NOTES 1:
“The results of the study do not support Young and Cooper’s (1972) earlier work which indicated that S expectancies play an important role in the occurrence of posthypnotic amnesia. [They do] support previous research (Hilgard & Cooper, 1965) which has shown that direct suggestions for amnesia play an important role in the occurrence of posthypnotic amnesia. It is also worth noting that forgetting was significantly greater for suggestion group Ss than for no suggestion Ss. In other words, the suggestion Ss could not remember as many items as the no suggestion Ss, even after the amnesia suggestions were lifted. This appears to be a replication of the ‘residual amnesia’ effect reported in previous studies (Hilgard & Hommel, 1961; Kihlstrom & Evans, 1977), in that Ss who showed a high level of initial amnesia (suggestion Ss) continued to display a persistence of the amnesia process, despite the cue to terminate amnesia” (p. 48).
“Although the nonstate theorists’ argument cannot be completely dismissed, there are two points which tend to make the present findings particularly striking. Both concern the fact that the odds were actually stacked against the control group Ss remembering more than Ss in the hypnosis group, for reasons inherent in the design of the study. First of all, the control Ss ere asked to engage in a set of routine and boring tasks. In contrast, the hypnosis group Ss were given instructions aimed at having them experience rather unusual phenomena which were significantly outside the realm of everyday experience. It seems logical to assume that such experience would be rather memorable. Second is the fact that the standardized scoring procedure which was used by the raters to score Ss’ responses unavoidably favored the hypnosis group Ss. This was primarily because the number of acceptable responses was far greater for the hypnotized Ss, since in many cases a verbal description of the feelings or sensations which accompanied the task was sufficient to score the item as remembered. Thus, this finding suggests that the hypnotic state, in and of itself, may have had some inhibiting effect on memory. In other words, hypnotized Ss who did not receive any suggestions for amnesia may show more “forgetting” than nonhypnotized Ss due to some intrinsic characteristic of the hypnotized state. It is unlikely, however, that the extent of this “spontaneous” effect can ever be accurately determined because it will always be confounded by the internal expectations that Ss bring with them into the laboratory” (p. 49).
1984
Perry, Campbell (1984). Dissociative phenomena of hypnosis. Australian Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 12, 71-84.
Janet’s concept of dissociation, Freud’s notion of the Censor and Hilgard’s multiple controls of consciousness are considered in relation to the hidden observer (HO) phenomenon. A review of reports of recent research, including that of the author and co- workers, indicates that the hidden observer effect occurs only in 40-50% of high susceptible subjects. It is speculated that subjects who show Hidden observer have maintained some contact with reality whilst those high susceptibles who do not show hidden observer are more deeply involved in hypnosis.
NOTES 1:
Author describes a series of experiments in their laboratory. Ss are double screened to select highly hypnotizable people, and accepted into the research only if they pass the amnesia item of SHSS:C and most of the other 11 items of that scale. Ss are told that hypnosis is a procedure which permits subjects to exercise various skills or abilities such as relaxation, imagination, imagery, absorption and selective attention–that everyone has some of these skills to varying degrees, and that hypnosis is one of many techniques (including yoga, etc.) for bringing out these skills and abilities. All sessions are videotaped for the Experiential Analysis Technique (EAT). The Hidden Observer (HO) procedure was modified so that E touched the S’s shoulder lightly at the start of the item, and a second time to terminate the item. Whereas Hilgard used cold pressor pain, they used a mildly unpleasant shock provided by a Take-Me-Along electric stimulator.
Replying to Spanos and Hewitt (1980) in which data was interpreted as implying that the HO is an artifact of demand characteristics, “It struck me then, and still does, that people like Hilgard and ourselves, who believe that the HO is a phenomenon of hypnosis and not just some laboratory artifact, can only get it 40-50% of the time, whereas the investigators like Spanos and Hewitt, who believe it is all laboratory artifact, get the phenomenon almost 100% of the time. Usually it is the other way around, so it seems to me that if the HO is an artifact, it is unique in the history of psychology” (p. 77).
They found that all highs with the HO also reported subjective experiences similar to HO experience when they were not hypnotized. “For instance, one female subject who has the HO, insists that she is not hypnotized, despite compelling evidence to the contrary, because she feels the same way when she is not hypnotized. By contrast, another subject who is interested in creative writing reports HO type experiences when she is on a creativity binge and also when she is stoned” (p. 79).
They observed several consistent findings in their research: “(1) contrary to the belief that subjects who report HO’s are more susceptible than those who do not, our findings are the reverse” (p. 79). The differences are not large enough to be significant, but that may be due to a ceiling effect on the scales since the subjects are already selected to be high hypnotizables. “(2) A second repeated observation is that when all the Ss were administered the HO instructions, they were given a second electric shock to the still analgesic hand, and asked to report the degree of pain they felt on a 1-10 scale where 1 = no pain and 10 = extreme pain. … the HOs report having the HO experience and their pain reports on the 1-10 scale increase, in the manner described by Hilgard using cold pressor pain. The no HOS report no subjective difference, and their degree of analgesia actually increases” (p. 79).
The author describes further studies in which they obtained results in the opposite direction from what they had expected, based on the supposition that people who do not have the HO appear to set aside critical judgement more and to be more imaginatively involved. “So the finding of greater recall after reversal of amnesia for the no HOs both on number of items and on bits was a surprise” (p. 81). When they extended this research into the area of pseudo-memories, they found that “of the 8 subjects who had the HO, 7 of them believed the pseudo-memory was real. Of the 19 subjects who did not have the HO, only 6 of them accepted the pseudo-memory as real … The effect was even stronger for duality in age regression. Of 12 subjects reporting duality, 10 reported the hallucinated noises as real; of the 15 with no duality, 3 accepted the reality of the pseudo-memory as actually having happened” (p. 81).
