NOTE
(From the Discussion Section). As suggested by Sacerdote (1970), the combination procedure was the most generally effective in producing hypnotic responses. The difference between combined and imagery inductions reached statistical significance on four dependent variables, and the difference between combined and relaxation reached significance on three. It may also be of interest that Ss receiving the combined procedure scored consistently higher on all nine dependent variables.
A somewhat unexpected finding was that the relaxation induction produced scores on four of the dependent variables that were statistically higher than the imagery induction scores. Considering the difficulty of isolating relaxation and imagery components, it is quite noteworthy that these differences between inductions were found.
The four variables in which the combination and relaxation conditions produced significantly higher scores than the imagery condition were subjective reports–subjective score, degree hypnotized, response volition, and Field Inventory. In contrast to Ss in the imagery induction, Ss in the other two induction conditions believed that they were responding more, felt that their responses were more nonvolitional, and felt that they were more deeply hypnotized.
The fact that relaxation instructions were present in both conditions that were superior to the imagery condition would appear to support Edmonston’s (1981) position which posits relaxation as essential for the production of the state of neutral hypnosis. For Edmonston the condition of neutral hypnosis is defined as the relaxed state and precedes other phenomena, such as dissociation and increased suggestibility, which other theoreticians may include in the definition of hypnosis.
However, the statistically significant superior effect of the combined over the relaxation induction on three measures casts doubt on Edmonston’s position. The S believes that he or she is more deeply hypnotized and is responding less volitionally when an imagery component is combined with relaxation. The Ss also responded more to the Field Inventory when the combined induction was used.
Another explanation for imagery’s relatively poor showing may lie in Ss’ differential expectations. The Ss, especially those with previous experience with a traditional hypnotic induction, as was the case in the present study, may not expect to be hypnotized when presented with an imagery alone induction. Such expectations, of course, might reduce responses. On the other hand, there is no reason to believe that the reduced expectation in the imagery condition would not affect the behavioral responses as well, and such was not the case.
Thus, we may be left with the explanation that relaxation adds to the subjective experience of hypnosis. This is in keeping with Edmonston’s (1981) position as well as with previous research, such as that by Hilgard and Tart (1966), which finds traditional inductions, with their relaxation components, superior to nontraditional inductions, such as fantasy or task-motivational. If future research should find that bodily involvements such as the physical exertion or repetitive motor behavior (Banyai and Hilgard, 1976) lead to the same level of subjective experience as relaxation did, then we may need to broaden the concept of the somatic component beyond relaxation alone.
In terms of the behavioral compliance of Ss, the results of the present study are in accord with some previous studies in finding all procedures equally effective. Neither imagery, relaxation, nor the combined procedure was superior for the behavioral measure.
Personality factors (social desirability, internality/externality, and absorption) did not affect the basic findings. To the degree that the Tellegen scales measure the ability to engage in imagery there seems to be little basis for believing that imagery ability is related to the general findings.
Sarbin (1983) would call the inductions studied here ‘entrance rituals,’ and he has recently asked in his review of Edmonston’s book, “Which ritual is more suitable… [p. 58]’ for preparing S to respond in various hypnotic ways? One answer from the present results is that an entrance ritual should include muscular relaxation if one wants a better subjective response from S. From Sarbin’s point of view, the relaxation component may be more ego-involving, producing more subjective experience and meaning for S.
If one wants to produce only a behavioral response, either a relaxation or imagery ritual will serve.
Pekala, Ronald J. (1986, August). Phenomenological variations in attention across low, medium, and high susceptibility subjects. [Paper] Presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Washington, DC.
Phenomenological aspects of attention were assessed across 434 subjects in reference to baseline conditions of eyes-open or closed sitting quietly and an hypnotic induction condition. An attention questionnaire, assessing 12 dimensions of attention, was constructed and subjects completed it retrospectively in reference to the baseline condition and hypnosis. Reliability analyses indicated acceptable reliability for most dimensions. Regression and correlational analyses suggested adequate validity. Comparisons between baseline and hypnosis indicated significant phenomenological intensity differences between stimulus conditions on many attention dimensions. Comparisons among low, medium, and high susceptibles in reference to baseline and hypnosis also yielded many significant intensity differences. In addition, significant interactions between conditions and groups for many of the attention dimensions suggest that hypnosis, in comparison to the baseline conditions, potentiated intensity differences in attention for high, vis-a-vis (and medium), susceptible subjects.
Register, Patricia A.; Kihlstrom, John F. (1986). Finding the hypnotic virtuoso. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 34, 84-97.
Measures of hypnotizability based on the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A (HGSHS:A) correlate only moderately with those based on the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form C (SHSS:C). Ss (N = 148) scoring in the high range (10-12) on HGSHS:A were classified according to whether they scored in the “virtuoso” range (11-12) or not on a subsequent administration of SHSS:C. Significant group differences were found on items comprising the cognitive distortion subscale of HGSHS:A, whether assessed in terms of overt behavior or subjective impressions of success. The 2 groups also differed on global self-ratings of hypnotic depth and on those subscales of Field’s Inventory Scale of Hypnotic Depth concerned with subjective feelings of loss of control, automaticity, transcendence of normal functioning, and fluctuating depth. Assessments of hypnotizability are enhanced when investigators consider subjective involvement as well as behavioral measures of hypnotic response. This is particularly important when the more dissociative aspects of hypnosis are under scrutiny.
NOTES
The correlation between Harvard Group and Stanford Scale scores is usually about r = .60 (Bentler & Roberts, 1963; Coe, 1964; Evans & Schmeidler, 1966). This is much lower than one would expect (r = .82), based on the tests’ individual reliabilities (Evans & Schmeidler, 1966).
