1978
Blum, Gerald S.; Porter, M. L.; Geiwitz, P. J. (1978). Temporal parameters of negative visual hallucination. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 26, 30-44.
Negative visual hallucination was investigated by hypnotically programming two highly trained undergraduates not to see the colored lines of consonants while perceiving clearly a set of dots superimposed on the lines in another color. Effects of three temporal parameters were noted in tachistoscopic presentations of the consonants: priming time, i.e., opportunity for the subject to prepare to execute the negative visual hallucination after the posthypnotic cue was flashed and before the consonant appeared; duration of consonant exposure; and intensive practice over protracted periods of time. Signal strength and inhibitory skill emerged as significant variables.
NOTES
This paper reports 4 experiments with two highly trained subjects. The authors conclude, “From these observations, signal strength and inhbiitory skill emerge as major determinants of the outcome in NVH. The stronger the input, the greater the likelihood of insufficient inhibitory action. Differences in skill show up at both the intra- and inter-individual levels of analysis. Even the initially skilled F1 improved her NVH ability with practice, as inferred from the disappearance of undercalling. The lesser skill of F2 was evidenced in her longer required priming time, higher accuracy of color guesses, greater number of color breakthroughs, and reported feeling of mental strain” (p. 42).
1976
Slade, P. D. (1976). An investigation of psychological factors involved in the predisposition to auditory hallucinations. Psychological Medicine, 6 (1), 123-132.
Previous research by the author (Slade, 1972, 1973) and others has suggested that psychological stress plays an important role in triggering off the experience of auditory hallucinations. Clearly, however, predispositional factors are involved as well. The present study is an attempt to investigate some of the psychological factors which may predispose the individual to such experiences. A battery of tests involving cognitive, personality and mental imagery variables and the verbal transformation effect was administered to two small groups of psychotic patients differing only in respect of a history of auditory hallucinations and a normal control group. The main conclusion was that the results lend direct support to the proposition of Mintz & Alpert (1972) that a combination of vivid mental imagery and poor reality-testing in the auditory modality provides the basic predisposition for the experience of auditory hallucinations.
1970
Gray, Arne L.; Bowers, Kenneth S.; Fenz, Walter D. (1970). Heart rate in anticipation of and during a negative visual hallucination. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 18 (1), 41-51.
Gave 10 stimulating control and 10 hypnotic undergraduates a suggestion to negatively hallucinate. Heart rate responses recorded prior to and including the hallucination period indicated consistent differences between groups. Hypnotic Ss responded with heart rate acceleration in anticipation of the hallucination, while controls responded with heart rate deceleration during the same period. It is suggested that these differences reflect differences in the subjective experiences of hypnotic and simulating Ss. (Spanish & German summaries) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2003 APA, all rights reserved)
Sarbin, Theodore R.; Juhasz, Joseph B. (1970). Toward a theory of imagination. Journal of Personality, 38 (1), 52-76.
Imagination refers to (1) forming mental pictures (imaging) and creative innovating. The authors focus on “the more literal meaning of imagining, that is, ‘having mental pictures,’ for [they] believe that a clarification of that concept is basic to any further discussion of the psychology of the imagination.
“Before continuing, let us establish some reference cases for what a psychologist would call instances of imaging or imagining.
1. In a psychophysical experiment, a subject declares that he hears an auditory signal when no signal is presented. The experimenter scores the response as a ‘false alarm.’
2. A patient in a mental hospital reports seeing the Mother of God. The psychiatrist classifies the report as a hallucination.
3. A novelist describes his work habits as involving conversations with imaginary characters. The critic calls this creative work.
4. A three-year-old child engages in play with a fictitious invisible rabbit. She is said to have an imaginary playmate” (p. 54).
1969
Barber, Theodore Xenophon (1969). An empirically-based formulation of hypnosis. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 12 (2), 100-130.
A formulation is presented which does not invoke a special state of consciousness (“hypnosis” or “trance”) to account for the behaviors that have
been historically associated with the word hypnotism. Instead, so-called hypnotic behaviors – e.g., “analgesia,” “hallucination,” “age-regression,” and “amnesia” – are conceived to be functionally related to denotable antecedent variables which are similar to those that control performance in a variety of interpersonal test-situations. The antecedent variables which determine behavior in a “hypnotic” situation include Ss’ attitudes, expectancies, and motivations with respect to the situation, and the wording and tone of instructions- suggestions and of questions used to elicit subjective reports. The formulation is exemplified by several dozen experimental studies, and prospects for further research are delineated.
Graham, Kenneth (1969). Brightness contrast by hypnotic hallucination. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 17, 62-73
Tested the veridicality of a hypnotic hallucination elicited by a buzzer through a conditioning procedure. The stimulus to be hallucinated consisted of 2 gray circles, 3 in. in diameter, mounted on a white card. 11 highly susceptible Ss were able to produce this hallucination upon hearing the buzzer during a series of test trials following the training. Following a 2nd training series, a black and white background was provided for the hallucination and Ss tended to report the hallucinated circles as a brightness contrast. A 2nd group of highly susceptible Ss was not hypnotized, but was asked to respond as if hypnotized. These Ss tended not to report the contrast. (Spanish & German summaries) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved)
1968
Barber, Theodore Xenophon; Calverley, David S. (1968). Toward a theory of ‘hypnotic’ behavior: Replication and extension of experiments by Barber and co-workers (1962-65) and Hilgard and Tart (1966). International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 16, 179-195.