Spanos, Nicholas P.; Tkachyk, M.; Bertrand, L. D.; Weekes, J. R. (1984). The dissipation hypothesis of amnesia: More disconfirming evidence. Psychological Reports, 55, 191-196.
Hypnotic subjects were administered a suggestion to forget a previously overlearned word list. Before cancellation of the suggestion they were challenged twice to try and recall the words. Subjects in one group received a second challenge immediately after response to the first. Those in the second group were given a 15-min. delay before their second challenge. Subjects in both groups showed less amnesia after the second challenge than after the first, but the length of delay between challenges had no effect on amnesia scores. These findings are inconsistent with the hypothesis that hypnotic amnesia involves an involuntary blockage of memory that decays spontaneously with time.
1983
Dillon, F. Richard; Spanos, Nicholas P. (1983). Proactive interference and the functional ablation hypothesis: More disconfirmatory data. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 31, 47-56.
According to the functional ablation hypothesis, memories for which amnesia has been hypnotically suggested do not interact with other information in memory. This hypothesis was tested in 2 interrelated experiments. In Experiment 1, Ss high and low in hypnotic susceptibility were administered a hypnotic induction procedure and tested on a Brown-Peterson (e.g., Wickens & Gittis, 1974) memory task designed to induce proactive interference (PI). Ss were exposed to 10 blocks of successive 3-word lists. Within each block, all words were strongly related, and, therefore, lists presented early in a block interfered with the retention of lists presented later (PI “buildup”). Following the “buildup” of PI, Ss were administered either a cue to be amnesic for the previous words of a block or a cue to relax. Contrary to the functional ablation hypothesis, the amnesia suggestion did not produce a “release” from PI in high susceptible hypnotic Ss. In other words, the amnesia suggestion did not prevent previously learned material from interfering with newly presented material. Experiment 2 demonstrated that the amnesia cues employed in the Brown-Peterson task produced a reversible recall deficit even though they failed to produce PI “release.” These findings are consistent with the results of studies of the functional ablation hypothesis using the retroactive interference paradigms
1983
Geiselman, Ralph E.; Fishman, D. L.; Jaenicke, C.; Larner, B. R.; MacKinnon, D. P.; et al. (1983). Mechanisms of hypnotic and nonhypnotic forgetting. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 9, 626-635.
40 undergraduates participated in 2 experimental sessions designed to study laboratory-induced amnesia, one using a standard hypnosis paradigm and one using a nonhypnotic directed forgetting paradigm. Two independent sources of variation were derived from the hypnotic amnesia data: retrieval inhibition and inhibition release. In the nonhypnotic directed-forgetting procedure, some items were cued to be either forgotten or remembered. At test, over 39% of the variance in the recall of the to-be-forgotten items could be accounted for by the inhibition and release constructs obtained with hypnosis. These relations between the 2 procedures were not mediated by verbal ability (WAIS) or cognitive style (Hidden Figures Test). It is concluded that the mechanisms of forgetting involved in laboratory demonstrations of hypnotic and nonhypnotic amnesia are related, and the implication is that some of them are the same, namely, retrieval inhibition and inhibition release. Possible demand characteristics that accompany the hypnosis procedure were not apparent with the nonhypnotic procedure. Results provide evidence that hypnotically induced amnesia is not entirely the result of Ss’ reactions to demand characteristics.
Kihlstrom, John F.; Easton, Randolph D.; Shor, Ronald E. (1983). Spontaneous recovery of memory during posthypnotic amnesia. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 31, 309-323.
Repeated testing of posthypnotic amnesia indicates that some Ss, initially responsive to the suggestion, show appreciable recovery of memory before the pre- arranged signal is given to cancel the amnesia. Comparison of Ss who received 2 successive memory tests during amnesia with others who received only a single test preceded by a distracting activity indicated that the recovery effect was attributable to the passage of time rather than to prior testing. There were wide individual differences in the extent of recovery, with some Ss maintaining a fairly dense amnesia on the second test. Those Ss who maintained amnesia were more hypnotizable, and showed a denser initial amnesia, than those who breached it. An analysis of subjective reports lent credence to the notion of partial response among some hypnotizable Ss who fail to meet a standard criterion of complete amnesia, and pseudoamnesia among some insusceptible Ss who appear to pass it. Some Ss reported voluntarily engaging in cognitive activity designed to induce forgetting, but these reports were related to neither the occurrence of initial amnesia nor its persistence. A failure of memory which reflects momentary disorientation upon transition from one mental state to another should be conceptually distinguished from a reversible amnesia initiated by hypnotic suggestion.
