Three experiments examined some features of hypnotic induction that might be useful in the development of brief memory-facilitation procedures. The first involved a hypnosis procedure designed to facilitate face identification; the second employed a brief, focused-meditation (FM) procedure, with and without eye closure, designed to facilitate memory for an emotional event. The third experiment was a check for simple motivation and expectancy effects. Limited facilitation effects were found for hypnosis, but these were accompanied by increased confidence in incorrect responses. However, eye closure and FM were effective in facilitating free recall of an event without an increase in errors. FM reduced phonemic fluency, suggesting that the effectiveness of FM was not due to simple changes in expectancy or motivation.

The authors conducted 2 studies to assess the effects of levels of violence, the presence of a weapon, and the age of the witness on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony in real-life crime situations. Descriptions of offenders were taken from eyewitnesses' statements obtained by the police and were compared with the actual details of the same offenders obtained on arrest. The results showed that eyewitnesses tended to recall the offenders' hairstyle and hair color most accurately. None of the effects for the level of violence, the presence of a weapon, or age approached statistical significance, with the exception that, in the 1st study, accuracy in describing hair color was better when associated with high levels of violence and in cases of rape. It is argued that caution must be exercised in generalizing from laboratory studies of eyewitness testimony to actual crime situations.

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