They observe that the alpha results conform with previous findings (p. 163). Beta bands were sensitive. Highs showed left-hemisphere prevalence in all beta bands during age regression; they also showed hemispheric balance in the hypnotic dream condition. Beta 3 amplitude was also greater among highs than lows. “among high hypnotizables, beta 3 amplitude in the early hypnotic condition was greater in the left hemisphere as compared to the right and as the hypnotic induction proceeded hemisphere balancing, with reduced beta 3 amplitude, was displayed. This result appears in agreement with the predictions of the neurophysiological model proposed by Gruzelier et al. (1984) and Gruzelier (1988) as well as with other studies in which beta rhythm was found to discriminate performances between high and low hypnotizables (e.g., Meszaros et al., 1986, 1989; Sabourin et al., 1990)” (p. 163-164).
40 Hz amplitude was higher in highs and increased in right hemisphere during the hypnotic dream, especially in posterior areas. “This pattern of hemispheric activation may be interpreted as an expression of the greater right-hemisphere activation and of the release of posterior cortical functions during the hypnotic dream and is compatible with the predictions of the Gruzelier model of hypnosis, however, the results obtained in this study for 40-Hz EEG amplitude failed to reveal an inhibition of the left-hemisphere activity with the progress of the hypnotic induction” (p. 164).
(They note that De Pascalis & Penna, 1990, agreed with the Gruzelier 1988 model: highs in early induction had increase of 40-Hz in both hemispheres, but as induction proceeded they had inhibition of left and increase in right hemisphere activity. In this current experiment, only beta 3 showed the hemispheric trend of Gruzelier’s model. They cite other details of current study, p. 164, not consonant with Gruzelier.)
“The 40-Hz EEG rhythm, which according to Sheer (1976) is the physiological representation of focused arousal, appeared to discriminate between differential patterns of high and low hypnotizables. Both during hypnotic induction and during hypnotic dream and age regression highly hypnotizables exhibit greater 40-Hz EEG amplitude with respect to the lows. These findings support the validity of the assumption that hypnosis is characterized by a state of focused attention (Hilgard, 1965) and that 40-Hz EEG activity reflects differential attentional patterns among subjects high and low in hypnotizability. On the basis of these findings it would appear that 40-Hz EEG and beta 3 spectral amplitudes may prove to be useful measures of individual hypnotizability” (p. 164).
1992
Anonymous (1992, May). Studies: Learning can occur while under anesthesia. Daily Breeze (South Bay, Los Angeles County).
NOTES
“Surgical patients can absorb information while they’re knocked out, and even learn tips that help with recovery, researchers reported Friday at a symposium on memory and anesthesia.
“Researchers at Papworth Hospital in Cambridge, England, studied 51 cardiac patients, one-third of whom heard a tape of positive ‘therapeutic suggestions’ during surgery. Another third heard batches of word associations; the rest heard a blank tape.
“Patients who were played the suggestion tape – which told them they were doing well, or wouldn’t feel much pain – left the hospital 1 1/2 days earlier on average than other patients.
“Another study, from the University of Arizona College of Medicine, found that surgical patients who heard specific pain-relief suggestions recovered more easily than those hearing vague advice such as, ‘Think of being well.’
“‘These are still early days to invest in every operating suite buying a tape recorder to play for the patients,’ said Dr. Sunit Ghosh, a researcher with the Papworth team. ‘But this definitely does hold promise.’
“Scholars at the second annual Symposium on Memory and Awareness in Anesthesia said patients rarely wake up recalling – unprompted – something that happened during anesthesia.
“But several studies showed subconscious learning while the patients were out cold.
“Not everyone accepted the findings.
“‘It shows an enormous sensitivity on the part of the brain, if it can be shown,’ said Eugene Winograd, an Emory University psychologist and organizer of the Emory- sponsored conference. ‘I’m not confident it has been shown yet.’
“Some researchers in other studies found no association between messages heard during anesthesia and learning.
“Dr. Alan Aitkenhead, professor of anesthesia at the University of Nottingham in England, found no significant difference between patients who heard recuperative suggestions and patients who were treated to a deliberately dull history of the hospital where they were.
