Siuta, J. (1987). Normative and psychometric characteristics of a Polish version of the Creative Imagination Scale. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 35 (1), 51-58.
111 Polish undergraduate students participated in a study designed to provide psychometric characteristics of the Creative Imagination Scale (CIS). These results were compared to those from American (Wilson & Barber, 1978) and Australian (Sheehan, McConkey, & Law, 1978) norm studies which also used CIS. The total scale score means of the three samples differed no more than .20 scale points; these differences were not statistically significant. This finding, together with a high consistency in item difficulty level among the three samples which were compared, indicates that cultural differences do not influence the major pattern of findings obtained with CIS. It was also found that CIS possesses high test-retest reliability (r = .79) and moderate split-half reliability (r = .50). Factor analysis yielded only one significant factor; this is congruent with results obtained by Wilson and Barber (1978).
1986
Lynn, Steven Jay; Rhue, Judith W. (1986). The fantasy-prone person: Hypnosis, imagination, and creativity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 404-408.
Experimenters selected subjects who ranged along the continuum of fantasy proneness and assessed hypnotizability, absorption, vividness of mental imagery (QMI; Sheehan, 1967), response to waking suggestion (Creative Imagination Scale), creativity, and social desirability (Crowne & Marlowe). Fantasy-proneness was evaluated with the Inventory of Childhood Memories and Imaginings (Wilson & Barber, 1981). Strong support was secured for J. R. Hilgard’s construct of imaginative involvement and Wilson and Barber’s contention that fantasy prone persons can be distinguished from others in terms of fantasy and related cognitive processes. Fantasizers were found to outscore subjects in both comparison groups on all of the measures of fantasy, imagination, and creativity, with social desirability used as a covariate. Low fantasy-prone subjects were no less creative or less responsive to hypnosis than their medium fantasy-prone counterparts.
1985
Levitan, Alexander A. (1985). Hypnotic death rehearsal. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 27 (4), 211-215.
Death rehearsal is a technique developed to help terminally ill patients and their families deal with anxieties about death. It has proven useful in demystifying the dying process by answering the question “What is it like to die?” Patients, who are able to hypnotically experience the death process, learn to deal with both grief and anxiety with the help of the hypnotherapist. – Author’s abstract
Neufeld, Victor; Lynn, Steven Jay; Jacquith, Leah; Weekes, John (1985, November). Fantasy style, imagination, and hypnotizability. [Paper] Presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, Asheville, NC.
NOTES
Authors discuss three fantasy styles: 1. Positive constructive daydreaming 2. Guilt / fear of failure 3. Poor attentional control. Fantasy style has been related to many personality variables, usually based on questionnaires.
They examined subjects in hypnosis and waking states using hypnotic dreams, Short Imaginal Processes Inventory, Tellegen Absorption, Betts QMI Imagery Vividness, Hypnosis (HGSHS and suggested dream) involvement, Wilson and Barber ICI, Nonvoluntary experience, Fantasy Proneness, Content of fantasies.
137 student volunteers participated in the study. 82 had HGSHS-A and hypnotic dream, and gave involuntariness ratings. Ss self-rated pleasant and unpleasant for hypnotic dreams. Experimenter rated dream for 1) positive emotion, 2) negative emotion, and 3) anxiety. Correlations were significant for female Ss, but not for male Ss.
RESULTS. Fantasy-style, at least of negative affect, was consistent for waking and hypnotic states. Positive constructive fantasy correlated to HGSHS but the other two fantasy styles did not. [Other results reported are not included in this brief summary.]
Nogrady, Heather; McConkey, Kevin M.; Perry, Campbell (1985). Enhancing visual memory: Trying hypnosis, trying imagination, and trying again. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 94 (2), 195-204.
Tested visual recall memory of high (n = 24) and low (n = 24) hypnotizable undergraduates (screened under the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility and the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale) for black and white line drawings of common objects in either hypnosis, imagination, or control conditions. Memory performance in terms of both correct and incorrect items increased appreciably across the recall tests. Neither hypnosis nor imagination enhanced recall beyond that of normal repeated testing. Hypnotizability was not related to the amount of correct material recalled but was related to the amount of incorrect material reported. High hypnotizable Ss in the hypnosis condition were more likely than other Ss to confidently rate the incorrect material as correct. Findings are discussed in terms of the impact of hypnosis on and the relevance of hypnotizability to enhancing visual memory.
Spanos, Nicholas P.; de Groot, Hans P.; Tiller, Dale K.; Weekes, John R.; Bertrand, Lorne D. (1985). ‘Trance logic,’ duality, and hidden observer responding in hypnotic, imagination control, and simulating subjects: A social psychological analysis. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 94 (4), 611-623.
