Crystal, Thomas H.; Gish, Herbert; Bloom, Richard F. (1973, June). Psychophysiological factors affecting speaker authentication and identification. (See Notes field for additional reference information and information about ordering.)
NOTES
Research and Development Technical Report ECOM-0161-F; AD-913 696L; Contract DAAB07-71-C-0161 with Signatron, Inc. (Lexington, MA). Distribution limited to U.S. Government agencies only; Other requests for this document must be referred to Commanding General, U.S. Army Electronics Command, ATTN: AMSEL-PP-CM-CR4, Fort Monmouth, NJ 07703. NOTES 2:
This document reports on a U.S. Army research project using hypnosis to collect high fidelity samples of the voice under “combat stress” conditions in the laboratory. Using hypnotic regression, combat veterans “re-experienced” their own, actual high stress combat situations. Besides subjective reports of stress levels by subjects, physiological stress measures were obtained from polygraph recordings of heart, respiration and GSR activity. The voice samples were later analyzed by spectrographic techniques to determine which factors remain invariant to identify and authenticate the speaker in a military communications situation. Hypnotic techniques were shown to be useful in establishing controlled emotional states for laboratory research purposes. (Richard Bloom)
1970
Evans, Michael B.; Paul, Gordon L. (1970). Effects of hypnotically suggested analgesia on physiological and subjective responses to cold stress. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 35 (3), 362-371.
Relative effects of suggested analgesia and hypnotic induction were evaluated with regard to reduction of stress responses (self-report, heart rate, pulse volume) to the physical application of ice-water stress. Four groups (N = 16 each) of undergraduate female Ss, equated on hypnotic susceptibility, were run individually, receiving (a) hypnotic induction plus analgesic suggestion, (b) hypnotic induction alone, (c) waking self-relaxation plus analgesic suggestion, or (d) waking self-relaxation alone. The major findings were that suggestion, not hypnotic induction procedures, produced reductions in the self-report of distress, and that the degree of reduction was related to hypnotic susceptibility in both “hypnotic and “waking” conditions. Neither suggestion nor hypnotic induction procedures resulted in reduction of the physiological stress responses monitored in this study. Several methodological issues are discussed. Although findings add to the bulk of evidence supporting the “skeptical” view of hypnotic phenomena, results are related to other literature, suggesting that an adequate evaluation of hypnotic analgesia as used clinically has not yet been undertaken.
Tart, Charles T. (1970). Self-report scales of hypnotic depth. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 18, 105-235. Keywords: depth, subjective experience, test/scale
35 male undergraduates scaled their depth of hypnosis on a 10-point scale after each suggestibility test item on the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form C. These self-reports were highly correlated with measures of hypnotic behavior and experience. Instructions to report depth immediately and without thinking produced reports which correlated somewhat better with the other measures than instructions to consciously make a best estimate. This self-report scale promises to be highly useful in studies of hypnosis. (Spanish & German summaries) (22 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2003 APA, all rights reserved)
Gendlin, Eugene T. (1969). Focusing. Psychotherapy, 6 (1), 4-15.
NOTES
This paper presents a therapeutic procedure that involves experiential focusing, described as a bodily method. The paper provides a step by step procedure that has been used in research. “First of all, the method involves a sharp and complete shift in direction. One must cease talking at oneself inside; one must ask: ‘What’s wrong?’ and then keep quiet, and refrain from answering oneself. It is understood that everyone knows a great deal about what is wrong…” (P. 4).
“Whenever the patient is unsure about what he has found (explaining or doubting) the way to deal with it is always again with a fresh start. One needn’t decide the verbal issues that arise. ‘Focus freshly on it instead, let it come freshly again’ – this is almost always the answer to whatever the issue now seems to be” (p. 6).
“In this experiential therapy, it is important that the therapist respond to what is directly felt even while it isn’t yet conceptually clear. What patients sense in focusing is often conceptually vague. The patient feels the felt meaning distinctly enough, but if he talks, he often begins by complaining that it isn’t possible to think about it clearly. ‘There’s something funny there, about the way I pull out of relationships … (He has talked about the problem before, but not about what is ‘funny’ here, he just focused and encountered that) … but I can’t describe it. It’s … ah … funny, there.’ The therapist must be able to talk to that, even without knowing what it is: ‘You got something there, but you don’t know what it is, yet. It’s a funny something that you find, right there in how you pull out'” (pp. 6-7).
The theory postulates ‘felt meaning’ as a body sense of the many complexities of a problem, and experiential effect as a kind of body resolution of a problem. Focusing is viewed as “one essential of psychotherapy, desensitization, Jungian imagery, hypnotherapy, free association, and other methods” (p. 9). “Experiential focusing makes specific and synthesizes the steps of those therapeutic methods which systematically seek to engender body change process” (p. 10).
1968
Gendlin, Eugene T. (1968). The experiential response. In Hammer, E. F. (Ed.), Use of interpretation in treatment: Technique and art (pp. 208-227). New York: Grune & Stratton.
