Active–alert hypnosis: Replication and extension of previous research.

Compared levels of hypnotic responsiveness resulting from 4 induction procedures: (a) verbal active-alert induction alone, (b) bicycle pedaling alone, (c) verbal active-alert induction plus bicycle pedaling, and (d) traditional relaxation induction. Ss were 48 undergraduates. Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale scores indicated that the verbal induction plus pedaling procedure was significantly more effective than either the verbal- or pedaling-alone procedures. There were no significant differences in scores produced by the verbal plus pedaling and traditional relaxation inductions. Findings are consistent with A. M. Ludwig's (1966) proposal that there exists a range of stimulation necessary for the maintenance of normal waking consciousness and that levels of stimulation above or below that range are conducive to the production of altered states of consciousness. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparative efficacy of behavioral training, training plus relaxation, and a sleep/trance hypnotic induction in increasing hypnotic susceptibility.

A social-learning-based behavioral training procedure and the same procedure with the addition of progressive relaxation instructions were compared with a traditional sleep/trance eye-fixation hypnotic induction; Ss were 45 adult volunteers who had completed the Standard Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form C. As predicted, the hypothesis that a social-learning training procedure would be more effective than a sleep/trance induction was supported. The hypothesis that the addition of relaxation instructions would further potentiate the social-learning treatment was not supported. Results suggest that for Ss of low and medium hypnotic susceptibility, social-learning procedures are a more effective way of increasing suggestibility than a sleep/trance induction. Changes in Ss' conceptions of hypnosis, particularly in terms of moving toward a self-control viewpoint, are hypothesized to be an intervening variable. (48 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effectiveness of relaxation as an active coping skill.

Notes that the status of relaxation training as an effective treatment procedure is unclear. A possible reason for inconsistent findings may be the way in which the training procedure is presented, or at least the way in which the S or client may construe it. The present study with 27 speech-anxious college students used public-speaking anxiety as the target behavior and presented relaxation training in 2 ways. In Condition 1, Ss were told that the relaxation exercises would more or less automatically reduce their anxiety level. In Condition 2, relaxation was presented within a self-control context in which Ss were told that they were learning an active coping skill. A 3rd condition involved group discussion and was included as a means of controlling for attention-placebo factors. On a variety of different measures, within-group changes consistently favored the self-control relaxation condition. This was true of the speech anxiety measures as well as indicators of anxiety in other types of situations. The finding that Ss in the self-control relaxation condition continued to improve even after termination was interpreted as being consistent with a view of self-control that involves a learned skill which improves with repeated practice. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Suggested ("hypnotic") visual hallucinations: Experimental and phenomenological data.

Tested 74 female student nurses' responses to a pretreatment hallucination suggestion to see an object that was not present. Each S was then exposed to either hypnotic induction procedure or task motivational instructions, and was again tested on response to an equivalent posttreatment hallucination suggestion. Next, each S was assessed on the Barber Suggestibility Scale (BSS) and on a self-rating of hypnotic depth measure. Finally, Ss were interviewed individually by a "blind" E to determine their phenomenological experiences during the posttreatment hallucination suggestion. There were significant positive correlations between scores on the posttreatment hallucination suggestion and scores on the BSS, self-ratings of hypnotic depth, and pretreatment hallucination suggestion. Similar phenomenological experiences were reported by Ss tested under the hypnotic induction and task motivational treatments, and by Ss who reported that they "saw" and those who reported that they "vividly imagined" the suggested object. (22 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of hypnotic induction and suggestions on nocturnal dreaming and thinking.

Examined the effects of hypnotic induction and types of suggestions on sleep mentation, using 77 Ss in a 2 * 3 factorial experiment. Immediately before going to sleep at night, 1/2 of the Ss were exposed to a hypnotic induction and 1/2 were not, and all Ss were given either authoritative, permissive, or no suggestions to think and dream that night on a specific topic. Ss reported their thoughts and dreams when awakened at sleep onset and during REM and NREM periods. The intricate findings indicate that hypnotic induction and types of suggestions exerted complex effects on nocturnal thinking and dreaming. Contents of the dreams were affected by an interaction between hypnotic induction and types of suggestions, and the hypnotic induction increased the number of nocturnal thoughts which pertained to the specified topic. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Artificial induction of posthypnotic conflict.