“Aitkenhead said his study kept all patients quite deeply anesthetized, and that may be why they might not have learned as much as patients in other studies.
“‘By far, most likely, it’s a difference in levels of anesthesia,’ he said.
“The Papworth researchers, in another study, found that some patients showed strong word associations after hearing tapes of groups of words during surgery; but other patients under a different anesthesia didn’t.
“‘There needs to be standardization of our testing,’ Ghosh said. ‘I think it’s partly related to the anesthesia technique and partly related to the way in which material is presented to the patient.’
“Dr. Peter Sebel, an Emory anesthesiologist and conference organizer, said that if patients can retain information about a speedy recovery, they probably retain other information, too – for example, a surgeon’s discouraging operating-room assessment of their prognosis.”
1991
Burish, Thomas G.; Snyder, Susan L.; Jenkins, Richard A. (1991). Preparing patients for cancer chemotherapy: Effect of coping preparation and relaxation interventions. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 59 (4), 518-525.
60 cancer chemotherapy patients were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 treatments: (a) relaxation training with guided relaxation imagery (RT), (b) general coping preparation package (PREP), (c) both RT and PREP, or (d) routine clinic treatment only. All patients were assessed on self-report, nurse observation, family observation, and physiological measures and were followed for 5 sequential chemotherapy treatments. Results indicate that the PREP intervention increased patients’ knowledge of the disease and its treatment, reduced anticipatory side effects, reduced negative affect, and improved general coping. RT patients showed some decrease in negative affect and vomiting, but not as great as in past studies. The data suggest that relatively simple, 1-session coping preparation intervention can reduce many different types of distress associated with cancer chemotherapy and may be more effective than often-used behavioral relaxation procedures.
DeKoninck, J.; Brunette, R. (1991). Presleep suggestion related to a phobic object: Successful manipulation of reported dream affect. Journal of General Psychology, 118, 185-200.
When compared with subjects who received presleep suggestions for negative affect, subjects who received positive affect suggestions had significantly higher levels of positive emotions in their dreams, rated their own dreams as more pleasant, and had significantly lower levels of anxiety, sadness, and aggression. This supports the hypothesis that presleep suggestion can be an effective technique in influencing the affective dimension of the dream.
1990
Barber, Theodore Xenophon (1990, August). Some things I’ve learned about hypnosis after 37 years. [Audiotape] Presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Boston.
NOTES
“We are a unity of cells. Every cell is a citizen with it’s own jobs, communicating all the time; cells send messages; the way we communicate with them is by suggestions. Each _cell_ is a mind-body…. When I do it now [hypnotic inductions], I say, ‘We’re going to go into hypnosis, we’re _both_ going to go into hypnosis. I’m going to close my eyes (etc.)’ – modeling hypnosis for them.”
Biasutti, M. (1990). Music ability and altered states of consciousness: An experimental study. International Journal of Psychosomatics, 37, 82-85.
The relationship between music and altered states of consciousness was studied with 30 subjects divided into hypnosis and control groups. The “Test di abilita musicale” was applied. The hypnosis group did the retest after posthypnotic suggestions and the second in waking conditions. The hypnosis group had better results than the control group, especially in the rhythm test (p < 0.0001).
1989
Baker, Elgan L.; Levitt, Eugene E. (1989). The hypnotic relationship: An investigation of compliance and resistance. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 37, 145-153.
The purpose of this investigation was to assess the ability of hypnotic Ss to voluntarily resist a neutral suggestion when a monetary reward was offered for resistance. 19 of 40 Ss (47.5%) successfully resisted after money was offered by the "resistance instructor." The correlation between resistance/compliance and hypnotizability was -.44 (high hypnotizables were more likely to comply). Ss' impressions of the hypnotist tended to be positive; impressions of the resistance instructor tended to be neutral. There was a tendency for nonresistors to have a more positive view of the hypnotist but it is not as marked as was found in an earlier study (Levitt & Baker, 1983).
NOTES
Twelve (75%) of the high hypnotizables did not resist; two (16.7%) of the low hypnotizable Ss did not resist.
