A comparison of active-alert hypnotic induction with traditional relaxation induction.

Describes the testing of an active-alert induction procedure which sufficiently controlled conditions to permit a comparison between the alterations produced by that procedure and those produced by the traditional relaxation induction technique. Ss were 50 university students. In the active-alert induction the S rode a bicycle ergometer under load, keeping eyes open while exercising and receiving suggestions of alertness. The alternate form, used in random alternation with the same Ss, consisted of the standard eye-fixation and relaxation induction of the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form B (SHSS-B). Within each session on 2 days during which each S served, the induction procedure was followed by 8 tests of responses to suggestion, from the SHSS-A and SHSS-B. The mean measured hypnotic responsiveness was independent of the type of induction. The active-alert condition was characterized by an acceleration of the rate of pedaling for the more responsive Ss. Although the subjective alterations differed between the 2 kinds of induction, the highly susceptible reported that in both cases altered states were achieved. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparative efficacy of hypnotic behavioral training and sleep/trance hypnotic induction: Comment on Katz.

Examines the claim by N. W. Katz (see record 1979-26454-001) that social-learning hypnotic inductions produce significant gains in hypnotizability relative to a traditional sleep/trance hypnotic induction. His use of a "raw gain-score analysis" is criticized because it fails to identify the significant influences of pretreatment individual differences on posttreatment response. Reanalysis of Katz's data indicates a highly significant pretest effect more potent than the observed treatment effect. Inconsistencies between Katz's findings and those of 6 previous studies are examined. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Uncancelled hypnotic suggestions: The effects of hypnotic depth and hypnotic skill on their posthypnotic persistence.

Conducted 2 experiments to evaluate the degree to which hypnotic depth and hypnotic skill influence the posthypnotic persistence of an uncancelled suggestion. Each experiment employed 24 college students (8 high susceptible, 8 medium susceptible, and 8 low susceptible, based on Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A, scores). The induction of hypnosis in Exp I was by videotape; in Exp II, an almost identical induction was conducted individually by the experimenter. In both experiments, an arm analgesia item was left uncancelled. Over the 2 experiments, analgesia persisted posthypnotically for 20% of the highly susceptible Ss. These Ss differed from the highly susceptible Ss not manifesting the phenomenon in having significantly better hypnotic analgesia and greater hypnotic depth. Results suggest that posthypnotic persistence of an uncancelled suggestion was confined to a minority of highly hypnotizable Ss. Persistence appears to have affinities with other low-incidence hypnotic phenomena to which only the top 2–3% of Ss in the range of hypnotic susceptibility respond. The majority of highly susceptible Ss either cancelled an uncancelled suggestion themselves, or else the suggestion faded with time. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Literalism as a marker of hypnotic "trance": Disconfirming evidence.

The responses given by highly hypnotizable, hypnotic subjects and those of unhypnotizable subjects who simulated hypnosis to questions of the type, "Do you mind telling me your name?" and "Do you mind standing up?" were contrasted. The purpose was to examine M. H. Erickson's (1980) assertion that literalism (answering "yes" or "no" verbally or nonverbally without any cognitive elaboration) is a marker of hypnotic "trance." Simulators exhibited a greater rate of literalism than hypnotic "virtuosos" (i.e., extreme scorers on both group and individual hypnotizability measures). Hypnotized subjects and nonhypnotized subjects approached in the campus library responded comparably. Because less than a third of hypnotic virtuosos responded literally, our results strongly refuted Erickson's assertion that literalism is a cognitive feature of hypnosis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of active alert and relaxation hypnotic inductions on cold pressor pain.

Contrasted relaxation and active alert hypnotic inductions with or without a specific suggestion for cold pressor pain analgesia. Groups of high (n?=?38) and low (n?=?27) hypnotizable Ss were tested; hypnotizability had been determined from results of the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form C. Cold pressor pain data were obtained after counterbalanced exposure to relaxation and active alert inductions. Highly hypnotizable Ss demonstrated lower pain scores than did low hypnotizable ones. Pain reports did not differ between induction conditions. Highly hypnotizable Ss given an analgesic suggestion showed lower pain scores than did those exposed only to hypnosis. The findings, conceptualized within E. R. Hilgard's (1977) neodissociation theory, show that relaxation is not necessary for hypnotic analgesia. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Caffeine self-administration in humans: 2. A within-subjects comparison of coffee and cola vehicles.

