It is proposed that hypnosis leads to altered cognition, affect, or motivation as reflected by changes in 1) reality orientation, 2) attention and awareness, 3) imagery, 4) dissociation, 5) suggestibility, and 6) mind-body interaction. Hypnosis may be used as an experimental method to effect such cognitive, affective and motivational changes in order to pursue research in learning, personality, physiological, and social psychology. Examples of possible applications of hypnosis are provided. The influence of individual differences in hypnotic responsivity on research also is discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
CrawfordH. J., Cognitive Processing during Hypnosis: Much Unfinished Business, Research Communications in Psychology, Psychiatry, and Behaviour, 7, pp. 169–179, 1982.
2.
HilgardE. R., Divided Consciousness: Multiple Controls in Human Thought and Action, John Wiley, New York, 1977.
3.
SheehanP. W.McConkeyK. M., Hypnosis and Experience: The Exploration of Phenomena and Process, Lawrence Erlbaum, Hillsdale, N. J., 1982.
4.
LevittE. E.ChapmanR. H., Hypnosis as a Research Method, in Hypnosis: Developments in Research and New Perspectives, FrommE.ShorR. E. (eds.), Aldine, New York, 1979.
5.
ShorR. E., Hypnosis and the Concept of the Generalized Reality Orientation, American Journal of Psychotherapy, 13, pp. 582–602, 1959.
6.
ShorR. E., Three Dimensions of Hypnotic Depth, International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 10, pp. 23–38, 1962.
7.
FieldP. B.PalmerR. D., Factor Analysis: Hypnosis Inventory, International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 17, pp. 50–61, 1969.
8.
EvansF. J.OrneM. T., The Disappearing Hypnotist: The Use of Simulating Subjects to Evaluate How Subjects Perceive Experimental Procedures, International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 19, pp. 277–296, 1971.
9.
BowersP.BowersK., Hypnosis and Creativity: A Theoretical and Empirical Rapprochement, in Hypnosis: Developments in Research and New Perspectives, FrommE.ShorR. E. (eds.), Aldine, New York, 1979.
10.
SpanosN. P.StamH. J.RiversS. M.RadtkeH. L., Meditation, Expectation and Performance on Indices of Nonanalytic Attending, International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 28, pp. 244–251, 1980.
11.
FrommE.BrownD. P.HurtS. W.OberlanderJ. Z.BoxerA. M.PfeiferG., The Phenomena and Characteristics of Self-hypnosis, International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 29, pp. 189–246, 1981.
12.
GrahamC.EvansF. J., Hypnotizability and the Deployment of Waking Attention, Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 86, pp. 631–638, 1977.
13.
BowersK. S., Hypnosis for the Seriously Curious, Norton, New York, 1976.
14.
ZamanskyH. S., Suggestion and Countersuggestion in Hypnotic Behavior, Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 86, pp. 316–351, 1977.
15.
SpanosN. P.BarberT. X., Toward a Convergence in Hypnosis Research, American Psychologist, 29, pp. 500–511, 1974.
16.
GumblesD.CrawfordH. J., Differential Attentional Abilities and Hypnotizability, paper presented at the meeting of the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, Portland, OR., October, 1981.
17.
HilgardJ. R., Personality and Hypnosis: A Study of Imaginative Involvement, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1979.
18.
TelleganA.AtkinsonG., Openness to Absorbing and Self-altering Experiences (“Absorption”), a Trait Related to Hypnotic Susceptibility, Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 83, pp. 268–277, 1974.
19.
Van NuysD., Meditation, Attention, and Hypnotic Susceptibility: A Correlational Study, International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 21, pp. 59–69, 1973.
20.
SchachterS.RodinJ., Obese Humans and Rats, Erlbaum/Halsted, Washington, D. C., 1974.
21.
DaveR., Effects of Hypnotically Induced Dreams on Creative Problem-solving, Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 88, pp. 293–302, 1979.
22.
SandersS., Creative Problem-solving and Psychotherapy, International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 26, pp. 15–21, 1978.