NOTES
The author poses the question, “How can a therapist’s response have a concrete experiential effect in the individual?” He notes that therapists do not deal with clear emotions but with more complex experiencing. “What we feel is not an internal object (an ‘affective state’ as something only inside us), but a felt sense of a whole situation – how we are in that situation, what we bring about, perceive, and feel we are up against” (p. 209). “Therefore, such a felt sense isn’t something only felt, but is also intellectual” (p. 209).
The therapist should draw the patient’s attention to the complexity of experiencing. “Only as the client ‘focuses’ on his felt meaning, can it shift, and only from it can further facets emerge. Some individuals come into psychotherapy with a great ability to engage in this experiential ‘focusing'(Gendlin, 1968), while with others the therapist must struggle to draw their attention again and again to the felt sense they concretely have. Sometimes the client acts as though he had no idea that he has access to anything but his words” (p. 211).
The therapy must remain experiential. “A therapeutic response always aims at the client’s own directly-felt sense of what he is talking about” (p. 213).
1963
Tart, Charles T. (1963). Hypnotic depth and basal skin resistance. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 11, 81-92.
This investigation studied the relationship between a self-report scale for measuring the depth of the hypnotic state and basal skin resistance (BSR). The self-report scale accurately predicted the occurrence of hypnotic dreaming and amnesia, traditional criteria for medium and deep hypnotic states. BSR showed a high, positive correlation with the self-report depth scale. The data suggest that both the self-report scale and BSR may be useful measures for detecting changes in hypnotic depth. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved)
1961
Sutcliffe, J. P. (1961). ‘Credulous’ and ‘Skeptical’ views of hypnotic phenomena: Experiments on anesthesia, hallucination, and delusion. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 62, 189-200.
The author distinguishes between 2 interpretations of hypnotic phenomena: the credulous (S does or does not experience what the hypnotist suggests) and the skeptical (S reports what is suggested regardless of the “reality” of his experience). 2 groups of Ss (distinguished with respect to the presence or not of genuine hypnotic behavior and posthypnotic amnesia) were placed in a 3 [control (not under hypnotic trance), hypnotic trance, nontrance acting (S asked to act as if conditions were as suggested)] by 2 (stimulus present or not) design involving paraesthesias, hallucinations, and delusional thinking. Evidence (such as GSR, interference in thinking due to feedback, test measures of delusion) suggests that S does not misperceive the real situation, but misreports it. From Psyc Abstracts 36:04:4II89S. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved)
1957
Leuba, Clarence (1957). The reality of hypnotic phenomena: A critique of the role playing theory of hypnosis. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 5 (1), 32-38.
NOTES
The author describes circumstances that produce paralyses, hallucinations, and other hypnotic phenomena in normal everyday life, as well as occasionally in hysteria. He suggests that “the phenomena which can be learned and produced in everyday life and are genuine there, can presumably, when conditions are made appropriate under hypnosis, be equally genuine there also” (p. 36). Although the hypnotized and age regressed subject is “taking a part which is different from his ordinary distractible critical self,” that is not to imply he is pretending. An hysterical symptom is not malingering. “In the hysterical patient there is a powerful drive to concentrate upon the reality of a useful disability and to exclude contradictory or distracting aspects of the environment. In inducing an hypnotic state, conducive to the phenomena of hysteria, it is the hypnotist who has somehow to narrow and concentrate his subject’s attention and diminish distractions. … [and] there must be a set or attitude to accept the hypnotist’s statements completely and uncritically” (pp. 37-38).
1953
LeCron, Leslie M. (1953). A method of measuring the depth of hypnosis. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 1 (2), 4-7
Author’s Summary – No satisfactory method of ascertaining quickly and accurately the depth of hypnotic trance has heretofore been available. By providing the hypnotized subject with a yardstick of measurement, a reply to the question”how deep are you?” may be obtained from the subconscious mind of the subject himself. This is expressed verbally in percentages of from 1 to 100, with percentage values arbitrarily assigned by the operator to different stages of trance. Indications from testing 30 subjects are that their replies are valid, possibly to an astounding degree of accuracy. (p. 6)
SUBLIMINAL STIMULATION
1994
Erickson III, James C. (1994). The use of hypnosis in anesthesia: A master class commentary. [Comment/Discussion]
NOTES
The author answers questions sent by a reader: “When and how can I use hypnosis or hypnotic principles in preparing patients for surgery and while undergoing surgery? Are there studies or experiential evidence to use as guides for the selection of appropriate cases or types of operations?” (p. 8). SUMMARY “There are unequivocal benefits derived from the use of positive suggestion and hypnotic techniques in all patients who must submit to surgical and obstetrical procedures with modern general or regional anesthesia. We must learn, and we must teach our colleagues, the advantages of consistent use of the semantics of positive suggestion. When we help patients focus on the desired comfort, safety, and satisfaction obtained with well-managed modern anesthesia and surgery, they will enjoy great benefit, especially when we use the auditory perception that often exists during general anesthesia. Rather than regarding hypnotic suggestion as a mere adjunct to anesthesia, it should be regarded as an integral part of surgical and obstetrical care” (pp. 11-12).