In their discussion, they state that "these data support the conclusion that hypnotizability or talent accounts for a significant portion of the variance in determining compliance with suggestions during trance. ... [Further], this research may be conceptualized as examining the contributions of a trait variable (hypnotizability) as compared with a variety of situational or state variables (motivation, social perception, environmental contingencies) in determining compliance and suggestibility. Inherent in this model of research is the assumption that many observed hypnotic phenomena (such as suggestibility) are interactive in nature, representing the outcome of the interplay between trait and state variables and between historically determined and contemporary forces. Such a perspective is consistent with the emerging view of trance behavior and experience and validly parallels the phenomenology of experimental and clinical hypnosis which describe both consistency and variability in hypnotic responsiveness for a specific subject or patient across varying conditions and time" (p. 151).
"This study also serves to clarify the important role of positive social perception and a positive sense of alliance with the hypnotist as a correlate of compliance with suggestion. It is clear that Ss who complied despite inducements to resist reported a more positive perception of the hypnotist and a more gratifying sense of relatedness with him than did their counterparts who resisted in response to financial inducement. These data do not indicate whether the positive perceptions contributed to compliance, as transference theories of trance involvement would predict, or whether they were consolidated after the fact due to other variables such as management of potential cognitive dissonance. It does seem reasonable to conclude, however, that the relationship is influential in the process of suggestibility and compliance" (p. 151).
1988
Azuma, Nagato; Stevenson, Ian (1988). 'Psychic surgery' in the Philippines as a form of group hypnosis. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 31, 61-67.
Psychic surgeons and their patients were observed in the Philippines during a variety of procedures of 'minor surgery.' In six cases, subcutaneous tissues (cysts and benign tumors) were removed. Histological examination confirmed the gross diagnoses and left no doubt that the skin had been penetrated. Although the psychic surgeons used no analgesics or anesthetics, the patients appeared to experience little or no pain and only slight bleeding. The authors believe that a supportive group 'atmosphere' enables the patients to enter a quasi-hypnotic state that reduces pain and facilitates healing.
Council, James R.; Loge, D. (1988). Suggestibility and confidence in false perceptions: A pilot study. British Journal of Experimental and Clinical Hypnosis, 5, 95-98.
Subjects received audiotaped instructions implying that they would perceive increases in odor or heaviness while comparing stimuli in a sensory-judgment task. Stimuli were actually indiscriminable. Subjects pretested as higher or lower in hypnotizability performed the task in either hypnotic or non-hypnotic conditions. In both treatments, greater hypnotizability was associated with more perceived changes in the stimuli and greater confidence in the reality of those perceptions. Results support a general factor underlying suggestibility in hypnotic and nonhypnotic situations. The findings are discussed in relationship to false confidence effects reported in hypermnesia research.
1986
Chertok, Leon (1986). Psychotherapeutic transference, suggestibility. Psychotherapy, 23 (4), 563-569.
Discusses suggestion in psychotherapy and defines it as a body-affective process, an indissociable psychosociobiological entity that acts at an archaic unconscious level far beyond that of transference, mediates the influence of one individual on another, and is capable of producing manifest psychological and physiological changes. Present in all types of therapy, indirect (nondeliberate, nonintentional) suggestion is the element that plays an important role in change and can be observed in hypnotic experimentation. It is further argued that transference and suggestion are phenomena that do not altogether overlap. Suggestion is the condition of transference without which transference could not be established.
1985
Bennett, Henry L.; Davis, H. S.; Giannini, Jeffrey A. (1985). Non-verbal response to intraoperative conversation. British Journal of Anesthesiology, 57, 174-179.
In a double-blind study, 33 patients (herniorraphy, cholecystectomy and orthopedic) were randomly assigned to either suggestion or control groups. Under known clinical levels of nitrous oxide and enflurane or halothane anesthesia, suggestion patients were exposed to statements of the importance of touching their ear during a postoperative interview. Compared with controls, suggestion patients did touch their ear (tetrachoric correlation 0.61, P <0.02). test, U (Mann-Whitney frequently more so did they and
Bolocofsky, David N.; Spinler, Dwayne; Coulthard-Morris, Linda (1985). Effectiveness of hypnosis as an adjunct to behavioral weight management. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 41 (1), 35-41.