The authors developed a Table to show the cross-classification of Ss in terms of Harvard and SHSS:C. Only a minority (33%) of Ss scoring in the highest range of HGSHS:A also scored in the highest range on the SHSS:C (or 50% if cutting points are different).
The Absorption scale correlated r = .38 (p<.001) with the Harvard Scale, which fell to r = .31 (p<.01) when corrected for expansion of range. The correlation between Absorption and SHSS:C was .35 (p<.001).
The issue of predicting Stanford 'virtuosos' from Harvard 'virtuosos' was addressed. HGSHS:A predictor variables were used to determine which items determined whether or not one of the HGSHS:A 'virtuosos' (the 20% who scored 11-12) would also be a SHSS:C 'virtuoso.' It was found that 70% of the SHSS:C virtuosos, but only 53% of the nonvirtuosos, had reversible posthypnotic amnesia on the HGSHS:A. None of the ideomotor or challenge subscale items demonstrated this ability to predict group association. Although the 'virtuosos' differed from the 'nonvirtuosos' in self reported depth, none of the coding categories associated with the depth variable differentiated the groups; also, judges could not predict who would be a Stanford 'virtuoso' based on subjects' descriptions of depth following the Harvard scale administration.
The Experimenters also could not predict who among the Harvard 'virtuosos' would be classified as a Stanford 'virtuoso' based on either their Absorption Scale score or previous experience with hypnosis.
It was found that subjects' subjective experience of the suggestions for hallucinations, amnesia, and posthypnotic behavior (all considered to be cognitive alterations) were the most highly correlated with the subsequent total SHSS:C score. On the Field scale, which measures subjective experience, the most predictive items had to do with feelings of automaticity and loss of control (referred to as nonvoluntary behavior in other literature). Predicting SHSS:C score by 5 items (Harvard behavioral score, Harvard subjective score, Field total score, Tellegen Absorption total score, and self reported depth rating), r = .44. "The 5-element regression, employing only total scores, explained 17% ... of the variance of SHSS:C; thus, the feelings of subjective success accounted for the vast proportion (79%) of the explainable variance. For the 16 element regression, employing subscales derived from factor analysis of HGSHS:A and Inventory Scale of Hypnotic Depth, the cognitive subscale was dominant, accounting for 65.5% of explainable variance" (p. 92).
A discriminant function analysis employing the same five total score variables correctly classified 63.3% of the virtuosos.
In their Discussion, the authors suggest that investigators use subjective response as well as behavioral response when identifying hypnotic talent (virtuosos) for research. Particularly, the subjective experience of success seems to be important. Little is known, to date, about the determinants of that sense of success with hypnotic suggestions. "In part, they may relate to the 'classic suggestion effect' (K. S. Bowers, 1981; P. G. Bowers, 1982; Weitzenhoffer, 1974): the quasi-automatic, compulsory, involuntary quality which distinguishes hypnotic response from compliance with simple social requests. If so, then a direct assessment of perceived involuntariness might enhance the predictive validity of HGSHS:A even more. This is especially true for the perceptual-cognitive alterations which relate to Ss' capacity for dissociation" (p. 94).
The authors further recommend, "In those situations where HGSHS:A must stand alone for economic reasons, however, and especially where HGSHS:A is employed as a convenient preliminary screening device in the search for hypnotic virtuosos, it would seem that some assessment of the subjective experience of hypnosis would provide useful supplementary information at very little cost" (p. 94).
Stam, Henderikus J.; McGrath, Patricia A.; Brooke, Ralph I.; Cosier, Frances (1986). Hypnotizability and the treatment of chronic facial pain. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 34, 182-191.
The Carleton University Responsiveness to Suggestion Scale (CURSS) of Spanos, Radtke, Hodgins, Bertrand and Stam and Spanos, Radtke, Hodgins, Stam, and Bertrand (1983) was individually administered to a sample of 61 facial pain patients. The mean scores on the 3 CURSS suggestibility dimensions were higher than those of the college student norms. As in previous studies using the CURSS, however, objective scores were smaller when experienced involuntariness was taken into account. Observer scores of overt responses were highly related to self-scores of overt responses. The CURSS also proved a good predictor of reductions in clinical pain following a psychologically based treatment program.
NOTES: The CURSS has 7 items: 2 ideomotor (arm-levitation, arms moving apart); 2 motor-challenge (arm rigidity, arm immobility); and 3 cognitive (auditory hallucination, visual hallucination, amnesia). The CURSS yields 3 suggestibility scores: O = Objective (number of suggestions to which S made appropriate overt response; 0-7 range) S = Subjective (the degree to which S reports experiencing the subjective events called for; 0-21 range) O-I = Objective-Involuntariness (number of suggestions that were passed objectively and that were rated as involuntary to either a moderate or great degree; 0-7 range) VC = Voluntary Cooperation; items that are passed objectively and are primarily experienced as voluntary occurrences
They tested 61 patients in facial pain clinic, mean age 26 years, who were diagnosed with temporo-mandibular pain and dysfunction syndrome (TMPDS). This syndrome includes pain, limitations in mandibular movements, and sounds during condylar movements. 41 of the patients completed a cognitive behavioral pain treatment program (results reported elsewhere, in Stam, H. J., McGrath, P. A., & Brooke, R. I. The effects of a cognitive-behavioral treatment program on temporo-mandibular pain and dysfunction syndrome. _Psychosom. Med.,_ 1984, _46_, 534-545).
Patients rated degree they expected to be hypnotized on a visual analog scale. Expectations for becoming hypnotized were not significantly correlated with any of the dimensions, except for the CURSS:O observer-scored dimension (r = .29). Age was also related to the CURSS:O observer-scored dimension (r = -.25) as well as to the CURSS:S dimension (r = -.28).
