Hypnotic amnesia as a strategic enactment: Breaching amnesia in highly susceptible subjects.

Proposes that hypnotically amnesic Ss maintain control over their memory processes but often fail to breach amnesia because to do so would conflict with their self-presentation as deeply hypnotized. Two experiments, with 16 undergraduates, demonstrated that highly susceptible hypnotically amnesic Ss could be easily induced to recall all of the "forgotten" target items by defining successful recall as supportive of rather than as inconsistent with a self-presentation as deeply hypnotized. In the 1st part of Exp I, all Ss showed amnesia despite repeated demands to recall honestly. In the 2nd part of Exp I, Ss were led to believe that they possessed a "hidden part" to their mind that remained aware of the target items covered by the amnesia suggestion. Each S recalled all of the forgotten items when the experimenter contacted their hidden part. Exp II replicated this effect and also demonstrated that the characteristics of Ss' hidden reports were a function of the instructions they received and did not reflect the operation of a dissociated cognitive subsystem that subconsciously held the forgotten items. Findings are inconsistent with traditional theorizing about hypnosis, but offer strong support for the hypothesis that hypnotic amnesia is a strategic enactment under the S's voluntary control. (45 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Covert pain in hypnotic analgesia: Its reality as tested by the real-simulator design.

Simulation of covert pain, as reported by the hidden observer method, proved very successful for 12 simulator Ss known to be unable to reduce overtly reported pain through hypnotic analgesia procedures, as compared with 12 highly hypnotizable Ss whose pain had been shown to be reduced by at least one third through hypnotic analgesia suggestions. Preliminary practice in dissociation (and in simulated dissociation) through amnesia for a word list and through attempted automatic writing also demonstrated successful simulation. However, in an honesty inquiry by a staff member not participating as a hypnotist-experimenter, no simulator claimed to have been amnesic, to have performed automatic writing, or to have reduced pain beyond the reduction that could be achieved through waking suggestion. The methods by which the successful simulation was achieved were explored in subsequent interviews. In contrast with the simulators, no highly hypnotizable S modified any earlier report on the basis of the honesty inquiry. Results confirm the importance of postexperimental honesty interrogation when the real–simulator design is used. Results also lend support to the reality of the covert experience of pain in the absence of its overt experience in hypnotic analgesia. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Instructional demands and ratings of overt and hidden pain during hypnotic analgesia.

16 highly hypnotizable (Carlton University Responsiveness to Suggestion Scale) undergraduates rated the intensity of cold pressor pain during a baseline trial and again during 3 hypnotic analgesia trials. During each analgesia trial, Ss were instructed to give overt reports that reflected consciously experienced pain and covert reports that reflected the intensity of "hidden" pain. Treatment instructions administered before the 1st analgesia trial did not specify the relationship between overt and covert pain. Instructions given before the remaining 2 analgesia trials indicated that hidden pain would be either more or less intense than overt pain. Until they were given explicit information about the relative intensities of the pain, Ss reported no differences in the magnitude of overt and covert pain, contrary to the dissociation hypothesis of hypnotic analgesia. Consistent with social psychological formulations of the hidden observer phenomenon, Ss reported both higher covert than overt pain and lower covert than overt pain, depending on the instructions they were administered. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Episodic and semantic memory in posthypnotic amnesia: A reevaluation.

J. F. Kihlstrom (see record 1980-11245-001) hypothesized that posthypnotic amnesia involved a dissociation between episodic and semantic components of memory. The present study tested an alternative hypothesis that Kihlstrom's findings resulted from experimental demands conveyed by the wording of the amnesia suggestion he employed. It was hypothesized that hypnotically amnesic Ss would show performance deficits on semantic and episodic memory tasks if expectations for such deficits were subtly conveyed to them. Using 2 treatment conditions, 60 undergraduates were divided into susceptibility groups. Condition 1 replicated Kihlstrom's experiment; in Condition 2, Ss were given an alternative hypnotic suggestion. It was found that Ss could be induced to show only episodic impairments (thereby replicating Kihlstrom) or both episodic and semantic impairments (contrary to Kihlstrom) by subtly varying the wording of amnesia suggestions. Findings are inconsistent with a dissociation hypothesis. Instead, they support the notion that hypnotic amnesia is a strategic enactment strongly influenced by expectations generated in the amnesia testing situation. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The "hidden observer" phenomenon in hypnosis: Some additional findings.