RESPONSES TO TEST SUGGESTIONS (E.G., HALLUCINATION AND AMNESIA) WERE ASSESSED UNDER THE FOLLOWING TREATMENTS: MOTIVATIONAL INSTRUCTIONS ALONE, HYPNOTIC PROCEDURE WITH MOTIVATIONAL INSTRUCTIONS, AND IMAGINATION-CONTROL. COMPARISONS WERE MADE ACROSS INDEPENDENT GROUPS, EACH TESTED UNDER 1 TREATMENT, AND ALSO WITHIN THE SAME SS TESTED TWICE UNDER VARIOUS COMBINATIONS OF THE TREATMENTS. ALTHOUGH SS WERE SUGGESTIBLE UNDER THE IMAGINATION-CONTROL TREATMENT, BOTH THE MOTIVATIONAL INSTRUCTIONS ALONE AND THE HYPNOTIC PROCEDURE GIVEN TOGETHER WITH THE MOTIVATIONAL INSTRUCTIONS RAISED SUGGESTIBILITY ABOVE THE CONTROL LEVEL. THE HYPNOTIC-MOTIVATIONAL TREATMENT TENDED TO PRODUCE AN INCREMENT IN SUGGESTIBILITY WHICH WENT SLIGHTLY BEYOND THAT ATTRIBUTABLE TO THE MOTIVATIONAL INSTRUCTIONS. THE LATTER INCREMENT IS INTERPRETED AS DUE TO THE SLIGHTLY GREATER EFFECTIVENESS OF THE HYPNOTIC PROCEDURE IN DEFINING THE SITUATION AS ONE IN WHICH UNUSUAL MANIFESTATIONS, SUCH AS HALLUCINATION AND AMNESIA, ARE WITHIN SS” CAPABILITIES AND DEFINITELY EXPECTED BY E. (SPANISH + GERMAN SUMMARIES) (23 REF.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved)
Scheibe, Karl E.; Gray, Arne L.; Kleim, C. Stephen (1968). Hypnotically induced deafness and delayed auditory feedback: A comparison of real and simulating subjects. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 16, 158-164.
PRELIMINARY RESEARCH INDICATES THAT HYPNOTICALLY INDUCED DEAFNESS MAY REDUCE THE SPEECH INHIBITING EFFECTS OF DELAYED AUDITORY FEEDBACK (DAF). REAL AND SIMULATING HYPNOTIC SS WERE COMPARED WITH RESPECT TO THE IMPROVEMENT IN SPEECH CONSEQUENT TO THE SUGGESTION OF DEAFNESS. RESULTS INDICATE VERY SIMILAR IMPROVEMENTS OF DAF SPEECH FOR BOTH GROUPS. AN INCIDENTAL FINDING IS THAT REAL SS HAD LONGER SIMPLE READING TIMES UNDER HYPNOSIS THAN DID SIMULATING SS. (GERMAN + SPANISH SUMMARIES) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved)
1967
Bowers, Kenneth S. (1967). The effect for demands of honesty upon reports of visual and auditory hallucinations. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 15, 31-36.
SS, UNSELECTED FOR HYPNOTIC SUSCEPTIBILITY AND SIMPLY TOLD TO HALLUCINATE, MADE PRETEST RATINGS ON THE REALITY OF VISUAL AND AUDITORY HALLUCINATIONS. ALL SS WERE THEN TASK MOTIVATED TO HALLUCINATE. BEFORE THE RETEST RATINGS WERE MADE, 1/2 OF THE SS WERE CONFRONTED BY A 2ND E WITH DEMANDS FOR REPORT HONESTY. FOR BOTH SENSORY MODALITIES, THE MEAN CHANGE IN RATINGS FROM PRETEST TO RETEST WAS SIGNIFICANTLY GREATER FOR THE TASK-MOTIVATED THAN FOR THE HONESTY-REPORT CONDITION. RATINGS OF THE REALITY OF HALLUCINATIONS ARE EVIDENTLY HIGHLY SUSCEPTIBLE TO THE CONTEXT OF DEMANDS IN WHICH THE REPORT IS MADE. IT IS ARGUED THAT, IN THIS AND PREVIOUS EXPERIMENTS UTILIZING UNSELECTED SS, REPORTS OF HALLUCINATORY ACTIVITY ARE LESS APT TO REFLECT PERCEPTUAL ALTERATIONS THAN RESPONSE MODIFICATION IN ACCORDANCE WITH REGNANT EXPERIMENTAL DEMANDS. (GERMAN + SPANISH SUMMARIES) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved)
Davison, Gerald C.; Singleton, Lawrence (1967). A preliminary report of improved vision under hypnosis. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 15 (2), 57-62.
REPORTS AN ACCIDENTAL FINDING WHICH WAS FELT TO BE PROVOCATIVE AND WORTHY OF FURTHER, MORE CONTROLLED, INVESTIGATION. THE EMPHASIS IS ON DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PHENOMENON, WITH A MINIMUM OF THEORIZING. WHILE IN A VERY DEEP HYPNOTIC TRANCE, S WAS INDUCED TO HAVE BOTH POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE HALLUCINATIONS. ON THE FOLLOWING DAY, HE REPORTED SPONTANEOUSLY THAT HE HAD BEEN STRUCK BY THE CLARITY OF BOTH THE VISIONS AND THE PERCEPTIONS OF ACTUAL OBJECTS WHILE HYPNOTIZED; HE HAD NOT, HOWEVER, BEEN WEARING HIS GLASSES AT THE TIME, THOUGH, UNDER NORMAL CIRCUMSTANCES HE WORE HIS GLASSES AT ALL TIMES. NO SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVED VISION OR EXTRA EFFORT HAD BEEN GIVEN. 2 CAREFUL OPHTHALMOLOGICAL EXAMINATIONS WERE MADE DURING THE FOLLOWING 2 WK., CONFIRMING THE FACT THAT S”S EYESIGHT SHOWED A SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT DURING HYPNOSIS AS OPPOSED TO THE WAKING STATE. (SPANISH + GERMAN SUMMARIES) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved)
Kramer, E.; Tucker, G. R. (1967). Hypnotically suggested deafness and delayed auditory feedback. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 37-43.
