Wickramasekera, Ian; Price, Daniel C. (1996, November). Morbid obesity, absorption, neuroticism, and the high risk model of threat perception. [Paper] Presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, Tampa, FL.
We studied seventy morbidly obese patients, candidates for gastric exclusion surgery. We found that their mean absorption score was significantly lower and that their mean neuroticism score significantly higher than a matched control group. These results are consistent with predictions from the High Risk Model of Threat Perception (Wickramasekera, 1979, 1988). People high in neuroticism are hypothesized to be hypersensitive to threat at a behavioral and biological level, and therefore, at greater risk for stress related psychobiological disorders. People low in absorption are hypothesized to have poor perception of psychosocial sources of threat have a more restricted range of psychological methods of coping with threat. Therefore, they may be at greater risk during stress of not recognizing psychosocial sources of threat of unconsciously using substances to self-soothe and of perceiving medical surgical solutions to weight gain as more credible than psychosocial therapy programs. We found that low absorption and high neuroticism as predicted by the HRMTP were significantly more prevalent among the morbidly obese seeking surgical therapy than a matched community control group.
1995
Bryant, Richard A. (1995). Fantasy proneness, reported childhood abuse, and the relevance of reported abuse onset. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 43 (2), 184-193.
This study investigated the relationship between fantasy proneness and the age at which reported childhood sexual abuse occurs. Seventeen adult females who reported having been sexually abused before the age of 7 years, 20 females who reported having been abused after the age of 7 years, and 20 females who reported having never been abused were administered two measures of imaginative involvement (Tellegen Absorption Scale [TAS] and Inventory of Childhood Memories and Imaginings [ICMI]). Participants who were reportedly abused early in childhood obtained higher scores on the TAS and ICMI than participants who were reportedly abused later in childhood, who in turn obtained higher scores than the control participants. Findings are discussed in terms of factors that mediate fantasy proneness and reports of childhood abuse.
Crawford, Helen J.; Kapelis, Lia; Harrison, David W. (1995). Visual field asymmetry in facial affect perception: Moderating effects of hypnosis, hypnotic susceptibility level, absorption, and sustained attentional abilities. International Journal of Neuroscience, 82 (n1-2), 11-23.
Effects of hypnotic level, affect valence and cerebral asymmetry on reaction time (RT) in the discrimination of Ekman and Friesent (1978) stimuli of angry and happy faces were studied in counterbalanced conditions of waking and hypnosis. Assessed previously on two hypnotic susceptibility scales (Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility; Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form C (SHSS:C)], non-depressed subjects were 16 low (0-4 SHSS:C) and 17 highly (10-12 SHSS:C) hypnotizable, right- handed college students. Subjects were required to identify affect of faces, presented tachistoscopically to left (LVF) or right (RVF) visual fields, by using a forced-choice RT paradigm. Highs were significantly faster than lows in angry and happy affect recognition. Hypnosis had no significant effects. For highs only, angry emotional valence was identified faster when presented to the right hemisphere (LVF), but there were no significant hemispheric effects for happy emotional valence. For lows there were no hemispheric differences. Gender was a nonsignificant factor. Significant correlations showed that faster reaction times to angry and happy stimuli, in both LVF and RVF in waking and hypnosis, were obtained by subjects who reported more deeply absorbed and extremely focused and sustained attention on the Tellegen (1982) Absorption Scale and a subscale of the Differential Attentional Processes Inventory (Grumbles & Crawford, 1981). Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (Marks, 1973) and Affect Intensity Measure (Larsen, 1985), in general, did not correlate with RTs. The potential role of the fronto-limbic attentional system in the recognition of external visual sensory affect is discussed.
Glisky, Martha L.; Tataryn, Douglas J.; Kihlstrom, John F. (1995). Hypnotizability and mental imagery. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 43 (1), 34-54.
Two studies investigated the relationship between mental imagery and hypnotizability, with the imagery measures administered in a hypnotic context. The correlation of hypnotizability with vividness of imagery was significant in one study, but not in the other; both correlations were significantly lower than that obtained between hypnotizability and absorption, assessed in the same samples. The correlations with control of visual imagery, and with various measures of the vividness of motor imagery, were even lower and rarely significant. Except for an aggregate index of motor imagery, a search for significant nonlinear relationships with hypnotizability yielded nothing that was consistent across studies. Future studies of imagery and hypnotizability should make use of better measures of vividness of mental imagery and consider the relevance of aspects of imagery other than vividness.
Repka, Renee J.; Nash, Michael R. (1995). Hypnotic responsivity of the deaf: The development of the University of Tennessee Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale for the Deaf. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 43 (3), 316-331.
The purpose of these two studies was to develop and test a measure that assesses the hypnotic responsivity of deaf individuals. The University of Tennessee Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale for the Deaf (UTHSS:D) is a signed, videotaped version of a standard hypnotic induction with 12 standard suggestions. Experiment 1 compared the behavioral and subjective hypnotic responsivity of deaf and hearing individuals using the UTHSS:D and the Field Depth Inventory (FDI), respectively. As compared to hearing subjects, deaf participants were found to be less responsive to hypnosis when assessed behaviorally (UTHSS:D) and equally responsive to hypnosis when assessed subjectively (FDI). Experiment 2 undertook a more comprehensive examination of the hypnotic responsivity of deaf individuals, using hearing individuals as controls. Three dimensions of hypnosis responsivity were assessed: behavioral (UTHSS:D), subjective (FDI), and interpersonal (Archaic Involvement Measure). Additionally, correlates of hypnotic responsivity (absorption, attitudes, expectations) were examined for the two groups. In Experiment 2, no significant differences were found between the deaf and hearing participant groups on any measures of hypnotic responsivity or on any measure of the correlates of hypnotic responsivity.
1994
Atkinson, Richard P. (1994). Relationships of hypnotic susceptibility to paranormal beliefs and claimed experiences: Implications for hypnotic absorption. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 37, 34-40.