Tested the hypothesis that a tolerance for logical incongruity characterizes hypnotic responding and is related to reports of duality experiences during age regression and hidden-observer responding during suggested analgesia. 30 undergraduates (the “reals”) with high scores on a responsiveness-to-suggestion scale were randomly assigned to hypnotic or imagination control treatments, while 15 undergraduates with low scores were assigned to a simulation treatment in which they were instructed to fake hypnosis. Ss were assessed on 6 indicators of logical incongruity, given age-regression suggestions and perception tasks, administered a suggestion for analgesia and hidden observer instructions, and interviewed. Results do not support the hypothesis. The differences in responding that did emerge between reals and simulators were accounted for by the different task demands to which Ss were exposed. These behavioral differences, which have been previously interpreted in terms of intrinsic characteristics of hypnosis, may instead reflect a combination of between-treatments differences in demands and between- Ss differences in the interpretation of those demands and in the ability to fulfill them.
1984
Barabasz, Arreed F. (1984). Antarctic isolation and imaginative involvement – preliminary findings: A brief communication. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 32 (3), 296-300.
Group 1 Ss (N = 9) were interviewed in Antarctica prior to and following 1 year of Antarctic isolation. Group 2 Ss (N = 7) were exposed to 3 weeks of Antarctic field-site isolation and were interviewed upon return to the United States. A control group of 10 Ss was also interviewed on 2 occasions, paralleling Group 1. Group 1 showed a significant increase in imaginative involvement from pre- to post-Antarctic isolation. Group 2 showed a significantly greater level of imaginative involvement than the control Ss. The possibility that Antarctic living may have revived the mental processes available to these Ss as children is considered within both regression and learning explanations.
Billotti, Thomas J. (1984, August). The effects of rational emotive imagery and rational emotive imagery plus hypnosis in reduced public speaking anxiety (Dissertation). Dissertation Abstracts International, 46 (2), 633-634-B.
Previous investigations have demonstrated the effectiveness of rational emotive therapy in reducing public speaking anxiety and the increased benefit derived by combining rational emotive procedures with hypnosis. The present study examined the effectiveness of rational emotive imagery and rational emotive imagery plus hypnosis in reducing public speaking anxiety in subjects with high and low levels of imaginative ability. The dependent measures employed included self report, behavioral and physiological measures of anxiety. “47 undergraduate students who reported anxiety while speaking in public served as subjects in the study. The subjects were divided into high and low levels of imaginative ability and randomly assigned to one of three experimental groups as follows: rational emotive imagery, rational emotive imagery plus hypnosis, and an instructional control group. It was hypothesized that subjects in the rational emotive imagery plus hypnosis group would evidence significantly less anxiety than subjects in the rational emotive imagery and instructional control group, and that subjects with high pre-treatment levels of imaginative ability would evidence significantly less anxiety than subjects with low pre- treatment levels of imaginative ability. “The results of this study provided some support for the efficacy of combining rational emotive imagery with hypnosis. Subjects in the rational emotive imagery plus hypnosis group evidenced significantly less anxiety than subjects in the rational emotive imagery and instructional control group on the two self-report measures. There were no significant differences as between subjects in the rational emotive imagery group and instructional control group or between subjects with high and low imaginative ability on post-treatment assessments. Subjects tended to have their highest pulse rates at the start of the speeches, their lowest pulse rate just after the speeches, and moderate pulse rates just before and during the speeches. “Factors contributing to these results and interpretations of the data were discussed. Suggestions regarding the direction of future research were offered” (p. 633- 634).
Kearns, John S.; Zamansky, Harold S. (1984). Synthetic versus analytic imaging ability as correlates of hypnotizability. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 32, 41-50.
It was hypothesized that synthetic imaging ability, but not analytic imaging ability, is positively related to hypnotizability. The correlation of scores on a paired- associates task, used as a measure of synthetic imaging ability, with scores on the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form C (SHSS:C) of Weitzenhoffer and Hilgard (1962), indicated a statistically nonsignificant trend in the predicted direction. 2 measures of analytic imaging ability, as well as Sheehan’s (1967) revision of the Betts (1909) Questionnaire Upon Mental Imagery, a measure of vividness of imagery, did not correlate significantly with SHSS:C. The results are discussed in terms of their relation to studies of creativity and goal-directed fantasy.