Several measures of treatment outcome were employed--change scores of weekly self ratings, and post-treatment ratings by the dental surgeon (worse, same, improved, alleviated).
"Whereas the CURSS:V-C dimension is not at all related to any of the outcome measures, the objective, subjective, and objective-involuntariness measures are highly and significantly correlated with the reduction in patients' peak pain scores and the posttreatment pain ratings. The correlations between measures of hypnotizability and pain reductions are not significant for the control group, though these are based on small sample size. Table 3 also indicates a lack of relationship between measures of hypnotizability and the weekly pain ratings. Stam et al. (1984a) point out that it may have been due to the relative instability of the global weekly ratings of pain versus the daily ratings obtained from the home logs that were used to calculate the peak pain scores" (p. 187).
Table 3 Correlation Coefficients between Dimensions of the CURSS and Reductions in Pain
Susceptibility Dimension Pain Reduction O S O-I V-C
Measures
Pre-post .60**(.36) .51**(.19) .44*(-.21) .18(.42) Peak Pre-post .19 -.01 .15 .07 Weekly rated Posttreatment .54**(-.05) .58**(.26) .58**(.01) -.02(.37) Surgeon's rating
Note: Correlations in parentheses are for the Waiting List Control group (N = 14; N = 10 for Peak Pain); all others are for combined treatment groups, N = 27.
*p<.05 **p<.01
In their Discussion, the authors note that this research is in accord with other studies that indicate that "objective responding and the experience of those responses involuntarily are not necessarily equivalent. ... Ss in both the laboratory and the clinic are almost twice as likely to pass suggestions when assessed overtly than by the combined objective-involuntariness criterion. ... [and] objective scores alone confound responses experienced as voluntary with those experienced as involuntary" (pp. 188-189). They report that earlier studies from their laboratory indicated that "only CURSS suggestibility dimensions, and not the VC dimension, correlated significantly with absorption and Field's (1965) Inventory Scale of Hypnotic Depth. ... [and] correlations between hypnotizability and reductions in pain were not due to compliance factors but were related to each of the other three ways of assessing hypnotizability" (p. 189).
"The objective, subjective, and objective-involuntariness dimensions were all significantly correlated with the reductions in peak pain and posttreatment ratings for the treatment groups but not for the control groups. These results replicate the laboratory demonstrations that hypnotizability is correlated with suggested analgesia regardless of the presence or absence of a hypnotic induction procedure (E. R. Hilgard & J. R. Hilgard, 1975; Spanos, Radtke-Bodorik, Ferguson, & Jones, 1979; Stam & Spanos, 1980). There is some evidence, however, that this depends on the hypnotic induction procedure being defined as a component of the analgesia testing situation (Spanos, Kennedy, & Gwynn, 1984).
"Despite the differential predictions between CURSS dimensions and pain reductions, there were no increases in the predictions of pain reductions when objective scores were corrected for involuntariness or when using subjective scores. (This was apparent for the combined treatment groups as well as for each group examined separately.) The reasons for this are not obvious and await further research" (p. 189).
The authors conclude from their research that the general practice of self-scoring hypnotizability scales that is used in laboratory research appears to be equally reliable in a clinical situation.
Wilson, L.; Kihlstrom, J. F. (1986). Subjective and categorical organization of recall during posthypnotic amnesia. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 95 (3), 264-73.
Conducted 2 experiments to determine the fate of organization of recall during posthypnotic amnesia. In both studies, amnesia suggestions were administered to undergraduate Ss of low, medium, and high hypnotic susceptibility who had learned a word list by the method of free recall while they were hypnotized. In Exp I (n = 44), words were unrelated to each other, and subjective organization was measured by raw and adjusted pair frequency. In Exp II (n = 59), words were drawn from various taxonomic categories, and category clustering was measured by repetition ratio, modified repetition ratio, and adjusted ratio of clustering. Results indicate that, compared to baseline levels, subjective organization and category clustering did not decrease reliably during the time the amnesia suggestion was in effect. Moreover, these aspects of strategic organization were not significantly correlated with the number of items recalled during amnesia. Both findings contrast with previous results concerning temporal organization of a word list memorized by the method of serial learning. Findings suggest that the disruption of retrieval processes in posthypnotic amnesia may be limited to certain organizational schemes. (43 ref).
Woolson, Donald A. (1986). An experimental comparison of direct and Ericksonian hypnotic induction procedures and the relationship to secondary suggestibility. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 29 (1), 23-28.
Recent studies reporting the disparate effects of direct and indirect suggestion upon hypnotized subjects have indicated that standardized, direct hypnotic susceptibility tests may not accurately predict the suggestibility of subjects exposed to an indirectly worded, albeit similar, test. Historically, primary suggestibility correlates highly with hypnotizability, while secondary suggestibility does not and has been reported to be a subject's response to indirect suggestion. In this study 56 volunteers for self-hypnosis training were first tested for secondary/indirect suggestibility, then each singly received either a direct standardardized [sic] induction or an Ericksonian (indirect) version. While susceptibility scores between groups were close, a greater number of the Ericksonian group subjects were rated as medium or highly susceptible. This occurred regardless of their type of suggestibility. Also, the Ericksonian group subjects appeared to be less aware of their depth of trance, as judged by a comparison of their susceptibility scores and their self-report depth scores. - Journal Abstract
1985
Jupp, James J.; Collins, John K. (1985). Hypnotic responsiveness and depth in a clinical population. Australian Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 13 (1), 37-47.