This study examined the relationship of hypnotic susceptibility level to belief in and claimed experience with paranormal phenomena. The Harvard … and the Inventory of Paranormal Beliefs and Experiences [developed for this study] were administered on consecutive days to 43 undergraduate students (14 men, 29 women) … . a significant multiple correlation was obtained (r = .55, p<.001). A partial correlation between hypnotic susceptibility and belief in paranormal phenomena was also significant (r = .53, p<.001), while hypnotic susceptibility was not found to be significantly related to claimed paranormal experiences. Implications of these relationships for the role of absorption in hypnosis are discussed. NOTES 1: Discusses relationship to Absorption, and the fact that Labelle, Dixon, Laurence, & Nadon (1990) got correlation of hypnotizability with paranormal experience. Csoli, Karen; Ramsay, Jason T.; Spanos, Nicholas P. (1994, August). Psychological correlates of the out-of-body experiences--a reexamination. [Paper] Presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Los Angeles. NOTES 1: NOTES: 12% of population reports an out-of-body experience (OBE) sometime in their lives. They leave their body and can see self from the outside. Awareness is confined to the new point of view, not fragmented; there is unimpaired intellectual ability; feelings of detachment, completeness, well being, and profound relaxation. Can occur under stress or deep relaxation; not while driving a car. Psychological correlates aren't known. Studies are inconclusive with respect to belief systems (religious, death anxiety, etc.); measures of absorption, hypnosis, imaginative ability, imagery controls. Recent Carlton study with 87 Ss (33 had OBE) got results we didn't expect. They completed questionnaires, were tested for hypnotizability, had an interview re OBE experience. This study found the OBE-experiencing people had higher levels of anxiety, psychosomatic symptoms, and panic attacks. They were also higher on magical thinking, perceptual aberration, and Schizophrenia scores. They didn't differ on mysticism, levels of drug or alcohol use, or level of self esteem. Grant, Carolyn (1994). The Computer-Assisted Hypnosis Scale: Standardization and norming of a computer-administered measure of hypnotic ability (Dissertation). Dissertation Abstracts International, 54 (10/B), 5387. ABSTRACT: "In a counterbalanced, within-subjects, repeated measures design, 130 subjects were administered both the Computerized Assisted Hypnosis Scale (CAHS) and the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form C (Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale: C). For each hypnotic procedure responsiveness was assessed along three dimensions: behavioral (CAHS, Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale: C), subjective depth (Field Depth Inventory), and relational involvement (Archaic Involvement Measure). Subjects also completed a Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale: C self scoring measure and the Tellegen Absorption Scale. The CAHS was shown to be a psychometrically sound instrument for measuring hypnotic ability. The various dimensions of CAHS hypnotic responsiveness were highly positively related, and the CAHS compared favorably with the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale: C across the three dimensions assessed. Results are discussed in terms of the theory and practice of clinical assessment, noting directions for future research" (p. 5387). Wain, Harold J.; Wollman, K. (1994, October). A comparison of the hypnotic capacity of psychiatric outpatients and psychiatric consultation liaison patients. [Paper] Presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, San Francisco. NOTES 1: NOTES: We used the Hypnotic Induction Profile (HIP) in our studies. HIP Scores (eyeroll and arm levitation) for Psychiatric Consultation Liaison patients (PCLA group) and Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic (POC) group are significantly different, as are the total scores on the HIP. Eyeroll Scores: PCLA = 2.625, POC = 2.205 HIP Scores: PCLA = 7.330 POC = 5.920 Thus there is higher hypnotizability in Consultation Liaison patients. Engel and Romano suggested that 75% of patients going to a physician have a psychological component to their illness. Once a person recognizes they have a medical condition there is a sense of trauma, a sense of anxiety, which contributes to an altered state. Components of hypnosis (absorption, decreased vigilance, suggestion, dissociation, assimilation of data, trance logic, time distortion) may affect how they then assimilate a symptom. Why is hypnosis (absorption) so effective in an emergency room? Patients in the emergency room feel panicked, thinking "physiologically and psychologically I'm out of control." By using hypnosis you give them an anchor. Maybe hypnotizability enhances medical symptomatology, but it can also facilitate treatment. We use the HIP because the eye roll component is observable by medical colleagues and patients. 1993 Atkinson, Richard P. (1993, October). Shifts in Muller-Lyer Illusion difference thresholds: Are high hypnotizables more sensitive than lows in hypnosis?. [Paper] Presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, Arlington Heights, IL. NOTES 1: NOTES: Refers to Wallace (1979) finding that hypnotizability correlates with afterimage persistence. Atkinson showed highs perform better than lows in perceptual tasks in hypnosis only. Also studies indicate highs are more susceptible to illusions. Our study showed difference in threshold and point of subjective equality for highs and lows. 32 undergraduates had Harvard and Group Stanford Form C, were 9-12 or 0-3 on both scales. Counterbalanced conditions of waking and hypnosis. Used computer monitor to compare length of lines. Waking condition Ss had to close eyes for 15 minutes before the trials, same length of time as for hypnosis condition. Significant interaction between hypnotizability and sessions was observed: highs had significantly decreased difference thresholds in hypnosis compared to waking, and significantly decreased difference thresholds compared to lows in hypnosis. Thus they had greater sensitivity than lows. The point of subjective equality ANOVA did not yield significant effects. Highs show higher sensitivity to illusion in hypnosis than in waking, and more than the lows. Nadon, Robert (1993, October). Nomothetic and idiographic approaches to hypnosis. [Paper] Presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, Arlington Heights, IL. NOTES 1: Scientists and practitioners are not benefitting from each other's contributions. The central contribution to hypnosis, both basic and applied, is the logic and validity of study designs. The false memory issue is an example. Clinicians supply an answer the public likes, but scientist provide data based on nomothetic (group average) models that are not useful here. Most of my own work is nomothetic, but it can work together with case study approach. We use a synergistic model: the combined effects of traits, cognitive, social, and affective factors are investigated. Interactions are tricky to detect, but we need a spirit of enquiry that encourages designs sensitive to interactions. One example is Radke & Spanos' study that used a scale rating whether subject was hypnotized and another indicating degree of