A PILOT STUDY INVESTIGATED HYPNOTICALLY INDUCED DEAFNESS USING DELAYED AUDITORY FEEDBACK (DAF). THE FOLLOWING TENTATIVE CONCLUSIONS ARE OFFERED: (1) INSTRUCTIONS TO PRETEND DEAFNESS DID DECREASE THE NUMBER OF SPEECH ERRORS PRODUCED IN THE DAF SITUATION WITH SOME SS, ALTHOUGH THE RESULTS WERE BY NO MEANS THOSE OF COMPLETE DEAFNESS; (2) HYPNOTICALLY INDUCED DEAFNESS ALSO PRODUCED A REDUCTION IN THE NUMBER OF ERRORS CAUSED BY DAF, THOUGH HERE, TOO, THE RESULTS DID NOT APPROACH THOSE OF COMPLETE DEAFNESS; AND (3) ADDITIONAL TRAINING OR EXPERIENCE IN HYPNOSIS SEEMED TO PRODUCE AN INCREASED ABILITY OF HYPNOTICALLY SUGGESTED DEAFNESS TO REDUCE SPEECH ERRORS UNDER THESE CONDITIONS. (GERMAN + SPANISH SUMMARIES) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved)
1965
Barber, Theodore Xenophon (1965). Physiological effects of ‘hypnotic suggestions’: A critical review of recent research (1960-64). Psychological Bulletin, 201-222.
Recent studies are reviewed which were concerned with the effectiveness of suggestions given under “hypnosis” and “waking” experimental treatments in alleviating allergies, ichthyosis, myopia, and other conditions and in eliciting deafness, blindness, hallucinations, analgesia, cardiac acceleration and deceleration, emotional responses, urine secretion to sham water ingestion, narcotic-like drug effects, and other phenomena. The review indicates that a wide variety of physiological functions can be influenced by suggestions administered under either hypnosis or waking experimental treatments, and direct and indirect suggestions to show the particular physiological manifestations are crucial variables in producing the effects.
Jackson, Bill (1965). The autoblink: A technique to explore nonveridical visual perception. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 13 (4), 250-260.
The Autoblink technique was developed to allow objective, quantitative investigation of perceptual abnormalities found in psychiatric and normal populations under various experimental conditions. A pilot study demonstrated that spontaneous visual percepts could be elicited by this technique in a group of psychiatric patients and that wide individual differences were present. A 2nd study found significant differences in Autoblink rate between normal and hallucinating psychotic male Ss and also suggested that sensory deprivation and prestige suggestion are variables related to Autoblink rate. A 3rd study further explored differences between psychiatric patients and normal Ss as well as examining sex differences. The latter 2 studies are reported in detail. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved)
Vasiliev, L. (1965). Mysterious phenomena of the human psyche. New York NY: University Books. (Reviewed by Leo Wollman in American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 1965, 8 (2), 146-147)
NOTES 1:
AJCH Abstract by Leo Wollman: Many interesting theories about hypnosis are aired in this book. The opinions Pavlov propounded many years ago, about cortical inhibition are assiduously asserted, yet some statements made bear investigation. The mere sight of the experimenter in B.N. Birman’s experiments with dogs put the dog into a hypnotic state. The appearance in the room of other people, who had not participated in the experiments, had no sleep-inducing effect. For the experimental animal, therefore, the experimenter himself had been transformed into a conditioned hypnogenous stimulus. Similarly, in group hypnotherapy, the entrance of the physician-hypnotist into the room often effects a hypnotic state in some of the subjects. The doctor has become the stimulus for the conditioned response, that of hypnotic trance state induction.
An interesting and perhaps little known fact elicited from Chapter III (Hypnotism and Suggestion) is the high percentage (12%) of those replies to questionnaires during the First International Congress on Experimental Psychology held in Paris in 1899, which indicated that 3,000 respondents had hallucinations while in a normal state of health. The majority were visual; auditory and tactile hallucinations were less frequent.
Dr. P. P. Podyapolsky, in 1905, wrote ‘I tried unsuccessfully to induce in a peasant a reddening of the skin from a mock mustard plaster not only was there no reddening, there wasn’t even any appropriate sensation of burning or smarting. I surmised that this simple man had probably never experienced a mustard plaster; therefore, his mind lacked the corresponding images and the ability to reproduce them with all their consequences… And so it turned out–he had never experienced a mustard plaster. It happened that he later had occasion to put a mustard plaster on his chest, and when I hypnotized him thereafter, suggestion quickly created not only the appropriate burning sensation but also reddening of the skin where the mock mustard plaster was applied.’ This phenomenon is explained by the fact that the connection between the skin and cerebral cortex by means of neural conductors may, under certain circumstances, alter the activity of different organs. The alteration operates, apparently, in the category of conditioned-reflex formation.
This book is interesting reading and from a historic point of view is worth having in one’s library.
Brady, J. P.; Levitt, E. E. (1964). Hypnotically-induced ‘anosmia’ to ammonia. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 12, 18-20.
The procedure to demonstrate anosmia by the inhalation of ammonia is discussed. Deeply hypnotized Ss who are not knowledgeable of the relevant facts of physiology may fail to respond to ammonia fumes when it is suggested that they have no sense of smell (anosmia). However, persons who, in fact, are anosmic do respond to ammonia fumes because they are a powerful stimulus to the pain fibers in the nasal mucosa. This procedure illustrates that the crucial factor in the response of the hypnotized S is not the actual facts of anatomy and physiology, but the S””s concept of them. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved)
Brady, J. P.; Levitt, E. E. (1964). Nystagmus as a criterion of hypnotically induced visual hallucinations. Science, 146, 85-86.
