensic interviewing tool has been largely replaced by the cognitive interview; however, the latter is problematic in time and complexity. This article builds on previous research showing that some procedures used in traditional hypnotic forensic interviewing might still be useful in developing alternative procedures for use in investigative interviewing. Two experiments are described that include a focused meditation with eye-closure technique with similarities to conventional hypnotic induction but without the label of hypnosis. In the first, focused meditation was comparable to a context reinstatement, or revivification, technique in facilitating memory in children aged 6 to 7 without increasing errors or inflating confidence. In the second, when used in combination with context reinstatement, focused meditation was resistant to the effects of misleading information in adults. Implications are discussed.
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Cancer patients (clinical intervention study) | 2003 | Mixed methods: scale development, correlational, quasi-experimental, laboratory, experience-sampling, and clinical intervention study | |
| Loving-kindness meditation increases social connectedness. | 2008 | Controlled laboratory experiment | |
| Mindfulness and mind-wandering: Finding convergence through opposing constructs. | 2012 | Two studies: correlational study and experimental study | |
| Mental Training Enhances Attentional Stability: Neural and Behavioral Evidence | 2009 | Experimental study | |
| Mindfulness meditation and substance use in an incarcerated population. Incarcerated population | 2006 | Quasi-experimental with treatment-as-usual control condition |
Citations in the library
Cited by 2
- Effects of a Focused Breathing Mindfulness Exercise on Attention, Memory, and Mood: The Importance of Task Characteristics Behaviour Change April 1, 2018
- Mindfulness in face recognition: Embedding mindfulness instructions in the face‐composite construction process Applied Cognitive Psychology April 4, 2021