absorption-and-hypnotized vs absorption-and-not-hypnotized. Nadon's reanalysis showed a scale by Ss interaction: mediums were different on the 7 point scale but highs were not. (Highs were less manipulated by the scale manipulation). Jean-Roche Laurence and Nadon replicated the interaction. Then Nadon did a study to test the idea that highs were less affected by scale manipulation because they relied more on subjective experience. They measured Absorption in a different context and hypothesized that the highs here would be less affected on the 7 point scale in the other context; it was validated. There seemed to be a linear absorption by a quadratic hypnotizability interaction. Another simple example of interaction at work: there are different lines predicting hypnotic ability based on the Absorption scale, representing need for control on the scale. Those low in need for control have a stronger prediction of hypnotizability from Absorption scale. With high need for control, Absorption doesn't predict hypnotizability. This may explain why the correlation isn't stronger between Absorption and hypnotizability. Nadon investigated how level of relaxation could be affected by an interaction. Measured muscle tension of masseter (?) while listening to music (half of Ss) or focusing on relaxing (50%). In an experiential condition there was a negative correlation between Absorption and muscle tension (highs relaxed more); in an Instrumental condition it was the opposite. So both high and low Absorption people were capable of relaxation, but to get the best relaxation you would have to know their Absorption score. A second study hypothesized that predispositions for certain kinds of affect (Tellegen's positive affect, like extroversion) and negative effect (like neuroticism). High Absorption extraverts low in neuroticism worked best with music; and [missed words]. This supports Tellegen's hypothesis re the effects of positive and negative affect and Absorption. Now we can discuss individual characteristics that suggest which relaxation strategy will benefit. The practical implications can be validated by case studies. Pekala, Ronald J.; Ersek, Barrett (1993). Firewalking versus hypnosis: A preliminary study concerning consciousness, attention, and fire immunity. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 12, 207-229. This study assessed the subjective effects associated with firewalking, and compared them with the subjective effects associated with hypnosis and a baseline condition (eyes closed sitting quietly). Twenty-seven subjects, who walked over hot coals during a firewalk ceremony, completed questionnaires about what they subjectively experienced during the firewalk. Their experiences were subsequently compared with those of subjects (n - 246) who experienced hypnosis and a baseline condition. The data suggested that firewalking, as assessed across all subjects, is characterized by high levels of volitional control and rationality, and a very absorbed attentional style wherein the mind is one-pointed, and consciousness is characterized by strong feelings of joy and high levels of internal dialogue. Firewalking was also found to be associated with significantly more joy, one-pointedness of thought, absorption, and internal dialogue than hypnosis or the baseline condition. In addition, a cluster analysis suggested two subgroups of firewalkers based on their subjective experiences of the firewalk. Interestingly, analyzing the attentional experiences among these firewalkers who got slightly burned, versus those who did not, revealed significant differences. A one-pointed and absorbed attentional focus may be the critical variable for the fire immunity observed in firewalking. NOTES 1: About 500 people walked across coals, in 3-4 steps. At end of weekend, 71 said they would complete a questionnaire and it was mailed to them. Of those, 27 responded (25 of 26 in an average of 23 days). Hence, 5% of the population who walked responded to the questionnaire, and it was some time later. Three of 24 reported minor blisters. Those who didn't get burned reported less detachment, less of a feeling of being out of their bodies, and more thoughts than the firewalkers who got slightly burned. Pekala has defined an altered state of consciousness as associated with the perception of being in an altered state of awareness (the _subjective sense_ of _altered state_ --SSAS [30]), and a change in the patterning or configuration of the subsystems or dimensions of consciousness. A discrete state of consciousness, as defined by Pekala, is associated with a significant pattern change but no perceived alteration in state of consciousness (no SSAS). An identity state of consciousness, on the other hand, is defined as having neither a significantly perceived alteration in state of awareness nor a perceived pattern change among dimensions of consciousness in reference to another state of consciousness. Since the PCI can measure both intensity and pattern effects, it can be used to assess for altered, discrete, and identity states of consciousness. Using a cluster analysis they found that one group of 16 subjects reported the firewalk experience to be characterized by a significant alteration in awareness and experience (body image, time sense, etc.), and significant intensities of internal dialogue, positive and negative affect, and arousal, while a second group of six subjects reported little alteration in consciousness or experience, little losses in rationality or control, and less internal dialogue, positive and negative affect or arousal than the larger group. Whereas hypnosis is usually associated with a loss in control (the classic suggestion effect), firewalking was found to be associated with increased control, a more aroused state, and more fear! Firewalking appears to be a more absorbed and one-pointed state than even hypnosis. The nature of attentional experience is similar across firewalkers (DAQ results). Both firewalking and hypnosis meet the criteria for altered states of consciousness (different pattern and different subjective experience), but they are not altered states in reference to each other; they are _discrete states of consciousness_ in reference to each other, because there is a significantly different patterning of PCI dimensions between the two conditions, but no significant SSAS. This suggests that the firewalk state is qualitatively different from the hypnotic state (as induced by the induction procedure to the Harvard Scale) and probably represents a different type of state of consciousness than hypnosis. Firewalkers obtained a lower mean hypnoidal state score than hypnosis subjects, so it does not appear that the fire immunity is due to being in a "hypnotized" state. The fact that there appears to be two groups of successful firewalkers, one of which did not report much alteration in consciousness, calls into question the theorizing concerning the importance of alteration in state of consciousness as being etiologically related to successful firewalking. Since about 25 percent of the firewalkers clustered into what appears to be a nonaltered state of awareness, this suggests a sizable percentage of subjects who did not report any significant alteration in consciousness and experience. Hence, what may be important is not an alteration in consciousness, but rather an alteration in attention. The cluster analysis revealed a relatively unitary attentional state across all subjects suggesting that attention was deployed in a rather similar manner across all subjects, that is, with very high absorption and one-pointedness. it was also the DAQ dimensions, and not the PCI dimensions, that successfully discriminated a trend between the blistered and nonblistered firewalkers. Hence, high levels of one-pointedness and absorption, that is, how attention is deployed during firewalking may be more critical (than an alteration in consciousness in general) for the fire immunity observed during firewalking. 