Hypnotized Ss who report hallucinating a visual situation which would ordinarily elicit optokinetic nystagmus demonstrate nystagmus under these conditions. They and control Ss are unable to feign nystagmus in the waking state, either by imagining the situation or by direct efforts to simulate the eye movements. Thus an objective criterion is provided for the presence of visual hallucinations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved)
1961
Barber, Theodore Xenophon; Deeley, Douglas C. (1961). Experimental evidence for a theory of hypnotic behavior: 1. ‘Hypnotic color-blindness’ without ‘hypnosis’. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 9 (2), 79-86.
Barber hypothesizes that a formal hypnotic induction procedure is unnecessary in eliciting alterations in sensory functioning ordinarily thought to characterize hypnotic behavior; similar performances can be elicited from normal persons by instructing them to remain inattentive to visual or auditory stimuli. Substantiating evidence is presented in the area of “hypnotic color-blindness.” From Psyc Abstracts 36:02:2II79B. (PsycINFO:
Conclusions
1. Normal persons who have been instructed to concentrate away from red and green give as many ”color-blind” responses on the Ishihara as ”deeply hypnotized” subjects who have been given elaborate suggestions to induce color-blindness.
1. Further experiments are necessary to determine if other behaviors which are considered as characteristic of ”deeply hypnotized” subjects and which supposedly involve ”sensory-perceptual alterations” — e.g., ”hypnotic deafness,” ”hypnotic blindness,” ”negative hallucinations” — can be performed by persons who are simply asked to try to remain in-attentive to visual or auditory stimulation” (pp. 84-85).
Halpern, Seymour (1961). On the similarity between hypnotic and mescaline hallucinations. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 9, 139-149.
The hypnotically-induced visual percepts of one subject are presented and discussed. These percepts reputedly bore a close resemblance to mescaline hallucinations. It is argued that no essential qualitative difference exists between psychogenic and toxicogenic hallucinations. It was hypothesized that all perceptions including dreaming, hallucinating, imagining and hypnotic perceiving are explainable in terms of perceptual-conceptual reciprocity understood as a neuropsychological function of consciousness. From Psyc Abstracts 36:01:3II39H. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved)
Sutcliffe, J. P. (1961). ‘Credulous’ and ‘Skeptical’ views of hypnotic phenomena: Experiments on anesthesia, hallucination, and delusion. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 62, 189-200.
The author distinguishes between 2 interpretations of hypnotic phenomena: the credulous (S does or does not experience what the hypnotist suggests) and the skeptical (S reports what is suggested regardless of the “reality” of his experience). 2 groups of Ss (distinguished with respect to the presence or not of genuine hypnotic behavior and posthypnotic amnesia) were placed in a 3 [control (not under hypnotic trance), hypnotic trance, nontrance acting (S asked to act as if conditions were as suggested)] by 2 (stimulus present or not) design involving paraesthesias, hallucinations, and delusional thinking. Evidence (such as GSR, interference in thinking due to feedback, test measures of delusion) suggests that S does not misperceive the real situation, but misreports it. From Psyc Abstracts 36:04:4II89S. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved)
1960
The author distinguishes between 2 interpretations of hypnotic phenomena: the credulous (S does or does not experience what the hypnotist suggests) and the skeptical (S reports what is suggested regardless of the “reality” of his experience). 2 groups of Ss (distinguished with respect to the presence or not of genuine hypnotic behavior and posthypnotic amnesia) were placed in a 3 [control (not under hypnotic trance), hypnotic trance, nontrance acting (S asked to act as if conditions were as suggested)] by 2 (stimulus present or not) design involving paraesthesias, hallucinations, and delusional thinking. Evidence (such as GSR, interference in thinking due to feedback, test measures of delusion) suggests that S does not misperceive the real situation, but misreports it. From Psyc Abstracts 36:04:4II89S. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved)
1959
Barber, Theodore Xenophon; Coules, John (1959). Electrical skin conductance and galvanic skin response during ‘Hypnosis’. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 7 (2), 79-92.
Summary and Conclusions
“Six ‘good’ hypnotic Ss were given a ten-minute ‘hypnotic induction’ and a series of ‘hypnotic tests.’ Both basic skin conductance and momentary variations in skin conductance (GSR) were recorded during the experiment.
“The results were as follows:
1. There was no significant variation in skin conductance during the ‘hypnotic induction procedure.’
2. Skin conductance generally increased throughout the remainder of the experiment, ie., when the Ss wre given suggestions of ‘sensory hallucinations,’ ‘age-regression,’ ‘analgesia,’ ‘negative hallucinations,’ and ‘post’-hypnotic behavior.
3. The Ss usually showed a GSR when they were given ‘hallucinatory’ suggestions, i.e., when they were told that they were becoming ‘itchy,’ ‘thirsty,’ and ‘very hot.’
4. The GSR to a pinprick was essentially the same before the experiment and during ‘hypnotic analgesia.’ Also, the GSR was essentially the same, during ‘hypnotic analgesia,’ (a) when three Ss were told they would receive a pinprick but did _not_ receive the pinprick, (b) when they were told they would receive a pinprick and _did_ receive the pinprick, and (c) when they received a pinprick without being told they would receive it.
5. Four Ss showed a GSR each time they were asked to look at a ‘negatively hallucinated’ object and person. Two Ss did _not_ show a GSR when they were asked to look at the ‘negatively hallucinated’ object (or person). The four Ss who showed a GSR stated, during or after the experiment, that they were by no means convinced that the person or object was no longer in the room. The two Ss who did not show GSR stated, after the experiment, that they had been ‘certain’ that the object (or person) was not present in the room.