Employed the real-simulating model of hypnosis to study the effectiveness of conflict suggestion on S's behavior in the posthypnotic period when amnesia was present for the source of the conflict. Blind to S's true identity, E gave anxiety-toned paramnesia suggestion to 17 hypnotic Ss and 14 insusceptible Ss who were motivated by another E to fake hypnotic performance. Comparison of pre- and postcomplex performance on a battery of personality tests showed that both simulators and hypnotic Ss behaved in a similar fashion following the induction of conflict. Differences which did exist between the 2 groups suggested that the induced conflict inhibited the spontaneity of the hypnotic S. In the case of hypnotic performance, awareness of the source of the conflict made little difference to the occurrence of the painful emotional state. (26 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hypnosis, task-motivating instructions, and learning performance.

40 Ss, including 30 who had been previously rated as suggestible and 10 as nonsuggestible, were pretested and then retested on equivalent forms of 3 learning tasks: digit symbol substitution, memory for words, and abstract reasoning. All Ss received the pretests in the same way. The 30 suggestible Ss were retested under 1 of the following 3 experimental treatments with 10 Ss assigned at random to each treatment: task-motivating instructions, hypnotic induction procedure with task-motivating instructions, and control. The 10 nonsuggestible Ss were retested under a task-motivating-instructions treatment. Analyses of covariance indicated that (a) task-motivating instructions given alone or following a hypnotic induction procedure did not significantly affect performance on the memory for words or abstract reasoning tasks; and (b) task-motivating instructions produced a comparable enhancement of performance on the digit symbol substitution task in hypnotized and nonhypnotized Ss and in suggestible and nonsuggestible Ss. (33 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of peer model reponsiveness and length of induction procedure on hypnotic responsiveness.

Examined hypnotic responsiveness with 68 female undergraduates observing confederates who were employed as models to appear either responsive or unresponsive to the test suggestions of the Barber Suggestibility Scale. Ss received either brief or lengthy verbal induction procedures. It was predicted that (a) observation of responsive peer models would result in greater responsiveness on the part of S, and (b) receiving a longer verbal induction would also produce greater responsiveness. A strong positive relationship was found between model responsiveness and subsequent S responsiveness. The effect of induction length was nonsignificant and no interactions were observed. Results are discussed in terms of expectation and set on the part of Ss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Double hypnotic induction: An initial empirical test.

Compared 34 right-handed undergraduates' responses to a double induction and to the traditional hypnotic induction used in the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scales. In separate experimental sessions, Ss experienced audiotapes of a standard hypnotic induction and a double induction similar to that described by R. Bandler and J. Grinder (1975). In the double induction, Ss heard a hand-levitation induction through the ear contralateral to the dominant cerebral hemisphere, and simultaneously, hard grammatically childlike messages through the other ear. Half of the Ss experienced the double induction first. There were no significant within-S differences between the 2 inductions. However, Ss who experienced the double induction prior to the standard induction were significantly less responsive to suggestions following both inductions, which suggests that the double induction as a 1st experience of hypnosis may have a negative impact on subsequent experiences of hypnosis. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Imagery encouragement, absorption capacity, and relaxation during electromyograph biofeedback.

Investigated individual differences in 48 female undergraduates' capacities for absorption and examined the effects of instructions designed to encourage the use of imaginal processes during EMG biofeedback (BFB). 24 high-absorption and 24 low-absorption Ss were assigned to either a BFB condition, a BFB condition with imagery encouragement, or a no-BFB condition. Each S participated in 2 sessions of testing. Results show that instructional manipulation of imaginal strategies was effective in overcoming the previously observed interference effect of BFB for high-absorption Ss. For low-absorption Ss, performance in the 2 BFB conditions was equivalent and, by the end of each session, was appreciably greater than in the no-BFB condition. It is concluded that cognitive mediational strategies employed by Ss were closely related to performance during BFB and that these strategies were manipulated effectively in a manner that appreciably enhanced the efficacy of the BFB as a relaxation procedure. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Serial position curves in rats: Automatic versus effortful information processing.

