1. Hypnosis Dr Magda Osman Room 2.25 Office hours Mondays

2. Learning outcomes  Understand two key theoretical approaches to hypnosis (dissociationist, interactionist)  Understand the difference between susceptibility and suggestibility  Can critically consider the different methodological approaches to examining hypnosis

3. Do you think that you could be hypnotised? A. I think I could be hypnotised? B. I don’t think I could be hypnotised C. I’m not sure

4. Different Dimensions of Consciousness What Kinds of states of consciousness are there?  Normal state: e.g., Being Awake But is there is a single waking state of consciousness, or multiple states?  Altered states: Near Death & Out of Body Experiences Meditation & Sensory Deprivation Hypnosis Sleep Drug induced states

5. Different Levels of awareness  Theories of Meditation (Washburn, 1988; Welwood, 1977) (undirected, stimulus free thinking) Loss of selective focus of attention Reduction of intensity threshold for awareness Immobilization of psychic operations Is Hypnosis the same?

6. Do you think that meditation is a form of hypnosis? A. Yes B. No C. Unsure

7. Hyponsis – an altered state?  Hypnosis definition “a psychological state or condition, induced by a ritualistic procedure (i.e. like meditation), in which the individual experiences changes in perception, thinking, memory and behavior in responses to suggestions by the hypnotist” Farthing (1992) What function does Hypnosis have?

8. What is the function of hypnosis?  “The aim of hypnosis is to experience shifts in consciousness and behavior consonant with what is suggested for therapeutic ends or research purposes. Lynn, Malaktaris, Maxwell, Mellinger, & van der Kloet (2012)

9. Historical Round trip of Hypnosis

10. Historical development of hypnosis I  Mesmer (1779) (medic) Demonstrations of Animal magnetism – force of the body that could be moved and shaped to restore health But controversies about the demonstration and existence of magnetism (Franklin Commission)  Abbe De Faria 1800’s (Monk & early psychologist) First to induce a trance and to recognize the importance of belief in hypnotism for it to be effective  Marquis de Puysegur 1800’s (Aristocrat & Hypnotherapist) Early demonstration of posthypnotic amnesia & posthypnotic suggestion (i.e. later effects on behavior) The influence of the physical on the mental

11. Historical development of hypnosis II  Braid (1855) (Medic) First to coin the phrase “hypnotism” from the term neuro-hypnotism – sleep of the nerves. (Eye fixation method) Recognized the use of hypnotism as a method of inducing deep sleep, for surgery (hypnotic analgesia)  Charcot (1882) (neurologist) Outlined different stages of consciousness  Bernheim (1882) (neurologist) Hypnotism reflects an abnormal state of consciousness (particularly women – hysteria) Taught Freud The influence of the mental on the mental

12. Historical development of hypnosis III Individual Differences in mental receptiveness  Hilgard (1959) “Trance Theory/Hidden Observer” First to develop a scale of Susceptibility Altered state of consciousness  Spanos (1986) Suggestibility, and social desirability – people act how they believe they should act under hypnotic conditions Not altered states of consciousness

13. What does the historical perspective tell us?  It tells us about the different approaches to thinking about the relationship between mind and body, and what controls what.  It tells us about how views of psychological concepts change over time, and the relationship that psychology has to medicine

14. Measuring and assessing hypnosis

15. Scales for measuring hypnotism I  Two scales: Harvard Group Scale (HGSS) Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale (SHSS) 1. Both involve several different stages that people pass through, 2. Both are practical method of inducing extreme hypnotic states

16. Illustration of methods of hypnosis  Hillard standardized procedure (HGSS) – process of relaxation Get the individual to focus on a target (i.e. pin/nail) on the wall while relaxing in a seated position. Verbal instructions “You can become hypnotized if you are willing to do what I ask you to, and if you concentrate on the target and on what I say. You have already shown your willingness by coming here today, and so I am assuming that your presence here means that you want to experience all that you can. You can be hypnotized only if you want to be etc…etc..” Now take it easy and just let yourself relax. Don't be tense. Just listen carefully to my voice. If your thoughts wander away from it, that is all right, but just bring your attention back to it.

17. Hypnotic susceptibility  Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale (SHSS) State of relaxation Get the individual to close their eye, let their head falling, and the limbs to go limp (cues to relaxation) Verbal instructions move limbs under conditions in which one is told to imagine fingers are locked and can’t be separated  Experiences hallucinations (e.g., fly buzzing) Amnesia (failing to remember behaviour during the hypnotic episode)

18. Illustrations of hypnotic effects  Barnier and McConkey (1998) They report an individual that was told to rub her earlobe (a standard procedure in hypnotism) Out-of-body experience She observed her arm and hand move This was accompanied by a feeling of surprise and puzzlement – e.g. posthypnotic involuntary response Dissociation between self and actions – as if the conscious being is not the same as the acting being

19. Illustrations of hypnotic effects  Noble and McConkey (1995) (dial method – report moment by moment subjective experiences) Following these instructions that the male subject was a woman, his behavior changed, he adopted a female name, altered his mannerisms Dissociation between self and actions – as if the conscious being is not the same as the acting being  E.g. when presented video footage of himself while under the hypnotized state he was reported to have said “That’s not me, I don’t look like that”.  His hypnotic response was to show surprise and disgust at the difference between his perceived hypnotic self and his actual self.