6. Although the Ss stated that they did not ‘remember’ the ‘post’-hypnotic suggestion (or anything else about the experiment), they usually showed a GSR when the E made the _preliminary_ movements to give the signal for the ‘post’-hypnotic behavior. (They also showed a GSR when E gave the signal for the ‘post’hypnotic behavior.)
“Since skin conductance is an index of the S’s level of ‘activation,’ ‘arousal,’ or ‘excitation,’ these results indicate the following:
1. Ss do not necessarily become more ‘passive’ or ‘relaxed’ during the ‘hypnotic induction procedure.’
2. Ss often become more and more ‘excited’ and ‘aroused’ when they are given a series of ‘active’ suggestions such as ‘sensory hallucinations,’ ‘age-regression,’ etc.
3. Ss often show momentary ‘excitement’ when they are ‘hallucinating.’
4. A pinprick can ‘arouse’ a S to the same extent during ‘hypnotic analgesia’ as it can during ‘normal waking.’ In addition, ‘hypnotic analgesic’ Ss are often just as much ‘aroused’ by the threat of a pinprick as they are by an actual pinprick.
5. Many Ss become momentarily ‘excited’ when they are asked to look directly at an object (or person) which they have been told they will not be able to see. However, _some_ Ss do _not_ show this momentary ‘excitement.’
6. Although Ss may state that they do not ‘remember’ the ‘post’-hypnotic suggestion, they often become momentarily ‘excited’ when the E makes _preliminary_ motions to give the signal for the ‘post’-hypnotic act” (pp. 90-92).
Schneck, Jerome M. (1954). A hypnoanalytic investigation of psychogenic dyspnea with the use of induced auditory hallucinations and special additional hypnotic techniques. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 2, 80-90.
” Summary. This paper describes in detail and with discussion the hypnoanalytic session which was instrumental in relieving a patient of severe dyspnea and fatigue based on intense, long standing psychological conflict. The conflict entailed the intermingling of past concerns and current pressing problems. These had to do with the patient’s long repressed feelings about having been told that her birth had been unplanned. They related to current indecision about becoming pregnant. Attitudes toward her parents were significant and these involved mixed feelings with the significance of her conscious and unconscious images of them. Into this picture there were projected the patient’s attitudes toward herself and her methods of functioning somatically as well as psychologically. The symbolic connotation of her symptoms as deterioration and dying in relation to needs for self-destruction were clarified. The symptoms of one and a half to two years duration were dissipated within a few hours and improvement had been maintained for more than a year at the time of writing.
“The use of induced music associations in order to make inroads into the core of the conflict is described. The dynamic significance of spontaneous choice of such theme [sic] is discussed. Other hypnotic techniques involve visual imagery with dream-like qualities and in the form of scene visualizations (8, 9). Attention is centered on induced auditory hallucinations and interesting facets of such experiences are discussed in relation to subjective and objective qualities of such hallucinations and the issue of dynamic validity” (p. 90).
Schneck, Jerome M. (1954). An experimental study of hypnotically induced auditory hallucinations. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 2, 163-170.
“Summary. An experimental study of hypnotically induced auditory hallucinations was incorporated into therapeutic contact with a patient at a time when an exploratory phase of treatment process seemed appropriate. The study was divided roughly into ten parts, nine of which involved attempts to induce hallucinations on an auditory level following an initial control procedure involving ‘imagined’ conversation. Choice of perons to be hallucinated was made at times by the therapist and at times this was left for spontaneous development by the patient. Some of the episodes involved marked emotional participation by the patient. Others were less intense. ‘Imagined’ conversations were distinct from hallucinated comments. Her own voice when hallucinated emanated from within herself. Other hallucinated voices had external origins. Some were far away. Her aunt’s voice was in the same room. Spacial and temporal elements were divorced from their conventional relationships and distorted in keeping with psychodynamic needs. The patient was able to discuss her experiences and evaluate certain descriptive and dynamic qualities. Certain parts of the total experience served as controls in the evaluation of other parts. The beginning of hallucinatory behavior did not set a pattern for continuous similar activity. Responsive behavior varied from time to time. A hallucinatory episode might be followed by an ‘imagined’ conversation, although instructions remained the same. Deceased persons were hallucinated on an auditory level. This type of episode with her mother had considerable emotional impact. Her aunt died twenty years ago. Her husband was not hallucinated. Responses involving her daughter showed greater complexity.
“Further studies are in order in connection with the neuropsychological and neurophysiological elements in such hypnotic hallucinatory activity. Such elements as they play a role in visual imagery as described here and in visual hallucinations are also to be examined further. Aside from extensions of the type of investigation presented here, inroads may be made into an understanding of spontaneous hallucinatory activity among psychotic patients through the utilization of hypnotic exploratory methods. This would have to be preceded by more extensive studies of hypnosis in relation to psychotic patients than have been attempted thus far. The procedure discussed here and many potential ramifications makes possible a wide variety of investigations which can be planned for the future” (pp. 169-170).
1953
Naruse, Gosaku; Obonai, Torao (1953). Decomposition and fusion of mental images in the drowsy and post-hypnotic hallucinatory state. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 1 (4), 23-41.
The following is the authors’ summary.
Summary of Part I
“From the above we can conclude the following main facts.
1) When one sensory stimulus is given to a subject in a drowsy state, images of other objects associated with it often appear.
2) These images sometimes have forms, and sometimes are devoid of forms, only light and color being present. This phenomenon resembles the experience of color-hearing, and is called a new type of synaethesia [sic] by Bachen.
3) These images are sure to disappear when they are observed attentively, a passive attitude being necessary for the image observation.
4) The remarkable character of these images are such that elements of forms and colors of various objects have been disjointed and connected with each other in different relationships which construct new images.