23.
DengroveE., The Uses of Hypnosis in Behavior Therapy, International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 21, pp. 13–17, 1973.
24.
KrogerW. S.FezlerW. D., Hypnosis and Behavior Modification: Imagery Conditioning, J. B. Lippincott, Philadelphia, 1976.
25.
CoeW. C.St. JeanR. L.BurgerJ. M., Hypnosis and Enhancement of Visual Imagery, International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 28, pp. 225–243, 1980.
26.
CrawfordH. J.AllenS. N., Enhanced Visual Memory During Hypnosis as Mediated by Hypnotic Responsiveness and Cognitive Strategies, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 112, pp. 657–680, 1983.
27.
RossiA. M.SturrockJ. B.SolomonP., Suggested Effects on Reported Imagery in Sensory Deprivation, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 16, pp. 39–45, 1963.
28.
SpanosN. P.HamM. W.BarberT. X., Suggested (“Hypnotic”) Visual Hallucinations: Experimental and Phenomenological Data, Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 81, pp. 96–106, 1973.
29.
SpanosN. P.BridgemanM.StamH. J.GwynnM.SaadC. L., When Seeing Is Not Believing: The Effects of Contextual Variables on the Reports of Hypnotic Hallucinators, Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 2(3), pp. 195–209, 1982–83.
30.
StarkerS., Effects of Hypnotic Induction upon Visual Imagery, Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 159, pp. 433–437, 1974.
31.
CrawfordH. J., Hypnotizability, Daydreaming Styles, Imagery Vividness, and Absorption: A Multidimensional Study, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 42, pp. 915–926, 1982.
32.
FarthingG. W.VenturinoM.BrownS. W., Relationship between Two Different Types of Imagery Vividness Questionnaire Items and Three Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale Factors: A Brief Communication, International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 31, pp. 8–13, 1983.
33.
WhiteK.SheehanP. W.AshtonR., Imagery Assessment: A Survey of Self-report Measures, Journal of Mental Imagery, 1, pp. 145–170, 1977.
34.
FriedlandM. R., A Comparison of Three Methods for Inducing Hypnosis, Dissertation Abstracts International, 37, 3071B–3072B (University Microfilms No. 76-27, 643), 1976.
35.
CrawfordH. J.NomuraK.SlaterH., Spatial Memory Processing: Enhancement during Hypnosis, in Imagery: Theoretical aspects and applications, ShorrJ. C.ConellaJ.SobelG.RobinT. (eds.), Plenum Press, New York, 1983.
36.
StrossL.ShevrinH., Thought Organization in Hypnosis and the Waking State: The Effects of Subliminal Stimulation in Different States of Consciousness, Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 147, pp. 272–288, 1968.
37.
WallaceB., Restoration of Eidetic Imagery via Hypnotic Age Regression, Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 87, pp. 673–675, 1978.
38.
StrossL.ShevrinH., A Comparison of Dream Recall in Wakefulness and Hypnosis, International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 15, pp. 63–71, 1967.
BarriosM. V.SingerJ. L., The Treatment of Creative Blocks: A Comparison of Waking Imagery, Hypnotic Dream, and Rational Discussion Techniques, Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 1, pp. 89–109, 1981–82.
41.
ErnestC. H., Imagery Ability and Cognition: A Critical Review, Journal of Mental Imagery, 2, pp. 181–216, 1977.
42.
SandersS., Mutual Group Hypnosis as a Catalyst in Fostering Creative Problem-solving, American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 19, pp. 62–66, 1976.
43.
ReyherJ.SmeltzerW., Uncovering Properties of Visual Imagery and Verbal Association: A Comparative Study, Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 73, pp. 218–222, 1968.
44.
SheikhA. A.JordonC. S., Clinical Uses of Mental Imagery, in Imagery: Current Theory, Research, and Application, SheikhA. A. (ed.), John Wiley, New York, 1983.
45.
HilgardE. R.HilgardJ. R., Hypnosis in the Relief of Pain, William Kaufmann, Los Altos, 1975.