1992
Bruner, Jerome (1992). Another look at New Look 1. American Psychologist, 47, 780-783.
New Look 1 was not initially about the unconscious. It was the new mentalism on its way to becoming the Cognitive Revolution. Its subsequent concern with “unconscious defense mechanisms,” although useful, was not its main theoretical thrust. Its principal questions have always been how and where selective processes operate in perception. Obviously, many such processes are unconscious, for consciously guided attention and search become automatized easily in use. And they are fairly flexible as well. So how smart is “the unconscious”? Not very, but a big help anyway.
Erdelyi, Matthew, Hugh (1992). Psychodynamics and the unconscious. American Psychologist, 47, 784-787.
The original New Look integrated the constructivist-psychodynamic traditions of Bartlett and Freud. The unconscious (Greenwald’s “New Look 3”) is a logically different idea, although in practice it is often intertwined with constructivist – psychodynamic approaches. The unconscious is a pretheoretic term with a variety of problems: It has multiple and unsettled meanings; null reports need not signify null awareness; the conscious-unconscious dichotomy implied by the limen may not exist; even “absolute subliminality” (chance-level accessibility) is relative to the time interval of testing, as accessibility can increase to above-chance levels over time (hypermnesia). Yet, the phenomena that the unconscious sloppily subsumes are not simple or dumb. The capacity of subliminal perception should not be confused with the capacity of subliminal (unconscious) memory and cognition.
Jacoby, Larry L.; Lindsay, D. Stephen; Toth, Jeffrey P. (1992). Unconscious influences revealed: Attention, awareness, and control. American Psychologist, 47, 802-809.
Recent findings of dissociations between direct and indirect tests of memory and perception have renewed enthusiasm for the study of unconscious processing. The authors argue that such findings are heir to the same problems of interpretation as are earlier evidence of unconscious influences–namely, one cannot eliminate the possibility that conscious processes contaminated the measure of unconscious processes. To solve this problem, the authors define unconscious influences in terms of lack of conscious control and then describe a process dissociation procedure that yields separate quantitative estimates of the concurrent contributions of unconscious and consciously controlled processing to task performance. This technique allows one to go beyond demonstrating the existence of unconscious processes to examine factors that determine their magnitude.
Merikle, Philip M. (1992). Perception without awareness: Critical issues. American Psychologist, 47, 792-795.
NOTES
This is the introduction to a group of articles. “To a large extent, this entire controversy over perception without awareness has centered on the issue, What constitutes an adequate behavioral measure of conscious perceptual experience? Depending upon one’s answer to this question, the evidence for perception without awareness is either overwhelming or nonexistent.
The distinction is much more significant and interesting if conscious and unconscious processes lead to qualitatively different consequences than if unconscious processes are simply quantitatively weaker versions of unconscious processes. Three different qualitative differences have been established: 1. Groeger (1984, 1988) has demonstrated that words are coded differently depending on whether they are perceived with or without awareness. 2. Stroop effect research showed that prediction based on stimulus redundancy only occurs when subjects consciously perceive the predictive stimuli (Cheesman & Merikle, 1986). The fact that the color word predicted the name of the color patch on 75% of the trials was only used by the subjects to facilitate naming of the color patches when the words were clearly visible. 3. Marcel (1980) showed that conscious awareness is necessary for the selection of a context-relevant interpretation of a stimulus.
The important findings are that performance differs qualitatively across the aware and nonaware conditions.
1991
Dixon, Norman F.; Henley, Susan H. (1991). Unconscious perception: Possible implications of data from academic research for clinical practice. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 179 (5), 243-252.
Evidence for the reality of unconscious perception and perceptual defense suggests that the experimental paradigms used to investigate these phenomena might play a role in the understanding and treatment of mental disorders. The literature on applying subliminal stimulation to problems of diagnosis and therapy indicates that data support the view that the meaning of external stimuli of which the recipient is unaware may be responded to and determine emotional responses, lexical decisions, overt behavior, and subjective experience. Data confirm the reality of psychopathology as a substrate of emotionally colored, stored information with a potential for producing somatic symptoms and disorders of thinking, affect, and behavior. To the extent that psychopathology is screened from conscious scrutiny and thus impervious to supraliminal information, it may be accessed and ameliorated by drive-related stimuli of which the S is not aware.
1990
Bornstein, Robert F. (1990). Critical importance of stimulus unawareness for the production of subliminal psychodynamic activation effects: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 46, 201-210.
Performed meta-analysis that assessed the magnitude of behavior change produced by subliminal vs supraliminal drive-related stimuli (DRS) on 11 subliminal psychodynamic activation (SPA) studies (published 1966-1989) that employed both types of stimuli. The analysis revealed that subliminal presentation of DRS produced significantly stronger effects on behavior than supraliminal presentation of the same stimuli. Stimulus content, type of outcome measure, and S characteristics influenced the magnitude of subliminal/supraliminal response differences. Results support L. H. Silverman’s (1983) hypothesis that DRS must be presented subliminally to produce SPA effects.
