Specific autobiographical memory following hypnotically induced mood state (original) (raw)

This study investigated the impact of hypnotically induced mood on the specificity of autobiographical memory. High (n = 24) and low (n = 21) hypnotizable participants were administered a hypnotic induction for sad, neutral, or happy mood and were asked to retrieve specific autobiographical memories in response to positive and negative cue words. Whereas high hypnotizable participants in the sad condition provided fewer specific memories in response to positive rather than negative cues, those in the neutral and happy conditions responded similarly to positive and negative cues. Findings suggest that impaired recall of specific memories may be mediated by state factors associated with sad mood. These results point to the utility of hypnotic mood induction as a means to experimentally investigate the relationship between mood and autobiographical memory. Autobiographical memories are indexed typically b y providing subjects with cue words and requesting recall of a specific personal memory in response to the cue (Robinson, 1976; Rubin, 1986). There is substantial evidence that depression is associated with impaired retrieval of specific autobiographical memories and particularly poor retrieval of positive memories (Brittlebank, Scott, Williams, & Ferrier, 1993; Kuyken & Brewin, 1995; Williams & Scott, 1988). For example, Williams and Scott (1988) found that when depressed patients were presented with positive and negative cue words, they displayed more impaired retrieval of specific memories than did controls; this impairment was greater for positive than for negative cues. The mechanisms that mediate this deficit have not been defined clearly. Current theorizing proposes that autobiographical memory is organized hierarchically, and that retrieval of specific memories depends on continued retrieval processing until a memory is accessed