NOTES
The authors review the literature on imagery and hypnotizability and propose that an important variable in hypnosis is an ability to expand imaginatively upon a given verbal input (synthetic imaging ability), akin to Spanos’ (1971) concept of goal-directed fantasy. They cite studies relating creativity (“essentially a synthetic process”) to hypnotizability, and predict that skill in solving spatial relations problems (analytic imaging ability) is not correlated with hypnotizability because it involves “accurately scanning visual images and converging on solutions to specific problems,” (p. 42) rather than creative fantasy characteristic of hypnotic behavior.
Forty Subjects had two sessions each: imagery tests in #1 and SHSS:C in #2. Imagery tests included, in this order: 1. Paired Associates (Paivio, 1972; a test of synthetic imaging), in which paired words are learned and later recalled; Experimental Ss were to learn them by combining them into an image, while Control Ss were to simply try to learn them. The nouns differed in imagery strength (potential for stimulating images). 2. Nonsense Forms (a test of analytic imaging), in which Subjects trace with their fingers an irregularly shaped Masonite form, blindfolded, and then choose one of 5 drawings that best matches the form. 3. Cube Visualization (a test of analytic imaging), in which Ss imagine a 2″ wooden cube painted red on all faces, that had been sawed into 1″ cubes; they are to say how many of the smaller cubes would be red on 3 faces, 2 faces, one face, and none of the faces. 4. Betts QMI.
The Paired Associates (PA) scores were a ratio of high imagery words recalled to low imagery words recalled, intended to reflect the impact of imagery availability on memory. There was a trend for hypnotizability to correlate with PA ratio scores, regardless of whether intermediate or low imagery nouns were used as baseline (rho = .37 and .34, p <.10) in the experimental group ("Use imagery to learn."), a trend that was not found in the control group (no imagery instructions). Neither measure of analytic imaging ability (Nonsense Forms, Cube test) correlated with hypnotizability.
In their Discussion, the authors write, "The common factor in successful performance of both imagery-mediated paired associates learning tasks and hypnotic suggestions appears to be the ability to expand imaginatively upon a given verbal input" (p. 47). They cite the literature relating hypnotizable and creative performance (p. 47). "The present findings with the Nonsense Forms Test and the Cube Visualization Test, both of which failed to correlate significantly with SHSS:C, support the hypothesis that hypnotizability is not related to analytic, spatial-imagining skills" (p. 47). "The nonsignificant correlation between Betts QMI and SHSS:C adds to the growing body of inconsistent findings observed with Betts QMI" (p. 47).
"Given the complex nature of hypnotic susceptibility and of imagery (Monteiro et al., 1980), it is perhaps not surprising that studies attempting to relate the two variables directly frequently yield only modest relationships. Very likely, the inclusion of appropriate mediating variables would serve to clarify and, in particular instances, augment the relationships observed between hypnotic responsiveness and imaging ability. One such variable may be the capacity to become fully involved in everyday nonhypnotic experiences, commonly called absorption. This variable has been shown in numerous studies to be related to hypnotizability (e.g. Tellegen & Atkinson, 1974), as well as to creativity and vividness of imagery (P. Bowers, 1978, 1979; Monteiro et al., 1980). Even more relevant to the present study is the possible interaction between level of hypnotic susceptibility and the relationship between synthetic imaging ability and SHSS:C scores. It may be, for example, that the contribution of synthetic imaging ability becomes more critical in eliciting hypnotic behavior from Ss who are only moderately susceptible to hypnosis. Such an analysis was not possible in the present experiment, since the number of high, medium, and low susceptible Ss was approximately equal, and, therefore, the number of Ss at each level was insufficient for an adequate subgroup analysis. Clearly, however, future studies of the role of imaginal skills in hypnotic responsivity must move in directions such as these" (p. 48).
Lynn, Steven Jay; Nash, Michael R.; Rhue, Judith W., Frauman, David C.; Sweeney, Carol A. (1984). Nonvolition, expectancies, and hypnotic rapport. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 93 (3), 295-303.
Prior to hypnosis, subjects were informed either that hypnotizable subjects can resist motoric suggestions or that such control does not characterize good hypnotic subjects. During hypnosis, susceptible and simulating subjects received countering suggestions involving inhibiting suggestion-related movements. Susceptible subjects' responses were found to be sensitive to prehypnotic normative information. There was a corresponding tendency for reports of involuntariness to be sensitive to the expectancy manipulation. Furthermore, subjects were able to feel deeply hypnotized and to rate themselves as good subjects yet concomitantly experience themselves as in control over their actions when normative information supported this attribution. Reports of suggestion-related sensations but not imaginative involvement were associated with movements in response to countersuggestion. Simulators were unable to fake susceptibles' reports of sensations and involuntariness. However, for all subjects, movements paralleled expectancies about appropriate response, supporting the hypothesis that involuntary experiences are sensitive to the broad expectational context and are mediated by active cognitive processes. Also, rapport with the hypnotist was found to be a factor. Susceptible subjects with highly positive rapport resolved hypnotic conflict, in part, by achieving a compromise between meeting normative expectations and complying with the hypnotist's counterdemand.