Kunzendorf, Robert G.; Jesses, Michael; Dupille, Leonard; Butler, William (1990-91). Subliminal activation of intrapsychic conflicts: Subconscious realms of mind vs subconscious processes of mentation. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 10, 117-128.
NOTES
Cognitive-state monitoring theory asserts that people perceive subliminal stimulation without self-consciously monitoring its external innervation (as opposed to central innervation). Thus monitoring theory predicts that subconsciously perceived discord, in the absence of any ‘external location’ cues, should be misinterpreted as centrally generated discord and should disrupt self-generated behavior. Consistent with this prediction, mathematical problem-solving in the current experiment was disrupted after mathematically competitive males repeatedly heard the subliminal message IT’S WRONG TO CRUSH DADDY stereophonically localized in the middle of their heads–but not after they repeatedly heard this subliminal ‘Oedipal’ message binaurally localized on one side of their heads. A subliminal message binaurally localized on one side of the self should not interfere with problem-solving behavior _because, even though the message’s external innervation is not self-consciously ‘monitored,’ its external location is inferable from subconscious cues._
Monitoring theory asserts that subliminal [perceptions] of ‘unmonitored’ messages are unaccompanied by any self-consciousness that one is perceiving them (rather than imaging them), and that subliminal or ‘unmonitored’ messages of distress are mistaken for self-generated distress.
Disruption by the ‘internal’ subliminal word WRONG seems to us consistent with the fact that disruption was limited to mathematically competent males.
Indeed, ‘repression’ itself is a mode of processing fearful information: a mode in which subjects suspend their self-awareness that they are perceiving fearful stimulation, as research by Kunzendorf and McLaughlin has demonstrated. This selective suspension of monitoring provides immediate relief from fearful stimuli, Freudian or otherwise, but it does so at the risk of turning self-conscious fear into subconscious anxiety (into consciously lingering fear without a self consciously perceived source). No subconscious realm full of lurking fears is implicated in this ‘unmonitored’ mode of self-protection. All that is implicated is an unconscious storehouse of potentially fearful memories–potentially fearful but sensationless memories, which can be ‘suppressed’ from conscious sensory representation or ‘constructed’ into conscious memory images or ‘subconsciously represented’ as unself-consciously imaged sensations.
McLintock, T. T.; Aitken, H.; Downie, C. F.; Kenny, G. N. (1990). Postoperative analgesic requirements in patients exposed to positive intraoperative suggestions. British Medical Journal, 301 (6755), 788-790.
Sixty-three women undergoing elective abdominal hysterectomy were randomly assigned to a tape of positive suggestions or a blank tape during the operation. Anesthesia was standardized for all of the women. Postoperative analgesia was provided through a patient-controlled analgesia system for the first 24 hours. Pain scores were recorded every 6 hours. The outcome measures were morphine consumption in the first 24 hours and pain scores. Mean morphine requirements were 51.0 mg in women who were played positive suggestions, and 65.7 mg in those played a blank tape (p = 0.028). Pain scores were similar in the two groups. It was concluded that intraoperative suggestions seem to have a positive effect in reducing patients’ morphine requirements in the early postoperative period.
Weinberger, Joel; Hardaway, Richard (1990). Separating science from myth in subliminal psychodynamic activation. Clinical Psychology Review, 10, 727-756.
This paper reviews subliminal psychodynamic activation (SPA). Eight common criticisms are described and evaluated: (a) SPA data analysis is too liberal; (b) there are enough nonsignificant unpublished SPA studies to offset those showing effects; (c) SPA studies are difficult to replicate; (d) the claims of SPA proponents rely on unpublished studies; (e) SPA stimuli are not really subliminal; (f) experimenter expectancy effects and/or demand characteristics can account for SPA effects; (g) the mediating events said to underlay SPA effects have never been evinced; and (h) alternative explanations for SPA effects are superior to the psychoanalytic ones typically offered. Theoretical and statistical analyses revealed that only the argument concerning mediating events has serious merit. The SPA stimulus for which the most support was found was Mommy and I Are One. Oedipal sanction stimuli were also found to yield reliable effects whereas Oedipal prohibition stimuli did not. Suggestions for future research are offered. Resistance to SPA findings are considered in Kuhnian terms.
Wood, W. E.; Gibson, W.; Longo, D. (1990). Moderation of morbidity following tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy: A study of awareness under anesthesia. International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology, 20, 93-105.
In a double-blind study, 67 children, ages 3-10, were randomly assigned to one of three groups: tape recorded therapeutic suggestions repetitively recited in English or in French, and a control of continuous white noise. The English condition was associated with more favorable outcome on all parameters, although statistical significance could not be demonstrated. Favorable outcomes appeared most significant for those patients at highest risk for poor convalescence (i.e., poor status preoperative patients).