20 male Long-Evans rats were trained to remember lists of 5 arms on an 8-arm radial maze. A forced-choice memory recognition test procedure was used that required the S to choose between an arm previously visited during the study phase of a trial and an arm not visited. To receive additional food reinforcement, 10 Ss were required to return to the previously visited arm (win-stay) and 10 Ss were required to choose the novel, unvisited arm (win-shift). In this way, a direct comparison was made between the serial position curves (SPCs) generated by win-stay trained and win-shift trained Ss. Only win-stay trained Ss produced the classical U-shaped SPC, which included significant primacy and recency effects. Win-shift Ss showed only recency effects. Findings are discussed in terms of differential processing requirements for the 2 procedures. It is suggested that the win-stay rule necessitates relatively more effortful, elaborative processing than does the win-shift rule, which is used automatically. (41 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Responsiveness to suggestions following waking and imagination instructions and following induction of hypnosis.

2 experiments are reported to test the increase of responsiveness to suggestion tests following hypnotic induction over responsiveness to such tests in waking and imagination conditions, an increase that has been doubted as a result of experiments by Barber and Calverley. In the 1st experiment 60 Ss were divided into groups of 20, each serving under 1 of 3 conditions in a 1st session (waking, imagination, hypnosis). All received a standard hypnotic induction in a 2nd session. While the treatment effects did not yield significant differences on the 1st day, there were significant gains in responsiveness to suggestions by the waking and imagination groups in the 2nd session. In the 2nd experiment, with some methodological improvements, 90 Ss served in 6 groups of 15 in: (1) imagination without expectation of hypnosis, (2) imagination with expectation of hypnosis, (3) hypnotic induction, and (4) various combinations. Significant gains were found with hypnotic induction throughout. State reports (subjective responses of drifting into hypnosis) showed that those Ss within both imagination and hypnotic induction conditions who reported themselves as becoming hypnotized yielded the highest suggestibility scores. There is difficulty in obtaining significant treatment effects unless Ss were as their own controls. (16 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Toward a theory of hynotic behavior: Effects on suggestibility of task motivating instructions and attitudes toward hypnosis.

Attitudes toward hypnosis were assessed in 75 college students. 3 weeks later the students were required to participate in an experiment in which they were tested individually on the Barber Suggestibility Scale. The scale was administered under 3 experimental treatments with 25 Ss, ? with positive attitudes toward hypnosis and ? with nonpositive attitudes, assigned randomly to each treatment. The treatments were: Task Motivating Instructions, Hypnotic Induction Procedure, Direct Suggestions (Control). The findings confirmed Hypotheses 1 and 2 which stated: (a) Ss given either brief task motivating instructions or a procedure of the type traditionally termed a hypnotic induction show greater response to suggestions than Ss given neither task motivating insructions nor a hypnotic induction; and (b) brief task motivating instructions and an extended hypnotic induction procedure both elicit high levels of suggestibility. (46 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Response expectancies and interpretations as determinants of hypnotic responding.

Ss rated the extent to which they expected to respond to each of the suggestions on a hypnotizability scale both before and after the administration of the preliminary hypnotic induction procedure. After the induction, Ss also rated the extent to which they planned to respond actively and passively to each suggestion. Contrary to strong versions of response-expectancy theory, the extent to which Ss planned to adopt an active interpretation predicted behavioral and subjective indexes of hypnotizability even after controlling for the effects of postinduction expectations. In addition, an active interpretation significantly predicted response to suggestion for which Ss held weak and uncertain expectations. The relationship between expectation and hypnotizability was found to be fan-shaped rather than linear. Implications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Home relaxation practice in hypertension treatment: Objective assessment and compliance induction.