Tilton, P. (1984). The hypnotic hero: A technique for hypnosis with children. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 32 (4), 366-375.
A technique for the use of hypnosis with children is described in detail. The method of using this technique to create a new source of ego strength and a secure reality for rapid symptom reduction is discussed. Cases are presented to give the reader examples of the various ways of utilizing this technique.
1983
Eisen, Marlene R.; Fromm, Erika (1983). The clinical use of self-hypnosis in hypnotherapy: Tapping the functions of imagery and adaptive regression. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 31 (4), 243-255.
The authors present a new method of interweaving hetero-hypnotic psychotherapy and self-hypnosis. In the hetero-hypnotic sessions, the hypnotherapist acts as a dependable parent figure who is supporting and available when that is desirable, but who also encourages and fosters the patient's efforts to develop his/her inner resources and ability to function autonomously. Self-hypnosis is utilized for its rich idiosyncratic imagery. The hypnotherapist uses and elaborates on this rich, affect-loaded imagery. At other times the therapist takes a guiding role in producing therapeutic metaphors of positive valence. The patient uses and enlarges on these during self-hypnosis between the weekly therapeutic hours. In addition, the hypnotist may counteract any negative strong self-hypnotic images during hetero-hypnosis. Self-directed self-hypnosis allows patients to experience openness and receptivity to internal and unconscious processes against which they may defend themselves in the dyadic relationship with the therapist. For patients struggling with issues of control and for patients fighting their own regressive pull towards dependency, this mode of therapy appears to be particularly effective. The emphasis in this paper is on imagery and on the inter-twining of the two modalities, hetero-hypnosis and self-hypnosis.
Myers, S. A. (1983). The Creative Imagination Scale: Group norms for children and adolescents. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 31 (1), 28-36.
This study presented the responsiveness of 1302 children and adolescents (ages 8-17) to the Creative Imagination Scale (CIS) of Wilson and Barber (1978) and Barber and Wilson (1978/79). The normative features of CIS were highlighted in the data analysis. Since items on CIS have been found to be related, a MANOVA was used for the analysis. There were significant differences in both sex and age. Females at each age level, 8 through 17, scored higher on CIS than males of the same age. Ss of ages 9, 10, and 11 obtained the highest scores, but only differed significantly from the scores for 15-year-old Ss. The other age groups did not differ significantly from each other. In addition, the stability of CIS was confirmed. The author would recommend CIS for Ss 9 years old through adult years, however, CIS should be administered individually to Ss 12 and 15 years old, due to peer pressure.
Sheehan, Peter W. (1982). Imagery and hypnosis--forging a link, at least in part. Research Communications in Psychology, Psychiatry and Behavior, 7 (2), 257-272.
The role of imagery as one aspect of the processes of imagination at work is viewed in relation to ease of responsiveness in hypnosis. Focus is placed on the issue of imagery enhancement in hypnosis and on the relevance of imagery as a correlate of hypnotic susceptibility. Evidence suggests that imagery is positively related to hypnotizability but no clear support has been provided for the enhancement hypothesis. The nature of the association being examined needs to be clarified by closer scrutiny both of the measures used for assessing imagery and hypnosis, and of the test conditions under which the association is studied. Experience-based modes of assessment may help considerably in that pursuit.
Spanos, Nicholas P.; Bridgeman, M.; Stam, H. J.; Gwynn, M. I.; Saad, C. I. (1982-83). When seeing is not believing: The effects of contextual variables on the reports of hypnotic hallucinations. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 2, 195-209.
When administered a hallucination suggestion most high susceptible hypnotic and task-motivated subjects reported that they "saw" the suggested object. When asked what they meant by "saw," however, almost all indicated that they had imagined the object but did not believe that it had actually been present. On the other hand, simulating subjects maintained that the suggested object had been "really there." Simulators were also more likely than non-simulators to provide "life-like" descriptions of the suggested object (e.g., solid rather than transparent, colored, highly vivid). These findings are consistent with the view that hypnotic hallucinations are context-generated imaginings. They also indicate that unique or unusual psychological processes like "trance logic" need not be posited to account for the descriptions of "hallucinatory" experiences proffered by hypnotic subjects.