Nogrady, Heather; McConkey, Kevin M.; Laurence, Jean-Roch; Perry, Campbell (1983). Dissociation, duality, and demand characteristics in hypnosis. Journal of Abnormal Psychology
Examined hypnotic dissociation (as indexed by the “hidden-observer” method), duality in age regression, and the potential impact of situational cues on these phenomena. 12 high- and 9 low-susceptible undergraduates (as determined by the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale) were tested in an application of the real-simulating paradigm of hypnosis; 10 high- to medium-susceptible Ss were also employed. Inquiry into Ss’ experiences was conducted through the experiential analysis technique, which involves Ss viewing and commenting on a videotape playback of their hypnotic session. Results demonstrate that neither the hidden-observer effect nor duality could be explained solely in terms of the demand characteristics of the test situation. The hidden-observer effect was observed in high-susceptible Ss only; all Ss who displayed the hidden-observer effect also displayed duality in age regression. High-susceptible Ss were distinctive in their reports of multiple levels of awareness during hypnosis. Findings are discussed in terms of the cognitive skills that Ss bring to hypnosis and the degree to which the hypnotic setting encourages the use of dissociative cognitive processes. (43 ref).
Simon, Michael J. (1983). The effect of manipulated expectancies on posthypnotic amnesia (Dissertation, University of South Carolina). Dissertation Abstracts International, 43 (n7-B), 2358. (Order No. DA 8228533)
“An attempt was made to determine the effects of manipulating subject expectancy on posthypnotic amnesia. The manipulation involved having Ss read an essay which included a paragraph informing them that they would have no trouble remembering what happened upon awakening form the trance. The effects of direct suggestions for amnesia were also assessed. “One hundred and twenty undergraduate students were randomly assigned to six groups: Negative Expectancy for amnesia/Suggestions for amnesia, No Expectancy for amnesia/Suggestions for amnesia, Negative Expectancy for amnesia/No Suggestions for amnesia, No Expectancy for amnesia/ No Suggestions for amnesia, and two control groups. “Subjects in the Suggestion conditions were administered the standard version of the Stanford Hypnotic Supports Scale Form A (SHSS-A). The No Suggestion subjects were administered a modified version of the SHSS-A which made no references to, and gave no suggestions for, posthypnotic amnesia. Finally, the control subjects were given a more drastically modified version of the scale in which the hypnotic induction as well as all references to hypnosis were eliminated. The control groups were employed to provide an estimate of the amount of forgetting exhibited by subjects who are not hypnotized. “The results indicated that the expectancy manipulation had no effect on the occurrence of posthypnotic amnesia as measured by the SHSS-A, while suggestions for amnesia were found to have a significant effect. Both Suggestion and No Suggestion subjects remembered significantly less than the subjects in the control groups. The implications of the findings were discussed” (p. 2358).
1982
Schuyler, Bradley A. (1982). Further investigation of volitional and nonvolitional experience during posthypnotic amnesia (Dissertation, California School of Professional Psychology, Fresno). Dissertation Abstracts International, 44 (n6-B), 1977. (Order No. DA 8324472)
“Electrodermal responses were compared between highly responsive hypnotic Ss who were classified as having control over remembering (voluntaries) or not having control over remembering (involuntaries) during posthypnotic amnesia. Three contextual conditions were employed: Two were meant to create pressure to breach posthypnotic amnesia (lie detector instructions alone or with feedback that Ss had been detected as not having told all they could remember); the other provided feedback, in addition to the lie detector instructions, that Ss had told all they could remember. The recall data confirmed earlier findings of Coe and Yashinski and showed that voluntary and involuntary Ss did not differ in response to the contextual conditions. However, lie detector instructions alone did not create pressure to breach as in previous studies. In addition, electrodermal results were insignificant. The results are discussed as they relate to (a) amnesia, (b) the physiological detection of deception and physiological activation, (c) the voluntary/involuntary classification of Ss, and (d) theories of hypnosis” (p. 1977).
St. Jean, Richard; MacLeod, Carrie; Coe, W. C.; Howard, M. L. (1982). Amnesia and hypnotic time estimation. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 30, 127-137.
Previous research has shown that hypnotic Ss tend to underestimate the duration of the hypnotic interval (Bowers, 1979; Bowers & Brenneman, 1979). Based on Ornstein’s (1970) work, the present investigation tested the hypothesis that such underestimation occurs to the extent that Ss are amnesic for the events of the hypnotic session. Two separate studies, in which time estimates were collected in conjunction with administrations of the Harvard, failed to find a relationship between responses to the amnesia suggestion and time estimation. Ss in both studies substantially underestimated the duration of the hypnotic interval, but the degree of such underestimation was not related to hypnotic responsiveness. Thus, Ornstein’s hypothesis that underestimation occurs to the extent that Ss are amnesic for the events of the hypnotic session was strongly disconfirmed.
1981
McConkey, Kevin M.; Sheehan, Peter W. (1981). The impact of videotape playback of hypnotic events on posthypnotic amnesia. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 90 (1), 46-54.
Examined the breakdown of amnesia by showing 48 hypnotic and nonhypnotic undergraduates (Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility) a videotape of the hypnotic events they had experienced. The extent of the amnesia for these events was defined precisely, and simulating procedures were employed to analyze the cues in the overall test situation. Videotape display of the hypnotic events was presented via the Experiential Analysis Technique and served to optimize conditions for breakdown. Some hypnotic Ss’ amnesia could not be broken down even though they were exposed via videotape playback to the events to be recalled and when suggestions for the period of amnesia were quite explicit. Simulators showed breaching of amnesia but attributed their recall to the videotape rather than to the hypnotic session. Hypnotic Ss were distinctive in their inability to recall experiential aspects of their performance even though they could recall behavioral aspects. The data are discussed in relation to the hypothesis that dissociative cognitive mechanisms underlie posthypnotic amnesia. (22 ref).
Radtke, H. Lorraine; Spanos, Nicholas P. (1981). Temporal sequencing during posthypnotic amnesia: A methodological critique. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 90, 476-485.