1992 Balthazard, Claude G.; Woody, Erik Z. (1992). The spectral analysis of hypnotic performance with respect to 'Absorption'. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 40, 21-43. In factor analyses of the hypnosis scales, the essential result is that the items form a continuous, 2-dimensional fan-shaped pattern. This continuum is referred to as the "spectrum of hypnotic performance." "Spectral analysis" is introduced as an exploratory procedure which makes use of this notion of continuum or spectrum. Spectral analysis consists of a graphical display of the level of latent correlation between a variable and individual hypnotic performances when the latter are arranged according to their position in the spectrum. The spectral analysis of hypnotic performance with respect to absorption is illustrated using data from a sample of 160 Ss. The results indicate that absorption is more strongly related to difficult hypnotic performances than to easy ones. In particular, illustrative item characteristic curves are presented to show that although easy hypnotic performances do not require the processes tapped by individual differences in absorption, a certain level of absorption is necessary to pass difficult hypnotic items. In addition, a high level of absorption may be sufficient in and of itself for difficult hypnotic performances. These results are discussed in light of some speculations by Shor, M. T. Orne, and O'Connell (1962) and Tellegen (1978/1979) concerning the differential contribution of ability components to performance on difficult hypnotic suggestions. The results are also related to a variety of work in social psychological models of hypnotic performance. NOTES 1: Spectral analysis "consists of a graphical display of the level of latent correlation between a variable and individual hypnotic performances when these hypnotic performances are arranged according to their position in the spectrum---which is indexed by item difficulty" (p. 25). Difficulty (the proportion of Ss that pass a given item) is on the X-axis; the degree of latent correlation is on the Y-axis. "It is necessary to differentiate between the manifest and the latent relationship of a variable to a dichotomously scored hypnotic performance. The manifest relationship is given by the point biserial correlation and the latent relationship is given by the biserial correlation. ... By inspecting the overall pattern of these biserial correlations as a function of item difficulty, it is possible to overcome the difficulty-content confound, because the biserial correlations are not affected by item difficulty" (p. 25). "Throughout the easy and middle ranges [of item difficulty], the biserial correlation of hypnotic performance with absorption remains slightly above .2, then it rises sharply in the difficult range--beginning roughly where only one in four Ss can pass the item--to a value slightly above .5 " (p. 27). "In essence, the proportion of Ss that pass a particular hypnosis suggestion given a particular score on the absorption scale is being plotted" (p. 30). In their discussion, the authors relate their position to that of other theorists. Shor, Orne, & O'Connell (1962) proposed that both ability and nonability components contributed to hypnosis, with ability being the primary determinant of hypnotic performance at deeper levels. Shor et al. found a correlation between depth ratings and a questionnaire that tapped 'hypnotic-like experiences' to be .45; the correlation was .84 when computed for only the Ss who became deeply hypnotized, but only .17 for Ss who were only lightly or medium-level hypnotized. They concluded that their questionnaire predicted hypnotizability only for the "deeper region" of hypnosis. Tellegen (1978/1979) proposed a two-factor model, one factor being genuine responsiveness and the other being compliance . He suggested that various hypnosis test items draw on the two factors in differing degrees. Tellegen's genuine responsiveness factor would be similar to Shor et al.'s ability components, and Tellegen's compliance factor would be similar to Shor et al.'s non-ability components. (The Shor model goes farther than Tellegen in positing a gradual shift in the relative contributions of the two components as one moves form easy to difficult items, and this gradualness is part of the authors' spectrum model.) The two-factor model is different from the general factor (plus special factors) model suggested by E. R. Hilgard (1965)); Hilgard's general factor would probably correspond better to the Tellegen genuine responsiveness factor and the Shor et al. ability component than to the compliance factor or nonability component, which probably would correspond more to the easier items on hypnotizability scales. Spanos et al. (1980) suggested that cooperativeness and expectation might be more important with ideomotor and challenge suggestions, and ability to treat imaginings as real (i.e. absorption) more important for more difficult cognitive items. Sarbin (1984) developed a typology with two types of individuals--those who respond to the hypnosis context by "joining the game" and knowingly create an illusion that their response is involuntary (the compliance kind of response), and those who convince themselves and others that their response is involuntary (the genuine responsiveness factor kind of response). [Speaking of the context effects observed but not replicated 100% of the time, on the correlation between absorption and hypnotizability.] "It is possible that context effects may depend on the difficulty of the hypnotic suggestions and the latent abilities of the sample used. For relatively good hypnotic Ss performing relatively difficult suggestions, the correlation of absorption with hypnotizability may be stable across different contexts; however, for less able Ss performing relatively easy suggestions, the correlation, depending more on the 'non-ability' component, may be quite responsive to context manipulations. It might also be mentioned parenthetically that details of the instructions used to introduce the particular hypnosis scale employed may differentially pull for one kind of component or the other" (p. 39). Goodman, Linda; Holroyd, Jean (1992). Ego receptivity and hypnotizability. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 40 (2), 63-67. Ego receptivity has been described as important for the psychotherapy process and as a characteristic of hypnosis (Deikman, 1974; Dosamantes-Alperson, 1979; Fromm, 1979). Receptivity also has been associated with a measure of absorption (Tellegen, 1981). In the first pilot study with 6 dance/movement therapy students, higher observer ratings of receptivity were associated with greater hypnotizability (r = .79, df = 4, p<.05, 2-tailed test). In the second pilot study, the correlation was replicated (r = .51, df = 12, p = .06, 2-tailed test) with 14 dance/movement therapy students. In the second pilot study, receptivity did not correlate with absorption. Receptivity and absorption, however, accounted for 54% of hypnotizability population variance in a step-wise multiple regression. Receptivity accounted for a unique part of the variance after the effects of absorption were removed. It was concluded that receptivity should be explored as a potential predictor of hypnotizability, and that a reliable scaled measure of receptivity should be developed. NOTES 1: Receptivity was rated by dance instructor on the following scale. "TABLE 1 Criteria for Ranking Ss on Receptivity A. Individuals were rated high if they could consistently do the following most of the time: 1. If they moved with emotional involvement. 2. If they could readily verbally describe their movement experience in terms of sensations or feelings. 3. If they were able to image while moving. That is, their movement experience could be transformed into representational visual images. 4. In their describing their movement experience verbally, if they readily alluded to the images which were generated from their body movement. 5. If they could relate their movement experiences to other contexts outside of the therapeutic one. 6. If they could develop a working alliance with the therapist (based on students' capacity to risk experiencing self with increased emotional depth). B. Individuals were rated low, if they were not able to do the above most of the time. C. Individuals were rated in the mid-range if they were able to do the above some of the time" (p. 65). Kvaal, Steven; Lynn, Steven Jay; Myers, Brian (1992, October). The Gulf war: Effects on hypnotizability. [Paper] Presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, Arlington, VA. NOTES We did a study that follows the line that volunteers may differ from nonvolunteers for hypnosis experiments (Authors cite 3 studies, including one with Hilgard as later author; Brodsky; Zamansky). Also, Ss who volunteer early in the quarter at the university are motivated for hypnosis; later volunteers want course credit. The former want to experience hypnosis. Previously we did a study on authoritative vs permissive suggestions with Ss who volunteered early or late in the quarter; Ss were tested twice. For Ss who volunteered in first 2 weeks of the quarter, scores decreased across testing; for Ss volunteering late, scores remained stable across testing. This implies that if an experiment were conducted late in a quarter we would conclude that repeated testing has no effect; if done earlier, we would have concluded repeated testing decreases scores. This result has been replicated. It is therefore important to run Ss across an entire quarter or year. The present study differs from the foregoing study. It addresses the question: Do life events affect scores on the Harvard Scale? Do tension, uncertainty, etc. affect scores? Would they depress scores? Are scores reactive to environmental events? On January 14 the U.S. issued an ultimative to Iraq; that very day we administered a tape recorded version of the Harvard Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, preceded by the Tellegen Absorption Scale. The hypnotizability tests were self-scored for involvement and involuntariness. Tension throughout the day escalated, culminating with bombing 2 hours before the hypnosis screening. The graduate student announced war had started and told Ss they could leave if they wanted. All 52 Ss stayed! Control group was 58 Ss tested at same time of the quarter, one year before (10 days into the quarter). Analysis was by a 3 x 2 ANOVA. There was no main effect for time of testing, sex, or interaction for any measures on hypnotizability, or subjective involvement. The Tellegen Absorption scale showed a significant timing x sex interaction: males on outbreak of war scored lower than all other groups (15 vs 21 or more for all other groups). Tensions had no effect on subjective or objective scores of hypnotizability. Thus the males were affected on the Absorption Scale by outbreak of war. The fact the Tellegen Scale was more reactive suggests hypnotizability may be more stable than Absorption. Absorption might have been depressed because males were more upset by images of military services. Little research has been conducted to examine the possible positive effects on hypnotizability of positive events in real life. Lynn, Steven Jay; Sivec, Harry (1992). The hypnotizable subject as creative problem-solving agent. In Fromm, Erika; Nash, Michael R. (Ed.), Contemporary hypnosis research (pp. 292-333). Guilford Press. NOTES 1: These notes are taken only from the section of this chapter that deals with Hypnotic Responding, Imaginative Activity, and Expectancies, and they treat of the concept of nonvoluntary responding (pp 315-316). Other topics covered in the chapter include: Imagination, Fantasy, and Hypnosis Theories; The Hypnotizable Subject as Creative Problem-Solving Agent; Hypnosis and Subjects' Capability for Imaginative Activity; Goal-Directed Fantasy: Patterns of Imaginative Activity during Hypnosis; Hypnosis and Creativity; and a Conclusion. Several studies manipulated expectancies re the relationship between imagination and involuntariness. When Ss were told that "good" hypnotic subjects could (or could not) resist suggestions, "this information affected their ability to resist the hypnotist and tended to affect subjects' report of suggestion-related involuntariness ... [Lynn, Nash, Rhue, Frauman, & Sweeney, 1984]. Furthermore, subjects who successfully resisted suggestions and subjects who failed to do so reported comparable levels of hypnotic depth and imaginative involvement in suggestions. "Spanos, Cobb, and Gorassini (1985) conducted a similar experiment in which they found that hypnotizable subjects who were instructed that they could become deeply involved in suggestions and yet resist them successfully resisted 95% of the suggestions and rated themselves as maintaining voluntary control over their behavior. Thus, subjects are able to resist nearly all of the suggestions when resistance is facilitated by situational demands. It is worth noting that subjects in this research who resisted hypnotic suggestions rated themselves as just as deeply involved in the suggestions as Ss who failed to resist suggestions after being informed that deeply hypnotized subjects were incapable of resisting suggestions" (pp. 315-316). Lynn, Snodgrass, et al. (1987). showed that hypnotizable Ss who were just "imagining" along with suggestions but instructed to resist responding to motoric suggestions acted the way hypnotized Ss did in their earlier countersuggestion research: imagining subjects tended to move in response to suggestion (that "good" Ss responded in certain ways), despite being instructed to resist. In this study, with instructions designed to increase the use of goal directed fantasies (GDFs), low and high hypnotizable subjects reported equivalent GDF absorption and frequency of GDFs. However, highs responded more and reported greater involuntariness than lows, even when their GDFs were equivalent. "A number of other studies have examined the effects of expectancies on imaginings and hypnotic behavior. Spanos, Weekes, and de Groh (1984) informed subjects that deeply hypnotized individuals could imagine an arm movement in one