NOTES
It was observed that hypnotized Ss reported more vivid (and longer sustained) imagery than task motivated Subjects. Hypnotized Ss did not differ from high susceptible simulators on vividness of imagery or how long they experienced the imagery, but did report shorter and less vivid imagery than simulators who were low hypnotizables.
1981
Hilgard, Ernest R.; Sheehan, Peter W.; Monteiro, K. P.; Macdonald, Hugh (1981). Factorial structure of the Creative Imagination Scale as a measure of hypnotic responsiveness: An international comparative study. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 29, 66-76.
The factor structure of the Creative Imagination Scale (CIS) of Wilson and Barber (1978) was investigated in two studies by correlating scores on it with scores on the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A (Shor & E. Orne, 1962), the Absorption scale of Tellegen and Atkinson (1974), and Sheehan's (1967) revision of Betts' (1909) imagery scale. One of the studies was conducted at the University of Queensland in Australia (N = 237), the other at Stanford University in California (N = 92). The major finding, consistent in both investigations, was that two factors accounted for the major portion of the variance, one factor designated as a Hypnotic Performance factor, the other designated as an Absorption/Imagination factor. The CIS was weighted highly on both factors, the data bearing on earlier claims that CIS represents a single-factor scale.
Singer, Jerome L.; Pope, Kenneth S. (1981). Daydreaming and imagery skills as predisposing capacities for self-hypnosis. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 29 (3), 271-281.
A growing body of empirical literature suggests that daydreaming and related forms of waking reverie are natural-occurring, common experiences in normal individuals. Specific experiments relating daydreaming and the stream of ongoing thought as an alternative source of stimulation to external cues are described. It is proposed that everyday waking consciousness has many features of internal absorption in imagery and adaptive but non-sequential processes that resemble fantasy, hypnosis, and night dreaming. Experiments linking daydreaming, imagery vividness, and hypnosis are cited as suggesting that individuals may develop capacities for control over the stream of thought and that such capacities are closely similar to the skills needed for self-hypnosis.
Spanos, Nicholas P.; Brown, Jude M.; Jones, Bill; Horner, Donna (1981). Cognitive activity and suggestions for analgesia in the reduction of reported pain. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 90, 554-556.
Assessed 38 undergraduates' pain magnitude and pain tolerance for arm immersion in ice water during a baseline and posttest session. Before the posttest, half the Ss received an analgesia suggestion. On the basis of their written testimony, Ss were classified as having either predominately coped (e.g., imagined event inconsistent with pain or made positive self-statements) or predominantly exaggerated (e.g., worried about and exaggerated the noxious aspects of the situation) during each immersion. On both immersions, copers reported less pain and exhibited higher pain tolerance than exaggerators. Moreover, the suggestion was associated with reductions in reported pain only when it transformed baseline exaggerators into posttest copers.
1980
Pereira, M. J.; Austrin, H. R. (1980). Locus of control and status of the experimenter as predictors of suggestibility. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 28 (4), 367-374.
The present study investigated locus of control and manipulated status of the experimenter as predictors of suggestibility. Rotter's (1966) Internal-External Locus of Control Scale was used as the paper-pencil measure of locus of control, and the Barber (1965) Suggestibility Scale was used as the measure of suggestibility. We predicted two main effects on suggestibility; one for high externality, and one for high status. In addition, we predicted an interaction between locus of control and status of experimenter. A main effect for locus of control was not found, but one for status was significant, with externals significantly more suggestible than internals in the high status experimenter condition and significantly less suggestible in the low status condition. This interaction effect was viewed as the most significant finding, and implications for prediction were discussed.
Spanos, Nicholas P.; Pawlak, Anne E.; Mah, Christopher D.; D'Eon, Joyce L. (1980). Lateral eye movements, hypnotic susceptibility and imaginal ability in right-handers. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 50, 287-294.
A total of 46 male and 36 female right-handers were assessed on three measures of left-moving, as well as on hypnotic susceptibility, and several measures of imaginal ability. The three left-moving indices intercorrelated significantly. However, none of these indices correlated significantly with hypnotic susceptibility or imaginal ability variables in either sex.
Straus, R. A. (1980). A naturalistic experiment investigating the effects of hypnotic induction upon Creative Imagination Scale performance in a clinical setting. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 28 (3), 218-224.
A novel experimental design compared performances on the Creative Imagination Scale (CIS) of Wilson and Barber (1978) under hypnotic induction and control conditions. The Ss were 42 paying clients who participated in the study as an implicit part of their first clinical session. Results in this clinical context replicated previous laboratory studies which found that a conventional hypnotic induction procedure did not enhance scores on CIS. The present study suggests that the implicit clinical investigation, where appropriate, permits scientifically sound hypnosis research in natural field settings
Wallace, Benjamin (1980). Autokinetic movement of an imagined and an hypnotically hallucinated stimulus. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 28 (4), 386-393.