23 highly hypnotizable undergraduates (Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility) underwent 2 specially constructed 7-item hypnotic inductions. Over the 14 items, the main finding was of a relationship between E. R. Hilgard's (1973, 1977, 1979) "hidden observer" effect and 2 aspects of hypnotic age regression. Ss reporting a hidden observer experienced duality during regression to age 5, in which they were aware of being both adult and child. When asked to write a complex sentence, most did so, usually without spelling errors. The Ss not reporting this effect experienced quasi-lateral age regression in which they had the exclusive feeling of being 5 yrs old, with no sense of an adult identity. Most of these Ss were unable to write the same complex sentence when requested to during age regression. The study replicated Hilgard's finding of the hidden observer phenomenon in terms of its incidence and obtained similar verbal reports from Ss experiencing it. At the same time, the results suggest that a neodissociation account of hypnosis may need some modifications to accommodate these additional findings. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hypnotic enhancement of cognitive-behavioral interventions for pain: An analogue treatment study.

Recent meta-analyses have shown that adding hypnosis enhances the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral psychotherapy. This hypnotic enhancement effect was evaluated in the analogue treatment of pain. Individuals scoring in the high (n=135) and low (n=150) ranges of hypnotic suggestibility were randomly assigned to 1 of 6 conditions: Stress Inoculation Training, the same treatment provided hypnotically, nonhypnotic analgesia suggestions, hypnotic analgesia suggestions, a hypnotic induction treatment, or a control condition. The 5 analogue treatments reduced experimental pain more than the control condition, but were not different from one another. Under circumstances optimized to detect an enhancement effect, neither Stress Inoculation Training nor analgesia suggestions produced more relief when delivered in a hypnotic context than identical treatments provided nonhypnotically. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The hidden observer in hypnotic analgesia: Discovery or experimental creation?

Eight highly susceptible (Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility and the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale) Ss were assigned to E. R. Hilgard and J. R. Hilgard's (1975) training procedures for eliciting "hidden" reports during hypnotic analgesia. These procedures indicate to Ss that a "hidden part" of themselves continues to feel high levels of pain while their "hypnotized part" experiences reduced pain. Eight additional Ss were given the opposite expectation concerning "hidden pain"—that their "hidden part" would feel less pain than their "hypnotized part." Ss expecting high levels of "hidden" pain reported high levels, whereas those expecting little "hidden" pain reported low levels. Results are inconsistent with the notion that "hidden" reports reflect the intrinsic activity of a "dissociated state." Instead, they indicate that "hidden" reports result from Ss' attempts to convincingly enact the role of "good hypnotic S" as this role is defined for them by the experimental procedures they undergo. (55 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hypnotically "reliving" a prior burn: Effects on blister formation and localized skin temperature.

60 Ss who had previously been burned were "hypnotically age regressed" and given both suggestions to "relive" the burn experience and suggestions that a blister was forming. Although 17 Ss reported vividly imagining the burn events, none showed localized skin-coloration changes or evidence of blister formation. Moreover, skin temperature measured before, during, and after age regression indicated no overall suggestion effects. Nevertheless, 1 S did show differential skin-temperature response to the suggestion. This S had showed only moderate hypnotic susceptibility on the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of experimenter modeling, demands for honesty, and initial level of suggestibility on response to "hypnotic" suggestions.

Pretested 180 college students on behavioral (objective) and experiential (subjective) responses to the test suggestions of the Barber Suggestibility Scale. After being exposed to 1 of 3 treatments--E modeling, hypnotic induction, or control--each S was retested on the same scale. Strong demands to give honest experiential reports were administered to 1/2 of the Ss under each treatment. Ss who were exposed to E modeling manifested a greater enhancement in objective responsiveness to test suggestions than control Ss and as much enhancement as Ss who were exposed to hypnotic induction. E modeling was as effective as hypnotic induction in enhancing sujective responsiveness to test suggestions with and without demands for honest reports. Under both the E modeling and hypnotic induction treatments, Ss who had initially manifested a high level of suggestibility (pretest) showed as much enhancement in subjective responsiveness to test suggestions as medium- or low-suggestible Ss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of hypnotic analgesia on verbal report and cardiovascular responses to ischemic pain.

