Research 075

In 1962 11%; in 1975 27%; and in 1983 55% of psychology internship sites offered training in hypnosis. Methods of training in these sites included: lectures, supervised peer hypnosis, supervised patient hypnosis, and workshop or program attendance.
Standardized curricula have been proposed, but outcome hasn’t been evaluated. No study has investigated the long term effectiveness of program components.
This study looks at two outcomes: –Post training use –Post training effectiveness beliefs (how effective they believe hypnotherapy is)
It also looks at how the four training components relate to the two outcomes, and at professional variables (whether psychiatrist or psychologist, etc.).
Authors surveyed an 11 year retrospective. N = 77 respondents. Training is lectures that were strongly encouraged, and could elect the other components.
Number of patients seen in hypnotherapy since end of training 0-5 49 6-10 10 11-20 6 21-25 4 >25 7

1991
Daglish, Mark R. C.; Wright, Peter (1991). Opinions about hypnosis among medical and psychology students. Contemporary Hypnosis, 8, 51-55.

A survey was undertaken of opinions about hypnosis among first year medical and psychology students at the University of Edinburgh. Data are presented on the effects of self-estimated hypnotizability and sex, on opinions about hypnosis. The results are compared with those from similar studies conducted in Australia and the USA. Overall, the surveyed population showed a similar level of knowledge about hypnosis to that found among the general public.

1990
Evans, Frederick J. (1990). Behavioral responses during sleep. In Bootzin, Richard R.; Kihlstrom, John F.; Schacter, Daniel L. (Ed.), Sleep and Cognition (pp. 77-87). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

NOTES
Subjects were 19 male student nurses who met a criterion of having EEG alpha density of at least 40% during an eyes closed, waking condition. They slept in the laboratory for two nights in succession, while being monitored by an EEG, and were told only that sleep cycles were being studied. Suggestions were presented while they were sleeping, e.g. “Whenever I say the word itch, your nose will feel itchy until you scratch it” “Whenever I say the word pillow, your pillow will feel uncomfortable until you move it.” Then they were tested by Experimenter saying the cue word (“itch” or “pillow”) during subsequent REM periods later that night and again on the next night. (The suggestions were not repeated on the second night; but two new suggestions were given on the second night when possible.)
After the Subjects awakened in the morning, they were interviewed to test their memory for the events that had occurred, and also cue words were presented in the context of a word association test to assess memory indirectly by observing behavioral and physiological responses. A more detailed inquiry was made after the second night.
The results were as follows. Ss responded to a mean of 21% of cue words administered. Ss continued to demonstrate REM sleep for at least 30 seconds for 71% of all cues administered, indicating that they were not aroused by the cue. When a suggestion was successfully completed (i.e., without eliciting alpha activity) it was not repeated. However, the cue words were tested in several subsequent REM periods. Cue word testing occurred immediately (during the same REM period as the suggestion) on the same night, as well as in a later REM period, and during REM on Night 2 (after the suggestion had been given during Night 1).
Correct responses were given for 20% of immediate, 23% of delayed, and 23% of carry-over conditions. Ss did not remember the suggestion, verbal cues, or their responses when they awoke. Since Ss often responded to the cue the next night without repetition of the suggestion itself, the authors inferred amnesia rather than forgetting had occurred. Responses were not elicited by repeating the cue word in the waking state, but appeared to be specific to the sleep condition.
Six Ss returned five months later for a third night of testing. Four had shown carryover response on Night 2 to a Night 1 suggestion. When verbal cues were presented (without re-administering the suggestion) those 4 Ss responded, even though there was no intervening waking memory about the procedure or the suggestions. Some Ss responded even more frequently than during the original two nights; hypnotic depth did not seem to account for the increased responsivity. Experimenters attempted to reverse the amnesia observed during the waking condition by using hypnosis, age regression, and other hypnotic techniques, with some positive effect. The author speculates that perhaps the techniques originally used to probe morning recall were not sufficiently sensitive. He also raises the question of whether this waking state amnesia is related to the amnesia for night dreams when people awaken in the morning.
The relationship between hypnotizability and sleep suggestibility was analyzed. Hypnotizability was measured with the Harvard Group Scale, several weeks later, by Experimenters who were blind to the Ss’ rate of responding to suggestions given during sleep. More hypnotizable Ss slept through the verbal stimuli more than low hypnotizable Ss; so they slept longer and more cues could be tested. Ss who responded most frequently to sleep-induced suggestions were more responsive to hypnosis. Analysis of response rate percentage (which controls for higher number of cues administered when Ss slept longer) showed that correlations between sleep suggestibility and hypnotizability were higher for percentage of delayed responses than for percentage of immediate responses.