109 17-67 year olds completed a behavioral treatment for weight management either with or without the addition of hypnosis. Results show that, at the end of the 9-week program, both interventions resulted in significant weight reduction. However, at 8-month and 2-year follow-ups, the hypnosis Ss showed significant additional weight loss, while those in the behavioral-treatment-only group exhibited little further change. More Ss who used hypnosis also achieved and maintained their personal weight goals. It is suggested that hypnosis may have been an effective motivator for Ss to continue practicing the more adaptive eating behaviors acquired during treatment. Findings support the utility of employing hypnosis as an adjunct to a behavioral weight management program. (25 ref)
1984
Bryant-Tuckett, Rose; Silverman, Lloyd H. (1984). Effects of the subliminal stimulation of symbiotic fantasies on the academic performance of emotionally handicapped students. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 31 (3), 295-305.
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)
Critelli, Joseph W.; Neumann, Karl F. (1984). The placebo: Conceptual analysis of a construct in transition. American Psychologist, 39, 32-39.
The placebo in psychotherapy has unfortunately retained the negative connotation of an inert "nuisance variable," a label that it originally incurred in the field of medicine. In addition, the transition toward more cognitive models of psychotherapy, particularly Bandura's theory of self-efficacy, has led to problems in defining the placebo within psychology. This transition has resulted in an awkward interface between certain preferred cognitive metaphors and the negative connotations of a presumably cognitive placebo construct. As a result, suggestions have recently been made to dismiss the placebo construct from psychology and to do away with the use of true placebo controls in outcome research. The present analysis maintains that (a) the placebo can be adequately defined within psychology, (b) the negative connotation of the placebo label is largely undeserved, (c) the placebo retains a continuing conceptual and empirical utility for evaluating psychotherapy, and (d) the therapeutic efficacy of current therapies is well established even though they have not generally been shown to be more effective than nonspecific treatment.
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.
Classen, Wilhelm; Feingold, Ernest; Netter, Petra (1983). Influence of sensory suggestibility on treatment outcome in headache patients. Neuropsychobiology, 10, 44-47.
In 45 headache patients the relationship between sensory suggestibility and three measures of treatment effect-ratings on (1) intensity of headaches; (2) efficacy of drugs, and (3) physician's competence - was investigated in a double-blind long-term crossover study. Subjects scoring high on sensory suggestibility clearly showed more relief of headaches upon the analgesic as well as upon the placebo. The physician's competence was rated higher by high-suggestible patients, whereas ratings on drug efficacy were low in all patients. The seemingly controversial behavior of high-suggestible patients was interpreted as a call for continuation of the physician's efforts in spite of the relief the patients already achieved.
1982
Belicki, Kathryn; Bowers, Patricia (1982, October). Dimensions of dissociative processing, absorption and dream change following a presleep instruction. [Paper] Presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, Indianapolis, IN.
NOTES
Subjects' tendency to have things pop into their mind when asked to imagine, image them, or to do a divergent thinking task is correlated with behavior change out of awareness (dissociated), change in dream content in response to indirect suggestion - the request to pay attention to a certain element in their dreams. Effortless imagining (as opposed to working at it), a particular type of dissociative phenomenon, is associated with dream change.
Bowers, Patricia G. (1982). The classic suggestion effect: Relationships with scales of hypnotizability, effortless experiencing, and imagery vividness. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 30 (3), 270-279.
How well the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scales assess what Weitzenhoffer (1978) terms the "classic suggestion effect" is addressed by developing an index of nonvolitional behavior (N-VB) for a group form of the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form C of Weitzenhoffer and Hilgard (1962) given to 43 Ss. The N- VB index, reflecting the classic suggestion effect's dual criteria of both behavioral responsiveness to suggestion and nonvolition ratings, was correlated highly with the traditional scoring of the group SHSS:C and moderately with the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A. Effortless experiencing of imagination and imagery vividness relate similarly to traditional and N-VB scores of hypnotizability. In addition, the relationship between involuntary ratings and passing and failing an item of the group SHSS:C was examined for each of the 10 items. There was a significant relationship for 7 of the items.
1980
Bauer, Herbert; Berner, Peter; Steinringer, Hermann; Stacher, Georg (1980). Effects of hypnotic suggestions of sensory change on event-related cortical slow potential shifts. Archiv fur Psychologie, 133 (3), 161-169.
