The role of demand characteristics and hypnotic ability in dream change following a presleep instruction.

Investigated the role of demand characteristics in dream change by comparing dream report change following pre- and postsleep administrations of instructions to pay attention to specific dream content. This design was based on the assumption that if presleep instructions merely distort dream reports rather than influence actual dreams, report change should be observable following a postsleep instruction. 42 undergraduates were prescreened with the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility (Form A), which allowed experimenters to examine the role of hypnotizability in dream change. Significant differences were observed only following the presleep instructions. It is concluded that report distortion as a result of paying attention to a dimension of dream content was insufficient to account for dream report change following presleep instructions. Hypnotic ability correlated significantly with the amount of dream change. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The dissociation of an experience: The hidden observer observed.

Addressed methodological weaknesses in previous studies of the hidden observer phenomenon presented by E. R. Hilgard (1977) using a modified procedure with 11 undergraduates highly susceptible to hypnosis. The critical modifications were that no prior practice in dissociation was given before the hidden observer was assessed, the notion of hidden information was introduced only after the stimulus was no longer present, and independently verifiable stimuli were employed. Despite this more rigorous procedure, a hidden observer response was still observed in more than 90% of Ss. This finding makes much less tenable interpretations that attribute the hidden observer effect solely to social expectancies and situational demands. It is concluded that it is possible for some hypnotized individuals to monitor the actual state of events while experiencing a variety of perceptual distortions. (13 ref) (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)     

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)     

A review of the literature on observer characteristics and imitation.

Surveyed the literature on O characteristics and imitation, including studies of both O states and traits, in an attempt to delineate the role of these variables in the imitative process. Considerable variance in the results of these studies was revealed. A formulation was developed that made it possible to integrate these results. O characteristics were posited to have the greatest effect in situations in which little information concerning appropriate or expected behavior is provided to the O. When such information is provided by other independent variables in the situation or by aspects of the task employed, the effects of O characteristics are obscured. This formulation is consistent with the literature reviewed and provides a framework under which the role of O characteristics in the imitative process can be better understood. (57 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Trance logic duality and hidden observer responding in hypnotic, imagination control, and simulating subjects: A social psychological analysis.

Tested the hypothesis that a tolerance for logical incongruity characterizes hypnotic responding and is related to reports of duality experiences during age regression and hidden-observer responding during suggested analgesia. 30 undergraduates (the "reals") with high scores on a responsiveness-to-suggestion scale were randomly assigned to hypnotic or imagination control treatments, while 15 undergraduates with low scores were assigned to a simulation treatment in which they were instructed to fake hypnosis. Ss were assessed on 6 indicators of logical incongruity, given age-regression suggestions and perception tasks, administered a suggestion for analgesia and hidden observer instructions, and interviewed. Results do not support the hypothesis. The differences in responding that did emerge between reals and simulators were accounted for by the different task demands to which Ss were exposed. These behavioral differences, which have been previously interpreted in terms of intrinsic characteristics of hypnosis, may instead reflect a combination of between-treatments differences in demands and between-Ss differences in the interpretation of those demands and in the ability to fulfill them. (50 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hypnosis and psychopathology: Retrospect and prospect.

As an editorial introduction to a special issue on hypnosis and psychopathology, this article discusses several links between the 2 fields. Historically, observation of the parallels between hypnosis and hysteria played an important role in the discovery of unconscious mental processes, the development of psychogenic theories of psychopathology and the rise of psychotherapy. It is proposed that hypnotic anesthesia and analgesia, amnesia, and posthypnotic suggestion may serve as laboratory models of dissociative phenomena seen in the clinic. Furthermore, hypnosis may be useful in the exploration of processes involved in emotional response and the formation of hallucinations and delusions. With respect to personality and behavior change, hypnosis has commonly been employed in the treatment of pain and habit disorders by means of direct suggestion, but its use is not limited to suggestive therapeutics. Hypnotic relaxation, images and dreams, suggested amnesia, hypermnesia, and age regression may be useful in both psychodynamic and cognitive-behavioral therapies. Possible lines for further research on the relation between hypnosis and both experimental and clinical psychopathology are discussed. (82 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hypnosis: Major theoretical orientations and issues.

Hypnosis is neither a theory nor a therapy, but a psychological process which can be explained using a variety of theoretical perspectives and which can be incorporated into various conceptual schools of therapy. Like the proverbial three men and elephant, different theories of hypnosis emphasize its different facets. Various theories of personality, development, and behavior have described and explained different aspects of hypnosis. Current issues in the literature on hypnosis include hypnosis and memory and cognitive processes, hypnotic susceptibility, interface between hypnosis and physiological parameters, and efficacy of hypnosis as a therapeutic tool. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hypnosis and creativity: The search for the missing link.

Considers the nature of a relation between hypnotizability and creativity, using theoretical argument, controlled research, and pilot studies. The results of several previously reported studies suggest that creativity and hypnotizability are related in student populations via their common reliance on nonvolitional fantasy processes cued by a task. The fantasy process is indexed in these studies by the degree of effortless experiencing of responses to tasks requiring imagination. Absorption in nonhypnotic experiences and, perhaps, a preference for right brain-hemisphere functioning are linked in a network of relations that support this hypothesis. The present paper reports pilot work with students and writers that studied the experience of storytelling and writing under hypnosis. The relationship between individual differences in styles of being creative and hypnotizability was explored. The review of these studies and others suggests that allowing the structure of a problem to affect associational processes without the interference of volitional selection strategies contributes to the discovery of creative solutions. (40 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Contaminated thinking: A specimen of the primary process.