The reinforcing effects of caffeine ingested in coffee versus cola were studied. Eleven participants who drank both coffee and cola (3–10 cups of coffee and 1–6 cans of cola daily; M?=?632 mg caffeine/day) were tested in 4 conditions: cola at 33 mg/serving (the usual dose), coffee at 33 mg/serving, cola at 100 mg/serving, and coffee at 100 mg/serving (the usual dose). Each condition consisted of 6 double-blind weekly trials. In each trial, participants sampled caffeinated and noncaffeinated beverages and then had concurrent access to the 2 beverages. Relative use of these beverages was used to assess caffeine reinforcement. Across the 4 conditions (24 weeks), reliable caffeine reinforcement occurred in 5 participants (45%). Caffeine reinforcement did not differ as a function of vehicle or serving dose, and no vehicle-dose interactions were found. With both cola and coffee at the commonly used doses, self-reported motivation to work was greater and drowsiness and laziness smaller with caffeinated than noncaffeinated beverages. Results indicate that, among users of both coffee and cola, caffeine self-administration and subjective effects occur with both vehicles. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive skill-training enhancement of hypnotizability: Generalization effects and trance logic responding.

Compared low-hypnotizable Ss who simulated hypnosis, underwent cognitive skill training, or served as no-treatment controls to Ss who scored as high hypnotizables without training (natural highs) on response to analgesia, age-regression, visual hallucination, selective amnesia, and posthypnotic suggestions. Ss who attained high hypnotizability following skill training (created highs) did not differ from natural highs on any response index. Natural and created highs scored lower than simulators but higher than controls on the behavioral and subjective aspects of test suggestions. Simulators, however, were significantly less likely than natural highs or skill-trained Ss to exhibit duality responding or incongruous writing during age regression or transparent hallucinating. Results suggest that the hypnotic responses of natural and created highs are mediated by the same cognitive variables and that enhancements in hypnotizability produced by skill training cannot be adequately explained in terms of compliance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive factors in hypnotic susceptibility.

Conducted 3 pilot studies with a total of 50 undergraduates to test 3 hypotheses derived from M. Gill and M. Brenman's (see pa, vol. 34:5325) study of hypnosis: (a) strong automatizers are less susceptible to hypnosis, (b) highly hypnotizable ss are more prone to distraction, and (c) highly hypnotizable ss produce more amorphous figure drawings. Performances on the stanford hypnotic susceptibility scale, the stroop color-word test, and the draw-a-person test support only the 2nd and 3rd hypotheses. Further testing using 4 verbal and 6 visual-motor measures on 40 male and 33 female undergraduates support the 2nd and 3rd hypotheses only for females. Analysis of pilot study data indicate that sex differences may have been present there also. (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)     

Cognitive skill learning and schizophrenia: Implications for cognitive remediation.

The ability to acquire a motor and cognitive skill was investigated in 26 patients with schizophrenia and 26 normal participants using repeated testing on the Tower of Toronto puzzle. Seven patients with defective performance were retested using additional trials and immediate feedback designed to facilitate problem solving. A component analysis of performance was used based on J. R. Anderson's (1987) model of cognitive skill learning. Patients exhibited a performance deficit on both motor and cognitive skills. However, their acquisition rate was similar to that of normal participants on most parameters, indicating that skill learning suffered little or no impairment. Performance deficit was accounted for by poor problem-solving ability, explicit memory, and general intellectual capacities. It was remediable in some, but not all, patients. Remediation failure was also related to severe defects of cognitive functions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive appraisals and emotions predict cortisol and immune responses: A meta-analysis of acute laboratory social stressors and emotion inductions.

Models of stress and health suggest that emotions mediate the effects of stress on health; yet meta-analytic reviews have not confirmed these relationships. Categorizations of emotions along broad dimensions such as valence (e.g., positive and negative affect) may obscure important information about the effects of specific emotions on physiology. Within the context of the integrated specificity model, we present a novel theoretical framework that posits that specific emotional responses associated with specific types of environmental demands influence cortisol and immune outcomes in a manner that would have likely promoted the survival of our ancestors. We analyzed experiments from 66 journal articles that directly manipulated social stress or emotions and measured subsequent cortisol or immune responses. Judges rated experiments for the extent to which participants would experience theoretically relevant cognition and affect clustered around five categories: (a) cognitive appraisals, (b) basic emotions, (c) rumination and worry, (d) social threat, and (e) global mood states. As expected, global mood states were unassociated with the effect sizes, whereas exemplars from the other categories were generally associated with effect sizes in the expected manner. The present research suggests that coping strategies that alter appraisals and emotional responses may improve long-term health outcomes. This might be especially relevant for stressors that are acute or imminent, threaten one’s social status, or require extended effort. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A comparison of traditional and self-control desensitization.

Compared the effectiveness of counterconditioning and self-control models of systematic desensitization in reducing targeted and nontargeted anxieties using 25 female and 3 male undergraduates selected from a larger pool because of high scores on the Test Anxiety Scale. Both treatments were equally effective in reducing and maintaining reduction of the targeted anxiety, debilitating test anxiety. Test performance for the 2 groups, however, did not differ significantly from that of the control group. Self-control desensitization produced and maintained significantly greater anxiety reduction than controls on both measures of nontargeted anxieties. Traditional desensitization showed significant reduction and maintenance on one measure of nontargeted anxieties and was not significantly different from self-control desensitization on the other. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The reality of hypnotic analgesia: A comparison of highly hypnotizables with simulators.