Analysis by type of item on the hypnotizability scales suggested that the correlation with sleep suggestibility was due to the hallucinatory-reverie and the posthypnotic- dissociative clusters of hypnotic behavior, which are more difficult kinds of items. Correlations were significant for carry-over responses but not for immediate responses. These items represent phenomena experienced by Subjects who can be deeply hypnotized. The author reports that this relationship observed between hypnotizability and response to sleep-induced suggestions was not significant in a later study by Perry et al. (1978).
This author raises a question about why high hypnotizable subjects sleep better than low hypnotizables. The 6 Ss who were least susceptible accounted for 48% of all awakenings that occurred during the 2 experimental nights; the 6 Ss who were most hypnotizable accounted for only 26% of the awakenings (p<.01). Because sleep learning ("hypnopedia") has been extensively practiced in Russia and Eastern Europe, especially for language learning, the author investigated language learning with nine subjects. (Hoskovec, 1966, and Rubin, 1968, have reviewed the hypnopedia literature, which suggests that only "suggestible" subjects respond; it is not clear whether "suggestible" refers to hypnotizable, or whether expectation of success is cultivated by information given in the waking state.) The nine Ss had responded to the suggestions at least twice while remaining asleep, had no waking recall of the suggestions, but were given pre-sleep instructions (increasing expectancy) that they would learn during sleep. The verbal association material ("A is for apple; P is for palace;" etc.) was given during EEG sleep stages 2, 4, and REM. (Eight letter-word stimuli pairs were given, two per sleep stage whenever possible.) When they awakened, Ss were asked to check "any familiar word" on a list of 10 words beginning with the letter A, with the letter P, etc. So the probability was .10 for each of the eight lists that they might check one correct word by guessing. They also responded to two dummy lists containing letter-word pairs not used during sleep. None of the dummy list words were checked, whereas 28% of the administered words were correctly checked; also, Ss selected the correct letter (without identifying the word and with instructions not to "guess") in an additional 17% of all lists. Words were rarely recalled from Stages 2 and 4, but Ss often recognized letters from those stages. False positives (incorrectly recalled words or letters) was almost never observed. Furthermore, no control Subjects (people who had not received a presleep set that they would recall) recalled any words correctly. It was observed that whenever words presented during REM were later recalled, a transient slower frequency alpha (10.25 Hz vs. 9.64 Hz, p<.01) had been evoked within 30 sec after the presentation of the stimuli during sleep. Total recall of words correlated with the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility .69 and the Stanford individually administered scale .42, for the 7 Ss administered hypnotizability tests. The author concludes that under optimal conditions, sleep learning of relatively easy material can occur with subsequent waking recall. Harmon, Teresa M.; Hynan, Michael T.; Tyre, Timothy E. (1990). Improved obstetric outcomes using hypnotic analgesia and skill mastery combined with childbirth education. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 58, 525-530. Studied the benefits of hypnotic analgesia as an adjunct to childbirth in 60 nulliparous women. Subjects were divided into high- and low-susceptibility groups before receiving six sessions of childbirth education and skill mastery using an ischemic pain task. Half of the subjects in each group received a hypnotic induction at the beginning of each session; the remaining control subjects received relaxation and breathing exercises typically used in childbirth education. Both hypnotic subjects and highly susceptible subjects reported reduced pain. Hypnotically prepared births had shorter Stage 1 labors, less medication, higher Apgar scores, and more frequent spontaneous deliveries than control subjects' births. Highly susceptible, hypnotically treated women had lower depression scores after birth than women in the other three groups. The authors believe that repeated skill mastery facilitated the effectiveness of hypnosis in the study. Matheson, G.; Drever, J. M. (1990). Psychological preparation of the patient for breast reconstruction. Annals of Plastic Surgery, 24, 238-247. NOTES Reviews over 100 women who had undergone rectus abdominis musculocutaneous flap reconstruction, the psychological issues motivating the patient for surgery, and psychological problems to be considered by the surgeon. A method of psychological preparation that was used and a report on the evaluative study of the program is included, and a protocol and verbalization for hypnotic relaxation is included. Ovens, H.; Talbot, Y.; Harris, F.; Newman, B. (1990). Hypnosis training enhances communication skills. Medical Teacher, 12 (3-4), 357-361. 1989 Palan, B.M.; Chandwani, S. (1989). Coping with examination stress through hypnosis: An experimental study. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 31, 173-180. Fifty-six volunteer medical students participated in three groups balanced for number of subjects, performance at last examination, and hypnotizability. The hypnosis and waking groups attended eight group sessions once a week with general ego- strengthening and specific suggestions for study habits, with a ninth session of age progression and mental rehearsal. Subjects in these two groups practiced self-suggestions (in self-hypnosis or waking respectively) daily for the study period of 9 weeks. The control group experienced sessions of passive relaxation induced by light reading for the same period of time. The hypnosis group improved significantly in coping with examination stress, but there was no significant change in performance on examinations by any of the groups. Spinhoven, Philip; Linssen, A. Corry (1989). Education and self-hypnosis in the management of low back pain: A component analysis. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 28, 145-153. Conducted a component analysis of a group program for chronic low back pain patients. 45 patients (aged 31-68 years) participated in the pain control course (PCC), consisting of education about pain and a training in self-hypnosis. A pain diary was used as a measure of pain intensity, up-time, and use of pain medication. Psychoneuroticism and depression were assessed using the Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL- 90) scores. No evidence was found for a differential efficacy of education or self-hypnosis on pain diary and SCL-90 scores. Subjects showed significant changes on all measures except reported pain intensity. It is suggested that the PCC is a noninvasive, inexpensive means of treatment that could be used to teach even more severely disabled low back pain patients to cope more adequately with their pain problem. 1988 Pavia, M.; Stanley, R. O. (1988). Effect of defining induction as hypnosis or relaxation. Australian Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 16, 11-21. Previous studies have shown that the perceived definition of an induction may sometimes affect the subject's responses to the induction. These variations in the effect of induction definition may be due to interactions between a subject's motivations and expectations of the induction technique and the way the induction is defined. These authors explored this interaction with groups of clinical and student subjects. Differing definitions of induction as 'hypnosis' or 'relaxation' did not result in significant differences in response among either group, though subjects in neither group were found to have high expectations of motivation (sic). 1986 Judd, Fiona K.; Burrows, Graham D.; Dennerstein, Lorraine (1986). Clinicians' perceptions of the adverse effects of hypnosis: A preliminary study. Australian Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 14, 49-60. Questionnaires were sent to all members of the Australian Society of Hypnosis and responses obtained from 202 members and associate members who used hypnosis clinically. Respondents' experience in the use of hypnosis and the frequency of use of hypnosis as a treatment modality varied. Overall 43.5% of respondents reported adverse effects with one or more patients over the preceding year. Most adverse effects attributed to hypnosis were transient and included development of panic or extreme anxiety, development of excessive dependence and difficulty in terminating hypnosis. Exacerbation or precipitation of significant depression was an infrequent but serious adverse effect attributed to hypnosis. Other infrequent adverse effects included symptom substitution, acting out behaviour, fantasied sexual seduction, precipitation or worsening of psychotic illness or difficulties in the management of organic conditions The difficulties were acknowledged of differentiating between the effects of hypnosis itself and other components of the therapeutic transaction, but the results of this survey suggested both that hypnosis be employed clinically by properly trained professionals and that further sensitive clinical research is needed in the area. Rogers, Malcolm; Reich, Peter (1986). Psychological intervention with surgical patients: Evaluation outcome. Advances in Psychosomatic Medicine, 15, 23-50. NOTES The Notes are a direct quotation of the authors' Conclusions. "There is well documented evidence that psychological and behavioral preparation prior to surgery can effect post-operative recovery. In almost all instances, except when patients are characterized by avoidance or denial defenses predominantly, the outcome results have been positive. The effect of interventions have been most consistently positive in reducing length of hospitalization and post-operative pain, but a variety of other improvements in affect and physiologic stability have been shown. As others such as Auerbach have pointed out [76], in all but a handful of studies different intervention approaches have been combined, making it impossible to sort out the specific effects of information, psychotherapeutic relationship, relaxation training, or suggestion given either with or without hypnosis. Indeed it is not only likely that each has had an effect, but there may also be synergistic effects. "More recent investigations have begun to include measurements of personality differences between patients so that the nature of the intervention can be more specific and appropriate to the individual's coping style. "The reduction in length of hospitalization alone (clearly shown to result from pre- operative psychologic preparation) argues forcefully on a cost benefit basis for the inclusions of careful pre-operative preparation. The reduction in pain is also of major importance, and may well reduce future avoidance behavior or post-traumatic disorders, although these latter potential outcomes have not been investigated. It should be kept in mind that there are also a number of studies which have failed to demonstrate the efficacy of psychological intervention on these outcome measures. Moreover, it is