A slowly mounting form of ischemic pain produced substantial increases in systolic blood pressure (SBP), heart rate (HR), and pain state (PS) in 8 highly susceptible hypnotic Ss on an unhypnotized control day, when ischemia was extended to a median duration of 19 min. On a 2nd day, after hypnotically suggested analgesia, a repetition of the ischemic stimulus produced significantly lower SBP, HR, and PS at a median 19 min., and in 6 Ss, PS reports of 0 and neglibible changes in SBP and HR, even though ischemia was extended to a median duration of 30.2 min. It is concluded that: (a) hypnotic analgesia is effective, in selected Ss, in reducing reported pain of ischemia; (b) reductions in SBP and HR accompany the reduction in reported pain, thus validating the subjective reports; and (c) evidence answers possible criticisms of a design calling for repeated measures on the same Ss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hypnotic analgesia: A preliminary investigation of quantitated hemispheric electroencephalographic and attentional correlates.

The effects of hypnotically induced analgesia were studied in 6 undergraduate Ss rated as moderately hypnotizable and 5 Ss rated as highly hypnotizable. Subjective pain reports and EEG activation were recorded during 1-min periods of cold-pressor stimulation. Both groups reported decreased pain during hypnosis, but the decrease was greater for the highly hypnotizable group. During hypnotic analgesia, immersion of either the right or the left hand in ice water was correlated with contralateral EEG activation for moderately hypnotizable but not for highly hypnotizable Ss. Lack of contralateral shift was correlated for the whole sample and within groups with success on an attentional task related by previous research to hypnotizability as well as with reports of reduced pain. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Use of retrieval cues in breaching hypnotic amnesia.

We conducted this study to determine whether hypnotically amnesic subjects would breach amnesia when forced to attend to powerful retrieval cues. Following a standard hypnotic induction procedure, 113 subjects attempted to recall a 48-item word list. The list consisted of instances of taxonomic categories presented in blocked format and was presented only once. A forced-recall procedure required subjects to recall 48 items even if that involved guessing. Next, 85 subjects were administered an amnesia suggestion and recalled the list a second time. The remaining 28 subjects served as controls and recalled the list a second time without the intervening suggestion. On Trial 3, the breaching trial, subjects were given the 12 category names and were required to recall 4 items under each. Finally, the suggestion was canceled for subjects in the suggestion condition, and all subjects completed a final cued recall. Subjects in the suggestion condition who showed amnesia on the second trial breached completely on Trial 3. We argue that the task demands prevented them from using the cognitive strategies that, under other circumstances, maintain amnesia. Limitations of the present study and suggestions for further research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Credulous" and "skeptical" views of hypnotic phenomena: Experiments on esthesia, hallucination, and delusion.

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) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Experimental analyses of "hypnotic" behavior: A review of recent empirical findings.

Experiments are reviewed that were designed to delineate the instrumental variables in eliciting objective and subjective responses to test suggestions of body immobility, analgesia, hallucination, deafness, selective amnesia, and so on, that is, in eliciting behaviors of the type traditionally termed "hypnotic." The question at the forefront of discussion is: In producing "hypnotic-like" behavior, what are the relative effects of (a) S's personality characteristics, and of instructional-situational variables, such as (b) defining the situation to S as "hypnosis" or "control," (c) administering task-motivational instructions, (d) administering suggestions of relaxation, drowsiness, and sleep, and (e) suggesting to S that he can now easily respond to test suggestions? (4 p. ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Analgesia for experimentally induced pain: Multiple sessions of acupuncture compared to hypnosis in high- and low-susceptible subjects.

Repeated trials with cold-pressor pain were used to (a) determine whether the modest relation between hypnotic susceptibility and response to acupuncture analgesia obtained in previous experiments is enhanced over a series of treatments; (b) compare acupuncture and hypnotic analgesias; and (c) assess whether acupuncture analgesia increases with repeated treatments. 20 high and 20 low hypnotically susceptible undergraduates participated on 5 days. For half of each susceptibility group, Sessions 1–3 consisted of a baseline trial followed by an acupuncture analgesia trial. The remaining Ss had 2 no-treatment trials on each of these sessions. For all Ss Session 4 was a baseline followed by a hypnotic analgesia trial, and Session 5 was a repetition of the procedures followed in Sessions 1–3. Repeated exposures to acupuncture did not alter its analgesic effect in either susceptibility group; there were no instances of significant postacupuncture pain reduction. High, but not low, susceptibles reported marked pain reduction after hypnotic analgesia. The effect of acupuncture on experimentally induced pain is at best small and fragile. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Toward a theory of "hypnotic" behavior: Experimental analyses of suggested amnesia.