5) The longer and stronger persistence of stimulus, the more easily and clearly conditioned images appear. Conversely if the stimulus is momentary, the recalled images appear also momentarily.
6) Not only the visual images but also the sensory images can be elicited in a similar way” (p. 25).
Summary of Part II
“The chief results of Naruse’s experiments with the various subjects are as follows:
1. When one stimulus (C.S.) is given in the normal waking state after a conditioning procedure in which a conditioned bond is formed between two sensory stimuli in deep hypnotic trance, a mental image corresponding to the other stimulus (U.C.S.) appears with amnesia for the conditioning situation. When the stimulus is removed, the image also disappears.
2. The images attained have various degrees of clearness which may be classified on a continuum from hallucinations to memory images.
3. Such images tend to disappear when subjects try to observe them attentively.
4. Images which are broken into elements of the original figure appear as distinct images.
5. Modifications of images may be made by distortion, vagueness of the image, and by decomposition of the image.
6. When two C.S.’s, which were already conditioned individually to two U.C.S.’s are presented at the same time, the images corresponding to each stimulus appear to overlap. This is the composed image.
7. In image composing, which involves the strong-weak stimulus relationship or the spatial positions of two C.S.’s, the clear-vague or positional relationships of the composed images are changed.
8. In the complex of meaningful images, there are two types, primarily. The one grasps the image as a whole, the other observes it in many mosaic elements. The latter can recall the original figure more correctly in an image form than the former.
9. Some positive and negative reports on sensory conditioning in the normal waking state are reviewed” (p. 36).
NOTES 1:
The investigators do not show that hypnosis enhances imagery, compared with the waking state. They studied sensory-sensory conditioning under hypnosis, with amnesia suggestions, followed by testing for the conditioning effect. This study is relevant to studies of amnesia, “repression.” In some studies they paired sound of a buzzer or metronome (the Conditioned Stimulus) with images (the Unconditioned Stimuli) as in [Oo, X); other studies compared a color patch (CS) with an image (Oo, X). Some studies presented both CS’s together, in different spatial arrangements (in the instance of the color patch CS).
Results (partial) included: “1. When one stimulus (CS.) Is given in the normal waking state after a conditioning procedure in which a conditioned bond is formed between two sensory stimuli in a deep hypnotic trance, a mental image corresponding to the other stimulus (UCS) appears with amnesia for the conditioning situation. When the stimulus is removed, the image also disappears. 2. The images attained have various degrees of clearness which may be classified on a continuum from hallucinations to memory images. 3. Such images tend to disappear when Ss try to observe them attentively. … 5. Modifications of images may be made by distortion, vagueness of the image, and by decomposition of the image. 6. When two CS’s, which are already conditioned individually to two UCS’s, are presented at the same time, the images corresponding to each stimulus appear to overlap. …” (P. 36).
Schneck, Jerome M. (1953). Hypnotic hallucinatory behavior. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 1 (3), 4-11.
It would appear to be important to refer to experiences as hallucinatory only when the eyes of the percipient are open, in the case of visual hallucinations, or when he “hears” with the impression that the sound is of external origin rather than localized within (as an experience on the level of imagining) in the case of auditory hallucinations. In such hallucinatory occurrences, incidentally, the subject may in certain instances question the nature of his experience and evaluate it critically even though the stimulus retains its validity as an apparently externally centered event. Negative visual hallucinations involving avoidance reactions are apparently an order of experience different from negative hallucinations which do not involve such avoidance reactions. Although sensory end-organ functioning may be the same in both such occurrences, there are apparently as yet poorly understood differences in functioning on a neurophysiological and neuropsychological level wherein cortical integration is in operation.
Explicit description of hallucinatory activity in hypnosis enables the reader to know exactly what the writer is saying and thus avoids confusion in the literature. Hallucinatory experience and the more simple type of mental imagery may both be used in therapy, and comparisons may be attempted in relation to goal directed therapeutic efficacy. The issue of hallucinatory experiences and the mental imagery functioning, as described, have bearing on the study of perception where the exact nature of the events may affect considerably the plan of study, the description of events, the subjective evaluation of the events, and the final interpretation of the experimental situation. Examples of visual and auditory hypnotic hallucinations have been given and they have been discussed insofar as they relate to the current problem. The description of nocturnal dreams as hallucinations has probably fostered current confusion in terms.
HEADACHE
2000
Eimer, Bruce. N. (2000). Clinical applications of hypnosis for brief and efficient pain management psychotherapy. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 43 (1), 17-40. (July)
This paper describes four specific clinical applications of hypnosis that can make psychotherapy for pain management briefer, more goal-oriented, and more efficient: (1) the assessment of hypnotizability; (2) the induction of hypnotic analgesia and development of individualized pain coping strategies;
(3) direct suggestion, cognitive reframing, hypnotic metaphors, and pain relief imagery; and (4) brief psychodynamic reprocessing during the trance state of emtoional factors in the patient”s experience of chonic pain. Important theoretical and clinical issues regarding the relationship between hypnotizability to the induction of hypnotic analgesia are presented, and attempts to individualize pain treatment strategies on the basis of assessed differences in hypnotizability and patients” preferred coping strategies are described. Some ways are also presented of integrating direct hypnotic suggestion, COGNITIVE-EVALUATIVE reframing, hypnotic metaphors, and imagery for alleviating the SENSORY and AFFECTIVE-MOTIVATIONAL components of pain, with an exploratory, insight-oriented, and brief psychodynamic reprocessing approach during trance for resolving unconscious sources of resistance to treatment, and reducing the emotional overlay associated with chronic pain. Some basic assumptions underlying the use of this approach are discussed, and a brief step-by-step protocol is outlined.