50 Ss (mean age 51.1 yrs) with essential hypertension were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 conditions: individualized relaxation, group relaxation (GR), GR plus contingency contracting (CC) for home practice, or a waiting list. Treated Ss were given tape players and relaxation tapes and were instructed to practice daily for 10 wks. Unknown to the Ss, the tape players had a concealed capacity to electronically monitor the amount of relaxation practice. All relaxation conditions showed significantly greater reductions in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure than waiting-list controls but did not differ from each other. Monitored relaxation predicted systolic but not diastolic changes. Self-reports exceeded monitored practice by 91%, and only 32% of the Ss averaged 1 practice/day. GR plus CC Ss showed the lowest rate of practice across most weeks. Rated self-efficacy, age, and pretreatment expectations of benefit were positively correlated with relaxation compliance. Data support the use of relaxation for hypertension but suggest that noncompliance is common in both individual and group relaxation training. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relaxation-induced anxiety: Paradoxical anxiety enhancement due to relaxation training.

14 adults (mean age 34.4 yrs) suffering from general tension were given 1 session of training in each of 2 relaxation methods—progressive relaxation and mantra meditation; order of presentation was counterbalanced. Ss were administered a battery of tests that included the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Cognitive-Somatic Anxiety Questionnaire, and the Anxiety Differential. Four of the Ss plus 1 other who terminated prematurely displayed clinical evidence of an anxiety reaction during a preliminary practice period, while 30.8% of the total group under progressive relaxation and 53.8% under focused relaxation reported increased tension due to the relaxation session. Progressive relaxation produced greater reductions in subjective and physiological outcome measures and less evidence of relaxation-induced anxiety. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Simulation Index: A method for detecting factitious errors on the WAIS—R and WMS.

Studied simulated failures on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale—Revised (WAIS—R) and the Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS) through the qualitative analysis of error types (ETPs). In a preliminary phase, test protocols of 16 Ss sustaining severe head injury were compared with those of 16 Ss claiming severe and persistent mental impairment following minor head injury. ETPs relatively specific to each group were identified and given a different numerical weight. Scores for the ETPs were summed to produce a simulation index (SI) score for each S, and a cutoff score for the SI was established that produced a perfect separation of the groups. In the validation phase, the SI scoring procedure was applied to 2 new groups: 10 Ss sustaining severe head injury and 10 Ss presenting with simulated cognitive impairment. The established cutoff score produced only 1 misclassification error. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Expert judgments of hypnosis from subjective state reports.

Suggestibility was assessed in 60 college students after a traditional hypnotic induction, an alert induction, progressive relaxation training, or instruction in goal-directed imagery. Responsiveness to suggestion did not differ between groups. Ss also generated open-ended reports of their states of awareness and of their experience of 3 hypnotic suggestions. A sample of these reports from 24 moderately to highly suggestible Ss were evaluated by 18 experts in the field of hypnosis. Expert ratings of Ss' open-ended reports indicated that (1) traditional hypnotic inductions produce a state of consciousness that is indistinguishable from nonhypnotic relaxation training, (2) the subjective experience of hypnotic suggestions after imagination training is indistinguishable from that after hypnotic inductions, and (3) suggestibility is unrelated to state of consciousness as assessed by experts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects on recall of hypnotic induction, motivational suggestions, and suggested regression: A methodological and experimental analysis.

90 Ss were assessed for recall of syllables (learned 2 mo. previously) under 1 of 9 experimental conditions in a 3 X 3 factorial design. The 3 levels of the 1st independent variable were: hypnotic induction, eyes closed; no induction, eyes closed; and no induction, eyes open. The 3 levels of the 2nd independent variable were: recall without suggestions; recall with motivational suggestions; and recall with suggestions to regress to the time of original learning. Recall was not affected by the independent variables or their interaction. A comparable number of Ss in each of the 9 experimental groups testified postexperimentally that, during the experiment, they had imagined, felt, and believed they were back in the original learning situation. (30 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)