46.
SwansonJ. M.KinsbourneM., State Dependent Learning and Retrieval: Methodological Cautions and Theoretical Considerations, in Functional disorders of memory, KihlstromJ. F.EvansF. J. (eds.), John Wiley, New York, 1979.
47.
CheekD. B., Unconscious Perception of Meaningful Sounds during Surgical Anesthesia as Revealed in Hypnosis, American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 1, pp. 101–113, 1959.
48.
TerrellR. K.SweetW. O.GladfelterG. H.StephenC. R., Study of Recall during Anesthesia, Anesthesia and Analgesia, 48, pp. 86–90, 1969.
49.
BowerG. H., Mood and Memory, American Psychologist, 36, pp. 129–148, 1981.
50.
WatkinsJ. G., The Affect Bridge: A Hypnoanalytic Technique, International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 19, pp. 21–27, 1971.
51.
WhiteS. H.PillemerD. B., Childhood Amnesia and the Development of a Socially Acessible Memory System, in Functional Disorders of Memory, KihlstromJ. F.EvansF. J. (eds.), John Wiley, New York, 1979.
52.
KihlstromJ. F., Hypnosis and the Dissociation of Memory, with Special Reference to Posthypnotic Amnesia, Research Communications in Psychology, Psychiatry, and Behaviour, 7, pp. 181–197, 1982.
53.
KihlstromJ. F.EvansF. J., Memory Retrieval Processes during Posthypnotic Amnesia, in Functional disorders of memory, KihlstromJ. F.EvansF. J. (eds.), Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, New York, 1979.
54.
GeiselmanR. E.BjorkR. A.FishmanD. L., Disrupted Retrieval in Directed Forgetting: A Link with Posthypnotic Amnesia, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 112, pp. 58–72, 1983.
55.
GeiselmanR. E.FishmanD. L.JaenickeC.LarnerB. R.MacKinnonD. P.ShoenbergS.SwartzS., Mechanisms of Hypnotic and Non-hypnotic Forgetting, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory, 9, pp. 626–635, 1983.
56.
KihlstromJ. F., Instructed Forgetting: Hypnotic and Nonhypnotic, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 112, pp. 73–79, 1983.
57.
ZamanskyH. S.BartisS., The Dissociation Hypothesis in Hypnosis: An Empirical Approach. Paper presented at the meeting of the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, Boston, Massachusetts, October, 1983.
58.
BlumG. S., Hypnotic Programming Techniques in Psychological Experiments, in Hypnosis: Developments in Research and New Perspectives, FrommE.ShorR. E. (eds.), Aldine, New York, 1979.
59.
BlackS., Mind and Body, Wm. Kimber & Co., London, 1969.
60.
BowersP., The Classic Suggestion Effect; Relationships with Scales of Hypnotizability, Effortless Experiencing, and Imagery Vividness, International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 30, pp. 270–279, 1982.
61.
WeitzenhofferA. M., Hypnotizability Revisited, American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 22, pp. 130–146, 1980.
62.
McConkeyK. M.SheehanP. W., Effort and Experience on the Creative Imagination Scale, International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 30, pp, 280–288, 1982.
63.
HilgardE. R.TartC. T., Responsiveness to Suggestions following Waking and Imagination Instructions and following Induction of Hypnosis, Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 71, pp. 196–208, 1966.
64.
WeitzenhofferA. M.SjobergB. M., Suggestibility with and without “Induction of Hypnosis,”Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases, 132, pp. 205–220, 1961.
65.
BarberT. X., Suggested (“Hypnotic”) Behavior: The Trance Paradigm Versus an Alternative Paradigm, in Advances in Altered States of Consciousness and Human Potentialities, Vol. 1, BarberT. X. (ed.), Psychological Dimensions, N. Y.
66.
BarberT. X.CalverlyD. S., The Relative Effectiveness of Task-motivating Instructions and Trance-induction Procedure in the Production of “Hypnotic-like” Behaviors, Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 137, pp. 107–116, 1963.