Two samples of clinical subjects estimated depth during procedures which allowed their estimates to be related to aspects of responsivity. In Sample 1, subjects estimated depth after they scored their responsivities and tested their post-hypnotic recall. In Sample 2 subjects estimated depth before they had completed these tasks. Results suggested that subjects use the range of available information in making depth estimates and that they may be more influenced by the more obvious ideomotor challenge performances than by the cognitive distortion reponses, aspects of amnesia, or impressions of involuntariness.
Jupp, J. J.; Collins, J. K.; McCabe, M. P. (1985). Estimates of hypnotizability: Standard group scale versus subjective impression in clinical populations. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 33 (2), 140-149.
The relationship between hypnotic responsiveness as measured by the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A (HGSHS:A) of Shor and E. Orne (1962) and global depth estimates derived from an 11-point scale were explored in 2 clinical samples. In one case, depth estimates were made just before, and in the other, immediately following the patients' focus on aspects of hypnotic responsiveness. The responsiveness-depth relationship was moderate and consistent across both samples, a finding which in itself is consonant with previous findings employing experimental Ss. When HGSHS:A performance and depth estimates were less proximate, the relationship between them remained significant but was substantially reduced in magnitude. Data suggest that low hypnotizabile Ss increase their estimates of depth, and that higher hypnotizable Ss retain relatively stable estimates with increased exposure to hypnosis in a clinical context.
Kelly, Paul James (1985, November). The relationship between hypnotic ability and hypnotic experience (Dissertation). Dissertation Abstracts International, 46 (5), 1690-B.
"This study investigated the relationship between four types of hypnotic experience and hypnotic ability. The types of experiences were: dissociation, the experience of involuntariness, altered state effects, such as perceptual alterations and diminished reality sense rapport, transference-like involvement with the hypnotist, and relaxation. A 47-item scale, the Hypnotic Experience Questionnaire was developed to measure types of hypnotic experience. It was given to 484 subjects and then to a subsample of 272 students. When the scale was factored, four stable factors emerged: Nonconscious/Trance, Rapport, Relaxation, and Cognitive Rumination. A Group Profile Scale was also developed to measure students and when it was factor analyzed four factors were extracted: Hallucinations and Fantasies, Amnesias and Post-Hypnotic Compulsions, Motor Inhibition, and Direct Motor Suggestion. "Two statistical approaches were used to investigate the connections between hypnotic ability and hypnotic experience . Canonical analysis was used to identify the main relationships between hypnotic ability and hypnotic experience and factor analysis was used to explore the relationship among measures of hypnotizability and hypnotic experience. Two canonical variates from the canonical analysis were significant. The first variate was characterized by a dissociative-imaginative involvement process, and the second variate tapped a rapport-social compliance process. "When 25 variables, representing components of hypnotic ability and hypnotic experience, were factored, five factors were extracted. Imaginative Involvement, Ideomotor Response, Rapport, Cognitive Inhibition, and Relaxation. The results of the factor analysis suggested that dissociative experience and altered state experience are related to hypnotic ability but rapport and relaxation are not. "The results of study, taken as a whole, suggest that relaxation and rapport may happen in the hypnotic situation, but neither experience is related to the condition of being hypnotized in any essential way. The results suggest that the hypnotic condition is characterized by dissociative experience, altered state experience, and by successful performance on hypnotic ability tasks. From a theoretical point of view, the results strongly supported Hilgard's theory, partially supported Shor's theory, and failed to support Edmonston's theory" (p. 1690).
Kirsch, Irving (1985, November). Response expectancy as a determinant of experience and behavior. American Psychologist, 40 (11), 1189-1202.
Response expectancies, defined as expectancies of the occurrence of nonvolitional responses, have generally been ignored in theories of learning. Research on placebos, hypnosis, and fear reduction indicates that response expectancies generate corresponding subjective experiences. In many cases, the genuineness of these self- reported effects has been substantiated by corresponding changes in behavior and physiological function. The means by which response expectancies affect experience, physiology, and behavior are hypothesized to vary as a function of response mode. The generation of changes in subjective experience by corresponding response expectancies is hypothesized to be a basic psychological mechanism. Physiological effects are accounted for by the mindbody identity assumption that is common to all nondualist philosophies of psychology. The effects of response expectancies on volitional behavior are due to the reinforcing properties of many nonvolitional responses. Classical conditioning appears to be one method by which response expectancies are acquired, but response expectancy effects that are inconsistent with a conditioning hypothesis are also documented.
Tkachyk, Mary E.; Spanos, Nicholas P.; Bertrand, Lorne D. (1985). Variables affecting subjective organization during posthypnotic amnesia. Journal of Research in Personality, 19, 95-108.
Subjects learned a list of unrelated words to a criterion of either two successive correct trials (standard criterion), or two successive correct trials plus five additional recall trials (extra criterion). The extra recall trials significantly increased the subjective organization of recall. In the extra criterion group, a posthypnotic amnesia suggestion and a nonhypnotic distraction task produced equivalent decrements both in the amount recalled and in the subjective organization of recall. In the standard criterion group, suggestion and distraction reduced the amount recalled, but not the subjective organization of recall. The implications of these findings for understanding the contradictory results of earlier studies of recall organization during amnesia are discussed. Implications for theories of hypnotic amnesia are also discussed.
Vickery, Anne R.; Kirsch, Irving; Council, James R.; Sirkin, Mark I. (1985). Cognitive skill and traditional trance hypnotic inductions: A within-subjects comparison. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 53 (1), 131-133.
Comparison of a traditional trance hypnotic induction and a cognitive skill induction in a within-Ss design with 40 undergraduates showed that the cognitive skill induction enhanced subjective responses to suggestions and produced significant increments in behavioral responses when it was preceded by the trance induction. The trance procedure led to greater self-reported alterations in consciousness. Findings suggest that skill induction teaches cognitive strategies that enhance responsivity to suggestions in subsequent hypnotic experiences, independent of alterations in consciousness elicited by trance induction.