direction while their unconscious caused the arm to move in the opposite direction. Even though subjects so informed moved in the opposite direction, they imagined suggested effects and described their countersuggestion behavior as involuntary" (p. 317). Lyons, Larry C. (1992, October). Absorption and hypnotizability: Meta-analysis of studies to determine if contextual effects are important. [Paper] Presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, Arlington, VA. NOTES 1: Correlations between hypnotizability and Absorption range from .20 to .40; Council et al. suggest the correlation between these variables is a context effect (expectancy). In our review there was no statistically significant difference between correlations that were found in and out of context (.26 and .23, weighted means) in more than 40 studies with more than one correlation per study. When Absorption was measured before hypnosis experience the r = .25; after the hypnosis experience, r = .32 (significantly different), which also was different from what context hypothesis would predict. Any context difference may be a function of length of time between the Absorption and hypnosis sessions. Data does not support the context hypothesis. Measuring Absorption after hypnosis resulted in higher mean correlations with susceptibility. However, the magnitude of this relationship was small. Variation due to test reliability and small sample size are likely explanations of the differences in the magnitude of the correlations across studies. We also must consider scale reliability and sample error (samples less than 1000 have departures from the population correlation that are fairly large). CONCLUSION. We should construct confidence intervals around observed correlations and look at the overlap; don't look only at the significance of the difference between correlations. Author is in the process of conducting a mail survey to obtain unpublished results on context effect. Perry, Campbell (1992). Theorizing about hypnosis in either/or terms. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 40, 238-252. The present paper addresses 3 issues raised by Coe (1992). First, it maintains that the "altered state" issue of the 1960s remains buried in current dichotomous classifications of hypnosis theories as involving either "special processes" or the social- psychological position. Given the current diversity of the field, it appears imprudent to classify theorizing in either/or terms; additionally, despite a history of using the term "altered state" in a circular way, it is not an inherently circular formulation. It can be used descriptively simply to point to the observation that some individuals in hypnosis report subjective alterations. A second issue broached concerns the metaphorical status of the term "hypnosis"; it is accepted as a misleading metaphor inherited from 19th century investigators such as Braid, Faria, Puysegur, and Liebeault. Provided that it is recognized that this metaphor refers to a "domain" (E. G. Hilgard, 1973) of characteristically elicited behaviors, no problem ensues in retaining this metaphor derived from nocturnal sleep. A subsequent discussion of current conceptualizations of hypnosis indicates considerable agreement among investigators; there is much consensus that hypnosis is an individual differences phenomenon, in which imagination may, in some individuals, become so intense and so vivid, as to take on "reality value," to the extent that a hypnotized person may have difficulty in distinguishing fantasy from reality. The S abilities of imagery/imagination, absorption, dissociation, and automaticity (which may be proved to be an index of dissociation) are proposed as being the main ingredients of the hypnotic experience. Finally, a synergistic approach is proposed as a means of progressing beyond the current impasse of either/or theorizing. Price, Simani M.; Crawford, Helen J.; Plantier, Mary E.; Jones, Elizabeth P. (1992, October). Sustained attention, selective attention, and automaticity: Relationships to hypnotic responsiveness. [Paper] Presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, Arlington, VA. NOTES 1: There are four dimensions of attention: 1. focused & sustained attention 2. selective attention 3. divided or dual attention 4. ambient attention (the ability to attend to one thing but have floating attention also) Ss had Harvard and Group Stanford scales of hypnotizability, to divide them into low, medium, and high groups. They were recruited for a study of attentional correlates with no mention of hypnosis, in order to reduce expectancy effects. In this study, 57 Ss had two 45 second trials on the Stroop test; the higher scores mean less Stroop-type interference. We studied the effects of distraction on ability to do mental arithmetic. (There were to ignore a word in the sum column.) Then Ss were tested for implicit memory of the words. Necker Cube task was administered (to replicate Crawford & Wallace): four trials, 60 sec. each Absorption Scale Crawford & Gumbles scale RESULTS. There were no differences on most of the tests for high, medium, and low groups. Hypnotizability correlated with extremely focused attentional ability as measured by the DAPI Extremely Focused Attention factor, and the Tellegen Absorption Scale. Moderately Focused Attention loaded on DAPI Moderate Focus. Necker Cube and Implicit Memory (for words) loaded on the Dual Ambient Attention factor. Spiegel, Herbert; Greenleaf, Marcia (1992). Personality style and hypnotizability: The fix-flex continuum. Psychiatric Medicine, 10, 13-24. Since Mesmer, there has been much confusion about the inter-relationship between an individual's degree of hypnotizability, the personality style of the individual, and the importance of the therapeutic strategy. Empirical and experimental research supports the hypotheses that there are: 1) biopsychosocial components of hypnotizability on a continuum ranging from ecologically insensitive (not modifiable by external stimuli) to ecologically sensitive (very modifiable by external stimuli); 2) biopsychosocial components that can be measured to identify an individual's degree of hypnotic capacity and responsivity; 3) distinct personality styles which correlation with low, mid-range and high hypnotizability on a _fix_ (ecologically insensitive) - _flex_ (ecologically sensitive) continuum; and 4) different clinical syndromes which correlation with these categorical distinctions. We propose that measuring hypnotizability and personality style is a way to clarify diagnosis and choose appropriate treatment strategies to maximize existing biopsychosocial resources of an individual with a specific problem in a particular context. Spiegel, David (1992, October). Dissociation during trauma. [Paper] Presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, Arlington, VA. NOTES 1: Spiegel & Spiegel's theory of hypnosis involves: 1. absorption 2. suggestion 3. dissociation Traumatic memories may be out of consciousness yet may influence consciousness. Thus, rape victim may not be able to continue to enjoy sex with her husband or may hyperventilate when near the place it occurs. This conceptualization is consistent with Kihlstrom's evidence using priming in verbal learning; and Ken Bowers' research on hypnosis for pain control. Hypnotizability is higher in childhood than in adults, so if children are traumatized they may resort