1988
Borgeat, Francois; Rezanowicz, Thaddeus; Chaloult, Louis (1988). La stimulation preconsciente et consciente de l’imaginaire erotique. Revue Canadienne de Psychiatrie, 33, 394-398.
The stimulation of erotic fantasies through the association of relaxation and erotic conscious or preconscious suggestions has been evaluated. This study was attempted following positive results in the stimulation of fantasmatic activity in alexithymic subjects with a similar procedure. Thirty female subjects, allocated into three groups practiced relaxation daily for two weeks including three sessions with psychological measures. During the second week, erotic suggestions, preconscious for one group and conscious for another one were added. The third group (control) received only relaxation throughout. Results have shown an increase of sexual arousal and erotic imagery during the sessions with erotic suggestions. Sexual activities and desire increased in the two experimental groups. There was no difference between the effects of the preconscious and conscious suggestions. Possible clinical applications of such a procedure are discussed.
1987
Nash, Michael R.; Lynn, Steven Jay; Stanley, Scott; Carlson, Victor (1987). Subjectively complete hypnotic deafness and auditory priming. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 35 (1), 32-40.
The present study examined the cognitive and attentional mechanisms by which auditory information is maintained out of awareness during complete hypnotic deafness. Adopting a methodology from recent work on subliminally presented pattern- masked words and dichotic listening, the study tested whether spoken words presented during complete hypnotic deafness affect lexical decisions concerning subsequently presented word choices. The response of 9 hypnotized and 15 simulating Ss to spoken stimulus words presented following hypnotic deafness instructions was compared to the response of 20 baseline control Ss who never were exposed to the stimulus words. While the response pattern of hypnosis Ss appeared different from that of baseline control Ss, hypnotic Ss showed no evidence of the priming effect found in subliminal perception and dichotic listening studies. Simulator response deviated significantly from hypnotized and baseline control responses.
NOTES
10 highs capable of hypnotic deafness, screened by Harvard Group and Stanford Profile Scales (Means 11.0 and 24.7, respectively) and 15 lows (means 1.7 and 1.7, respectively) participated in the study; the low hypnotizables being in the simulation group. For the experimental session, a different E administered a standard hypnotic induction and the deafness suggestion, testing for deafness by snapping fingers near S’s ear and making loud requests for motor responses.
An experimental trial consisted of tapping an S on the hand, saying the stimulus word out loud, and visually presenting four words for the S to read out loud and circle one. “Of the 18 main experimental trials, the four-word array consisted of two words which were related to the stimulus (one word which was semantically related to the spoken stimulus word and one word which was phonetically related), and two neutral unrelated words” (p. 34). For example, if the spoken word were ‘dream,’ the word array might include ‘cream, tennis, sell, sleep.’ There also were “3 phonetically unrelated trials (whose arrays consisted of one phonetically related choice and 3 unrelated choices) and 2 stimulus word-unrelated trials (whose arrays consisted of the stimulus word and 3 unrelated choices) … [and] 7 dummy trials with 4 unrelated choices only” (p. 34). Ss rated their degree of deafness on a 10-point scale after hypnosis was terminated.
Possible sources of bias were examined by having 20 control Ss respond to blank tachistoscopic slides with the instructions that they were participating in a study of ‘subliminal perception.’ Another 22 Ss were asked to identify the semantically and phonetically related words from the word array, which for the most part they did successfully.
All Ss rated themselves as ’10’ on the deafness scale, indicating total deafness. The principal results are seen in Tables 1 and 2.
Table 1 Mean Number of Related and Unrelated Responses (Percentage of Responses) for all S Groups on the 18 Mean Experimental Trials
Response Category S Group N Related Unrelated Total
Hypnotized 9 7.22 10.78 18
(40.13%) (59.88$) (100%)
Simulating 15 12.13 5.87 18
(67.43%) (32.61%) (100%)
Baseline 19 8.79 9.21 18 Controls (48.82%) (51.17%) (100%)
Table 2 Mean Number of Phonetic and Semantic Responses within the Related Response Category on the 18 Main Experimental Trials
Related Responses S Group Phonetic Semantic Hypnotized 1.78 5.44
(9.89%) (30.24%) Simulating 7.07 5.07
(39.27%) (28.16%) Baseline 4.21 4.58 Controls (23.38%) (25.44%)
Hypnotized Ss were significantly different from simulators (Table 1) in number of related responses. Simulators gave significantly more related responses than baseline controls. Simulators also gave more phonetically related words than either the hypnotized or baseline Ss (Table 2); there was no difference between groups on semantically related words. (Authors performed other useful and detailed analyses.)