Autokinetic movement (AKM) of an imagined or an hallucinated stimulus was assessed as a function of hypnotic susceptibility level. 3 groups of Ss were asked to produce an image of a small, pinpoint spot of light and to monitor any activity of the stimulus. The stimulus was produced by imagination for a group of Ss judged high in hypnotic susceptibility and for a second group of Ss judged low in hypnotic susceptibility. A third group of Ss, highly susceptible to hypnosis, was asked to hallucinate the pinpoint spot stimulus with the aid of instructions administered by E. Instructions by which movement reports were elicited were kept equal and open-ended for all 3 groups of Ss. Results indicated that form of the stimulus (imagined or hallucinated) did not affect reports of AKM. Hypnotic susceptibility level, however, was a major factor in influencing resultant reports. The Ss judged high in hypnotic susceptibility reported a significantly greater number of direction changes of AKM than Ss low in hypnotic susceptibility. The data are interpeted in terms of the possible differences in stimulus monitoring ability as a function of hypnotic susceptibility level
1979
McConkey, Kevin M.; Sheehan, Peter W.; White, K. D. (1979). Comparison of the Creative Imagination Scale and the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 27 (3), 265-277.
237 Ss were administered both the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A (HGSHS:A) of Shor and E. Orne (1962), and the Creative Imagination Scale (CIS) of Barber and Wilson (1977) and Wilson and Barber (1978) in separate testing sessions. Results were analyzed to assess the extent of relationships between the 2 scales and particular attention was paid to the question of whether, or not, CIS can be said to be an index of hypnotizability as traditionally measured by HGSHS:A. Data indicated that performance on CIS relates positively (r = .28) to success on HGSHS:A, but the 2 tests are independent in their underlying dimensions. The CIS appears to tap primarily the processes of imagery and imagination which are only partly related to performance on the more complex scales which measure hypnosis as generally conceptualized.
Connors, J. R.; Sheehan, P. W. (1978). The influence of control comparison tasks and between-versus within-subjects effects in hypnotic responsivity. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 26, 104-122.
Type of experimental design (between- versus within-subjects) and type of control task were examined for their differential effects on the magnitude of objective and state report test scores associated wtih response to items on the Stanford Hypnotic Scale of Susceptibility, Form C (Weitzenhoffer & Hilgard, 1962). In an integrated program of work exploring design effects in hypnotic research, Ss in each of 7 comparison conditions that involved hypnosis and 4 separate comparison conditions that did not involve hypnosis were tested twice on successive occasions. Three of the control tasks used (waking, imagination, and imagination [alert] instruction) were counterbalanced with hypnosis to analoyze possible order effects associated with hypnotic test conditions. Data indexed the patterns of between- versus within-subjects effects associated wtih standard control tasks and also highlighted the order effects that accompanied them. Imagination instructions, in particular, pose specific difficulties that require attention when Ss are tested as their own controls.
1978
Sanders, Shirley (1978). Creative problem-solving and psychotherapy. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 26, 15-21.
The techniques described comprise a creative problem-solving approach to short-term individual psychotherapy which appears effective in conjunction with hypnosis. The techniques include describing and visualizing the client's problem, imagining alternative reactions, dreaming about new solutions, and trying the solutions in real life. The method is illustrated by 2 clinical examples. The discussion focuses on a comparison of the techniques used with individuals versus with small groups, the fostering of regression in the service of the ego, and the redirection of attention from the physically out of control to the recognition of the possibility of obtaining control. This shift of attention fosters active coping on the part of the client.
1977
Buckner, Linda G.; Coe, William C. (1977). Imaginative skill, wording of suggestions and hypnotic-susceptibility. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 25, 27-36.
3 groups of 20 s based on preselected imaginative capacity were administered either a hypnotic susceptibility scale containing item wording that suggested a goal-directed fantasy or one that did not. Preselected imaginative ability did not predict hypnotic susceptibility or the production of goal-directed fantasies during hypnosis. However, Ss who received the hypnotic scale containing item wording that suggested goal-directed fantasies reported more goal-directed fantasies than Ss who received the other scale. Limitations of the study are discussed and the causal role of goal-directed fantasy in hypnotic responsiveness is questioned.
1976
Gur, R. C.; Reyher, J. (1976). Enhancement of creativity via free-imagery and hypnosis. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 18, 237-249.
Thirty-six male, highly susceptible subjects, divided into hypnosis, simulation and waking groups, were given the Torrance Test of Creativity with modified instructions requiring them to wait passively for visual images in response to the test stimuli. Twelve waking subjects received the same test under standard instructions. The hypnotized group scored higher than all control groups on over-all creativity and on Figural creativity, but not on Verbal creativity. The results seem to support the application of the ego-analytic concept of 'adaptive regression' to both hypnosis and creativity. They also seem to confirm the association found between hypnosis and the activation of the non-verbal cerebral hemisphere.
Raikov, V. L. (1976). The possibility of creativity in the active stage of hypnosis. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 24, 258-268.
Creative capacity was studied by means of suggestions given to Ss under the condition of active hypnosis. In deep hypnosis it was suggested to S that he was a famous person with a specific talent. In a series of experiments Ss performed under active hypnosis such tasks as drawing, playing musical instruments, and playing chess. The results ilustrated that creative processes can be facilitated in Ss capable of deep hypnosis and there is a carry-over of the creative achievements from hypnosis to the waking state. Low hypnotic Ss and control groups did not show improvements in the tasks. A particular significant increase in creativity was observed when Ss capable of deep hypnosis performed several successive creative tasks while hypnotized. The theoretical and experimental definitions of several new approaches to active hypnosis are also discussed.
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.
6458, Slade, 1976
1975
Barber, Theodore Xenophon (1975). Responding to 'hypnotic' suggestions: An introspective report. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 18 (1), 6-22.
The author first presents an introspective report which describes some of his attitudes, motivations, and expectancies and ongoing thought processes while he is responding to 'hypnotic' suggestions. The introspective report indicates that (a) suggested effects are experienced when a person thinks with and imaginatively focuses on those things that are suggested and (b) a person imaginatively focuses on the suggestions when he sees the test situation as useful and worthwhile and when he wants to and expects to experience those things that are suggested. It is then argued that the responsive subject in a hypnotic situation differs in every important respect from the sleepwalker and closely resembles the person who is involved in reading an interesting novel or in observing an interesting motion picture. Finally, the author outlines a course, now being developed, that aims to teach individuals how to respond to suggestions.
1970
Sarbin, Theodore R.; Juhasz, Joseph B. (1970). Toward a theory of imagination. Journal of Personality, 38 (1), 52-76.
NOTES
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).
Sutcliffe, J. P.; Perry, Campbell; Sheehan, Peter W. (1970). The relation of some aspects of imagery and fantasy to hypnotizability. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 76, 279-287.
Studied relations between hypnotic susceptibility and some aspects of imagery and fantasy in a normal population of 95 undergraduates. Vividness of imagery was assessed by a reliable questionnaire adapted from procedures 1st devised by G. H. Betts; dreams were collected by a diary method which studied the incidence of distortion in dream content; and hypnotizability was assessed by the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility scale (Form C), a standardized scale devised by the authors, and a rating procedure based on both scales. Results show a positive, curvilinear relationship between vividness of imagery and hypnotic susceptibility, but no significant relationship for fantasy. Evidence suggests that both imagery and fantasy, considered conjointly, lead to a more accurate prediction of deep susceptibility than the imagery variable alone. (34 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved)
1969
Nowlis, D. P. (1969). The child-rearing antecedents of hypnotic susceptibility and of naturally occurring hypnotic-like experience. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 17, 109-120.
Data pertaining to early and mid-childhood socialization experiences available from a sample of children and their mothers as studied earlier by R. R. Sears, E. E. Maccoby, H. Levin, and others were related to hypnotizability scores and scores of susceptibility to naturally occurring hypnotic-like experiences for a part of the same sample when the children reached late adolescence. As hypothesized by J. R. Hilgard and E. R. Hilgard (see 37:3) after retrospective interviewing with college-age hypnotic Ss, the present study, using a longitudinal method of investigation, indicated some relationship between firm parental discipline in childhood and subsequent susceptibility to hypnosis and hypnotic-like experiences in adolescence. Correlations, however, were low and the overall yield of significant data was judged to be meager. This was particularly true of hypnotizability scores in relation to the other variables available for analysis. (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)
1962
Webster, Raymond B. (1962). The effects of hypnosis on performance on the H-T-P and MPS. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 10 (3), 151-153.
Impressionistic analysis supported the view that hypnosis Ss provide richer protocols in the House-Tree-Person projective technique than in the waking state. A quantitative analysis of subtest and total scores on the Minnesota Personality Scale in the 2 states was insignificant. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved)
1961
Glass, Louis B.; Barber, Theodore X. (1961). A note on hypnotic behavior, the definition of the situation and the placebo effect. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 132, 539-541.
Subjects were tested for responses to hypnotizability tests under three conditions: after 20 minute induction, after being told they would not be hypnotized but would take tests of imagination (with motivating instructions to do well), after taking a placebo pill that "would make them deeply hypnotized." Of 12 Ss who dropped in score between Session 1 and Session 2, 11 attained higher scores following placebo than during the control session; mean scores under placebo and control (5.8 and 3.7) differed significantly, p <.01. Scores were as high in the third as the first session (5.8 and 6.3 respectively).
1955
Schneck, Jerome M. (1955). Hypnotic interviews with the therapist in fantasy. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 3 (2), 109-116. (Abstracted in Psychological Abstracts, 56: 1126)
NOTES
" Summary. This report furnishes illustrations from two patients of the technique consisting of hypnosis interviews conducted by the patients with the therapist in fantasy. This method emerged from previous work with visual imagery in the form of scene visualization and some of its derivatives. The writer believes that further work with the technique presented now may prove to be beneficial in psychotherapy. At the same time it offers an opportunity for further study of personality functioning in general and certain aspects of psychodynamics. The patients manipulate the session in a way which furthers a duality in their functioning as a result of which they attempt to probe and contend with contradictory tensions in their unconscious. The image of the therapist undergoes certain distortions demonstrating dynamisms such as projection and identification as utilized by the patient. The therapist is in a position to view all of this and to discern elements in his relationship with the patient which may otherwise have escaped him. Countertransference issues may be clarified in this way. The technique may assist at points where the therapist seems to be functioning too blindly and where the patient may more pointedly show the way by guiding the therapist while relating to a mental image of him. There is a possibility that some aspects of this approach in treatment may prove of value in psychotherapy which does not incorporate hypnosis. This may be of assistance to workers who have not been trained in hypnotherapy" (pp. 115-116).
1953
Israeli, Nathan (1953). Experimental study of projection in time: I. Outlook upon the remote future--extending through the quintillionth year. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 1 (2), 49-60.
Author's Summary
This report on research now under progress is concerned with time projection and with hypnotic imagination and dreams of projection into varying remote future periods extending to the very distant quintillionth year. The work proceeded in stages including (a) orientation to the general procedure, (b) hypnotic future autobiographic material (age progression), (c) going successively from one future period to another from the end of the 21st century through the quintillionth year -- devoting usually one experimental session to any future period. This paper reports on the self-ratings for hypnosis depth reached by the subjects, their description of life, things, and events, in connection with each projection into a future period, and their visual or nonvisual imagery.
1. Self-ratings for hypnosis depth show with one insignificant exceptional instance that all subjects were always at least at the trance-level or in a deeper hypnotic stage. Individual differences in level reached were indicated with a general trend towards more profound trance in later sessions. The deeper levels on the scale used were not described by the experimenter. Each subject gave those levels his own interpretation in setting up his own scale.
2. The time projections are to be explained in terms of changing space-time framework, social topographic reorientation, recentering, and non-conventional time centering.
3. Hypnotic suggestion to imagine and dream about being suddenly transported and projected into a specified future period is followed by rapid recentering as the subjects follow out the suggestions.
4. Although no specific instructions or sets of suggestions were included about the nature of their anticipations, the description of life, things, and events of any future period was on a predominant impersonal level, with the personal aspects in the background. Nonetheless, the suggestion of transportation and projection into a future period leads to various changes in one's present-situation perceptions, imagery, space-time framework, and system of concepts and beliefs. With a change in time reference, the description of life, things, and events is adjusted to the era or epoch specified. This involves description of technological, biological, psychological, and anthropological changes. The extinction of mankind is anticipated in the very remote future by some subjects. The earth and the moon are expected to disappear by collision or otherwise.
5. Individual analysis shows that the descriptions of the different future periods approximately fit into patterns and are not discontinuous. An individual subject's descriptions beginning with the first future period and taking in all the other periods show constructive or catastrophic trends or cyclical variation between both extremes. Descriptions of life, things, and events of each future period in the main change in a constructive or in a catastrophic direction. They are continuous but with certain discontinuities and incoherence.
6. A geocentric orientation and a heliocentric preoccupation are invariant and predominant. The subjects are unable to abandon their basic planetary orientation or schemata.
7. Colored imagery includes mainly the primary colors. They comprise both expanse colors and surface colors. Auditory imagery is quite frequent. There are also references to olfactory, tactile, and kinesthetic imagery. Thermic imagery becomes increasingly prominent in the more remote future periods when the sun's heat is described as more intense. Imagery changes with the outlook patterns and appears to have personal, structural, and social determinants. One subject's imagery was macropic.
IMMUNOLOGY