to dissociation more easily. Certain dissociative disorders may be associated with high hypnotizability (forgetting the causal arrow, as association does not imply causation). The diagnosis of post traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) in the current diagnostic manual, DSM III-R, parallels the three characteristics of hypnosis, except that the diagnosis also includes a history of trauma. (In the upcoming revision, DSM IV will remove the language of "beyond the range of normal human experience" when characterizing the trauma in patient's history. The traumas referred to will be physical traumas.) Woody, Erik Z.; Oakman, Jonathan; Drugovic, Mira (1992, October). Fleshing out a two-component view of individual differences underlying hypnotic responsiveness. [Paper] Presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, Arlington, VA. NOTES 1: Balthazar and I pointed out that different psychological processes are implicated in hypnotizability scale items, depending on the difficulty of the item. One process is more important on easy items, the other on difficult items. We correlated an external variable as a function of difficulty of the items. Used the Absorption scale as the non-hypnotic measure for the latent correlation (biserial correlations). As item difficulty increases, the correlation with Absorption increases (from .2 to .5). This suggests a high level of Absorption is needed to pass difficult items on the hypnotizability scale. We argued that Absorption is connected to true hypnotic responsiveness. Now we are looking for indicators of easy item responsiveness. Last year I tried to explain anomalies in the data, anomalies that disappeared with a full complement of Ss. Another possible external variable to correlate with item difficulty is a social compliance type of attribute, but in the history of hypnosis those variables are not found. Therefore we used a model from alcohol research that investigates an expectancy type of suggestion. In that model, Ss drank two drinks that were alcohol free, but one drink purportedly had alcohol. Ss were told that large amounts of alcohol affect changes in perception, and that we were testing whether small amounts did. They were tested for "feeling of sluggishness in limbs," etc. They rated a list of experiences they might be having. The 109 Ss had been tested on Harvard A scale in separate research. Ratings in the alcohol model had high internal consistency; this suggestion score correlated with hypnotizability in .2-.3 range. The pattern of latent correlations would be predicted to be a graph with a negative slope, which the researchers obtained. R = -.77 The easier the hypnosis item, the stronger the correlation with the expectancy measure. The easiest Harvard A scale items tap little more than those expectancy effects, and the hardest items have almost nothing to do with the expectancy effect. What does this mean? We thought it was evidence of a social influence factor. Further work suggests we need to be more specific. We measured the other putative variables: 1. Compliance Questionnaire (Gudionsson, 1989); it evaluates the tendency to comply with requests, and to obey instructions; e.g., "I tend to go along even when someone is wrong." It has correlated with a measure of social conformity. 2. Suggestibility Questionnaire (which we developed). Items were based on interviews in which Ss told about everyday suggestible things--e.g. "When I hear about an illness I tend to get it. When someone tells me they smell something, I tend to also." These Compliance and General Suggestibility tests correlated .12 and .07 respectively with the alcohol expectancy measure; nor did they correlate with each other. They do not measure the same trait. Also, though they correlated .18 and .26 with hypnotizability, neither variable showed the spectral pattern on latent correlation analysis. Thus, we need to be more specific in linking the alcohol expectancy measure to hypnosis. Most items on Harvard A scale are motor items of either direct suggestion or inhibition (challenge) type. The relationship of alcohol expectancy to direct motor items is strong; the relationship is weaker with motor challenge items (for which another process must be important). We can think of will vs automatic control of behavior, as in the theory presented by Normal and Shallice. For well-learned behavior there are two levels of control: 1. low level - doesn't require conscious attention and control 2. higher level - relevant to initiation of action, planning Direct motor suggestion response requires little attentional effort and the role of will is not important. There exists ambiguity for indeterminacy of the role of will and attention. Ambiguity offers an opportunity to attribute one's action to hypnosis. What happens in alcohol expectancy is different, but an ambiguous experience is happening due to "alcohol" in the drink--ambiguous experience is interpreted according to the context. This differs from the neodissociation theory explanation, according to which the suggested behavior is enacted voluntarily but the voluntary aspect is separated from consciousness. To me, for simple motor acts the causality is inferred rather than perceived. For simple motor acts, no such higher level control is needed. Motor challenge items have instructions to "try" to overcome; S must exert will. "Try to raise your arm" is different from "Raise your arm." The S could remain role consistent and not try; ambiguity is maintained and the S could look to the context for an explanation. In the Normal and Shallice model, hypnosis weakens the higher system relative to the lower system. The S might be trying to exert will but experience it as less [influential] than in the normal state. Such capacity would not be tapped by an alcohol expectancy measure. We think of individual differences in hypnotizability as multiple processes, like a tree that consists of more than one healthy branch but has plenty of dead wood to be pruned out. 1991 Campbell, Laura; St. Jean, Richard (1991, August). Attentional processing and hypnotic time estimation. [Paper] Presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco. The tendency of subjects to substantially underestimate the duration of the hypnotic period is, by now, well-documented (St. Jean, 1989). Recent attempts to account for this phenomenon have focused on the attentional processing requirements of the hypnotic role and hypnotic task. St. Jean, McInnis, and Swainson (1990) presented a "busy-beaver" hypothesis which views the hypnotic subject as so occupied with the demands of task and role that little attention may be spared for the processing of unrelated stimuli. Consequently, when stimuli such as contextual changes, or other cues denoting the passage of time, are unattended the result is a reduction in subjective duration. St. Jean et al. (1990) reported a study in which the attentional demands of a listening task, presented in a hypnotic context, were varied by placing additional processing demands, in the form of a complex problem-solving task, on some subjects, but not on others. Subjects in the attentionally-demanding condition underestimated the duration of the listening period to a far greater degree than their passive listening counterparts. Estimates were not related to hypnotic susceptibility. St. Jean et al. (1990) did not employ a waking comparison condition. Such