"The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether cortical slow potentials related to a S1-S2 paradigm are influenced by hypnotic suggestions of sensory change. Five healthy subjects susceptible to hypnosis participated each in two identical experiments with three conditions. In condition (1) and (2) each three intensities of 800 and 4000 Hz tones were presented. Preceding condition (2) hypnosis was induced and the subjects received the suggestion to hear the 800 but not the 4000 Hz tones. In condition (3), the tones were presented as S1 and a flash as S2. The subjects received the same suggestions as in (2) and a motor response to S2 was required. EEG was recorded from Cz. In (1) 800 and 4000 Hz tones caused negativities of equal amplitude, in (2) only minute negativities developed, possibly due to hypnosis induced deactivation. In (3) the S1-S2 related negativities were significantly smaller in amplitude during 4000 Hz tones than during 800 Hz tones, while the negativities preceding S2 differed only after the most intense S1. Hypnotic suggestions attenuate S1-S2 related negative potentials, possibly by affecting cognitive functions.
1979
Barber, Joseph; Donaldson, David; Ramras, Susan; Allen, Gerald D. (1979). The relationship between nitrous oxide conscious sedation and the hypnotic state. Journal of the American Dental Association, 99, 624-626.
NOTES
Nitrous oxide-oxygen produces a state of consciousness in the patient that is reported to be similar to the hypnotic state. In this investigation, the authors test the hypothesis that nitrous oxide-oxygen heightens a patient's responsiveness.
This study apparently did not have a control group receiving nitrous oxide but no suggestions, to evaluate the amnesia and analgesic effects of the drug alone.
1978
Connors, J. R.; Sheehan, P. W. (1978). The influence of control comparison tasks and between-versus within-subjects effects in hypnotic responsivity. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 26, 104-122.
Type of experimental design (between- versus within-subjects) and type of control task were examined for their differential effects on the magnitude of objective and state report test scores associated wtih response to items on the Stanford Hypnotic Scale of Susceptibility, Form C (Weitzenhoffer & Hilgard, 1962). In an integrated program of work exploring design effects in hypnotic research, Ss in each of 7 comparison conditions that involved hypnosis and 4 separate comparison conditions that did not involve hypnosis were tested twice on successive occasions. Three of the control tasks used (waking, imagination, and imagination [alert] instruction) were counterbalanced with hypnosis to analoyze possible order effects associated with hypnotic test conditions. Data indexed the patterns of between- versus within-subjects effects associated wtih standard control tasks and also highlighted the order effects that accompanied them. Imagination instructions, in particular, pose specific difficulties that require attention when Ss are tested as their own controls.
1977
Anderson, J. W. (1977). Defensive maneuvers in two incidents involving the Chevreul pendulum: A clinical note. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 25, 4-6.
NOTES
"Hypnosis frequently facilitates increased access to the unconscious. In both of these cases, the hypnotized subject gained contact with a thought which otherwise would likely have remained out of awareness. Then the ego quickly resorted to defensive maneuvers in order to deny the thought" (p. 6).
1976
Chaves, John F.; Barber, Theodore Xenophon (1976). Hypnotic procedures and surgery: A critical analysis with applications to 'acupuncture analgesia'. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 18 (4), 217-236.
Although hypnotic procedures are useful for reducing the anxiety of surgery and helping patients tolerate surgery, they do not consistently eliminate pain. Six factors that are part of or associated with hypnotic procedures help patients tolerate surgery. These factors pertain to patient selection, the patient-physician relationship, the preoperative 'education' of the patient, the adjunctive use of drugs, and the use of suggestions of analgesia and distraction. It appears that the same factors account for the apparent successes of 'acupuncture analgesia' as well. A frequently-overlooked fact, that most internal tissues and organs of the body do not hurt when they are cut by the surgeon's scalpel, is also important in understanding how surgery can be performed with either 'hypnoanesthesia' or 'acupuncture analgesia.'
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.
1974
Chaves, John F.; Barber, Theodore Xenophon (1974). Acupuncture analgesia: A six-factor theory. Psychoenergetic Systems, 1, 11-21.