In studies by Evans and Kihlstrom (1973, 1975, 1979), high susceptibles were less likely than low susceptibles to recall the events of the hypnotic session in temporal sequence (i.e., temporal disorganization effect) following an amnesia suggestion. The primary measure of recall order was the rank-order correlation (rho scores) between the presentation order and the recall order of hypnotic experiences computed for each S. Following a suggestion for posthypnotic amnesia, HSs usually obtained lower rho scores than LSs. This research is critically examined, noting methodological shortcomings associated with the susceptibility-scale paradigm, inconsistent findings, and failures to replicate. Two studies are described that found no relationship between susceptibility level and rho scores. These null results held true for Ss who recalled new information after cancellation of the amnesia suggestion (reversers) as well as for those who did not recall new information (nonreversers). Nevertheless, the authors have replicated previous work on differential recall of the first item.
Kihlstrom, John F.; Evans, Frederick J.; Orne, Emily C.; Orne, Martin T. (1980). Attempting to breach posthypnotic amnesia. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 89 (5), 603-616.
Traditionally, posthypnotic amnesia has been construed as a subjectively compelling deficit in memory retrieval. Alternatively, it may represent a motivated failure to utilize appropriate retrieval cues, lack of effort in recall, active suppression of memory, or unwillingness to verbalize the critical material. In an effort to test the alternative hypothesis of amnesia, 488 college students were presented with 4 kinds of instructions (using 4 modifications of the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotizability, Form A) designed to overcome the effects of suggested posthypnotic amnesia. The instructions particularly affected Ss of low and moderate hypnotizability who failed the criterion for amnesia. For those of moderate and high hypnotizability who met the criterion for amnesia, however, explicit requests for temporal organization, exhortations to maximize recall, and demands for honesty in reporting produced no greater effect on memory than did a simple retest. Results place some boundaries on both the traditional and alternative views of posthypnotic amnesia and invite further exploration of both cognitive and contextual models of the phenomenon.
Spanos, Nicholas P.; Radtke-Bodorik, H. Lorraine; Stam, Henderikus J. (1980). Disorganized recall during suggested amnesia: Fact not artifact. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 89 (1), 1-19.
In 3 experiments and a reanalysis of previous data, hypnotic and nonhypnotic Ss learned a 9-item categorized word list and were then given an amnesia suggestion for the list. Clustering of recall was measured on the recall trials immediately before the suggestion, during it, and after it was canceled. In Experiment I with 173 undergraduates, hypnotic Ss showed more amnesia than task-motivated Ss. However, partial nonrecallers in both of these treatments showed disorganized (i.e., less clustered) recall during the suggestion as compared to before it or after canceling it. Experiment II, with 100 university students, disconfirmed the hypothesis that the greater amnesia of hypnotic as compared to task-motivated Ss, was due to high levels of relaxation in the hypnotic Ss. Disorganization was again found in partial nonrecallers. The reanalysis of clustering data from previous experiments with 196 Ss demonstrated that the disorganization effect was not an artifact produced by reduced recall during the suggestion period, and Experiment II (with 166 18-42 year old Ss) indicated that Ss who followed instructions and faked partial amnesia when explicitly asked to do so (simulators) showed no disorganization effect. An inattention-encoding specificity hypothesis was developed to account for these findings.
Stam, Henderikus J.; Radtke-Bodorik, Lorraine; Spanos, Nicholas P. (1980). Repression and hypnotic amnesia: A failure to replicate and an alternative formulation. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 89 (4), 551-559.
In an attempt to replicate and extend a study by S. R. Clemes, 2 groups of 10 undergraduate hypnotic Ss learned a list of 18 words and were given an amnesia suggestion telling them they would be able to remember only 10 of these words. Half of the list words were critical (i.e., considered to be related to repressed conflictual material) and half were neutral (unrelated to conflictual material) as determined by Ss’ responses to a word association test. Experimental Ss received their own critical and neutral words and yoked control Ss received the critical and neutral words of experimental Ss. Neither the experimental nor the yoked control group exhibited selective amnesia in favor of critical words, thus constituting a failure to replicate Clemes’s result. However, variables affecting the degree to which words were initially learned (e.g., imagery value, serial position) predicted their resistance to amnesia. These findings are inconsistent with a repression hypothesis but congruent with an inattention hypothesis of suggested amnesia. (41 ref).
Weitzenhoffer, Andre M. (1980). Hypnotic susceptibility revisited. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 22, 130-146.
The concept and measurement of hypnotic susceptibility are re-examined in their relation to hypnotizability, hypnotic depth and suggestibility. The Stanford Scales and similar instruments are found to have failed to take into account essential features defining traditional hypnosis and suggestibility and to have created confusion in the scientific inquiry into hypnotism. Other available measures have not been particularly successful, but some bear further attention. Recent claims that hypnotizability can be trained have failed to distinguish between hypnotizability proper and accessory processes, leaving some question about what is actually being trained. Possible future directions of work on susceptibility are considered. Attempts to distinguish between ‘clinical’ and ‘laboratory’ hypnotizability are examined and found to have been premature and loosely based on facts.
1979
Karlin, Robert A. (1979). Hypnotizability and attention. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 88 (1), 92-95.