In their Discussion section, the authors note that they did not obtain the expected results of hypnotized Ss producing more related responses than baseline Ss. “In fact, internal analyses of hypnotized and baseline responses revealed that the pattern of choices for hypnotic deaf Ss was opposite to the direction predicted by subception. Hypnotic Ss appeared to avoid phonetically related word choices, even for items on which baseline control Ss scored above chance. …
“This kind of non-baseline performance by hypnotic Ss can be accounted for by either a strategic enactment conceptualization of hypnosis (Spanos, 1982; Wagstaff, 1981) or Hilgard’s (1979) neo-dissociation theory. Spanos might emphasize the hypnotic S’s active strivings to meet the hypnotist’s perceived expectations. … Neo-dissociation theory might stress the mechanisms by which processing of auditory inputs are maintained outside of awareness via a dissociative barrier.
” … Given the tendency for simulating Ss to ‘overplay’ hypnotic phenomena (Levitt & Chapman, 1979), one might have expected simulators to pointedly avoid related responses, thus producing a lower frequency of related words than either the hypnotic Ss or the baseline controls (in effect being more deaf than the deaf). Just the opposite occurred. One possible explanation for this behavior presents itself: In their work with posthypnotic suggestion and the ‘disappearing hypnotist’ … M. T. Orne and others found that simulating Ss may be more alert and responsive to demand cues than are hypnotic Ss. In the present study, the authors’ original hypothesis was that hypnotic Ss might reveal a subception effect by above-chance responding on related word choices. If we assume that this expectation was somehow communicated to Ss by some subtle aspect of the experimental procedure, then it is conceivable that simulating Ss were able to detect and act upon these cues, while hypnotized Ss remained relatively unattuned to such subtleties.
“In sum, the priming effect noted in the subliminal perception research does not appear to be a feature of complete hypnotic deafness, at least as measured in this study. The behavior of simulating Ss in the present study should be another caution to researchers that differences between hypnotized and simulating Ss may reflect simulation effects in addition to, or instead of, hypnotic effects” (pp. 37-38).
1986
Kaplan, Rosalind (1985). Further data on the effects of subliminal symbiotic stimulation on schizophrenics. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 173 (11), 658-666.
Examined the effects of activating unconscious symbiotic fantasies in 128 hospitalized schizophrenic men (aged 18-65 years) who qualified as relatively differentiated on an adjective rating scale and were randomly assigned to 4 groups. Each group was assessed for pathological thinking, pathological nonverbal behavior, and self- esteem before and after the subliminal exposure of an experimental and control stimulus. The control stimulus for all groups were the messages “Mommy and I are one,” “Mommy is always with me,” “Mommy feeds me well,” and “I cannot hurt Mommy””(one for each group). One-half of each group was subliminally exposed to verbal messages only and one-half to verbal messages accompanied by congruent pictures. The 1st stimulus (“Mommy and I are one”) was intended to activate unconscious symbiotic fantasies that in a number of prior studies reduced pathology in groups of relatively differentiated schizophrenics. The other stimuli were intended to activate reassuring unconscious fantasies about “Mommy” that were not specifically symbiosis-related. Only the “Mommy and I are one” stimulus led to more adaptive behavior and did so on all 3 dependent variables. This supported the supposition that it is specifically symbiosis-related gratifications that are ameliorative for schizophrenics. (23 ref.)
Oliver, J. M.; Burkham, Robert (1985). ‘Comments on three recent subliminal psychodynamic activation investigations’: Reply to Silverman. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 94 (4), 644.
Contends that the present authors’ (see PA, vol 69:1571) failure to replicate L. H. Silverman’s (1976) description of subliminal psychodynamic activation, which was disputed by Silverman (see PA, vol 73:12007), can be traced in part to Silverman’s (1978) description of the “symbiotic” stimulus (MOMMY AND I ARE ONE”), 1 of the 2 experimental stimuli used, as a “ubiquitous therapeutic agent”. It is suggested that, although Silverman’s willingness to modify his theory in light of empirical findings is commendable, modifications that are too frequent and numerous will pose problems for both theory and research. (5 ref)
Porterfield, Albert L.; Golding, Stephen L. (1985). Failure to find an effect of subliminal psychodynamic activation upon cognitive measures of pathology in schizophrenia. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 94 (4), 630-639.
Replicated the work of L. H. Silverman and colleagues (see PA, vols. 43:14557 and 46:1566) using 30 21-59 year old schizophrenics. Ss were exposed to an aggressive, a merging, and a meaningless lexical stimulus in a within-S design. Dependent variables were inkblot through pathology and form quality, as measured on Rorschach and Holtzman Inkblot Techniques, and performance on the interference task of the Stroop Color-Word Test. Analyses of variance conducted on simple poststimulation scores, rather than on unreliable change scores, revealed no effect of stimulus content. Predicted interactions between stimulus content, Ss self-object differentiation, and temporal position of the assessment tasks did not emerge. Findings do not support Silverman’s hypothesis that subliminal tachistoscopic presentations of stimuli with aggressive content temporarily increase thinking disorder in schizophrenics. (44 ref.)
orterfield, Albert L. (1985). ‘Comments on three recent subliminal psychodynamic activation investigations’: Reply to Silverman. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 94 (4), 645-646.