1984
Kelly, Paul James (1984, December). The relationship between hypnotic ability and hypnotic experience. Newsletter of Division 30, Psychological Hypnosis, of the American Psychological Association, 5.
This study investigated the relationship between four types of hypnotic experience and hypnotic ability. The types of experience were: dissociation, the experience of involuntariness; altered state effects, such as perceptual alterations and diminished reality sense; rapport, transference-like involvement with the hypnotist; and relaxation. A sample of 230 students was given the HGSHS:A, a group version of the SHSS:C, and the Hypnotic Experience Questionnaire (Kelly, 1984), a 47-item multidimensional scale of hypnotic experience. Items were taken from these tests to form 11 hypnotic ability variables (Positive Hallucinations, Dreams and Regressions, Post- Hypnotic Compulsions, Amnesia (HGSHS:A), Amnesia (SHSS:C), Arm Rigidity, Arm Immobilization, Other Motor Inhibitions, Head Falling, Moving Hands Together, and Hand Lowering). Fourteen hypnotic experience variables were also formed (Generalized Dissociative Effects, Dissociative Inhibition, Trance, Unawareness, Transference-like Involvement, Trust, Friendliness, Physical Relaxation, Mental Relaxation, Imagery Presence, Imagery Vividness, Imagery Detail, Self Consciousness, and Analytic Thoughts). The 25 variables were intercorrelated and factored with principal axis factoring. Five factors with eigenvalues greater than 1 were extracted and rotated to varimax criteria. These factors, which accounted for 54.4 percent of the variance, were called: Imaginative Involvement, Ideomotor Response, Rapport, Cognitive Inhibition, and Relaxation. Hypnotic ability variables loaded significantly on three of the factors (Imaginative Involvement, Ideomotor Response, and Cognitive Inhibition) and these three factors also tapped some aspect of altered state experience and/or dissociative experience. It was concluded therefore that dissociative experience and altered state experience are related to hypnotic ability. The remaining two factors, Rapport and Relaxation, showed significant loadings only for rapport variables and relaxation variables, respectively. Neither of these two factors were related to any of the traditional measures of hypnotic ability or to the experience of dissociative effects or altered state effects. The results of this study suggest that rapport and relaxation may happen in the hypnotic situation but neither experience is related to the condition of being hypnotized in any essential way. The hypnotic condition is characterized by dissociative experience, altered state experience, and by successful performance on hypnotic ability tasks. The results also raise questions about Edmonston's (1981) theory that relaxation is the essence of hypnotic responsiveness. The finding that the experience of relaxation is unrelated to hypnotic ability is more congruent with Hilgard's (1977) view that relaxation is a nonhypnotic process
Pekala, Ronald J.; Kumar, V. K. (1984). Predicting hypnotic susceptibility by a self-report phenomenological state instrument. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 114-121.
In an attempt to predict hypnotic susceptibility (as measured by the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, HGSHS) the phenomenological experiences of an hypnotic induction (HI) procedure and a baseline comparison condition (eyes closed, EC, sitting quietly) were assessed. After each experience the subjects (n=217) completed the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory (PCI), a self-report phenomenological state instrument, dealing with that condition. Step-wise multiple regression and discriminant analyses were then performed on data using the subject's HGSHS score as the dependent variable and the PCI (sub)dimensions as the independent variables. Regression analyses that held up under cross-validation during HI suggest that the PCI may be an appropriate instrument for predicting susceptibility. The possible clinical usefulness of this approach is discussed.
1983
McConkey, Kevin M. (1983). Behaviour, experience, and effort in hypnosis. Australian Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 11, 73-81.
Subjects were administered the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A, and were afterwards asked to rate the degree to which they experienced the items; subjects also scored their behavioural performance on the items. Data were analyzed to explore the relationships among behaviour, experience, and effort. Findings indicated a significant positive relationship between behaviour and experience on all of the HGSHS:A items, a significant negative relationship between behaviour and effort on the ideomotor items, and a significant positive relationship between behaviour and effort on the cognitive items. A similar pattern was observed between experience and effort. Also, subjects of varying HGSHS:A responsivity differed in terms of overall experience of the scale but not in terms of the overall amount of effort that they expended. Implications of the data are discussed in terms of the factors influencing subjects' experiential response and behavioural performance as well as the attributions that they make concerning effort during hypnosis.
Nogrady, Heather; McConkey, Kevin M.; Laurence, Jean-Roch; Perry, Campbell (1983). Dissociation, duality, and demand characteristics in hypnosis. Journal of Abnormal Psychology.
Examined hypnotic dissociation (as indexed by the "hidden-observer" method), duality in age regression, and the potential impact of situational cues on these phenomena. 12 high- and 9 low-susceptible undergraduates (as determined by the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale) were tested in an application of the real-simulating paradigm of hypnosis; 10 high- to medium-susceptible Ss were also employed. Inquiry into Ss' experiences was conducted through the experiential analysis technique, which involves Ss viewing and commenting on a videotape playback of their hypnotic session. Results demonstrate that neither the hidden-observer effect nor duality could be explained solely in terms of the demand characteristics of the test situation. The hidden-observer effect was observed in high-susceptible Ss only; all Ss who displayed the hidden-observer effect also displayed duality in age regression. High-susceptible Ss were distinctive in their reports of multiple levels of awareness during hypnosis. Findings are discussed in terms of the cognitive skills that Ss bring to hypnosis and the degree to which the hypnotic setting encourages the use of dissociative cognitive processes. (43 ref).