An attentional explanation of cognitive hypnotic phenomena (e.g., hallucinations and amnesia) based on the ability to shift the pertinence of stored information was developed. It was hypothesized that individuals who were successful at a difficult attentional task would also succeed on cognitive hypnotic items. The Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A was used to assess hypnotizability. To measure pertinence-shift ability, two tape recordings made by the same person were played through a single sound source. One tape was designated the target tape. Amount remembered and perceived task ease were summed to form an additive score of task success. Subjects above the median on the task were assigned to the good pertinence shift group (GP); those below the median were assigned to the poor pertinence shift group (PP). As predicted, GP subjects passed significantly more cognitive hypnotic items than did PP subjects (p<.05). When task difficulty and compliance were controlled for, the results remained significant (p<.05). These results were replicated in a second study. NOTES 1: A brief version of this paper was presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, Asheville, North Carolina, October, 1978 Orne, Martin T. (1979). The use and misuse of hypnosis in court. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 27, 311-341 The various forensic contexts in which hypnosis has been used are reviewed, emphasizing its advantages and pitfalls. The technique may be helpful in the context of criminal investigation and under circumstances involving functional memory loss. Hypnosis has no utility to assure the truthfulness of statements since, particularly in a forensic context, subjects may simulate hypnosis and are able to willfully lie even in deep hypnosis; most troublesome, actual memories cannot be distinguished from confabulations either by the subject or by the hypnotist without full and independent corroboration. While potentially useful to refresh witnesses' and victims' memories to facilitate eyewitness identification, the procedure is relatively safe and appropriate only when neither the subject, nor the authorities, nor the hypnotist have any preconceptions about who the criminal might be. If such preconceptions do exist -- either based on information acquired before the hypntotic procedure or on information subtly communicated during the hypnotic procedure -- hypnosis may readily cause the subject to confabulate the person who is suspected into his "hypnotically enhanced memories." These pseudomemoreis, originally developed in hypnosis, may come to be accepted by the subject as his actual recall of the original events; they are then remembered with great subjective certainty and reported with conviction. Such circumstances can create convincing, apparently objective "eyewitnesses" rather than facilitating actual recall. A number of minimal safeguards are proposed to reduce the likelihood of such an eventuality and other serious potential abuses of hypnosis. 1977 Chertok, Leon; Michaux, D.; Droin, M. C. (1977). Dynamics of hypnotic analgesia: Some new data. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 164, 88-96. Following two surgical operations under hypnotic anesthesia, it was possible, during subsequent recall under hypnosis, to elicit a representation of the past operative experience. It would seem that under hypnosis there is a persistence of the perception of nociceptive information and of its recognition as such by the subject. From an analysis of these two experiments in recall, it is possible to formulate several hypotheses concerning the psychological processes involved in hypnotic analgesia. In consequence of an affective relationship, in which the hypnotist's word assumes a special importance for the subject, the latter has recourse to two kinds of mechanism: a) internal (assimilation to an analogous sensation, not, however, registered as dangerous-- rationalization); and b) external (total compliance with the interpretations proposed by the hypnotist), which lead to a qualitative transformation of nociceptive information, as also the inhibition of the behavioral manifestations normally associated with a painful stimulus. Fisher, R. (1977). On flashback and hypnotic recall. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 217-235. This essay deals with both the intra-individual and inter-individual varieties of arousal state-bound experiences. The former are labelled as "flashbacks" while the latter embrace the great fantasms and repetitive schemes, the ever re-written plots and images of literature, art, and religion. Flashbacks are both arousal-state and stage (i.e., set and setting) bound experiences. Flashback and hypnotic recall differ only in the ways by which they are induced. Induction methods should be distinguished from induced states on the hyperaroused perception-hallucination and hypoaroused eprception-meditation continuum. Flashbackers may be characterized by their (a) variability on perceptual-behavioral tasks; (b) tendency to minimize (or reduce) sensory input; (c) high resting heart rates; (d) hypnotizability; and, hence (e) preferential right-cerebral-hemispheric cognition; and (f) a display of EEG-alpha dominance in the resting, waking state. 1976 Coe, William C.; Basden, B.; Basden, D.; Graham, C. (1976). Posthypnotic amnesia: Suggestions of an active process in dissociative phenomena. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 85, 455-458. A retroactive inhibition design was used to examine the process of posthypnotic amnesia. The results supported the notion that "forgotten" material is as available to amnesic subjects at some level as it is to nonamnesic subjects. Further, so- called forgetting appears to be the result of an active process, that is, something the subject does. Implications for understanding dissociative phenomena in general are discussed. Coe, William C.; Baugher, R. J.; Krimm, W. R.; Smith, J. A. (1976). A further examination of selective recall following hypnosis. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 24, 13-21. 29 Ss were tested for posthypnotic amnesia on SHSS:C. They rated each item for emotional tone (pleasant-unpleasant) and judged whether or not they had passed or failed it. There was some support for the notion that failed items are judged more unpleasant than passed items, but the emotional tone of an item was not related to its being recalled posthypnotically. There were minimal findings to suggest that Ss recall items which stand out in their experience. Discrepancies with earlier findings and the possible role of processes associated with normal memory are discussed. Spanos, Nicholas P.; Spillane, Jeanne; McPeake, John (1976). Cognitive strategies and response to suggestion in hypnotic and task-motivated subjects. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 18, 254-262. Thirty-two male and 32 female subjects, exposed to an hypnotic induction or task-motivational instruction, were administered either three suggestions which provided a cognitive strategy (i.e., a goal-directed fantasy, GDF) for experiencing suggested effects, or three suggestions that did not provide such a strategy. Subjects provided with GDF strategies were more responsive overtly and subjectively to two out of the three suggestions. Subjects in the No GDF Strategy treatment who spontaneously devised their own goal-directed fantasies were more responsive to suggestions than subjects who failed to devise such a strategy. These results support the contention that goal-directed fantasy helps both hypnotic and non-hypnotic subjects experience suggested effects. NOTES The suggestions were for arm levitation, arm rigidity, and amnesia. Stewart, C. G.; Dunlap, W. P. (1976). Functional isolation of associations during suggested posthypnotic amnesia. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 24, 426-434. A search was made for functional isolation effects of hypnotic amnesia that do not derive directly from either the explicit content or simple demand characteristics of amnesia instructions. The frequency of response repetition on a word association task was investigated as a function of posthypnotically suggested recall amnesia during the normal waking state. A trace of evidence for predicted amnesia effects occurred with only 1 out of 6 intensively trained, highly susceptible subjects. The results are compatible with the view that (a) suggested recall amnesia produces a disturbance of the retrieval process similar to source amnesia, and (b) indirect associational measures then merely serve to stimulate retrieval. 1970 Goldstein, M. S.; Sipprelle, Carl N. (1970). Hypnotically induced amnesia versus ablation of memory. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 19 (3), 211-216. (Abstracted in Current Contents, 2, 35, 21) Divided 33 hypnotizable undergraduates, all capable of achieving the criterion of amnesia for a 7-digit number, into 3 groups: 2 hypnotized and 1 pretend. The distributions of errors for an amnesic performance of these groups were compared with the theoretical chance distribution of errors expected in an amnesic performance. Both hypnotized groups differed significantly from the pretend group and from the theoretical distribution, while the performance of the pretend group did not differ significantly from the chance distribution. The performance of the pretend group conformed to the expectancy for amnesia significantly better than did the performance of either of the hypnosis groups. (Spanish & German summaries) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2003 APA, all rights reserved) 1969 Barber, Theodore Xenophon (1969). An empirically-based formulation of hypnosis. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 12 (2), 100-130. A formulation is presented which does not invoke a special state of consciousness ("hypnosis" or "trance") to account for the behaviors that have been historically associated with the word hypnotism. Instead, so-called hypnotic behaviors - e.g., "analgesia," "hallucination," "age-regression," and "amnesia" - are conceived to be functionally related to denotable antecedent variables which are similar to those that control performance in a variety of interpersonal test-situations. The antecedent variables which determine behavior in a "hypnotic" situation include Ss' attitudes, expectancies, and motivations with respect to the situation, and the wording and tone of instructions- suggestions and of questions used to elicit subjective reports. The formulation is exemplified by several dozen experimental studies, and prospects for further research are delineated. Raginsky, Bernard B. (1969). Hypnotic recall of aircrash cause. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 17, 1-19. Discusses the use of hypnotic techniques to help a 33-yr-old male recall suppressed material which implicated him in an aircrash. The cause was found after 2 short hypnotic sessions, where other methods used over 2 years had failed. The method can be used in all cases of amnesia. The S was made to hallucinate a threatening situation, and his hallucination gave a clue to the basic problem. He was then made to hallucinate a pleasant scene, which gave an indication of the method he used to escape from the problem. This was repeated at the 2nd session for confirmation. If the patient did not bring up the required material by free association under hypnosis, a dissociation of the personality induced in which the observing ego watched what the experiencing ego was doing to cause the accident. The results demonstrated that hypnotic techniques were more successful than sodium amytal interviews, free association, psychiatric interviews, physical and emotional isolation, pressure by authorities, and kindness of friends. Reference was made to the problems involved when the interests of the S were in conflict with public safety. (Spanish & German summaries) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved) Thorne, D. Eugene (1969). Amnesia and hypnosis. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 17, 225-241. Explored the relative effects of 2 factors on short-term memory for a paired-associate learning task. 36 undergraduate and graduate paid volunteers were stratified, according to their Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A scores, into 3 groups of 12 Ss each. The Ss within each of the 3 groups were then evenly but randomly assigned to 3 treatment conditions, which differed in terms of the kind of motivational procedure in which suggestions of amnesia for a recently learned paired-associate task were given. Results did not directly support or were sometimes contrary to predictions derived from popular hypnosis theories, which assert that posthypnotic amnesia is a reliable behavioral criterion for the "hypnotic state." (Spanish & German summaries) (32 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved) 1968 Barber, Theodore Xenophon; Calverley, David S. (1968). Toward a theory of 'hypnotic' behavior: Replication and extension of experiments by Barber and co-workers (1962-65) and