NOTES
Contends that in defending his nonverbal pathology measure against the claim that it lacks demonstrated validity, L. H. Silverman (see PA, vol 73:12007) painted a misleading picture of its face validity. A correction to that picture is presented, and the impact of the present author and S. L. Golding’s (see PA, vol 73:11992) findings on subliminal psychodynamic activation explanations of schizophrenic thought disorder is defended, despite the absence of a nonverbal pathology measure. (5 ref)
Silverman, Lloyd H. (1985). ‘Comments on three recent subliminal psychodynamic activation investigations’: Rejoinder to Oliver and Burkham and to Porterfield. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 94 (4), 647-8.
Considers the replies of A. L. Porterfield (see PA, vol 73:11991) and J. M. Oliver and R. Burkham (see PA, vol 73:11985) to the critique of the present author (see PA, vol 73:12007). The original criticisms are seen as valid. A critical deficiency in the design of Porterfield and S. L. Golding’s (see PA, vol 73:11992) study is viewed as disqualifying it as a fair attempt at replication. It is suggested that although Oliver and Burkham’s (see PA, vol 69:1571) study was well-designed, statements made in their write- up are unwarranted. (12 ref)
Silverman, Lloyd H. (1985). Research on psychoanalytic psychodynamic propositions. Clinical Psychology Review, 5 (3), 247-257.
Discusses a research program in which the present author has been involved that deals with the subliminal psychodynamic activation method. In this method, verbal and/or pictorial stimuli, some of which contain content related to unconscious wishes, fears, and fantasies and other of which are (relatively) neutral, are presented to Ss at 4-msec exposures. A variety of psychoanalytically based hypotheses have been tested on various clinical and nonclinical populations. Two major findings have emerged: (a) a number of clinical groups (e.g., schizophrenics, depressives, stutterers) have shown intensifications of their symptoms after the subliminal exposure of stimuli designed to stir up particular unconscious conflicts; and (b) various clinical and nonclinical groups have manifested enhanced adaptive behavior after the subliminal exposure of the message “Mommy and I are one,” conceived as activating unconscious symbiotic fantasies.
1984
Divided 64 10.8 – 19.3 yr old emotionally disturbed residents of a treatment school into an experimental and control group matched for age, IQ, and reading ability. Both groups were seen 5 times/week for 6 weeks for tachistoscopic exposures of a subliminal stimulus. The stimulus for the experimental group was the phrase, “Mommy and I are one,” conceived of as activating symbiotic fantasies that in a number of previous studies with varying groups of Ss had led to greater adaptive behavior. The control group was exposed to the phrase, “People are walking.” Results show that experimental Ss manifested significantly greater improvement on the California Achievement Tests– Reading than did the controls. On 5 of 6 secondary variables–arithmetic achievement, self-concept, the handing in of homework assignments, independent classroom functioning, and self-imposed limits on TV viewing–the experimental Ss showed better adaptive functioning. It is suggested that activation of unconscious symbiotic fantasies can increase the effectiveness of counseling and teaching. (42 ref)
Frauman, David C.; Lynn, Steven Jay; Hardaway, Richard; Molteni, Andrew (1984). Effect of subliminal symbiotic activation on hypnotic rapport and susceptibility. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 93 (4), 481-483.
L. H. Silverman’s subliminal symbiotic activation paradigm (Silverman, 1982) was used to manipulate unconscious affective factors in hypnosis to determine whether gratification of symbiotic fantasy would enhance hypnotic susceptibility and rapport with the hypnotist. Seventy-two male undergraduates were divided into two groups matched for susceptibility (high, medium, low). The experimental group received symbiotic, MOMMY AND I ARE ONE, subliminal stimulation via tachistoscope in a double-blind design. The comparison group received a psychodynamically neutral stimulus, PEOPLE ARE WALKING. Following subliminal stimulation, subjects were hypnotized individually. Projective tasks that indexed rapport with the hypnotist and the mother were administered during hypnosis. Rapport was also measured by rated intimacy of self-disclosure topics and by valence of topics selected to disclose to the hypnotist. A significant multivariate group selected more positively valenced topics to disclose on. The effect for symbiotic activation on hypnotic susceptibility was not quite significant (p<.056, two-tailed). NOTES 2350, Frauman, Lynn, Mare, & Kvaal, 1992 NOTES: [Paper presented by Lynn.] A number of observations and conclusions are based on literature reviews done with Brentar (British Journal of Experimental and Clinical Hypnosis; Chapter in Rhue, Lynn, & Kirsch [Eds.] Handbook of Clinical Hypnosis) and 15 years of training students in hypnotherapy. Some of this may seem elementary to some of you. For half a century there have been reports of negative effects after hypnosis: minor, serious, transient, and chronic. Clinicians need be as wary (but no more wary) of negative effects in hypnosis as in other therapies. There are more negative effects in clinical situations than non clinical situations. Therapists must be prepared to recognize negative effects and intervene. Too often hypnosis is seen as a technique divorced from psychotherapy. The hypnotist must be a competent psychotherapist. What makes you a good therapist will make you a good hypnotherapist. There should be careful assessment of the client for: 1. those with history of unusual experiences following anesthesia