1998
Eimer, Bruce; Freeman, Arthur (1998). Pain management psychotherapy: A practical guide. New York NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc..
NOTES 1:
“Pain Management Psychotherapy” (PMP) provides a clear and methodical look at pain management psychotherapy beginning with the initial consultation and work-up of the patient and continuing through termination of treatment. It is a thoughtful and thorough presentation that covers methods for psychologically assessing the chronic pain patient (structured interviews, pain assessment tests and rating scales, instruments for evaluating beliefs, attitudes, pain behavior, disability, depression, anxiety, anger and alienation), treatment planning, cognitive-behavioral therapy techniques, and a range of hypnotic approaches to pain management. The book covers both traditional (cognitive and behavior therapy, biofeedback, assessing hypnotizability, choice of inductions, designing an individualized self-hypnosis exercise) as well as newer innovative techniques (e.g., EMDR, pain-relief imagery, hypno-projective methods, hypno-analytic reprocessing of pain-related negative experiences). An extensive appendix reproduces in their entirety numerous forms, rating scale, inventories, assessment instruments, and scripts.
The senior author, Bruce Eimer, states in his online comments on Amazon.com that “most therapists hold the belief that ‘real’ chronic pain patients are quite impossible to help. This book attempts to dispel these misguided beliefs by providing a body of knowledge, theory, and techniques that have proven value in understanding and relieving chronic physical pain.” He also states that “the challenge for the therapist is to persuade the would-ne patient/client that he or she has something to offer that can help take way pain and bring back more pleasure. This challenge is negotiated through the therapeutic relationship. However, the therapist just can’t be ‘warm, accepting, non-judgmental and empathic’. The therapist must also have knowledge and skills relevant to relieving pain. Only then can the therapist impart such knowledge, and in teaching these skills to the pain patient, help the patient become something of a ‘self-therapist’. . . I dedicate this book to everyone who wants to find ways to make living with pain more comfortable, and to the ongoing search for better ways to relieve pain.”
1994
Culbert, Timothy P.; Reany, Judson B.; Kohen, Daniel P. (1994). Cyberphysiologic strategies for children: The clinical hypnosis/biofeedback interface. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 42 (2), 97-117.
This article presents an in-depth discussion of the integrated use of self-hypnosis and biofeedback in the treatment of pediatric biobehavioral disorders. The rationale for integrating these techniques and their similarities and differences are discussed. The concepts of children’s imaginative abilities, mastery, and self-regulation are examined as they pertain to these therapeutic strategies. Three case studies are presented that illustrate the integrated use of self-hypnosis and biofeedback in the treatment of children with psychophysiologic disorders. The authors speculate on the specific aspects of these self-regulation or “cyberphysiologic” techniques that appear particularly relevant to positive therapeutic outcomes.
Ter Kuile, Moniek M.; Spinhoven, Philip; Linssen, A. Corry G.; Zitman, Frans G.; et al. (1994). Autogenic training and cognitive self-hypnosis for the treatment of recurrent headaches in three different subject groups. Pain, 58 (3), 331-340.
The aims of this study were to (a) investigate the efficacy of autogenic training (AT) and cognitive self-hypnosis training (CSH) for the treatment of chronic headaches in comparison with a waiting-list control (WLC) condition, (b) investigate the influence of subject recruitment on treatment outcome and (c) explore whether the level of hypnotizability is related to therapy outcome. Three different subjects groups (group 1, patients (n = 58) who were referred by a neurological outpatient clinic; group 2, members (n = 48) of the community who responded to an advertisement in a newspaper; and group 3, students (n = 40) who responded to an advertisement in a university newspaper) were allocated at random to a therapy or WLC condition. During treatment, there was a significant reduction in the Headache Index scores of the subjects in contrast with the controls. At post-treatment and follow-up almost no significant differences were observed between the 2 treatment conditions or the 3 referral sources regarding the Headache Index, psychological distress (SCL-90) scores and medication use. Follow-up measurements indicated that therapeutic improvement was maintained. In both treatment conditions, the high-hypnotizable subjects achieved a greater reduction in headache pain at post-treatment and follow-up than did the low-hypnotizable subjects. It is concluded that a relatively simple and highly structured relaxation technique for the treatment of chronic headache subjects may be preferable to more complex cognitive hypnotherapeutic procedures, irrespective of the source of recruitment. The level of hypnotic susceptibility seems to be a subject characteristic which is associated with a more favourable outcome in subjects treated with AT or CSH.
1992
Zitman, Frans G.; Van Dyck, Richard; Spinhoven, Philip; Linssen, A. Corrie G. (1992). Hypnosis and autogenic training in the treatment of tension headaches: A two-phase constructive design study with follow-up. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 36, 219-228.
: Tension headaches can form a chronic (very long duration) condition. EMG biofeedback, relaxation training and analgesia by hypnotic suggestion can reduce the pain. So far, no differences have been demonstrated between the effects of various psychological treatments. In a constructively designed study, we firstly compared an abbreviated form of autogenic training to a form of hypnotherapy (future oriented hypnotic imagery) which was not presented as hypnosis and secondly we compared both treatments to the same future oriented hypnotic imagery, but this time explicitly presented as hypnosis. The three treatments were equally effective at post-treatment, but after a 6- month follow-up period, the future oriented hypnotic imagery which had been explicitly presented as hypnosis was superior to autogenic training. Contrary to common belief, it could be demonstrated that the therapists were as effective with the treatment modality they preferred as with the treatment modality they felt to be less remedial. NOTES 1:
NOTES
An earlier review by these authors found that EMG biofeedback and relaxation training were equally effective with headache [Zitman, 1983, Biofeedback and chronic pain, In Advances in Pain Research and Therapy (Edit by Bonica, Lindblom, Iggo) V. 5, pp 794-809. N. Y.: Raven Press]. Other authors also found that hypnotic suggestion, EMG biofeedback and EMG biofeedback plus progressive relaxation training were equally effective [Schlutter, Golden, Blume, 1980, A comparison of treatments for prefrontal muscle contraction headache. Br J. Med Psychol, 53, 47-52.]. The authors raise the question whether any treatment element or perhaps combination of elements can enhance a basic relaxation training procedure, with respect to chronic headache.
The first phase of this research compared autogenic training (AT) and future oriented hypnotic imagery (FI) which was not labeled as hypnosis. Results were the same for both groups, and were reported earlier [van Dyck, Zitman, Linssen et al. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 1991, 39, 6-23]. The current study added a third group which received future oriented hypnotic imagery but also was told that they were getting hypnosis (FI-H). Thus the AT and FI groups were ‘historical’ comparison groups for the FI-H group in this study.
Patients were described as having headache complaints of at least 6 months (76% had been suffering for >2 years), were over 18 years old, had no drug dependence and no psychiatric disorder, and no previous therapy with autogenic training or hypnosis; no other treatment during the project; fluent in Dutch.
The autogenic training consisted of six exercises learned in a fixed order. The FI method, in which the hypnotized patient imagines himself in a future, pain-free, situation, had been described by Milton Erickson [1954, Pseudo-orientation in time as a hypnotherapeutic procedure. JCEH, 2, 261-283]. For that future situation the investigators used descriptions that the patients provided. Both kinds of intervention taught patients muscular and mental relaxation. Both methods required home practice of the technique, using audio cassettes.
In order to substantiate the labeling of the hypnotic procedure as hypnotic future oriented imagery (FI-H) “hand levitation induction was employed during session two with the purpose of inducing positive expectancies concerning hypnosis as a procedure capable of changing ordinary experiences in an unexpected way [17]. This hand levitation procedure, however, was not presented on tape. Except for the labeling as hypnosis and the hand levitation induction, the hypnotic future oriented imagery procedure was identical to the future oriented imagery procedure in the first phase” (p. 221).
Treatment lasted for 8 weeks and provided 2 12 hours of therapist and 24 1/2 hours of home training with taped instructions. The outcome measures included: 1. Budzinsky-type headache index (mean daily sum of intensity rating for each hour of headache activity recorded during 3 separate days of the week of an assessment session) 2. State Anxiety 3. Zung-type Self-rating Depression Scale 4. Perceived credibility of treatment (4 Question’s developed by Borkovec & Nau using a visual analogue scale) 5. Neuroticism from the CPI
RESULTS. Of 96 patients who agreed to participate, 17 dropped out before the post-treatment assessment. Of the remaining 79, 28 completed AT treatment, 27 FI, and 24 FI-H. Sixty-six attended the follow-up assessment; there were no dropouts from the FI-H, and the drop-outs were equally divided between the AT and FI condition. The headache index scores were logarithmetically transformed because the distribution was positively skewed.
Using ANOVA, in terms of post-treatment scores, there were no significant main effects for therapist or treatment, nor were there any significant interaction effects when analyzing headache index, state anxiety, and depression. There was a significant main effect for Time for three outcome measures: headache index score, state anxiety, and depression.
Post-treatment, neither amount of medication used nor subjective estimates of headaches differed by treatment or by therapist. However, over time there were beneficial results for both treatment groups. “Patients rated their headaches as significantly reduced compared to pre-treatment (a mean pain reduction of 40%). …they had significantly reduced their use of analgesic medication (a mean decrease of 14%)” (p. 224).
Using ANOVA, in terms of follow-up scores, again there were no significant main effects for Treatment or Therapist on the outcome measures of headache index, state anxiety, or depression. There now were three time periods (pre-, post-, and follow-up), and once again there was significant main effect for Time for headache index (though not for state anxiety). That is, people benefitted over the time of the treatment and follow-up. Moreover, there was a significant interaction effect between Therapy and Time on the headache index measure. “A posteriori contrasts revealed that the patients from the FI-H condition showed a greater reduction in their headaches between pre-treatment and follow-up than patients from the AT condition” (p. 225).
The authors write in their Discussion, “Our data indicate that at least in tension headache patients, defining a procedure explicitly as hypnotherapy may not lead to greater effects at post-treatment, but does lead to longer lasting effects” (p. 226).
“The paucity of differences between the three conditions may be a consequence of the study design: the small number of patients and the large SD may have prevented the detection of more differences in effect between the three conditions” (p. 226).
“Other critical remarks are related to the difference in headache reduction at follow-up between AT and FI-H. Firstly, the differences at follow-up were found only with respect to the headache index and not with respect to the subjective estimate of the pain. Secondly, in defining future oriented hypnotic imagery explicitly as hypnosis, we hoped to enhance the efficacy via increased credibility. We found increased efficacy, but we did not find enhanced credibility. Therefore, the differences in effect at follow-up must have another cause. The different effects at follow-up could be linked to the fact that the FI-H condition was the only one without drop-outs. This absence of drop-outs was due to a new research assistant who tried extraordinarily hard to make the patients return for follow-up. By doing so, she may have prevented the patients who gained much from the treatment from dropping out as well as those who gained little” (p. 226-227).
“In this study, despite the differences in therapists’ preferences, both therapists were equally effective with all three treatments. This is an intriguing finding which goes against the belief commonly held by clinicians that therapists are more effective with the type of therapy they prefer” (p. 227).
“The effects were modest, but it must be kept in mind that most of our patients referred by a neurologist were chronic headache sufferers (76% had been suffering for > 2 yr). In such a group of patients even small effects are important, especially when these effects are long-lasting” (p. 227).