Spanos, Nicholas P.; Dubreuil, Debora L., Saad, Carol L., Gorassini, Donald (1983). Hypnotic elimination of prism-induced aftereffects: Perceptual effect or responses to experimental demands?. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 92 (2), 216-222.
Two experiments assessed adaptation to displacing prisms in hypnotically limb-anesthetized Ss. Experiment I with 18 college students disconfirmed the hypothesis that the displacement aftereffect is eliminated in limb-anesthetized hypnotic Ss who adapt to prisms in the absence of a visual target. Such Ss showed as large a displacement aftereffect as control Ss who received neither a hypnotic induction procedure nor an anesthesia suggestion. Experiment II with 30 undergraduates demonstrated that under some testing conditions hypnotic Ss complied with experimental demands and eliminated the behavioral but not the perceptual component of the aftereffect.
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
McConkey, Kevin M.; Sheehan, Peter W. (1982). Effort and experience on the Creative Imagination Scale. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 30 (3), 280-288.
158 Ss were administered the Creative Imagination Scale (CIS) of Barber and Wilson (1977) and were asked to rate the degree of effort that they
expended in attempting to experience the suggested effects; Ss also routinely rated their experiences of the test items. Results were analyzed to assess the relationship between the ratings of effort and experience on the test items. The data were further analyzed in terms of Ss' CIS total experience score and the average item-effort expended during testing. Results indicated that Ss who experienced the items reported expending more effort than those Ss who did not experience the items on some, but not all, of the items. For Ss who experienced the items, increased vividness of effect was not associated with increased effort; correlational analysis indicated no significant relationship between effort and experience. Ss of varying CIS responsivity also did not differ in the degree of average item-effort they reported expending. Implications of the data are discussed for our theoretical understanding of the imagery-related processes that underlie hypnotic performance.
St. Jean, Richard; MacLeod, Carrie; Coe, W. C.; Howard, M. L. (1982). Amnesia and hypnotic time estimation. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 30, 127-137.
Previous research has shown that hypnotic Ss tend to underestimate the duration of the hypnotic interval (Bowers, 1979; Bowers & Brenneman, 1979). Based on Ornstein's (1970) work, the present investigation tested the hypothesis that such underestimation occurs to the extent that Ss are amnesic for the events of the hypnotic session. Two separate studies, in which time estimates were collected in conjunction with administrations of the Harvard, failed to find a relationship between responses to the amnesia suggestion and time estimation. Ss in both studies substantially underestimated the duration of the hypnotic interval, but the degree of such underestimation was not related to hypnotic responsiveness. Thus, Ornstein's hypothesis that underestimation occurs to the extent that Ss are amnesic for the events of the hypnotic session was strongly disconfirmed.
1981
Dosamantes-Alperson, Erma (1981). Experiencing in movement psychotherapy. American Journal of Dance Therapy, 4, 33-44.
Experiencing is a process variable in psychotherapy which deals with the manner with which individuals use their internal, ongoing bodily-felt flow of experience to gain self-awareness and to communicate about themselves. A consistent finding across research process studies in psychotherapy is that successful clients start, continue, and end therapy at higher experiencing levels than do less successful clients. The implication of this finding for all therapists, irrespective of their theoretical framework, is that they need to help their clients process the content they raise in therapy at a high level of experiencing throughout the course of therapy. This paper discusses and demonstrates several body movement based procedures that enhance clients' experiencing level while working within the context of experiential movement psychotherapy, a form of psychotherapy which emphasizes the acquisition of personal meanings by clients from any of the following three experiential and expressive modalities: body movement, kinetic imagery, or verbal communication.
Fromm, Erika; Brown, Daniel P.; Hurt, Stephen W.; Oberlander, Joab Z; Boxer, Andrew M.; Pfeifer, Gary (1981). The phenomena and characteristics of self-hypnosis. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 29 (3), 189-247.
Self-hypnosis and hetero-hypnosis were compared, and self-hypnosis was studied longitudinally. Results indicated that absorption and the fading of the general reality orientation are characteristics of both hetero-hypnosis and self-hypnosis. The differentiating characteristics lie in the areas of attention and ego receptivity. Expansive, free-floating attention and ego receptivity to stimuli coming from within are state-specific for self-hypnosis, while concentrative attention and receptivity to stimuli coming from one outside source--the hypnotist on whom the subject concentrates his attention--are state- specific for laboratory defined hetero-hypnosis. Attempts to produce age regression and positive or negative hallucinations are markedly more successful in hetero-hypnosis. Imagery is much richer in self-hypnosis than in hetero-hypnosis. Self-hypnosis requires adaptation to the state: in the beginning of self-hypnosis there is a good deal of anxiety and self-doubt. As the subject feels more comfortable in the self-hypnotic state, he spends less time worrying about failures in self-suggestion, his ability to enter trance quickly and easily increases, as does the fading of the general reality orientation, trance depth, and absorption. An attempt was also made in the present study to find personality characteristics related to the ability to experience self-hypnosis.
Johnson, L. S. (1981). Current research in self-hypnotic phenomenology: The Chicago paradigm. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 29 (3), 247-258.
This paper discusses the research of the Chicago group program (Fromm, Brown, Hurt, Oberlander, Boxer, & Pfeifer, 1981) from several viewpoints: first, as a conceptual and methodological example of what Shor (1977) has called the "phenomenological method" of hypnosis research; second, in terms of its intent and assumptions with respect to some other current self-hypnosis research; third, as potentially plagued with certain demand characteristics which favor finding phenomena unique to self-hypnosis; and fourth, as a most creative and exhaustive effort, clarifying and expanding the field of knowledge of self-hypnosis.