Suggestions of amnesia were given to 144 Ss in a 2 X 2 X 4 factorial experiment. The independent variables were: (1) spoken vs. recorded presentation of suggestions, (2) presence vs. absence of hypnotic induction, and (3) 3 types of suggestions for amnesia—authoritative ("You will not rememberp"), permissive ("Try to forget"), suggestions to simulate, and no suggestions. Variable 1 did not produce important differences in amnesic performance. Variable 2 significantly affected 1 of the 5 tests for amnesia, with the presence of hypnotic induction resulting in less amnesia. Variable 3 exerted the most powerful effect. Irrespective of the presence or absence of hypnotic induction, Ss differed on the tests for amnesia depending on which suggestion they were given. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hypnotic analgesia and stress inoculation in the reduction of pain.

Investigated the influence of hypnotic ability on 3 methods of reducing cold-pressor pain. Following a baseline immersion, 30 high- and 30 low-hypnotizable undergraduates were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 treatment groups: stress inoculation training, stress inoculation training defined as hypnosis, or hypnotic analgesia. Analysis of pain reports indicated a significant hypnotic ability?×?treatment interaction. Among Ss receiving hypnotic analgesia, high-hypnotizables reported significantly less intense pain than lows. There was no differential response for high- and low-hypnotizable Ss receiving stress inoculation training, whether or not it was defined as hypnotic. Moreover, Ss in the stress inoculation condition (whether or not defined as hypnosis) reported using cognitive strategies to reduce pain, whereas this was not the case for Ss in the hypnotic analgesia condition. The present findings seem inconsistent with the social psychological account of hypnosis and are discussed from a dissociation perspective, which views hypnosis as involving changes in the way information is processed. (56 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Improved obstetric outcomes using hypnotic analgesia and skill mastery combined with childbirth education.

The benefits of hypnotic analgesia as an adjunct to childbirth education were studied in 60 nulliparous women. Subjects were divided into high and low hypnotic susceptibility groups before receiving 6 sessions of childbirth education and skill mastery using an ischemic pain task. Half of the Ss in each group received a hypnotic induction at the beginning of each session; the remaining control Ss received relaxation and breathing exercises typically used in childbirth education. Both hypnotic Ss and highly susceptible Ss reported reduced pain. Hypnotically prepared births had shorter Stage 1 labors, less medication, higher Apgar scores, and more frequent spontaneous deliveries than control Ss' births. Highly susceptible, hypnotically treated women had lower depression scores after birth than women in the other 3 groups. We propose that repeated skill mastery facilitated the effectiveness of hypnosis in our study. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correction to Schuyler and Coe.

Reports an error in the original article A physiological investigation of volitional and nonvolitional experience during posthypnotic amnesia, by Bradley A. Schuyler and William C. Coe (Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, Vol 40[6], 1981[Jun], 1160-1169). The first sentence of the first paragraph in the second column of page 1166 incorrectly reads as follows: "Supporting the current postexperimental measure is the observation that voluntary subjects under lie detector conditions showed increased EDR [electrodermal response]." A correction to this statement is presented here. (The following abstract of this article originally appeared in record 1982-05171-001.) Highly responsive hypnotic Ss (43 undergraduates) who were classified as having control over remembering (voluntaries) or not having control over remembering (involuntaries) during posthypnotic amnesia, were compared with each other on 4 physiological measures--heart rate, electrodermal response, respiration rate, and muscle tension--during posthypnotic recall. Two contextual conditions were employed: One was meant to create pressure to breach posthypnotic amnesia (lie detector instructions) and the other, a relax condition, served as a control. The recall data showed that voluntary Ss under the lie detector condition recalled more than the other 3 samples that did not differ from each other. However, using another measure of voluntariness showed that both voluntary and involuntary Ss breached under lie detector conditions. Electrodermal responses supported Ss' reports of control in this case. Results are discussed as they relate to (a) studies attempting to breach posthypnotic amnesia, (b) the voluntary/involuntary classification of Ss, and (c) theories of hypnosis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Selective hypnotic amnesia: Is it a successful attempt to forget or an unsuccessful attempt to remember?

Ss in 2 experiments (ns?=?72 and 50) learned a 16-item, 4-category word list and were then administered hypnotic suggestions to be amnesic for all the words in 1 of the categories. Even when selective amnesia was completely successful, Ss in both experiments revealed a high level of recall for words not targeted for amnesia; moreover, these words were recalled in a highly organized, category-by-category fashion. Evidently, attention to relevant retrieval (i.e., organizational) cues does not oblige recall of words targeted for amnesia. Forgetting in the presence of such powerful mnemonic cues seems to characterize hypnotic amnesia and some spontaneous forms of forgetting as well. We argue that mnemonic lapses of this kind represent a failed attempt to remember rather than a successful attempt to forget. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)