We conducted an intensive analysis of contaminated responses on the Rorschach. The process of contaminated thinking assumes different forms which are analogous to the numerous varieties of dream condensation. Most of these responses combine regressive and progressive features, in that they combine primary and secondary process thinking. Many appear to have dynamic significance as well. We described the struggle implicit in such responses, between a regressive loss of objects, and an effort to remain in contact with reality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Multiple personality: Fantasy proneness, demand characteristics, and indirect communication.

An etiology is proposed for multiple personality disorder (MPD) without recourse to dissociated early trauma. MPD may be generated by the interaction of specific cognitive abilities associated with extreme hypnotic susceptibility and fantasy proneness with therapist demand characteristics associated with a belief in the early traumatic origins of MPD. The patient's capacity for segmented, absorbed consciousness; highly uncritical vivid fantasy; and relative secretiveness about fantasy experience matches the therapist's expectations of a mistrustful patient concealing shameful early trauma in colorful dissociated reenactments. The necessity to earn trust pulls for credulity; the expectation of concealment pulls for probing suggestive therapeutic techniques. Dramatic representation of apparent early abuse is conceptualized as an indirect commentary on the patient's current therapeutic experience. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hypnosis: Expectation, susceptibility, and performance.

78 male undergraduates performed on a hand dynamometer, a weight endurance task, and a tremor task, prior to knowing that the experiment dealt with hypnosis. They were subsequently asked to volunteer for a hypnosis experiment. Of the 68 volunteers 16 were classified as susceptible to hypnosis and 16 relatively unsusceptible on the basis of their performance on the Group Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale. During the next session, all were administered the physical performance tests in the unhypnotized and hypnotized states. The results for the dynamometer and endurance tasks suggested that, if anything, differences between susceptible Ss were more marked before they knew that the experiment dealt with hypnosis, becoming less evident during the postknowledge conditions. For the tremor test, only slight differences emerged between the susceptible and unsusceptible groups on the preknowledge condition, but these grew increasingly larger during the postknowledge conditions, favoring the susceptible group. Indeed, hypnosis seemed to markedly improve the performance of susceptible Ss, while having little effect on unsusceptible ones. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hypnosis and the Lamaze method: A reply to Wideman and Singer.

Comments on M. V. Wideman and J. E. Singer's (see record 1985-28845-001) claim that no correlation exists between hypnotic susceptibility and response to the Lamaze method in childbirth by refuting their claim with results from the present author's own research and by suggesting that the possibility that hypnotizability is a relevant dimension in nonhypnotic forms of therapy is an area that warrants further research. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dissociation, duality, and demand characteristics in hypnosis.

Examined hypnotic dissociation (as indexed by the "hidden-observer" method), duality in age regression, and the potential impact of situational cues on these phenomena. 12 high- and 9 low-susceptible undergraduates (as determined by the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale) were tested in an application of the real–simulating paradigm of hypnosis; 10 high- to medium-susceptible Ss were also employed. Inquiry into Ss' experiences was conducted through the experiential analysis technique, which involves Ss viewing and commenting on a videotape playback of their hypnotic session. Results demonstrate that neither the hidden-observer effect nor duality could be explained solely in terms of the demand characteristics of the test situation. The hidden-observer effect was observed in high-susceptible Ss only; all Ss who displayed the hidden-observer effect also displayed duality in age regression. High-susceptible Ss were distinctive in their reports of multiple levels of awareness during hypnosis. Findings are discussed in terms of the cognitive skills that Ss bring to hypnosis and the degree to which the hypnotic setting encourages the use of dissociative cognitive processes. (43 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Physiological memory in primary auditory cortex: characteristics and mechanisms

"Physiological memory" is enduring neuronal change sufficiently specific to represent learned information. It transcends both sensory traces that are detailed but transient and long-term physiological plasticities that are insufficiently specific to actually represent cardinal details of an experience. The specificity of most physiological plasticities has not been comprehensively studied. We adopted receptive field analysis from sensory physiology to seek physiological memory in the primary auditory cortex of adult guinea pigs. Receptive fields for acoustic frequency were determined before and at various retention intervals after a learning experience, typified by single-tone delay classical conditioning, e.g., 30 trials of tone-shock pairing. Subjects rapidly (5-10 trials) acquire behavioral fear conditioned responses, indexing acquisition of an association between the conditioned and the unconditioned stimuli. Such stimulus-stimulus association produces receptive field plasticity in which responses to the conditioned stimulus frequency are increased in contrast to responses to other frequencies which are decreased, resulting in a shift of tuning toward or to the frequency of the conditioned stimulus. This receptive field plasticity is associative, highly specific, acquired within a few trials, and retained indefinitely (tested to 8 weeks). It thus meets criteria for "physiological memory." The acquired importance of the conditioned stimulus is thought to be represented by the increase in tuning to this stimulus during learning, both within cells and across the primary auditory cortex. Further, receptive field plasticity develops in several tasks, one-tone and two-tone discriminative classical and instrumental conditioning (habituation produces a frequency-specific decrease in the receptive field), suggesting it as a general process for representing the acquired meaning of a signal stimulus. We have proposed a two-stage model involving convergence of the conditioned and unconditioned stimuli in the magnocellular medial geniculate of the thalamus followed by activation of the nucleus basalis, which in turn releases acetylcholine that engages muscarinic receptors in the auditory cortex. This model is supported by several recent findings. For example, tone paired with NB stimulation induces associative, specific receptive field plasticity of at least a 24-h duration. We propose that physiological memory in auditory cortex is not "procedural" memory, i.e., is not tied to any behavioral conditioned response, but can be used flexibly.