McConkey, Kevin M.; Sheehan, Peter W. (1981). The impact of videotape playback of hypnotic events on posthypnotic amnesia. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 90 (1), 46-54.
Examined the breakdown of amnesia by showing 48 hypnotic and nonhypnotic undergraduates (Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility) a videotape of the hypnotic events they had experienced. The extent of the amnesia for these events was defined precisely, and simulating procedures were employed to analyze the cues in the overall test situation. Videotape display of the hypnotic events was presented via the Experiential Analysis Technique and served to optimize conditions for breakdown. Some hypnotic Ss' amnesia could not be broken down even though they were exposed via videotape playback to the events to be recalled and when suggestions for the period of amnesia were quite explicit. Simulators showed breaching of amnesia but attributed their recall to the videotape rather than to the hypnotic session. Hypnotic Ss were distinctive in their inability to recall experiential aspects of their performance even though they could recall behavioral aspects. The data are discussed in relation to the hypothesis that dissociative cognitive mechanisms underlie posthypnotic amnesia. (22 ref).
Orne, Martin T.; McConkey, Kevin M. (1981). Toward convergent inquiry into self-hypnosis. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 29 (3), 313-323.
From both theoretical and therapeutic perspectives, there is a need to expand and integrate current lines of research into the phenomenon of self-hypnosis and its clinical application. Some issues and research implications are outlined that concern the need to (a) delineate the phenomenon, (b) convergently assess it through behavioral and phenomenological techniques, and (c) investigate the consequences of its private use. Behavioral, experiential, and consequential measures of self-hypnosis are seen as methodologically distinct ways of convergently assessing the phenomenon. The adoption of multiple strategies of inquiry into the nature and function of self-hypnosis may allow a better understanding of it from the respective viewpoints of those who seek to understand, to teach, and to use the technique.
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.
1980
Ericsson, K. Anders; Simon, Herbert A. (1980). Verbal reports as data. Psychological Review, 87 (3), 215-251.
NOTES
Proposes that verbal reports are data and that accounting for them, as well as for other kinds of data, requires explication of the mechanisms by which the reports are generated, and the ways in which they are sensitive to experimental factors (instructions, tasks, etc.). Within the theoretical framework of human information processing, different types of processes underlying verbalization are discussed, and a model is presented of how ss, in response to an instruction to think aloud, verbalize information that they are attending to in short-term memory (STM). Verbalizing information is shown to affect cognitive processes only if the instructions require verbalization of information that would not otherwise be attended to. From an analysis of what would be in STM at the time of report, the model predicts what could be reliably reported. The inaccurate reports found by other research are shown to result from requesting information that was never directly heeded, thus forcing Ss to infer rather than remember their mental processes. (112 ref)
McConkey, Kevin M.; Sheehan, Peter W. (1980). Inconsistency in hypnotic age regression and cue structure as supplied by the hypnotist. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 28 (4), 394-408.
Inconsistency in hypnotic age regression was elicited by asking Ss to write a complex sentence, in contexts that varied appreciably in the extent to which they cued Ss that illogical response was appropriate. Hypnotically responsive and unresponsive Ss were assigned to a real or simulating group in application of the real-simulating model of hypnosis and tested in 1 of 3 distinct cue conditions. Cue conditions either followed those of previous studies and communicated that no particular response was appropriate, or communicated that an illogical response was appropriate, or inappropriate. It was hypothesized that cue structure would have a significant impact. Data indicated that cues for logical response had a greater influence on the behavior of Ss than did cues for illogical response when compared with the base response condition; at times, real Ss behaved appreciably more illogically than simulating Ss. Also, detailed analysis of the reports of both groups of Ss indicated distinctive properties of experience that point to the importance of recognizing the complexities of consciousness underlying the experiences of highly susceptible Ss.
Perry, Campbell; Laurence, Jean-Roch (1980). Hypnotic depth and hypnotic susceptibility: A replicated finding. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 28 (3), 272-280.
A sample of 398 Ss was tested in groups of from 8 to 20 people on the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A (HGSHS:A) of Shor and E. Orne (1962). Retrospective depth reports for each of the 12 HGSHS:A items were taken in order to extend Tart's findings (1970, 1972) on susceptibility and depth. The Ss were tested over 2 successive years in samples of N = 220 and N = 178. Since results were almost identical for each year (thus constituting a replication), the data were pooled for this report.
A remarkable consistency in patterns of subjective depth across the 12 items of HGSHS:A was fuond, particularly noticeable in Items 7, 8, 9, and 10 for 4 susceptibility groups (high, high-medium, low-medium and low-susceptible Ss) which appeared to reflect differential item difficulties. In addition, all correlations between reported depth and HGSHS:A total scores were high and statistically significant. While the findings are in general accord with those of Tart (1970, 1972), further research is required in order to determine the underlying basis of depth reports, and the degree to which experimental reports of susceptibility and clinical reports of depth reflect similar experiential aspects of hypnosis.
Spanos, Nicholas P.; Radtke-Bodorik, H. Lorraine; Shabinsky, Michael A. (1980). Amnesia, subjective organization, and learning of a list of unrelated words in hypnotic and task-motivated subjects. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 28 (2), 126-139.
Hypnotic and task-motivated Ss learned a list of unrelated nouns and were then administered an amnesia suggestion for the list. Hypnotic Ss showed slower learning but more amnesia than task-motivated Ss. Hypnotic and task-motivated Ss showed an equivalent degree of "breakdown" in the subjective organization of their recall following the amnesia suggestion. However, the extent of this breakdown in subjective organization, was unrelated either to Ss' degree of amnesia or to their level of hypnotic susceptibility. A substantial proportion of Ss who failed to recall any words following the suggestion (total nonrecallers) later reported that they remembered but did not say at least some of the words. The theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.