67.
SpanosN. P.RadtkeH. L., Hypnotic Visual Hallucinations as Imaginings: A Cognitive-Social Psychological Perspective, Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 1, pp. 147–170, 1981–82.
68.
WaddenT. A.AndertonC. H., The Clinical Use of Hypnosis, Psychological Bulletin, 91, pp. 215–243, 1982.
69.
SpiegelH.SpiegelD., Trance and treatment: Clinical Uses of Hypnosis, Basic Books, New York, 1978.
70.
WatzlawickP.WeaklandJ. H.FischR., Change: Principles of Problem Formation and Problem Resolution, W. W. Norton & Co., New York, 1974.
71.
RosenbergM. J., An Analysis of Affective-cognitive Consistency, in Attitude Organization and Change: An Analysis of Consistency among Attitude Components, RosenbergM. J.HovlandC. I.McGuireW. J.AbelsonR. P.BrehmJ. W., Yale University Press, New Haven, Conn., 1960.
72.
GrahamK. R.GreenL. D., Hypnotic Susceptibility Related to an Independent Measure of Compliance–Alumni Annual Giving: A Brief Communication, International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 29, pp. 351–354, 1981.
73.
WickramasekeraI., Effects of “Hypnosis” and Task Motivational Instructions in Attempting to Influence the “Voluntary” Self-deprivation of Money, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 19, pp. 311–314, 1971.
74.
BowersK. S.KellyP., Stress, Disease, Psychotherapy, and Hypnosis, Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 88, pp. 490–505, 1979.
75.
FrankelF. F., Scales Measuring Hypnotic Responsivity: A Clinical Perspective, American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 21, pp. 208–217, 1978–79.
76.
SarbinT. R.SlagleR. W., Hypnosis and Psychophysiological Outcomes, in Hypnosis: Developments in research and new perspectives, FrommE.ShorR. E. (eds.), Aldine, New York, 1979.
77.
ChaseW. W., An Experiment in Controlled Nystagmus Using Hypnosis, American Journal of Optometry, 40, pp. 463–468, 1963.
78.
JohnerC. H.PerlmanH. B., Hypnosis and Vestibular Function. Annals of Otology, Rhinology and Laryngology, 77, pp. 126–138, 1968.
79.
PaulG. L., Physiological Effects of Relaxation Training and Hypnotic Suggestion, Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 74, pp. 425–437, 1969.
80.
BarberT. X., “Hypnosis,” Suggestions, and Psychosomatic Phenomena: A New Look from the Standpoint of Recent Experimental Studies, American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 21, pp. 13–27, 1978.
81.
Di PianoF. A.SalzbergH. C., Clinical Applications of Hypnosis to Three Psychosomatic Disorders, Psychological Bulletin, 86, pp. 1223–1235, 1979.
82.
MottT., The Clinical Importance of Hypnotizability, American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 11, pp. 263–269, 1979.
83.
PerryC.GelfandR.MarcovitchP., The Relevance of Hypnotic Susceptibility in the Clinical Context, Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 88, pp. 592–603, 1979.
84.
IkemiY.NakagawaS., A Psychosomatic Study of Contagious Dermatitis, Kyushu Journal of Medical Science, 13, pp. 335–352, 1962.
85.
HallH. R.LongosS.DixonR. H., Hypnosis and the Immune System: The Effect of Hypnosis on T and B Cell Function, paper presented at the meeting of the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, Portland, OR., October, 1981. Cited by HallH. R. in Hypnosis and the Immune System: A Review with Implications for Cancer and the Psychology of Healing, American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 25, pp. 92–103, 1982–83.
86.
ScantleburyR. E.PattersonT. L., Hunger Motility in a Hypnotised Subject, Quarterly Journal of Experimental Physiology, 30, pp. 347–358, 1940.
87.
ManicasP. T.SecordP. F., Implications for Psychology of the New Philosophy of Science, American Psychologist, 38, pp. 399–413, 1983.