extremely difficult in studies of this nature to control adequately for the subtle effects on behavior of experimenter and subject expectation. "A few points can be made about future strategies in this field. The evidence accumulated to date suggests that all patients undergoing surgery or certain difficult procedures be given the option of pre-operative psychological preparation. The preparation should emphasize what the patient will experience and when, and how to cope with it, i.e., how to move, or breathe, or relax. Rapidly evolving audiovisual capabilities and hospital televisions connected by cable to health education channels will routinely offer such preparation in the future. Patients could choose or not choose to watch (thereby protecting mechanisms of denial). "Finally, future studies should focus on outcome measures uniquely important to a particular operation and also on longer term rehabilitation outcome measures. An example of the former might be post-operative sexual functioning after prostatectomy. A study by Zokar et al. [77] has shown that the likelihood of this post-operative function is correlated with not only the level of pre-operative anxiety and general 'life satisfaction', but also whether the patient received a pre-operative explanation of what to expect from the surgery" (pp. 45-46). 1985 Fellows, Brian J. (1985). Hypnosis teaching and research in British psychology departments: Current practice attitudes and concerns. British Journal of Experimental and Clinical Hypnosis, 2 (3), 151-156. NOTES The author mailed a questionnaire to 58 departments of psychology to determine the extent/nature of hypnosis teaching and research, and attitudes toward teaching and research on hypnosis. The author noted a general anxiety about teaching students how to do hypnosis (as contrasted with learning about hypnosis). "Some of the anxieties which departments have about the teaching of hypnosis seem to stem from some rather ancient and invalid conceptions about the nature of hypnosis and what it can do" (p. 153). The author also relates his personal experience teaching undergraduates "something about the procedures and phenomena which have been traditionally associated with hypnosis" (p. 153). They may use one of the standard hypnotizability scales, study a particular hypnotic phenomenon such as ideomotor action or age regression, or study an empirical issue such as facilitation of recall. He reports not meeting with "any particular difficulties," but also that he has seen two problems: the student who is anxious about doing the procedure, and an occasional subject who reports the experience was unpleasant or disturbing--e.g. during age regression. He reports teaching students to handle these events in a normalizing manner. J. Holroyd Stager, Gordon L.; Lundy, Richard M. (1985). Hypnosis and the learning and recall of visually presented material. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 33, 27-39. To examine the effect of hypnosis on the learning and recall of visually presented material, high and low hypnotizable Ss were presented, under hypnotized or awake conditions, with a short, entertaining movie followed by questions about the movie. 2 week later Ss, hypnotized or awake, were again asked questions concerning the movie. The principal finding was that high hypnotizable Ss in the hypnotic induction condition increased accurate recall without increasing inaccurate recall. Neither hypnotizability nor hypnotic induction at learning affected recall. The major finding of the present study is that hypnosis during recall of previously learned material is facilitative, but that hypnosis during that previous learning is not. 1984 Channon, L. D. (1984). Some preconceptions about hypnosis among preclinical medical students: A brief communication. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 32 (4), 356-361. 372 preclinical medical students from the University of Sydney, Australia were surveyed concerning their beliefs about hypnosis and its medical use. Several "myths" concerning hypnosis emerged (e.g., hypnosis is a passive state, there are sex differences in hypnotizability, posthypnotic amnesia is inevitable, and there is automatic obedience to the hypnotist). Sex differences in expectations of hypnotizability were found. Relatively few physical problems wre perceived as being amenable to treatment by hypnosis and the proportion of medical practitioners in the national professional hypnosis society was grossly underestimated. Wideman, Margaret V.; Singer, Jerome E. (1984). The role of psychological mechanisms in preparation for childbirth. American Psychologist, 39, 1357-1371. Psychoprophylactic (Lamaze) preparation for childbirth consists of six to eight classes held during the last trimester of pregnancy. These classes include instruction in the anatomy and physiology of gestation and parturition, respiration techniques, controlled neuromuscular relaxation, visual focusing, and the training of a labor coach. Although the techniques are based upon psychological principles, they have remained largely unstudied by either psychologists or physicians. This article presents a brief history of the development of the training regimen and critically examines the few empirical studies that have been conducted. Because explanations for the efficacy of the preparation, if it exists, are equivocable, literature on the explicit components of the training--that is, information, respiration techniques, conditioned relaxation, cognitive restructuring, and social support--in situations other than child delivery are reviewed and their implications for the Lamaze method discussed. However, because there exist several, more implicit factors that may affect the type of child delivery a prepared woman experiences, the literature concerning social comparison, the effects of commitment and conformity, perceived control, and endorphin secretion are also discussed as they may apply to psychoprophylactic preparation. Problems associated with the study of childbirth preparation are presented, and suggestions for the direction of future research are made. 1983 Rodolfa, E. R.; Kraft, W. A.; Reilley, R. R.; Blackmore, S. H. (1983). The status of research and training in hypnosis at APA accredited clinical/counseling psychology internship sites: A national survey. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 31 (4), 284-292. Although numerous psychologists reported gaining hypnosis skills during their internship experience, few investigations have assessed the characteristics of this training. The present survey of 123 APA accredited cilnical/counseling internship sites was conducted in an attempt to describe the training currently available. Other variables investigated were hypnosis research at the sites and training directors' attitudes toward hypnosis. Results indicate that hypnosis training is growing and becoming more formalized; hypnosis research has experienced growth; and attitudes toward hypnosis continue to remain positive. A procedure for training clinical graduate students in the psychoanalytic theory of the neuroses is presented. The procedure makes use of video tapes of experiments in which hypnotically implanted unconscious conflicts were used to drive a wide variety of psychopathology in the laboratory. In the procedure, the graduate students were asked to predict and rate Ss' psychopathology with foreknowledge of certain personality traits of Ss as well as foreknowledge of the nature of the conflicts. The training appeared to be an effective means of teaching them psychoanalytic theory, as well as helpful in enhancing their assessment skills. 1980 Reilley, R. R.; Parisher, D. W.; Carona, A.; Dobrovolsky, N. W. (1980). Modifying hypnotic susceptibility by practice and instruction. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 28 (1), 39-45. Research was conducted to determine if hypnotic susceptibility could be increased by either having Ss practice hypnosis through repeated induction, or receive instruction about hypnosis. Ss were 37 college students divided into 3 groups. Group one experienced various hypnotic induction techniques, group two was given information about hypnosis through instruction, and group three was the control. The Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scales, Forms A and B (Weitzenhoffer & Hilgard, 1959) were the pre- and posttest measures. Differences were found between both treatment groups and the control group, although no differencesw were found between the treatments. Repeated hypnotic induction and instruction about hypnosis proved useful techniques for increasing susceptibility. Results were not significantly related to initial level of anxiety. The present study was undertaken to provide additional information on the effects of hypnosis on academic and test-taking skills. Previous research indicated inconclusive results with inadequate experimental design and statistical methodology. The present study used an experimental research design with appropriate statistical analysis. Ss were 93 college students and treatment was administered by pre-recorded cassette tapes over a 4-week period during regular class time. Tapes consisted of hypnotic and waking suggestions related to course content and general academic skills. Results indicated hypnotic and waking suggestions did not faciltate academic skill learning significantly more than class curriculum alone. Pre-post comparisons did indicate significant improvement by all groups on reading, writing, study skills, and spelling variables. 1978 Porter, J. W. (1978). Suggestions and success imagery for study problems. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 26, 63-75. A procedure is presented for dealing with study problems in cases where patients come with an expectancy of help through hypnosis. Specific suggestions directly related to the study difficulty are given. "Success imagery" is outlined for use under hypnosis and by the student himself in his daily life. Two self-management techniques associated with the relaxation induced by exhalation are given further strength by being made posthypnotic suggestions. A direct posthypnotic suggestion for "concentration and recall" is combined with contingency management to effect more efficient performance when the decision is made to study. Four sessions are shown by clinical experience to be generally adequate to allow a transition from therapy to self-management of the problem aided by the student's own use of self-hypnosis. A general outline of how this is achieved for the first three sessions incorporates both Wolberg's (19656) suggestions to remove barriers preventing progress and Stanton's (1977) Rational-Emotive Therapy suggestions to strengthen the person's belief in himself. Schumann, John H.; Holroyd, Jean; Campbell, Russell N.; Ward, Frederick A. (1978). Improvement of pronunciation under hypnosis: A preliminary study. Language Learning, 28, 143-148. This paper reports an experiment which was designed to determine whether foreign language pronunciation could be improved through hypnosis. Twenty subjects were first given the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotizability to familiarize them with the state of hypnosis. In the second session each subject was individually tested on his/her ability to pronounce Thai