The dramatic successes claimed for acupuncture suggest that Western medicine has failed to identify important factors that pertain to the nature of pain and its control. This may not be the case, as there are at least six factors which are often overlooked by writers describing the absence of pain (i.e., analgesia) during acupuncture: (a) the patients accepted for surgery under acupuncture usually believe that it will work, (b) drugs are frequently used in combination with acupuncture, (c) the pain associated with surgical procedures is less than is generally assumed, (d) the patients are prepared in special ways for surgery under acupuncture, (e) the acupuncture needles distract the patient from the pain of surgery and, (f) suggestions for pain relief are present in acupuncture treatment. It is concluded that more research is needed to determine whether additional factors are needed to help explain the phenomenon of acupuncture analgesia.
1973
Brown, H. Alan (1973). Role of expectancy manipulation in systematic desensitization. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 41 (3), 405-411.
Expectancy, relaxation, and hierarchy content were manipulated in a 2X2 factorial design with two additional control groups. It was hypothesized that a major portion of therapeutic change following desensitization could be accounted for by the subjects' responses to positive feedback inherent in the paradigm. Spider-phobic subjects saw either photographs of spiders or blank slides that they believed to be tachistoscopically presented pictures of spiders. In the factorial part of the design, half of the subjects believed their progress through the hierarchy to be contingent on autonomic responses; the others believed rate of progress to be random. Findings did not support the hypothesis that expectancy was the only factor in desensitization, but they did serve to clarify the role of expectancy vis-a-vis the counterconditioning elements typically discussed in the literature.
1972
Barber, Theodore Xenophon; de Moor, Wilfried (1972). A theory of hypnotic induction procedures. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 15 (2), 112-135.
The first part of the paper delineates nine variables in hypnotic induction procedures that give rise to heightened responsiveness to test-suggestions: (a) defining the situation as hypnosis; (b) removing fears and misconceptions; (c) securing cooperation; (d) asking the subject to keep his eyes closed; (e) suggesting relaxation, sleep, and hypnosis; (f) maximizing the phrasing and vocal characteristics of suggestions; (g) coupling suggestions with naturally-occurring events; (h) stimulating goal-directed imagining; and (i) preventing or reinterpreting the failure of suggestions. Data are presented to support the theory that the nine variables augment responsiveness to test-suggestions by giving rise to positive attitudes, motivations, and expectancies which, in turn, tend to produce a willingness to think with and vividly imagine those things that are suggested. The second part of the paper specifies situational variables and variables involved in induction procedures that produce a trance-like appearance, changes in body feelings, and reports of having been hypnotized.
Bowers, Kenneth S.; Kelly, P. (1970). Stress, disease, psychotherapy, and hypnosis. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 490-505.
Presents evidence for the importance of suggestion and hypnotic ability in the healing or amelioration of various somatic disorders. It is argued that even in some treatment interventions that are not explicitly hypnotic, suggestion and hypnotic ability may be hidden factors that help to promote successful healing. Consequently, hypnotic ability may be an individual difference variable that influences treatment outcome in a manner not heretofore recognized by many investigators and clinicians involved in helping the psychologically and physically ill.
Bartlett, Edmund E.; Faw, Terry T.; Liebert, Robert M. (1967). The effects of suggestions of alertness in hypnosis on pupillary response: Report on a single subject. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 15 (4), 189-192.
THE PUPIL SIZE OF A SINGLE S WAS RECORDED UNDER 2 TYPES OF HYPNOTIC SUGGESTION: ALERTNESS INSTRUCTIONS AND TRADITIONAL RELAXATION INSTRUCTIONS. IT WAS FOUND THAT THE SIZE OF THE PUPIL INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY UNDER ALERTNESS INSTRUCTIONS. THIS RESULT WAS TAKEN AS FURTHER CORROBORATION OF THE HYPOTHESIS THAT CHANGES IN VARIOUS PARAMETERS OF AROUSAL APPARENTLY ASSOCIATED WITH HYPNOSIS MAY BE ATTRIBUTED TO SPECIFIABLE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE INSTRUCTIONS USED RATHER THAN TO STABLE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE "STATE" OF HYPNOSIS. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved)
1965
Agosti, E.; Camerota, G. (1965). Some effects of hypnotic suggestion on respiratory function. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 13 (3), 149-157.