Used the real–simulator design to investigate the reality of hypnotic analgesia when normally painful stress was induced by immersing a hand and forearm in circulating ice water (cold pressor response). 2 groups of Ss (12 14–22 yr old selected highly hypnotizable "reals" and 12 13–27 yr old insusceptible "simulators"), determined by the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility (Form A) and the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale (Form C), participated in a single session during which suggestions for pain reduction were given in both the waking and hypnotic conditions. The simulators proved remarkably successful in predicting and imitating the responses of the reals, except for a tendency to overreact and exaggerate compliance with suggestions. The genuineness of hypnotic analgesia was attested, however, by the differences between the honesty reports of the reals and those of the simulators who attempted to behave as hypnotized Ss are expected to do. (17 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)     

Component analysis of cognitive skill training for the enhancement of hypnotic susceptibility.

Compared 4 treatments to enhance the hypnotic responsiveness of 60 undergraduates (aged 18–34 yrs) who pretested as low in hypnotic suceptibility on the Carleton University Responsiveness to Suggestion Scale. Complete skill training included information aimed at encouraging (1) positive attitudes, (2) the use of imagery strategies, and (3) an interpretation of hypnotic behavior as active responding. Partial training included only Components 1 and 2. Both training packages enhanced attitudes toward hypnosis to an equivalent degree. However, complete training was much more effective than either partial training or no treatment at enhancing behavioral and subjective responding on 2 different posttest scales of hypnotic susceptibility. More than half of the Ss who received complete training, but none of the partial training or control Ss, scored in the high-susceptibility range on both posttests. Ss explicitly instructed to fake hypnosis and those in the complete skill-training treatment exhibited significantly different patterns of posttest responding. Findings support social-psychological perspectives that emphasize the importance of contextual factors in hypnotic responding. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Trance" versus "skill" hypnotic inductions: The effects of credibility, expectancy, and experimenter modeling.

Compared a hypnotic induction procedure based on social learning principles (skill induction) with a traditional eye-fixation/relaxation trance induction, a highly credible placebo induction, and a no-induction base-rate control. Before inductions were administered, 100 undergraduates completed Rotter's Internal–External Locus of Control Scale, the Rotter Trust Scale, and an absorption scale. The trance induction surpassed the skill induction only on the Hypnosis Inventory. Experimenter modeling did not enhance the effectiveness of the skill induction. Skill and trance inductions elicited slightly higher behavioral scores on the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale: Form C than did the placebo induction. However, this difference was not obtained on other measures of hypnotic responsivity and depth. Significant correlations were found between expectancy, absorption, and responsiveness on all dependent measures. Multiple regression analyses indicated that the relationship between absorption and responsivity was mediated by expectancy. Results support the hypotheses that hypnotic responses are elicited by the expectancy for their occurrence and that induction procedures are a means of increasing Ss' expectancies for hypnotic responses. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive and noncognitive determinants and consequences of complex skill acquisition.

Integration of multiple perspectives on the determinants of individual differences in skill acquisition is provided by examination of a wide array of predictors: ability (spatial, verbal, mathematical, and perceptual speed), personality (neuroticism, extroversion, openness, conscientiousness, and agreeableness), vocational interests (realistic and investigative), self-estimates of ability, self-concept, motivational skills, and task-specific self-efficacy. Ninety-three trainees were studied over the course of 15 hr (across 2 weeks) of skill acquisition practice on a complex, air traffic controller simulation task (Terminal Radar Approach Controller; TRACON; Wesson International, Austin, TX). Across task practice, measures of self-efficacy, and negative and positive motivational thought occurrence were collected to examine prediction of later performance and communality with pretask measures, Results demonstrate independent and interactive influences of ability tests and self-report measures in predicting training task performance. Implications for the selection process are discussed in terms of communalities observed in the predictor space. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive skill acquisition and transfer in younger and older adults.

The acquisition of cognitive skills often depends on 1 of (or a combination of) 2 processes, the execution of an algorithm, and the retrieval of problem instances. This study examined the effects of age and repetition of problem instances on the production and verification of solutions to 2 serially presented sets of alphabet arithmetic problems. Analyses of the parameters derived from power-function fits for individuals revealed age differences favoring young adults in improvement span, learning rate, and asymptote. For both age groups, the beneficial effects of repetitions on 1st-set response times were attributable to algorithmic speedup and to the retrieval of instances, whereas improvements in the speed of 2nd-set response times were attributable primarily to item retrieval. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A comparison of behavior and traditional therapy publication activity.

Compared the volume of research articles in various areas of psychology based on their yearly publication frequencies in Psychological Abstracts Annual Index which began indexing literature in 1927. Data from the last decade show that growth rates in psychology as a whole and in psychoanalysis increased exponentially while a much more dramatic increase appeared in behavior therapy. Other areas discussed include group therapy, experiential group therapy, psychodrama, client centered therapy, and projective techniques. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)