Hilgard and Tart (1966). International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 16, 179-195. RESPONSES TO TEST SUGGESTIONS (E.G., HALLUCINATION AND AMNESIA) WERE ASSESSED UNDER THE FOLLOWING TREATMENTS: MOTIVATIONAL INSTRUCTIONS ALONE, HYPNOTIC PROCEDURE WITH MOTIVATIONAL INSTRUCTIONS, AND IMAGINATION-CONTROL. COMPARISONS WERE MADE ACROSS INDEPENDENT GROUPS, EACH TESTED UNDER 1 TREATMENT, AND ALSO WITHIN THE SAME SS TESTED TWICE UNDER VARIOUS COMBINATIONS OF THE TREATMENTS. ALTHOUGH SS WERE SUGGESTIBLE UNDER THE IMAGINATION-CONTROL TREATMENT, BOTH THE MOTIVATIONAL INSTRUCTIONS ALONE AND THE HYPNOTIC PROCEDURE GIVEN TOGETHER WITH THE MOTIVATIONAL INSTRUCTIONS RAISED SUGGESTIBILITY ABOVE THE CONTROL LEVEL. THE HYPNOTIC-MOTIVATIONAL TREATMENT TENDED TO PRODUCE AN INCREMENT IN SUGGESTIBILITY WHICH WENT SLIGHTLY BEYOND THAT ATTRIBUTABLE TO THE MOTIVATIONAL INSTRUCTIONS. THE LATTER INCREMENT IS INTERPRETED AS DUE TO THE SLIGHTLY GREATER EFFECTIVENESS OF THE HYPNOTIC PROCEDURE IN DEFINING THE SITUATION AS ONE IN WHICH UNUSUAL MANIFESTATIONS, SUCH AS HALLUCINATION AND AMNESIA, ARE WITHIN SS'' CAPABILITIES AND DEFINITELY EXPECTED BY E. (SPANISH + GERMAN SUMMARIES) (23 REF.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved) Graham, K. R.; Patton, Ann (1968). Retroactive inhibition, hypnosis, and hypnotic amnesia. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 16, 68-74. THE RELATIONSHIP OF HYPNOSIS AND POSTHYPNOTIC AMNESIA TO RETROACTIVE INHIBITION. 4 GROUPS OF 10 STUDENTS EACH LEARNED LISTS OF ADJECTIVES IN A RETROACTIVE INHIBITION PARADIGM. 2 GROUPS LEARNED THE INTERVENING LIST WHILE THEY WERE HYPNOTIZED. SS OF 1 OF THESE WERE GIVEN INSTRUCTIONS FOR POSTHYPNOTIC AMNESIA, WHILE SS OF THE OTHER WERE TOLD TO RECALL WHAT THEY HAD LEARNED UNDER HYPNOSIS. THE SAVINGS AND RECALL SCORES OF BOTH GROUPS FOR ITEMS OF THE ORIGINAL LIST WERE NOT DIFFERENT FROM A 3RD GROUP WHICH HAD LEARNED ALL 3 LISTS IN THE WAKING STATE. ALL GROUPS SHOWED SUBSTANTIAL RETROACTIVE INHIBITION WHEN COMPARED TO CONTROLS WHO HAD LEARNED NO INTERVENING LIST. (SPANISH + GERMAN ABSTRACTS) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved) 1966 Evans, Frederick J.; Thorn, Wendy A. (1966). Two types of posthypnotic amnesia: Recall amnesia and source amnesia. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 14 (2), 162-179. Posthypnotic recall amnesia refers to S''s inability to recall, when challenged posthypnotically, the events which occurred during hypnosis. Posthypnotic source amnesia, occurs when S subsequently remembers the experiences of hypnosis, but has no recollection of acquiring the experiences. Data from 3 samples are presented to support the distinction between the 2 types of amnesia. Of 243 Ss, 18 experienced recall amnesia, 26 displayed source amnesia, but only 4 developed both kinds. There were no differences in rated depth of hypnosis of these 3 subgroups. Recall amnesia and source amnesia correlated .37, .38, and .39, respectively (p < .001) in the 3 samples. The evidence indicates the 2 types of amnesia are different phenomena. Similarities between source amnesia and certain (dissociative) normal and psychopathological memory processes are discussed. (Spanish & German summaries) (32 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved) O'Connell, D. N. (1966). Selective recall of hypnotic susceptibility items: Evidence for repression or enhancement?. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 2, 150-161. 5 samples of Ss given initial standardized tests of hypnotic susceptibility were analyzed for posthypnotic item recall. All samples showed evidence of selective recall favoring passed items compared to failed items. 4 samples however, showed greater selectivity among the low-scoring Ss, contrary to previous report. This evidence is interpreted as favoring an interpretation of selective recall in terms of an enhancement rather than a repression model. Intersample differences in pattern of recall are stressed. (Spanish & German summaries) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved) Orne, Martin T. (1966). On the mechanisms of posthypnotic amnesia. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 2, 121-134. Reviews experimental and clinical evidence about posthypnotic amnesia. 2 interpretations are contrasted which seem sharply opposed: (1) posthypnotic amnesia may be seen as essentially like any other hypnotically suggested experience. It can be considered as an explicitly or implicitly administered posthypnotic suggestion. (2) Amnesia can be viewed as a form of dissociation. 1 possible mechanism of such dissociation may be a basic difference of the structure of thought processes involved in hypnosis compared to those of normal waking experience. In this sense amnesia should occur independently of suggestion and be different in kind from most other hypnotic phenomena. The former mechanism may occur more frequently in experimental situations and the latter, in clinical contexts. (Spanish & German summaries) (25 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved) Stross, L. (1966). Impulse-defense implications in a case of amnesia. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 2, 89-103. An 18-yr-old girl with a delinquent history leading to several suicide attempts and a fugue is described as she was observed during shifting phases of her amnesic syndrome. Using the case study as a research tool, it is suggested that alteration of ego state might be an archaic, primitive means of defense against relatively unneutralized, intense drives. More speculative are the propositions, generated from this case, that the ego could employ different defensive means with regard to libidinal and aggressive drives and that alteration of ego state might be a specific defense against aggression. (Spanish & German summaries) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved) 1965 Field, Peter B.; Evans, Frederick J.; Orne, Martin T. (1965). Order of difficulty of suggestions during hypnosis. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 13, 183-192. This study tests the hypothesis that successful response to suggestion during hypnosis predisposes to further successful response, but failure leads to subsequent failure. The Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility was administered to 2 groups of 51 volunteer students. For 1 group, 8 of the 12 items were administered in the order easy-to-difficult; for the 2nd group, in the order difficult-to-easy. Total and 8-item mean scores, and frequency distributions, did not differ significantly between groups. Except for the item measuring posthypnotic amnesia, item difficulties for the 2 groups did not differ significantly. Although the difficult-to-easy group was more amnesic, the 2 groups recalled a similar number of additional items when amnesia was "lifted." The block of 4 easier items was relatively easier when preceded by a block of 4 harder items and, similarly, the harder items were relatively less difficult if preceded by a block of easier items. The magnitude of this effect was small, and the order effect hypothesis was basically not supported. Future research should consider the S''s subjective impression of success and failure. (16 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved) Hilgard, Ernest R.; Cooper, L. M. (1965). Spontaneous and suggested posthypnotic amnesia. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 13 (4), 261-274. (Abstracted in American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 1966, 1, 85) This investigation was carried out to obtain comparable figures on the prevalence of spontaneous and suggested posthypnotic amnesia. 91 introductory psychology students were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups, and were required to serve as Ss for 2 consecutive days. The standard induction of the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form A was used on the 1st day, and that of Form B on the 2nd. Suggestibility items were then presented and served to appraise susceptibility and to test for amnesia. For 1 group, spontaneous amnesia was tested on the 1st day, and suggested amnesia on the 2nd day. This order was reversed for the 2nd group. Using as evidence of amnesia that 4 or fewer of the 10 possible items were recalled, 6 (7%) showed spontaneous amnesia on 1 of the 2 days, while a significantly larger number, 32 (35%), showed suggested amnesia. When the groups were subdivided on the basis of susceptibility scores, it was found that there is a marked advantage for suggested amnesia over spontaneous amnesia for highly susceptible hypnotic Ss, while this difference essentially disappears for low Ss. It was further found that (a) suggested amnesia is significantly greater than spontaneous amnesia whether or not 1 follows the other, (b) there is a small effect of the suggested posthypnotic amnesia for all levels of susceptibility, but this becomes pronounced with susceptibility scores of 6 and above, (c) the highly susceptible hypnotic Ss show no more spontaneous posthypnotic amnesia than do other Ss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved) 1960 Dorcus, Roy M. (1960). Recall under hypnosis of amnestic events. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 8 (1), 57-61. NOTES 1: The author reported on hypnosis work with eight cases, four dealing with attempts to recall misplaced or lost articles and four dealing with recall of information related to the commission of crimes. He concluded "that recall is not greatly improved under hypnosis. However, when strong emotional elements surround the events to be recalled some additional information may be secured" (p. 60). 1956 Dittborn, Julio M. (1956). Toward a semeiology of hypnosis. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 4 (1), 30-36. "19 subjects were chosen among two hundred that in the year the experiment took place (1954) were to be 20 years old. 11 of these subjects qualified themselves as good swayers, whereas the 8 others were considered somehow refractory to the postural swaying test. "All 19 went under a standard hypnotic induction: the operator employed the same words in all cases, and requested from all the execution of the same acts. "Several involuntary signs of standard induction are described, which reveal that the subject has attained a convenient degree of muscular relaxation after appropriate suggestions. "Fatigue is apparently an important source of spontaneous amnesia in good swayers. "In the analyzed cases no involuntary sign has been detected, that could reveal us whether the inducted subject will or not present spontaneous post-hypnotic amnesia" (p. 36). NOTES 1: NOTES: Includes standardized tests of depth 1954 Schneck, Jerome M. (1954). The divided personality: A case study aided by hypnosis. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 2 (3), 220-232. NOTES 1: "Summary. Amnesia as a symptom assumes proportions more complex than would appear on the surface and the role of memory loss with specific reference to hypnotic recovery methods has been presented in several reports. Hypnotherapy would appear to be a preferred technique for resolving the symptom and at times for more extensive investigation of the underlying problems. The case reported now involved an extensive memory loss for past life, including personal identity. This was followed after nearly a year by recall and concurrent amnesia for the intervening time period. The latter amnesia was dispelled by recall at first under hypnosis and then by post-hypnotic extension and elaboration of the nuclear material. The patient's history was outlined and several facts of apparent importance in relation to the memory loss were revealed. The purposive and motivational features were stressed. Therapy was conducted in a medico-disciplinary setting with limitations based on administrative requirements. Military-legal complications of the patient's personality disorder and functioning were outlined. The concept of the divided personality was introduced and related to multiple personality and to another type of behavior which is quite similar to the divided personality except that periods of amnesia are not involved. The divided personality involves major cleavages in the continuity of living with amnesia and the establishment of the individual in a setting where he undergoes extensive, significant operations relating to work, general activities, and even courtship and marriage. Unlike the generally accepted attributes of multiple personality involving considerable overt behavior, affect, and attitude alterations, the divided personality continues to function with his accustomed overt attitudes, interests, affect, and method of relating on an interpersonal level. Descriptively and overtly he is not too different if at all, but he seems to begin life anew in terms of setting and personal contacts. Cases of this type should be studied further with care, whenever possible, for further elicidation [sic] of psychodynamics. Hypnosis as a tool in treatment and investigation should prove helpful and is to be considered important. ANALGESIA / ANESTTHESIA