or drugs 2. those with a history of dissociation People may recapitulate a previous bad experience with anesthesia, based on the unusual physiological feelings. The dissociative client must be stabilized before using hypnosis. Depressed clients may also have problems, with the imagery becoming dysphoric. Those vulnerable to psychotic decompensation, with paranoid or borderline character structures, must be evaluated carefully. A lot depends on your comfort zone in therapy. Life experiences with parents and authority figures may also play into the reaction. Many clients, and experimental Ss, are ambivalent about hypnosis. This ambivalence must be acknowledged and one must work with the ambivalence before proceeding. One may: - explain hypnosis - reframe in terms of self hypnosis or relaxation - explain as a state of awareness with full consciousness - offer active induction which is just as effective as the passive induction - do induction with eyes open Research clearly shows that Subjects can monitor events outside the framework of a suggestion--especially if you suggest they can do so with ease. We do not use ideomotor suggestions because they aren't necessary. We tell them to open their eyes and communicate with us during hypnosis. We always assess their feelings about hypnosis, have them have a fantasy about what hypnosis would be like, do an informal semantic analysis of the descriptors clients use (and then reframe them), inquire about previous experiences with counseling and psychotherapy, and do a mental status. Don't make assumptions. We want to know about early life experiences to know about transference and form an alliance. Hypnosis procedures employed must have explicit informed consent (cf MacHovic book), which also provides opportunity to demystify the experience. Our research shows the great majority of Ss find it relaxing, invigorating. Even perceptual distortions can be created without hypnosis. Can create confidence by sharing the research information on hypnosis. Elicit cooperation with easier suggestions, then use graded suggestions. We want to titrate the demands on clients, move at a pace that keeps anxiety low, promote self efficacy and mastery through ... [missed a few words] and graduated tasks. Carefully monitor clients for frowns, lack of attention, etc. It is important to ask them what they are experiencing. Rarely, a client appears unable to talk, in which case the therapist can offer hypotheses to the hypnotized client. Don't terminate hypnosis if there is a problem (Orne also says this); instead, offer reassurance to explore/release the feelings. It is beneficial to work through what is being experienced. There is a somewhat higher risk of emotional reactions with age regression or induced dreams. We simply tell people they can tell us at any time about what they are experiencing, without going through any ritual. When we give suggestions about amnesia, we ask what they would like to remember and suggest that they forget what they would like to forget. The usual permissive suggestion doesn't work; find out what it is, exactly, that they want to forget and then devise strategies for it. Follow for 2 weeks after any abreactive experience that may have occurred. Let them know they can contact you. Forceful suggestions to abandon symptoms can promote resistance and the therapist may generate negative transference. (See their chapter in book edited by Rhue, Lynn, and Kirsch, Handbook of Clinical Hypnosis, published by the Amer Psychological Association.) Palumbo, Robert; Gillman, Irene (1984). Effects of subliminal activation of oedipal fantasies on competitive performance: A replication and extension. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 172 (12), 737-741. Conducted a subliminal psychodynamic activation experiment in which the effects of 5 subliminal stimuli were sought on the dart-throwing performance of 40 male Ss (aged 22-46 years). The stimuli consisted of the following messages, each accompanied by a congruent picture: "beating dad is ok," "beating dad is wrong," "beating him is ok," "beating him is wrong," and "people are walking." The 1st 2 stimuli were intended to activate competitive motives within the context of the Oedipus complex; the next 2, competitive motives outside that context; and the last message was intended as a control stimulus. Findings show that "beating dad is ok" led to greater dart-throwing accuracy than each of the other 4 conditions, which, in turn, did not differ from each other. This finding replicates a result reported by L. H. Silverman et al (1978) and is in keeping with the formulation that the activation of oedipal motives can affect competitive performance (7 ref) 1983 Borgeat, Francois; Goulet, Jean (1983). Psychophysiological changes following auditory subliminal suggestions for activation and deactivation. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 56, 759-766. This study was to measure eventual psychophysiological changes resulting from auditory subliminal activation or deactivation suggestions. 18 subjects were alternately exposed to a control situation and to 25-dB activating and deactivating suggestions masked by a 40-dB white noise. Physiological measures (EMG, heart rate, skin-conductance levels and responses, and skin temperature) were recorded while subjects listened passively to the suggestions, during a stressing task that followed and after that task. Multi-variate analysis of variance showed a significant effect of the activation subliminal suggestions during and following the stressing task. This result is discussed as indicating effects of consciously unrecognized perceptions on psycho- physiological responses. 1982 Silverman, Lloyd H.; Lachmann, Frank M.; Milich, Robert H. (1982). The search for oneness. New York: International Universities Press.