a comparison is important in determining whether the hypnotic role, or context, apart from the processing demands they usually impose, contribute to the underestimation effect. The present study provides such a comparison by presenting the same attentional manipulation in both a waking and a hypnotic context. The findings of the previous study were strongly corroborated; subjects in the attentional condition gave significantly shorter duration estimates than those who passively listened. The nature of the context, hypnotic or waking, did not, however, influence the magnitude of time estimates. These results, together with similar findings in the time-perception literature, appear to lend considerable support to the "busy- beaver" hypothesis. (ABSTRACT from Bulletin of Division 30, Psychological Hypnosis, Provided by former Editor, James Council.) Evans, Frederick J. (1991). Hypnotizability: Individual differences in dissociation and the flexible control of psychological processes. In Lynn, Steven J.; Rhue, Judith W. (Ed.), Theories of hypnosis: Current models and perspectives (pp. 144-170). New York: Guilford Press. NOTES 1: "In summary, some of our recent data suggest that there are a number of interacting reliable correlates of hypnotizability ... . None relate to suggestibility in the traditional sense. ... Hypnotizability is related to the ability to process cognitive information during sleep, to the physiological ease of falling asleep, and to a dimension of subjective sleep characteristics we have labeled the 'control of sleep' (involving ... the ability to fall asleep easily and readily at will, and the tendency to take naps). Additional data have suggested that the concept of absorption can be meaningfully divided into subfactors that reflect the volitional control over the absorption process that correlates with hypnotizability in both normal and patient populations. ... (C)ontrolled absorption correlates significantly with hypnotizability in both normal and patient populations--a result that might be predicted from the concept of multiple pathways as correlates of hypnotizability (J. R. Hilgard, 1970). ... Finally, both the control-of-sleep dimension and hypnotizability relate to the reductions of symptoms and psychopathology even when psychiatric patients are not treated with hynotic techniques" (pp. 164-165). Glicksohn, Joseph; Mourad, Boaz; Pavell, Eyal (1991-92). Imagination, absorption and subjective time estimation. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 167-176. We report an exploratory study that investigated the interaction of trait and task in determining duration judgment. High and low absorption subjects (determined by median split along the Absorption Scale) viewed a series of paired slides, and were required to relate to each pair in one of two tasks: A metaphor-production task, and a story-production one. These tasks were carried out for an objective interval of fifteen minutes, following which the subject was required to verbally estimate this duration, retrospectively. In addition, from the individual protocols we measured the average time till response and the average time of response. A significant interaction between absorption and task was obtained for the latter two variables. In addition, a main effect for task was found for the duration estimation. These and other results are assessed in terms of both a cognitive-timer model for time estimation and a contextualistic approach to temporal processing. NOTES 1: The authors used a model for subjective time estimation (STE) that involves a cognitive timer (or internal clock) that encodes temporal information. STE purportedly may be correlated with the amount of attention directed at the passage of time, and negatively correlated with attention paid to other kinds of tasks. They used tasks that aroused Subjects' imagination--a series of pairs of slides. One group was to produce a metaphor relating the two slides, while the other group was to produce a short story relating the two--theoretically an easier task. The authors hypothesized that high absorption Ss would be more engrossed in the task than low absorption Ss, and therefore would underestimate the amount of time used for the task irrespective of task difficulty. For the low absorption Ss they predicted that time estimates for the more difficult metaphor task should be longer, because the task itself demanded more attention than the other task. (High absorption Ss would not exhibit such a difference.) As another measure, Subjects were required to produce four short time intervals (4, 8, 16, and 32 seconds) to assess whether there might be a different rate of the cognitive timer for the two types of Ss, irrespective of nontemporal task involvement. 26 Ss were randomly allocated to one of two conditions (metaphor task or story task). Since this number of Ss is too small for an adequate evaluation of the interaction effect (absorption x task) of particular interest, the authors regard the experiment as exploratory only. The results suggest that high absorption Ss view the tasks as easy and pleasant relative to the lows, and have larger STE values. Shorter time estimates are associated with the metaphor task than the story task, for both highs and lows--an unexpected finding. While highs take the same amount of time for metaphor production as for story production, lows take longer to produce a metaphor than a story (and of course, the metaphor is shorter in length!) The high absorption Ss provided larger estimations of time for the task in which they produced a required number of seconds (4, 8, etc.), indicating a slower baseline rate of functioning of the cognitive timer. The authors in their discussion find the results supportive of the cognitive timer model. They cite the finding that duration estimate was predicted from STE, task, and interaction of absorption with average time to response. (1) remembered duration was positively correlated with baseline functioning of the cognitive timer (STE) (2) remembered duration was negatively correlated with task difficulty (3) remembered duration was an interactive function of absorption and average time to response. Nadon, R.; Hoyt, I. P.; Register, P. A.; Kihlstrom, J. F. (1991). Absorption and hypnotizability: Contextual effects re-examined. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 144-153. Two independent studies failed to find evidence consistent with Council, Kirsch, and Hafner (1986), who argued that the repeatedly observed correlations between Tellegen's (1981) Absorption Scale (TAS) and hypnosis measures were artifacts of testing context, and de Groot, Gwynn, and Spanos (1988), who claimed evidence for a Gender x Context moderator effect. In the present studies, subjects completed the TAS and other personality questionnaires during an independent survey and later immediately prior to an assessment of hypnotizability. In Experiment 1 (N - 475), the effect of context on the relation between questionnaire scores and hypnotizability was weak and variable; in Experience 2 (N - 434), these weak effects were reversed. The results reaffirmed the construct validity of absorption as both a major dimension of personality and as a predictor of hypnotic responsiveness. Neill, W. Trammell (1991, August). Consciousness and the inhibitory control of cognition. [Paper] Presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco.