Spanos, Nicholas P.; McNeil, Conrad; Gwynn, Maxwell I.; Stam, Henderikus J. (1984). Effects of suggestion and distraction on reported pain in subjects high and low on hypnotic susceptibility. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 93 (3), 277-284.
84 18-30 year old undergraduates high or low in hypnotic susceptibility (the Carleton University Responsiveness to Suggestion Scale) immersed an arm in ice water on 2 separate trials. Within susceptibility levels, Ss were randomly assigned to 3 groups, with an equal number in each group. Between trials, Ss in 1 group were administered a suggestion to imagine their hand as numb and insensitive, those in a 2nd group practiced a distraction task to be used during the 2nd trial (shadowing words), and those in a 3rd group (controls) received no special instructions. The suggestion significantly lowered rated pain in high but not in low susceptibles. Contrary to dissociation accounts of hypnotic susceptibility and suggested analgesia, low susceptible shadowers showed as much reduction in rated pain as high susceptibles given suggestion. The social psychology of the experimental pain assessment situation is discussed.
Spanos, Nicholas P.; Tkachyk, M.; Bertrand, L. D.; Weekes, J. R. (1984). The dissipation hypothesis of amnesia: More disconfirming evidence. Psychological Reports, 55, 191-196.
Hypnotic subjects were administered a suggestion to forget a previously overlearned word list. Before cancellation of the suggestion they were challenged twice to try and recall the words. Subjects in one group received a second challenge immediately after response to the first. Those in the second group were given a 15-min. delay before their second challenge. Subjects in both groups showed less amnesia after the second challenge than after the first, but the length of delay between challenges had no effect on amnesia scores. These findings are inconsistent with the hypothesis that hypnotic amnesia involves an involuntary blockage of memory that decays spontaneously with time.
1983
Council, James R.; Kirsch, Irving; Vickery, Anne R.; Carlson, Dawn (1983). ‘Trance’ versus ‘skill’ hypnotic inductions: The effects of credibility, expectancy, and experimenter modeling. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 31 (3), 432-440.
A hypnotic induction procedure based on social learning principles (skill induction) was compared with a traditional eye-fixation/relaxation trance induction, a highly credible placebo induction, and a no-induction base-rate control. The trance induction surpassed the skill induction only on the Field Inventory, a measure of hypnotic depth that contains items corresponding to suggestions contained in the trance induction. Experimenter modeling was not found to enhance the effectiveness of the skill induction. Skill and trance inductions elicited slightly higher behavioral scores on the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale: Form C than did the placebo induction. However, this difference was not obtained on other measures of hypnotic responsibility and depth. Significant correlations were found between expectancy, absorption, and responsiveness on all dependent measures. Multiple regression analyses indicated that the relationship between absorption and responsivity was mediated by expectancy. The results are interpreted as supporting the hypotheses that hypnotic responses are elicited by the expectancy for their occurrence and that induction procedures are a means of increasing subjects’ expectancies for hypnotic responses.
NOTES
Trance induction resulted in a higher score on subjective experiences (cognitive & perceptual distortions) but not higher suggestibility scores than cognitive- behavioral skill induction. 2) Trance and cognitive-behavioral inductions got slightly higher scores in suggestibility than placebo biofeedback induction. 3) All inductions did better than a “no induction” control group on subjective and behavioral indices of hypnosis.
One of the goals of this research was to examine the contribution of experimenter modeling to the behavioral skill induction that “trains the subject in hypnosis skills and requires the subject’s conscious cooperation in learning cognitive strategies that will enhance hypnotic responsivity” (p. 432). Another goal was to assess the contribution of “a subject’s expectancies for the occurrence of behaviors perceived as being involuntary” (p. 433). A third goal was to determine whether congruence between a subject’s beliefs about hypnosis and the rationale for a particular induction would increase expectancy. Two different skill inductions were employed (one with, one without a model). Subjects were asked to predict their performance, based on a description of the induction that they would receive. The contributions of credibility and expectancy were assessed using a highly credible placebo (pseudo biofeedback of EEG theta rhythm).
The investigation used only subjects who had never experienced hypnosis.
Independent variables included Rotter’s (1966) Internal-External Locus of Control Scale, Rotter’s (1967) Interpersonal Trust Scale, and Tellegen’s Absorption Scale (Tellegen & Atkinson, 1974). Mediating variables included a measure of induction credibility based on Borkovec and Nau (1972), and a 20-item inventory measuring expectancies for hypnotic performance. Dependent variables included 20 standard hypnotic suggestions taken from the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form C; the Creative Imagination Scale; ratings of the ‘realness’ or experienced intensity of each suggestion; and the Field Inventory of Hypnotic Depth (Field, 1965).
The authors conclusion reads as follows: “The results of this study may be summarized as follows: (a) Traditional trance hypnotic inductions and cognitive- behavioral skill inductions were shown to be equally effective in eliciting experiential and behavioral responses to hypnotic suggestions, although trance subjects reported a somewhat greater alteration in conscious experience. (b) Experimenter modeling was not found to be an effective component of the skill induction package. (c) Subjects’ expectancies for hypnotic responses, reported prior to hypnotic induction, bore a very strong relationship to hypnotic responsivity. (d) A highly credible placebo induction resulted in levels of expectancy and hypnotic responsivity generally comparable to those produced by trance and skill hypnotic inductions. (e) Absorption was significantly correlated with expectancy, but was not found to be significantly related to responsiveness once variance due to expectancy was taken into account. Thus the relationship between absorption and hypnotic responsiveness appears to be mediated by expectancies.
“In sum, these results suggest that various hypnotic inductions elicit expectancies for responding to hypnotic suggestions and that these expectancies are sufficient to elicit hypnotic responses. Further studies are needed to determine the nature of the relationship between absorption and hypnotic response expectancies” (p. 439).
Spanos, Nicholas P.; Gwynn, Maxwell I.; Stam, Henderikus J. (1983). Instructional demands and ratings of overt and hidden pain during hypnotic analgesia. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 92 (4), 479-488.
Sixteen highly hypnotizable subjects rated the intensity of cold pressor pain during a baseline trial and again during three hypnotic analgesia trials. During each analgesia trial, subjects were instructed to give overt reports that reflected consciously experienced pain and covert reports that reflected the intensity of “hidden” pain. Treatment instructions administered before the first analgesia trial did not specify the relationship between overt pain and covert pain. Instructions given before the remaining two analgesia trials indicated that hidden pain would be either more intense or less intense than overt pain. Until they were given explicit information about the relative intensities of the pain, subjects reported no differences in the magnitude of overt and covert pain, contrary to the dissociation hypothesis of hypnotic analgesia. Consistent with social psychological formulations of the hidden observer phenomenon, subjects reported both higher covert than overt pain and lower covert than overt pain depending on the instructions they were administered.
Wagstaff, Graham F. (1983). Comment on McConkey’s “Challenging hypnotic effects: The impact of conflicting influences on response to hypnotic suggestion”. [Comment/Discussion] .
NOTES
“Probably the most consistent finding to emerge from McConkey’s review is that hypnotic subjects tend to respond in accordance with what they feel the hypnotist really wants, regardless of conflicting experimental demands” (p. 13).
1982
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
An attempt was made to relate hypnotic susceptibility to an objective measure of compliance in a real-life setting. Hypnotic susceptibility scores for 235 college graduates, who graduated between the years 1971-1979, were compared to their records for alumni annual giving. Those who had made at least 1 contribution to the college since graduation were significantly higher in hypnotic susceptibility than those who had made no contribution. The rsults suggest that willingness to respond to a persuasive appeal may be related to a person’s susceptibility to hypnosis.
1979
Provides a social psychological interpretation of the interrelations among demonic possession, mesmerism, and hysteria. It is argued that the reciprocal role relationship of mesmerist and magnetized S in the 18th and 19th centuries involved the secularization of the role relation that had existed between exorcist and demonically possessed. The commonalities between these 2 sets of social roles are delineated, some of the variables leading an individual to learn and enact the posessed role are outlined, and several lines of historical evidence pertaining to the influence of the exorcist-demoniac relationship on the mesmeric relationship are outlined. The influence of the possessed role in shaping the role of the hysterical patient is also discussed. The use of hysteria as a modern explanatory concept in histories of possession and mesmerism, however, is criticized. (198 ref).
1978
Coe, William C. (1978). The credibility of posthypnotic amnesia: A contextualist’s view. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 26 (4), 218-245.
This paper attempts to demonstrate how the contextual view rather than the formist-mechanistic view may be more helpful in understanding posthypnotic amnesia. As a point of departure, the criterion for credible posthypnotic amnesia is defined as Ss’ phenomenal experiences which are observed indirectly through their counterfactual statements expressed wtih a high degree of conviction. To make sense of such self-reports, concepts flowing from contextualism, the view of man as an active person in an everchanging series of contexts, are employed. Concepts such as plots, reinforcement contingencies, trust, belief systems, involvement, ambiguousness, and self-observation may be postulated in understanding how people come to believe in their own counterfactual reports and to convince others of their credibility. Recent research on source amnesia, disrupted retrieval, and breaching posthypnotic amnesia is also critically evaluated. The conclusion is reached that the data are not compelling and their interpretations have been overstated.
Hearn, Greg (1978, November). Susceptibility and the process of social interaction in the hypnotic context. [Unpublished manuscript] (Submitted as a partial requirement for the B. S. degree with honours in psychology at the Univ of Queensland)
The hypothesis was tested that the process of social interaction between hypnotist and subject is dependent upon the susceptibility level of subjects. Using Interaction Process Analysis (Bales, 1950), the interaction patterns of 16 high susceptibles and 16 low susceptibles were analyzed. Susceptibility level had been pretested with the HGSHS:A. The hypnotist was then instructed on how to control for differences in the process of interaction which were isolated and the initial hypnotic session was repeated on a new sample. This time the performance and interaction patterns of six high susceptibles and six low susceptibles were compared. Results suggested that trait differences give rise spontaneously to differences in the process of interaction and some combination of these effect the subjects final hypnotic performance. Hence it is argued that an interactionist framework would aid the understanding hypnotic responsivity.
1974
Spanos, Nicholas P.; Barber, Theodore Xenophon (1974). Toward a convergence in hypnosis research. American Psychologist, 29 (7), 500-511.
NOTES
The authors believe that there is general agreement that “responding to suggestions involves at least two interrelated factors. The first can be conceptualized as a willingness on the part of the subject to cooperate with the experimenter in fulfilling the aims of the suggestions. The second can be described as a shift in cognitive orientation from an objective or pragmatic perspective to one of involvement in suggestion-related imaginings” (p. 500).
They suggest that the two major theoretical positions lead to different approaches to research. “The construct trance or hypnotic state, despite its inherent vagueness and lack of amenability to operational definition, continues to dominate state conceptualizations of hypnosis. This construct seems to refer to a state that differs, not simply quantitatively, but in some basic, qualitative way, from waking states and from states of sleep. As Bowers (1966) noted, ‘Most [present-day] investigators interested in hypnosis believe that there is an hypnotic state which fundamentally differs from the waking state [p. 42].’ This belief makes it much more likely that it will be state theorists who will conduct studies aimed at establishing a physiological basis for the hypothesized fundamental alteration. The state theorists are also more likely than the nonstate theorists to pursue research that might indicate that hypnotic performance involves unique or highly unusual changes in perceptual functioning or in cognitive functioning, such as trance logic (Orne, 1959). Although studies of this type have generally produced negative or inconclusive findings (Barber, 1979, 1970a, 1973; Barber & Ham, 1974; Hilgard, 1972; Johnson, 1972; Johnson, Maher, & Barber, 1972; Sarbin & Slagle, 1972), they have on occasion yielded some provocative results (Graham, 1979).
“On the other hand, the guiding assumption of the nonstate theorists — that the good hypnotic subject is not fundamentally different from the normal individual who is cooperating in a social situation in which he is asked to experience suggested effects — will lead these investigators to continue their studies of situational and social-psychological antecedents of hypnotic performance. The nonstate investigators may be expected to probe further into the effects of such variabels as how the situation is defined to the subject, what attempts are made to remove fears and misconception, and how the suggestions are worded (Barber & DeMoor, 1972; Spanos, 1973). The basic assumption of the nonstate theorists will also continue to influence their conceptualization of hypnotic performance as a set of socially influenced cognitive skills or abilities. However, despite these differences in the research proclivities of state and nonstate investigators, theoretical convergences of the type outlined in this article indicate that a good deal of the future research carried out by proponents of both paradigms will dovetail in focusing on the role of imaginative processes in hypnotic performance” (pp. 508-509).
1967
Barber, Theodore Xenophon (1967). Reply to Conn and Conn’s ‘Discussion of Barber’s ‘Hypnosis as a causal variable…”. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 3, 111-117.
A REPLY TO J. H. CONN AND R. N. CONN (SEE 42:1). IT IS MAINTAINED THAT (1) INVESTIGATORS HAVE NOT AS YET SUCCEEDED EITHER IN DENOTING THE HYPNOTIC STATE WITHOUT CIRCULARITY OR IN DEMONSTRATING THAT IT PLAYS A ROLE IN ELICITING THE PHENOMENA THAT ARE TO BE EXPLAINED; AND (2) RECENT EXPERIMENTS HAVE SHOWN THAT S”S TESTIMONY THAT HE IS “IN” OR “OUT” OF HYPNOSIS IS DEPENDENT UPON MANY DENOTABLE ANTECEDENT VARIABLES INCLUDING WHAT S BELIEVES HYPNOSIS IS SUPPOSED TO INVOLVE AND WHETHER E IMPLIES TO S THAT HE JUDGES HIM TO BE “IN” OR “OUT.” IT REMAINS TO BE DEMONSTRATED THAT S”S TESTIMONY IS ALSO FUNCTIONALLY RELATED TO THE PRESENCE OR ABSENCE OF THE HYPNOTIC STATE. (SPANISH + GERMAN SUMMARIES) (16 REF.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved)
Conn, J.H.; Conn, R.N. (1967). Discussion of T. X. Barber’s ‘Hypnosis’ as a causal variable in present day psychology: A critical analysis. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 15 (3), 106-110.
T. X. BARBER”S (SEE 39:2) STATEMENT THAT THE TERM HYPNOSIS BE ABANDONED PRESUPPOSES THAT IT MUST BE RIGIDLY DEFINED AND THAT A PROPER DEFINITION MUST DENOTE “NECESSARY AND SUFFICIENT” CONDITIONS. NEITHER PROPOSITION IS VALID SINCE HYPNOSIS IS ESSENTIALLY A HUMAN RESPONSE. BARBER”S VARIABLES ARE ENDOWED WITH A FLEXIBILITY DENIED TO HYPNOSIS. THE SCIENCE OF VARIABLES IS OPPOSED TO THE AMBIGUOUS TERM HYPNOSIS BECAUSE IT DENOTES TOO MANY VARIATIONS IN TECHNIQUE AND RESPONSE. NEVERTHELESS, THE OBJECTIVE SCIENCE OF VARIABLES MAY ONLY APPEAR OBJECTIVE BECAUSE IT OMITS AREAS OF LIFE TO WHICH ITS METHODS DO NOT APPLY. (SPANISH + GERMAN SUMMARIES) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved)
Van der Walde, P. H. (1967). Trance states and ego psychology. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 15 (3), 95-105.
ANALYZES THE BASIC CHARACTERISTICS OF HYPNOSIS, WHICH COMPRISE INDIVIDUAL, INTERPERSONAL, AND CULTURAL VARIABLES. THESE ELEMENTS ARE UTILIZED IN A TRANSCULTURAL COMPARISON TO DEMONSTRATE THAT TRANCE PHENOMENA ARE GOAL-ORIENTED BEHAVIORS WHICH ARE EXPRESSED BY INDIVIDUALS WITHIN A GIVEN CULTURE BY METHODS WHICH ARE CULTURALLY SANCTIONED FOR ACHIEVING THOSE ENDS. THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TRANCE STATES CAN BE UNDERSTOOD TO REPRESENT CULTURAL VARIANTS OF SIMILAR PSYCHOLOGICAL MECHANISMS. (SPANISH + GERMAN SUMMARIES) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved)
1963
Sarbin, Theodore R.; Lim, Donald T. (1963). Some evidence in support of the role-taking hypothesis in hypnosis. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 11, 98-103.
A study was conducted to test the hypothesis that hypnosis is a form of role-taking behavior. Independent measures of hypnotizability as measured on the Freidlander-Sarbin Scale and role-taking ability (improvisations) as judged by the Dramatics Department faculty were found to be significantly related. Those rated high in role-taking were above the mean in hypnotizability, but some high on hypnotizability were low in dramatics ability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved)
1962
Orne, Martin T. (1962). On the social psychology of the psychological experiment, with particular reference to demand characteristics and their implications. American Psychologist, 17 (11), 776-783.
NOTES
“In summary, we have suggested that the subject must be recognized as an active participant in any experiment, and that it may be fruitful to view the psychological experiment as a very special form of social interaction. We have proposed that the subject’s behavior in an experiment is a function of the totality of the situation, which includes the experimental variables being investigated and at least one other set of variables which we have subsumed under the heading, demand characteristics of the experimental situation. The study and control of demand characteristics are not simply matters of good experimental technique; rather, it is an empirical issue to determine under what circumstances demand characteristics significantly affect subjects’ experimental behavior. Several empirical techniques have been proposed for this purpose. It has been suggested that control of these variables in particular may lead to greater reproducibility and ecological validity of psychological experiments. With an increasing understanding of these factors intrinsic to the experimental context, the experimental method in psychology may become a more effective tool in predicting behavior in nonexperimental contexts” (p. 783).
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). 1959 Rosenberg, Milton J. (1959). A disconfirmation of the descriptions of hypnosis as a dissociated state. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 7 (4), 187-204. NOTES "SUMMARY. An experiment is described in which each of a group of hypnotic subjects received a posthypnotic suggestion reversing his affective response on an attitude issue of high interest. The consequent changes in the subjects' affect-related beliefs are compared to 'belief-changes' achieved by members of a group of subjects who were required to role-play the occurrence of 'affect reversal'. "The data are interpreted as disconfirming the description of hypnosis as a dissociated state. Some reasons for the persistence of the dissociation description of hypnosis and some theoretical implications of the demonstration of non-dissociation are briefly discussed" (pp. 202-203). The 11 hypnotic subjects were capable of achieving posthypnotic amnesia. Direct suggestions were given, in the opposite direction from attitudes detected with a 'cognitive structure test'. "For example one of the subjects, having expressed strong negative affect toward Negroes moving into white neighborhoods, was given exactly the following hypnotic instructions: 'When you awake you will be very much in favor of Negroes moving into white neighborhoods. The mere idea of negroes moving into white neighborhoods will give you a happy, exhilarated feeling. You will have no memory for this suggestion having been made until the signal to remember is given'" (p. 193). Wilcox, Warren; Faw, Volney (1959). Social and environmental perceptions of susceptible and unsusceptible hypnotic subjects. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 7 (3), 151-160. NOTES "Summary 1. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that hypnotic susceptibility was positively related to the perception of fundamental aspects of the social and environmental milieu and, further, to consider the nature of hypnosis itself. 2. Ss for this study, 44 women and 36 men, were employed from a previous study (Faw and Wilcox, 1958). A mass hypnotic technique was used and susceptibility was operationally defined by the use of rating scales. The susceptible were found to have better personality adjustment than the unsusceptible. 3. New for this study were self-rating scales of the Ss' perception of parents, personal worries and problems, social activities as group or individually oriented, social activities in school, and physical care. The rating scales were administered several months prior to and independently of the hypnotic induction. 4. Interpretation of results support the hypothesis that the susceptible perceived their social and environmental milieu in more positive terms than did the unsusceptible. The susceptible perceived their parents in significantly stronger affectional and supportive relationships than did the unsusceptible. The susceptible were less concerned about adjustment to the opposite sex, not as worried about personal appearance, were more group oriented and more likely to engage in social activities than were the unsusceptible. Susceptible males were less frequently hospitalized than were unsusceptible males while susceptible females were more frequently hospitalized than were unsusceptible females. 5. Hypnosis was defined as a tendency to accept suggestions and to actualize, maintain and affirm them in the form of perceptual experiences activated by the stimulus situation as interpreted by the S and formulated by the hypnotist. The suggestions arouse expectancies or personal hypotheses which become a gauge to test the efficacy of the suggestions. Perceptualization is shaped by motives and past stimulation of the social and environmental milieu" (p. 158). 1958 Barber, Theodore Xenophon (1958). Hypnosis as perceptual-cognitive restructuring: II. "Post"-hypnotic behavior. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 6 (1), 10-20. NOTES The author presents "experimental evidence indicating that there is no essential difference between 'hypnotic' behavior and 'post-hypnotic' behavior" (p. 11). "Summary and Conclusions "When 'somnambulistic' subjects were told to 'wake up' after they were given a 'post-hypnotic suggestion' and 'amnesia for the suggestion' they behaved as follows: 1. They opened their eyes and became relatively more aware of their surroundings. 2. They were aware that the signal for the 'post-hypnotic- behavior had special significance for them. 3. They were 'set' to 'obey the hypnotist's suggestions' from the moment they were told to 'wake up,' until they were convinced that their interpersonal relationship with the operator was no longer that of subject and hypnotist. 4. When the 'post-hypnotic suggestion' was uncomplicated and fitted into the normal pattern of behavior, the subjects carried it out without 'going deeper into trance,' i.e., without becoming relatively more 'detached' from their surroundings. However, when the 'post-hypnotic suggestion' was of such a nature that it was necessary for the subjects to 'go deeper into trance' to properly carry it out, the subjects _did_ 'go deeper into trance.' "Whether the subjects did or did not have amnesia for the 'post-hypnotic suggestion' was not important. 'Amnesic' and 'non-amnesic' subjects carried out the 'post-hypnotic' behavior in essentially the same way. "These experiments indicate that: 1. If the operator properly manipulates the situation, the 'good' hypnotic subject is 'set' to carry out the operator's commands in the 'post-hypnotic' period in the same way as during 'hypnosis.' 2. If, in order to properly carry out the 'post-hypnotic suggestions,' it is necessary for the subject to 'go deeper into trance' -- i.e., to become relatively inattentive to stimuli not emanating from the operator -- the good subject will do so. 3. There is no _essential- difference between the subject's behavior in the 'hypnotic' period and in the 'post-hypnotic' period. 4. If we are to continue speaking of 'suggestions' to be carried out in the post-hypnotic period we should term them 'post'-hypnotic 'suggestions'" (pp. 19-20). Schneck, Jerome M. (1958). Relationships between hypnotist-audience and hypnotist-subject interaction. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 6 (4), 171-181. NOTES "Summary "Patients discussing or entering hypnotherapy are frequently influenced in their attitudes by some meaure of direct or indirect contact with popular exhibitions of hypnosis. Expectations, interpretations, general behavior, and transference relationships are affected as a result. Previous papers by others have discussed and described popular exhibitions from the view of dangers and deception based on undeclared use of trained hypnotic subjects. The present paper is a study of a popular exhibition of hypnosis by a well known entertainer. Admixtures of good and rewarding entertainment method and poorly managed hypnotic technique are described. Stress is placed on the major approach involving impression by implication rather than elicitation of phenomena and clarification of claims with demonstration by challenge. The result is one of impressing the audience in regard to possible behavior under hypnosis without the actual proof of such claims. This is accomplished through reliance on the suggestibility and gullibility of the audience owing to its lack of experience and information. In most instances then, hypnotist-subject interaction is reduced to the most simple essentials. Stress is placed on the hypnotist-audience relationship. In some of the demonstrations there were varying degrees of subtle interplay between hypnotist-subject and hypnotist-audience relationships with the fostering of audience-subject identification and subject-hypnotist identification via coentertainer status. The hypnotist was capable at times of capitalizing on what he apparently sensed were the needs and likely reactions of certain subjects in connection with some forms of post-hypnotic behavior. The quality of the performance was mixed from an amusement point of view. Errors in technique occurred to a surprising degree in view of the hypnotist's extensive experience. Some entertaining highlights supported the performance. The relationship between hypnotist-audience and hypnotist-subject interaction are of interest within the larger context of interpersonal relations involving small and large groups. 1953 Glasner, Samuel (1953). Research problems in the educational and social psychological applications of hypnosis. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 1 (2), 42-48. NOTES The author reviews literature in which hypnosis is used as an experimental research method in two general areas: hypnosis in learning and recall, and hypnosis in social psychology. "In summary, the application of hypnosis to research in the fields of educational and social psychology is practically virgin territory. Imaginative investigators should be able to develop numerous interesting experiments in these two great areas" (p. 47). Glasner, Samuel (1953). Two experiments in the modification of attitude by the use of hypnotic and waking suggestion. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 1, 71-75. NOTES Author's Conclusions: "In the light of the results, the following conclusions would appear to be justified: 1. Prestige suggestion can effect changes in an individual's response to an attitudes test. 2. Repeated prestige suggestion produces no more marked effect than does a single suggestion in changing social attitudes. However, the results seem to be more lasting with repeated suggestion. 3. Repeated hypnotic suggestion is considerably more effective than repeated waking suggestion in modifying social attitudes. But waking suggestion also seems to have some effect. 4. The effects of both hypnotic and waking suggestion vary greatly with different individuals. 5. The effect of repeated prestige suggestion in changing social attitudes apparently does not follow the pattern of the usual learning curve. 6. The changes noted seem to represent changes in basic attitude, and not merely changes in the response to a particular test" (P. 74). The attitudes involved nationality preferences ("Negro, Turk, Hindu, or Chinamen" p. 71). The prestige suggestion, given in light hypnosis, was "The results on the test I gave you were rather disappointing. Most people think that we in the South are deeply prejudiced against the colored races. But that is a mis-understanding of our position. Certainly we University people have no actual dislike of Negroes, Chinamen, or Hindus. And it is our hope, in giving this test, to demonstrate our true attitude, which is far more tolerant than most people give us credit for. I am therefore going to give you the test again. I want you, of course, to give your honest preferences. But where you find a choice difficult, give the 'underdog' the benefit of the doubt. Do you understand? Give the 'underdog' the benefit of the doubt!" (p. 72). SOCIAL SUPPORT 1993 Spiegel, David; Frischholz, Edward J.; Fleiss, Joseph L.; Spiegel, Herbert (1993). Predictors of smoking abstinence following a single-session restructuring intervention with self hypnosis. American Journal of Psychiatry, 150, 1090-1097. Examined the relation of smoking and medical history, social support, and hypnotizability to outcome with Spiegel's smoking-cessation program. A consecutive series of 226 smokers were treated with the single-session approach and followed up for 2 years. With a total abstinence criterion, 52% success was found after 1 week, and 23% abstinence at 2 years. Hypnotizability and having been previously able to quit smoking for at least a month significantly predicted the initiation of abstinence. Hypnotizability and living with a significant other person predicted 2-year maintenance. The results are superior to those of spontaneous efforts to stop smoking and suggest it is possible to predict which patients are most likely to respond and which patients are least likely to respond to such a brief intervention. 1992 Wickramasekera, Ian (1992, August). Hypnotic ability as a risk factor for psychopathology and pathophysiology. [Paper] Presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Washington, DC. Eighty-three patients with psychophysiological disorders seen prior to therapy were tested on the seven risk factors of the High Risk Model. Thirty-two percent of these patients were high on hypnotic ability, and hypnotic ability was unrelated to all of the other six risk factors. Mean social support and coping skills were significantly below the norm. Mean catastrophizing, negative affect (neuroticism), major life change and minor hassles were significantly above the norm. There are positive and significant correlations between hassles, negative affect and catastrophizing. There are also positive and significant correlations between coping skills and number and level of satisfaction with social support. There are negative and significant correlations between coping skills, catastrophizing, negative affect and hassles. There are also negative and significant correlations between satisfaction with social support, catastrophizing, and hassles. (ABSTRACT from the Bulletin of Division 30, Psychological Hypnosis, Fall, 1992, Vol. 1, No. 3.) 1990 Matheson, G.; Drever, J. M. (1990). Psychological preparation of the patient for breast reconstruction. Annals of Plastic Surgery, 24, 238-247. NOTES Reviews over 100 women who had undergone rectus abdominis musculocutaneous flap reconstruction, the psychological issues motivating the patient for surgery, and psychological problems to be considered by the surgeon. A method of psychological preparation that was used and a report on the evaluative study of the program is included, and a protocol and verbalization for hypnotic relaxation is included. Somer, E. (1990). Brief simultaneous couple hypnotherapy with a rape victim and her spouse: A brief communication. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 38 (1), 1-5. This paper presents a case involving a rape victim and her emotionally affected spouse. Although the assault occurred before the couple met, the husband was too upset to concentrate when the victim wanted to share her rape-related feelings, nor could he provide the much needed empathy and support. This, apparently, was due to his difficulties in handling his own rage. Simultaneous couple hypnotherapy was used to allow the victim to share her experience under conditions safe for both her and her spouse. As he imagined in trance the rape account described by his age-regressed wife, he learned to identify his emotions and experience them in a controlled manner. During subsequent sessions, the husband was encouraged to include himself in his wife's abreaction and reshape the traumatic scene for both of them. The husband's rescuing behavior and the expressions of violent anger towards the perpetrator had several positive consequences. Not only did they change the abandonment component of the victim's traumatic memory, but they also helped the husband deal in better ways with his own feelings of anger. It also provided the couple with a helpful coping mechanism they later effectively applied under different circumstances. 1989 Spiegel, David; Bloom, J. R.; Kraemer, H. C.; Gottheil, E. (1989, October 14). The beneficial effect of psychosocial treatment on survival of metastatic breast cancer patients: A randomized prospective outcome study. Lancet, 888-891. The effect of psychosocial intervention on time of survival of 86 metastatic breast cancer patients was studied using randomized prospective design. The one-year treatment consisted of weekly supportive group therapy with training in self-hypnosis for pain management, and resulted in significant reductions in mood disturbance and pain. Both the treatment and control groups had routine oncologic care. At ten-year follow-up, only three of the original 86 patients were still alive, and death records were obtained for the other 83. Survival from the time of randomization and onset of intervention was 36.6 (sd = 37.6) months for the treatment group, compared with 18.9 (sd = 10.8) months for the control group, and this difference was highly significant (Z = 3.94, p <.0001) using the Cox life table regression model. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis indicated that the divergence in survival began at 20 months after entry into the study, or 8 months after the treatment intervention ended. These unexpected findings suggest that intensive psychosocial support affects the course of the illness, although the mechanism by which it does so is not clear. 1986 Wickramasakera, Ian (1986). A model of people at high risk to develop chronic stress-related somatic symptoms: Some predictions. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 17, 437-447. Certain measurable high-risk factors that predispose people to develop functionally based somatic disorders are identified. These risk factors compose a multidimensional model that encompasses variables involved in the predisposition, the precipitation, and the buffering of stress-related symptoms. These high-risk factors are (a) high or low hypnotic ability, (b) habitual catastrophizing cognitions and pessimistic belief systems, (c) autonomic lability or neuroticism, (d) multiple major life changes or multiple minor hassles over a short period of time, and (e) a deficit in support systems or coping skills or both. 1984 Wideman, Margaret V.; Singer, Jerome E. (1984). The role of psychological mechanisms in preparation for childbirth. American Psychologist, 39, 1357-1371. Psychoprophylactic (Lamaze) preparation for childbirth consists of six to eight classes held during the last trimester of pregnancy. These classes include instruction in the anatomy and physiology of gestation and parturition, respiration techniques, controlled neuromuscular relaxation, visual focusing, and the training of a labor coach. Although the techniques are based upon psychological principles, they have remained largely unstudied by either psychologists or physicians. This article presents a brief history of the development of the training regimen and critically examines the few empirical studies that have been conducted. Because explanations for the efficacy of the preparation, if it exists, are equivocable, literature on the explicit components of the training--that is, information, respiration techniques, conditioned relaxation, cognitive restructuring, and social support--in situations other than child delivery are reviewed and their implications for the Lamaze method discussed. However, because there exist several, more implicit factors that may affect the type of child delivery a prepared woman experiences, the literature concerning social comparison, the effects of commitment and conformity, perceived control, and endorphin secretion are also discussed as they may apply to psychoprophylactic preparation. Problems associated with the study of childbirth preparation are presented, and suggestions for the direction of future research are made. 1976 Dempster, C. R.; Balson, P.; Whalen, B. T. (1976). Supportive hypnotherapy during the radical treatment of malignancies. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 24, 1-9. NOTES "In summary, the radical treatment of malignancies presents a number of hypnotherapeutic opportunities. Not only can hypnotherapy help alleviate disease-related symptoms, but it can also limit some of the distressing side-effects of the treatments. The patient can gain needed hope by having the impact of his disease lessened. The hypnotherapeutic relationship also provides a useful base fom which to deal with the issues of terminal illness, of death, and of dying. "Implications for the future basically revolve around the issue of supportive hypnotehrapy during radical treatment. As the use of chemotherapy of malignancies increases, there will be many opportunities for successful hypnotherapeutic interventions" (pp. 7-8). SEIZURES / EPILEPSY 2002 Gravitz, M.A. & Page, R.A, (2002). Hypnosis in the management of stress reactions.. In Everly, G.S.; Lating, J.M. (Ed.), A clinical guide to the treatment of the human stress response. (2nd, pp. 241-252). New York: NY: Kluwer/Plenum. Reviews the history and current modes of hypnosis-based treatments of a variety of stress reactions. 2000 Breuer, William C. (2000). Physically focused hypnotherapy: A practical guide to medical hypnosis in everyday practice. Louisville, KY: SPRF Inc., 1810 Sils Avenue, Louisville, Kentucky, 40205.