St. Jean, Richard (1980). Hypnotic time distortion and learning: Another look. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 89 (1), 24.
Conducted 2 studies employing different methodologies with a total of 75 undergraduates to test the hypothesis that hypnotic time distortion facilitates verbal learning. All of the Ss in Exp 1 and most of those in Exp II were given a modified version of the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale-Form C. All Exp II Ss were also given the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility. Analysis of previous research indicated that hypnotic susceptibility and the form of time-distortion suggestions might be important moderator variables in the relationship. The separate and combined effects of these variables were observed in both studies. No combination of hypnotic susceptibility and time-distortion suggestions in either study raised performance level beyond that of the waking- and/or hypnotic-control conditions. Responses to a postexperimental questionnaire in Exp II indicated that high-susceptible Ss reported subjectively convincing changes in experienced time flow following time-distortion suggestions (12 ref)
1979
Dosamantes-Alperson, Erma (1979). The intrapsychic and the interpersonal in movement psychotherapy. American Journal of Dance Therapy, 3, 20-31.
The adaptive function of two states of consciousness and corollary movement experiences is described. Movement in which a relaxed state of attention is maintained on inner kinesthetic sensations and imagery is contrasted with movement which is characterized by conscious, active interacting with the external world of people and events. Clinical examples from individual and group psychotherapy sessions are cited to demonstrate how meaning and conflict resolution may be achieved by clients while moving in either mode.
Johnson, Lynn S. (1979). Self-hypnosis: Behavioral and phenomenological comparisons with heterohypnosis. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 27, 240-264.
In a study of behavioral and phenomenological differences between auto- and heterohypnosis, standard autohypnotic and hetero-hypnotic experiences were administered to 48 college students (25 males, 23 females). Total scores of behavioral and phenomenological responses were compared for each experience. The phenomenological scores were also factor analyzed for each type of hypnosis. Behavioral total scores were comparable. Inexperienced Ss were as able to hypnotize themselves as to be hypnotized by another. Scores on "challenge" items were also comparable, whereas items suggesting positive actions showed greater variability. Factor analyses showed that the subjective experiences were generally similar. Heterohypnosis evoked more feelings of unawareness, passivity, and loss of control. Self-hypnosis elicited more feelings of time distortion, disorientation, active direction, and trance variability. The relationship between hypnotic mode and order effects was discussed in terms of Ruch's (1975) facilitatory/inhibitory effects. Conclusions are drawn that self-hypnosis and heterohypnosis are sufficiently similar to be conceptualized undr the same label. Data is offered on expectations of self-hypnosis and their effect on later responsiveness.
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.
1977
Ryan, M. L.; Sheehan, Peter W. (1977). Reality testing in hypnosis - subjective versus objective effects. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 25, 27-51.
90 unselected Ss wre assigned to a 2 x 3 (Request for Honesty x Suggestibility Instruction) factorial design to test the hypothesis that hypnotic Ss would show pronounced impairment of reality testing by expressing a degree of conviction substantially out of phase with their objective performance. Barber's operational model of hypnosis was adopted to test the prediction on an unusually distinctive auditory comprehension task. The 2 interdependent measures, confidence and accuracy, were highly positively related indicating that, generally speaking, hypnotic Ss performed adaptively, as did task motivated and control Ss. Results for the difficult aspects of the task were most distinctive. Here, degree of confidence about behavior as expressed by Ss who performed well on the suggestibility tests was relatively greater than the confidence expressed by those who performed poorly; further, hypnotic Ss were distinctively willing to respond on the least intelligible parts of the task. The inconsistent nature of certain features of hypnotic behavior was discussed in some detail.
1976
Miller, Lawrence J. (1976). A comparison of hypnotic susceptibility for internal and external locus of control subjects in hetero- and self-hypnotic treatments (Dissertation). Dissertation Abstracts International, 37, 978-979.
"This study investigated the use of self- and hetero-hypnosis with internal and external locus of control subjects. Fifty-eight subjects, matched on hypnotic susceptibility and internal-external locus of control, were randomly assigned to the self- or hetero-hypnotic treatments. Self reports of their hypnotic behavioral scores and hypnotic subjective responses were obtained for each subject. "The statistical analyses showed there were no significant differences between the internal and external locus of control groups or within groups in regard to self- and hetero-hypnosis total behavioral scores, "challenge" or "non-challenge" items, .... their reported subjective experiences. The results supported the similarity of hetero- and self- hypnosis. Various findings from past research in regard to I-E subjects were also challenged in terms of their generalizability to hypnotic settings" (pp. 978-979).
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.
Mather, Marcia; Degun, Gian S. (1975). A comparative study of hypnosis and relaxation. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 48, 55-63.
Hypothesis 2. Learning would be an important variable in the efficacy of post- hypnotic suggestions (n.s.) Hypothesis 3. Suggestions made towards the end of the experimental session would be more effective than suggestions at the beginning; the assumption being that the trance might deepen with the passage of time (n.s.) Hypothesis 4. There would be a significant difference in heart rate between the waking and hypnotic states (n.s.) Hypothesis 5. There would be a shift in attitudes of the subject in favor of hypnosis from pre- to post-experiment due to an increase in susceptibility following training. (p.<.01)
The study employed 3 groups, 2 subject groups; there were 1 hypnosis and 1 relaxation session per subject, in a randomized AB, BA design. The relaxation condition only asked the subject to lie on a couch and relax; no relaxation instructions were given, therefore it is not really analogous to relaxation training given in clinical settings. A posthypnotic suggestion was given - to dream on a subject related topic, then to awaken, and to carry out an action.
1973