words under three conditions: Baseline, Hypnosis, and Post- Hypnosis. For each experimental condition the subjects heard and repeated the stimulus items on one of three lists of 15 Thai words. The subjects' responses were later evaluated by a native Thai linguist. The results indicate that deeply hypnotized subjects (as defined by self-reported depth) performed significantly better than less well hypnotized subjects. NOTES "Guiora (1972) suggested that pronunciation of a foreign language is more difficult than vocabulary, syntax, and grammar skills because it requires modifying a basic method of self-identification, the way one sounds. He introduced a concept of language ego, analogous to body ego" (p. 143). During hypnosis subjects were evaluated for subjective estimate of hypnotic depth by asking them to "visualize themselves on a stairway in which the top (zero) represented their normal waking state and the bottom (ten) a very very deep relaxed state of hypnosis, and to report the number of the step on which they stood" (p. 146). Thus, "it was not assumed that administration of an induction assured a hypnotized subject, nor was it assumed that subjects rated highly hypnotizable were in a deep trance at the time Thai words were being spoken" (p. 146). Shipley, R. H.; Butt, J. H.; Horowitz, B.; Farbry, J. E. (1978). Preparation for a stressful medical procedure: Effect of amount of stimulus preexposure and coping style. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 46, 499-507. Anxiety during the stressful medical procedure of endoscopy was studied as a function of the number of prior viewings of an explicit preparation videotape and of repression-sensitization coping style. Sixty naive patients viewed a videotaped endoscopy either zero, one, or three times. Dependent measures included heart rate, behavioral ratings, tranquilizer required, and self-report. On each dependent measure, three viewings generally resulted in the least distress; one, more distress; and zero, the most distress. Most comparisons reached statistical significance. These results are interpreted as resulting from extinction and/or habituation of anxiety. The repression-sensitization factor interacted with heart rate change. Sensitizers showed a monotonic decrease in heart rate as a function of number of tape exposures. Repressors showed an inverted-U-shaped function, with one viewing producing the highest heart rate; this is interpreted as resulting from a disruption of repressing defenses by one tape exposure followed by extinction of fear by three exposures. 1976 Gardner, G. Gail (1976). Attitudes of child health professionals toward hypnosis: Implications for training. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 24, 63-73. A survey of child health professionals -- pediatricians, pediatric nurses, child psychologists, and child psychiatrists -- revealed that they have generally positive attitudes toward hypnosis but little knowledge of its specific advantages or applications. Recommendations are made for designing training opportunities in hypnosis which might enhance the probability that the professional will actually use hypnosis or refer a child else where for hypnotherapy. Illovsky, J.; Fredman, N. (1976). Group suggestion in learning disabilities of primary grade children. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 24, 87-97. This study reports the effects of tape-recorded hypnotic suggestions given to 48 hyperactive children between the ages of 6 and 8 from 3 public schools. The children had short attention spans, low frustration and tolerance [sic], and poor learning motivation. They were taught by the same method in class and received remedial instruction as in the previous year. In order to participate in this study, the children were brought from their regular classrooms every morning to listen in groups of 9, 10, or 19 -- according to the available accommodation in the school -- to suggestions of relaxation, to ideas of coping with emotional problems, and to suggestions of modifying attitudes towards learning. The corrective reading teachers conducted these 15-minute sessions. After the session was over, the children were returned to their respective classes. At the beginning and at the end of the school year, the classroom teachers evaluated the children's behavior in class and their attitudes toward learning. The addition of the modified hypnotic technique enabled 45 of 48 children to function better in school. The improvement ranged from decreased hyperactivity to better than average performance in class. Significant correlations were found between percent of relaxation with increased attention span (r = .40) and number of sessions attended with increased self-confidence (r = .46). Interviewed 101 professionals who were alumni of a course in medical and dental hypnosis. 75% used some hypnotic technique, either formal or informal, in their practice. The predominant technique was direct and indirect hypnotic symptom removal. A wide range of indications was described, the most frequent of which were obesity, anxiety, pain and discomfort, and excessive smoking. Illustrative cases are included. Few doctors encountered either difficulties with colleagues or complications with patients. Of those doctors who did not use hypnosis, the major reasons mentioned were time, patient''s unrealistic expectations and feelings of discomfort, lack of skill, and skepticism about hypnosis. The most striking finding was the efficacy of the course in causing enduring changes in the ongoing pattern of practice of a remarkably high percentage of the doctors. (German, French, & Spanish summaries) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved) 1970 Donk, Leonard J.; Vingoe, Frank J.; Hall, Roger A.; Doty, Richard (1970). The comparison of three suggestion techniques for increasing reading efficiency utilizing a counter-balanced research paradigm. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 18, 126-133. Reports an experiment in which both Barber-type and alert-trance procedures significantly increased reading speed while maintaining comprehension when compared to a control group; a traditional hypnotic procedure followed by the specific suggestions failed to obtain these results. 32 volunteer undergraduates were randomly assigned to 4 groups in terms of a counterbalanced design. 2 groups were administered trance inductions (traditional and alert) followed by specific suggestions, a 3rd simply the suggestions, while the 4th served as control. Reading suggestions were to eliminate specific problems, increase speed, and increase or maintain comprehension. (Spanish & German summaries) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2003 APA, all rights reserved) 1968 Donk, Leonard J. (1968). Toward an increase in reading efficiency utilizing specific suggestions: A preliminary approach. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 16, 101-110. REPORTS AN EXPERIMENT IN WHICH READING SPEED WAS SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED AND COMPREHENSION MAINTAINED BY A TRADITIONAL HYPNOTIC INDUCTION FOLLOWED BY SPECIFIC SUGGESTIONS. 24 SS WERE SELECTED FROM AN UNDERGRADUATE CLASS ON THE BASIS OF PERFORMANCE ON A MODIFIED WEITZENHOFFER ABBREVIATED GROUP HYPNOSIS SCALE. SS WERE ASSIGNED TO 2 MAIN GROUPS IN TERMS OF A COUNTERBALANCED DESIGN. SUGGESTIONS TO ELIMINATE SPECIFIC READING PROBLEMS, INCREASE READING SPEED, AND MAINTAIN OR INCREASE COMPREHENSION WERE GIVEN AFTER A TRADITIONAL INDUCTION PROCEDURE. THE USE OF THIS RESEARCH DESIGN IN SUBSEQUENT RESEARCH ON HYPNOSIS AND LEARNING IS DISCUSSED. (SPANISH + GERMAN SUMMARIES) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved) 1965 Pedersen, Darhl M.; Cooper, Leslie M. (1965). Some personality correlates of hypnotic susceptibility. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 13 (3), 193-203. The present research was directed principally toward determining the relationship of a number of personality variables to hypnotic susceptibility. The personality variables utilized were selected to cover the personality domain as broadly as possible. Hypnotic susceptibility was measured by the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form A. A correlational analysis was completed for 30 Ss. This included (a) the correlations between each of the personality variables and hypnotic susceptibility and (b) the intercorrelations among all of the personality measures. It was found that the following variables correlated with hypnotic susceptibility at the 5% level of confidence: age (-.37), year in college (-.36), and missionary service (.37). Social class rating of father''s occupation correlated significantly at the 1% level of confidence (.54). (29 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved) 1962 Moss, C. Scott; Logan, J. C.; Lynch, D. (1962). Present status of psychological research and training in hypnosis: A developing professional problem. American Psychologist, 17, 542-549. (Abstracted in American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 1963, 6, 82) Anonymous questionnaires on training and research in hypnosis were returned by 54 of 55 psychology department chairmen with approved clinical psychology training programs and 39 of 85 American Medical Association approved medical schools. 8 psychology departments and 2 medical schools have courses in hypnosis. Unless the "psychological profession is more active in protecting its rights to research and clinical use of a methodology which is basically psychological, it may find itself legally excluded from the field." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved) 1961 Fowler, William L. (1961). Hypnosis and learning. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 9, 223-232. 3 studies are reported in which hypnotic suggestion was used for the purpose of increasing the motivation and self-confidence of college students suffering reading difficulties. While the subjects reported a variety of benefits, objective tests provided no evidence that hypnosis did improve reading performance. From Psyc Abstracts 36:04:4II23F. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved) 1958 Uhr, Leonard (1958). Learning under hypnosis: What do we know? what should we know?. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 6 (3), 121-135. NOTES The author reviews the research available on learning under hypnosis, as contrasted with recalling (under hypnosis) material previously learned in the waking state. Very few investigations have taken place, "and the vast majority are inconclusive or of only tangential interest" (p. 131). He gives a number of suggestions for improving the research designs, stressing that different aspects of hypnosis (depth, amnesia, type of suggestion) should be manipulated in order to maximize the possibilty of finding positive outcomes. "'Suggestion' or 'motivation' or 'attention' may well prove to be the crucial variable, the hypnotic state merely the condition that allows the full force of the operating factor to be felt" (p. 132). 1956 McCord, Hallack (1956). Hypnosis as an aid to the teaching of a severely mentally retarded teenage boy. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 4 (1), 21-23. (Abstracted in Psychological Abstracts 57: 3729) NOTES A 16 year old boy with I.Q. measured at 55 was hypnotized for 20 minutes daily for one month. During each session he was given material to learn (multiplication tables, spelling words, reading recognition, and general information -- only one presented during each hypnosis session). "At the end of 90 days, the subject was stil retaining amost 100 percent of all material presented except for the multiplication tables which showed about 50 percent loss" (p. 22). "As a result of routinely introduced hypnotic suggestions for well-being, happiness, desire to learn, and assurance of acceptance, Ben's motivation to learn in the classroom situation took a sharp surge upward. (It was for this reason that giving him parallel material in the normal state to be used to measure comparative learning rates promptly became scientifically unsound as a control in this study.)" (p. 22). Although he was not given material to study in between sessions, "it was known that he _mentally_ reviewed the material while working and playing in the school program" (p. 23). 1955 Wald, Arthur; Kline, Milton V. (1955). A university training program in dental hypnosis. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 3 (4), 183-187. NOTES The training program was a joint project of the American Hypnodontic Society and the Institute for Research of Long Island University. "The program consists of three full semester courses: Introductory, Advanced, and a Clinical Practicum. Each course meets for a full 14 week semester and consists of 40 hours of instruction. Instructors in the program consist of dentists, psychologists, and physicians experienced with hypnosis and actively working in the psychological and medical fields pertinent to modern dental practice" (p. 184). The article provides the syllabi for the introductory and advanced courses. 1954 Hammer, Emanuel Frederick (1954). Post-hypnotic suggestion and test performance. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 2, 178-185. NOTES College students were tested in Normal and Post-hypnotic suggestion conditions, in balanced order (N-P-P-N, or P-N-N-P) but were actually hypnotized before the Normal as well as the Post-hypnotic trials (i.e. without and with post-hypnotic suggestions, with suggestions for amnesia for the events in the hypnotic state). "Summary. The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether or not post-hypnotic suggestion can improve some aspects of hypnotizable students' application and efficiency as applied to a number of selected performances connected directly or indirectly to schoolwork. Before the post-hypnotic testing periods, each subject was given post-hypnotic suggestions of ease, confidence, motivation, and increased ability. The study consisted of a comparison of normal and post-hypnotic performances of nine subjects in the areas of motor capacity, attention and perception, association, learning and memory, speed of reading comprehension, and application of abstract ability. To the extent to which psychomotor speed and endurance, physical fatigue, span and duration of attention, clerical performance, speed of learning (as tested by Meaningful Syllable Lists and Digit Symbol Substitution), speed of association, mental alertness, concentration, mental efficiency, application of abstract number abilities, and speed of reading comprehension are related to schoolwork, the hypothesis is supported that post-hypnotic suggestion can be of aid in hypnotizable college students' schoolwork" (p. 184). 1953 Glasner, Samuel (1953). Research problems in the educational and social psychological applications of hypnosis. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 1 (2), 42-48. NOTES The author reviews literature in which hypnosis is used as an experimental research method in two general areas: hypnosis in learning and recall, and hypnosis in social psychology. "In summary, the application of hypnosis to research in the fields of educational and social psychology is practically virgin territory. Imaginative investigators should be able to develop numerous interesting experiments in these two great areas" (p. 47). EEG 1995 Barabasz, Arreed F.; Barabasz, Marianne; Jensen, Stacia (1995, November). Effects of hypnosis on cortical event-related potentials during visual and olfactory hypnotic hallucinations. [Paper] Presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, San Antonio, TX. NOTES Slotnick and London showed that different wording of suggestions led to very different results, which explains why our study on negative hallucinations and Spiegel's study had opposite results. This study is still ongoing. Screened for highs who passed visual and olfactory hallucinations and lows who passed only motoric items on hypnotizability tests. Trained Ss with eyes open induction, and lows had instructions to simulate hypnosis. (Used the eyeroll induction, eyes open.) Did waking administration of alternating checkerboard pattern on computer screen. Then did eyes open hypnotic induction plus a depth check to make sure they were deep (assign number; then instructed raise a finger when you double it; then again, raise a finger when you double it). Then used checkerboard design again. Obstructive visual hallucination - "imagine traveling through space, a dark nebula" (better than imagining you are blind. Lows had no difference in waking, obstructive hallucination, and negative hallucination. The highs did--looks like they had to see it before they couldn't see it. "The dark nebula envelopes you completely, and now you can see nothing." De Pascalis, Vilfredo (1995, November). Psychophysiological correlates of hypnosis and hypnotic susceptibility. [Paper] Presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, San Antonio, TX.