Several respiratory indices were measured in 10 Ss in 3 states: at rest, with hypnotic suggestion of relaxation, and with hypnotic instructions to imagine muscular work. The same suggestions were given to 10 control Ss in the waking state. The suggestion of relaxation produced a decrease in pulmonary ventilation in both groups, although it was substantial only in the hypnotic group which started from a higher baseline level. The imagined work produced an increase in ventilation, especially in the hypnotic group. However, in both instances because of compensatory changes in respiratory efficiency the actual uptake of oxygen remained almost unaffected. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved)
Barber, Theodore Xenophon (1965). Physiological effects of 'hypnotic suggestions': A critical review of recent research (1960-64). Psychological Bulletin, 201-222.
Recent studies are reviewed which were concerned with the effectiveness of suggestions given under "hypnosis" and "waking" experimental treatments in alleviating allergies, ichthyosis, myopia, and other conditions and in eliciting deafness, blindness, hallucinations, analgesia, cardiac acceleration and deceleration, emotional responses, urine secretion to sham water ingestion, narcotic-like drug effects, and other phenomena. The review indicates that a wide variety of physiological functions can be influenced by suggestions administered under either hypnosis or waking experimental treatments, and direct and indirect suggestions to show the particular physiological manifestations are crucial variables in producing the effects.
Das, J. P. (1965). Relationship between body-sway, hand-levitation, and a questionnaire measure of hypnotic susceptibility. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 13 (1), 26-33.
67 randomly selected college students were administered the body-sway test, a questionnaire measure of tranceability, and an induction procedure utilizing hand-levitation to determine hypnotic susceptibility. The 6 Es varied in age, sex; 5 of them had little experience as hypnotists. All reference to "hypnosis" was omitted from the induction procedure. Significant phi-coefficients between body-sway and levitation (.52), levitation and tranceability frequency (.28) and intensity (.25), and body-sway and tranceability intensity (.33) were obtained. (16 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved)
1964
Anderson, Milton L.; Sarbin, T. R. (1964). Base rate expectations and motoric alterations in hypnosis. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 12 (3), 147-158.
Degree of responsiveness to "suggestion" in an experiment which did not utilize hypnotic induction (the Berkeley Sample) was comparable to that obtained in an experiment which did utilize hypnotic induction (the Stanford Sample). Procedural differences between the 2 experiments--self-scoring vs. objective-scoring, and group vs. individual testing--were regarded as not crucial in making a comparison of the 2 experiments. The distribution of responses in the Berkeley Sample may be taken as the base rate. The slightly higher degree of responsiveness over the base rate in the Stanford Sample (on some tests) may be attributed to the "degree of volunteering" that characterized the sample. The importance for experiments in the future to create equal levels of motivation and expectation to perform well under both the hypnotic and the nonhypnotic conditions is stressed, and brief mention is made of a new metaphor to be used in the conceptualization of the problems of hypnosis. (25 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved)
Black, Stephen (1964). Mind and body. London: Kimber.
NOTES
Defines psychosomatic disease as one that responds to psychotherapy. Believes only 5% are highly hypnotizable, that hypnosis is learnable in 1/2 hour, that hypnosis is not a useful treatment for psychosomatic disorders because you can't use interpretation [of unconscious]. The 'unconscious' is "... a complex of informational systems derived from such primaeval mechanisms" (p. 133). "Primaeval mind is involved in these mechanisms of genetics and immunology" (p. 133). "There is thus a 'somatic mind' which is unconscious and presumably without any means of verbalization of experience--and a 'cerebral mind' which is conscious" (p. 133). The dividing line is not clear.
Rapport is discussed on pp. 160, 169 as one of the spontaneous characteristics of hypnosis, in the absence of suggestion. The same for posthypnotic suggestion (rapport and amnesia). Spontaneous _physiological_ changes in hypnosis relate to mind-body relationships (p. 169)
Conditioned reflex is discussed on p. 161
"...the subjective evidence indicates that a perceptual change involving any sensory modality can be produced by DSUH" [direct suggestion under hypnosis] p. 178. Suggestion can selectively affect different parts of the body p. 197.
