HYPNOTIC INTERVIEWING - THE BEST WAY TO INTERVIEW EYEWITNESSES

It has been suggested that hypnosis techniques may have the potential to enhance eyewitness memory in forensic investigations. However, labo ratory research shows that increases in recall with hypnosis technique s are often associated with decreases in accuracy, false confidence in incorrect information, and increased suggestibility to leading questi ons and misleading post-event information. These problems limit the us efulness of hypnosis as an interviewing procedure. However, in practic al investigations, many factors associated with hypnosis, apart from t he hypnotic induction itself, might lead to memory enhancement compare d with standard police interviews. For example, hypnotic interviewers, because of their psychological, clinical, and interpersonal skills, m ay be better interviewers than police officers. They may use effective interviewing strategies such as those associated with the ''cognitive interview''; a procedure which has the potential to enhance recall by approximately 35% without the problems of memory distortion associate d with hypnosis. It is concluded, therefore, that a cognitive intervie w procedure should be used in preference to hypnosis. (C) 1998 John Wi ley & Sons, Ltd.