Research: "Hypnosis is not only the most important and practical way of _proving_ the existence of the unconscious--which is still in doubt in some circles--but is in fact the only way in which unconscious mechanisms can be manipulated under repeatable experimental conditions for purposes of investigation" (p. 152).
Mind-body is "amenability to control" Catatonia, which characterizes both animal and human hypnosis, seen in hypnosis, is induced by constriction (i.e. disorientation). The Cartesian concept of mind and body tends to confuse the issue p. 157.
Rapport is discussed (p. 157).
Suggestion (p. 159) "It was this concept of 'suggestion'--which so obviously parallels 'amenability to control' in animals--that eventually established hypnosis in the French schools of psychiatry as a state of increased suggestibility. ... still the standard definition of hypnosis in most medical psychiatric textbooks and in lay dictionaries" (p. 159).
Black (1969) did some biochemical sleuthing to learn how information transmitted by words becomes information encoded somatically, as when psychosomatic allergies flare and recede or disappear. What accounts for suggestion "curing" an allergic skin reaction in one part of the body while another part not included in the suggestion remains reactive? What accounts for the instantaneous skin allergy cure which sometimes occurs with suggestion (in 24 hours)?
Skin sensitivity tests in highly hypnotizable Ss who were also very allergic were inhibited by direct suggestion under hypnosis under highly controlled experimental conditions--and in one subject the effect (inhibition) was relatively permanent--ruling out (he suggests) a neurological mechanism. He did further experiments to examine whether the result was due to an instant neurological mechanism and a long-term endocrinal mechanism.
p. 212 He ruled out peripheral blood flow as the cause of diminished skin sensitivity (there was no change in blood flow with suggestions of heat or cold). Therefore decrease in blood flow couldn't explain in neurovascular terms the 'instant' inhibition of skin sensitivity (allergy) tests. Was it due to systemic--especially adrenal-- changes? He demonstrated increases in plasma cortisol under hypnosis with suggestions of fear. On p. 230 he summarizes the facts he established by skin sensitivity tests, plasma- cortisol studies, and histology - endocrinological.
Black, Stephen; Edholm, O. G.; Fox, R. H.; Kidd, D. J. (1963). The effect of suggestion under hypnosis on the peripheral circulation in man. Clinical Science, 26, 223-230.
Summary.
1. The effects on the circulation in the forearm and hand of both direct and indirect suggestion under hypnosis of thermal stimuli have been studied. 2. The induction of hypnosis did not significantly alter the forearm blood flow, but a small reduction in hand blood flow was usually observed. Pulse rate in general slowed slightly as did respiration rate. 3. The effect of body heating on forearm and hand blood flow was not modified by hypnosis. 4. Direct suggestion under hypnosis of body heating or body cooling, with and without body heating, produced only small changes. 5. The changes associated with suggestion were not related to the thermal suggestion. Whatever the suggestion, the usual response was a reduction in hand blood flow and an increase in forearm blood flow. 6. The rise of body temperature with heating was not modified by direct suggestion, under hypnosis, of body cooling. 7. No change in body temperature could be elicited by suggestion. 8. In a few experiments marked changes in forearm blood flow occurred. These appeared to resemble the changes in the circulation produced by emotional stimuli. 9. The smaller changes more frequently observed were also similar to those produced by mild emotional stimuli" (p. 229). [N.B. The Subjects were normal, healthy adults, N = 9, between 21-45 years old; highly hypnotizable, amnesic for trance.]
1959
Conn, Jacob H. (1959). Cultural and clinical aspects of hypnosis, placebos, and suggestibility. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 7 (4), 175-185.
Observation that student subjects often go into a deeper level of hypnosis after suggestions have been given for ending the session has led the writer to explore the reactions of subjects to this phenomenon and to set up a simple experiment using ideomotor responses in ten gynecological patients who needed hypnosis for therapy. In each of the ten patients there was a deepening of the trance after the suggestion to awaken had been given. It was the opinion of the subjects that they deepened the trance in rebellion against the direction for terminating a pleasant experience" (p. 227).
1956