20. Illustrations of hypnotic effects  Spanos, Radtke, and Dubreuil (1982) reported that highly suggestible people who were given an instruction to forget words in a memory task during the hypnosis session, produced those words at a level below baseline on a word association task.  Sackheim, Nordlie, and Gur (1979) found that with strong motivation instructions for blindness, a highly hypnotizable subject performed significantly below chance in reporting the emotion shown in photographed faces Both studies suggest hypnosis requires executive control

21. Neuroimaging studies  Cojan, Piguet & Vuilleumier (2015) They used a simple visual discrimination task, and prior to the task they measured hypnotic suggestibility using the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility scale. They reported that those scoring higher on hypnotic suggestibility showed better discrimination on the visual task They also showed that there were differences in neural activity between low and high scores on the HGSHS

22. What do differences in brain activity between Low and High scorers on the Susceptibilty score suggest? A. There are different neurological signatures for low and high scorers B. The Mind can control the way the brain operates C. The finding is ambiguous and it is hard to conclude anything

23. Need to know details of hypnotism

24. General Methods of studying Hypnosis Different scales measuring validity and reliability of the scales High-Low hypnotizables Compare the performance/behavior of people who are highly hypnotizable to those who are low scoring on hypnotizable scales Real-Simulator design Compare the performance/behavior of people who are hypnotized with those who are asked to pretend to be hypnotized

25. General facts about hypnosis I  There is no uniform experience of hypnosis (Barnier et al, 2009)  Hypnotic effects fall into two categories (Woody et al, 2005): 1. motor 2. cognitive-perceptual  Hypnotic experiences fall into two categories: Involuntary reactions Distortions of reality

26. General facts about hypnosis I  Effective in altering smoking habits (approximately 60-80% success rate)  Effective in altering dietary habits (approximately 60-90% success rate)  Used to reduce pain intensity, headaches, anxiety (e.g., fear of heights, spiders, flying) (approximately 70% success rate)

27. Theoretical views Dissociation Theories (Bowers, 1990; Hilgard, 1991; Kihlstrom, 1998, 2009) Hypnosis is like other states in which dissociations occurs (e.g., paralyses, amnesia, fugues, and multiple personalities) the control of behavior during hypnosis is identical to its control outside hypnosis (through executive control of the individual)  Crucially Monitoring of behavior is impaired during hypnosis (i.e. tracking the contents of conscious experience), Executive control being exercised isn’t consciously experienced Problem with the theory - still not clear where the dissociation lies

28. Theoretical views Interactionist Theories (Sheehan & McConkey, 1982; Sutcliff, 1961) (Hyponotized individual) Hypnosis works it depends on particular qualities a person bring to the hypnotic setting Interaction (Hypnotist) The ability of the hypnotist to establish and maintain conditions by creating believable suggested experiences The success of hypnosis is people’s cognitive skills and personal traits to create and maintain a subjectively compelling hypnotic experience This implies that people still have some level of control and some monitoring of their behaviour during hypnosis.

29. Latest Theoretical view Cold Control theory (Dienes & Perner, 2007) Discrepancy-attribution theory (Barnier & Mitchell, 2005)  Dissociation occurs between 1 st order and 2 nd order states E.g. I am running (nonconscious) 1 st order I am currently thinking about running while running (conscious) 2 nd order

30. Latest Theoretical view Cold Control theory & Discrepancy-attribution theory The mechanism of hypnosis operates on 1 st order states, while at the cost of forming 2 nd order states – so, 1 st order states are not compromised, only monitoring of them. So, pain will still be experienced, but what is removed is the 2 nd order state associated with it – i.e. how it is subjectively experienced. Expectations of being in a hypnotic state help to shift from 2 nd to 1 st order thought, because 2 nd order thoughts are effected by expectations. Differences in hypnotizability come from differences in expectations in 2 nd order thoughts.

31. Questions that still remain  Do we have control over ourselves?  (see, Barnier, Dienes & Mitchell, 2009; Lynn, Lawrence & Kitsch, 2015) Why is it that some people are more responsive to hypnosis than others? (what makes one person more suggestible than another?) Is altered changes in behaviour a reflection of altered states of conscious experiences? What generates the change from non-hypnotic to hypnotic state (e.g., context, words, need to conform)?

32. Matter over mind or mind over matter?  Brain imaging studies show that the effects of hypnotic suggestions activate brain regions consistent with suggested events (e.g., visual hallucinations activate visual cortex; Lynn, Kirsch, Knox, & Lilienfeld, 2006).  Dumont, Martin, & Broer (2012) review of hypnotic effects on color perception, hand paralysis, pain and associated neuroimaging work concludes that effectives of suggestibility on highly suggestible individuals can CONSISTENTLY lead to corresponding neurological changes.

33. Is hypnosis a real phenomenon?  Playing games (online poker, puzzles, gaming) Phenomenal experiences (disjoint experiences of time, lack of personal agency, suspended connection to reality) Is this an example of altered phenomenal states of consciousness? Are games hypnotic?

34. Do you think that hypnosis works because it operates on unconscious processes? A. Yes B. No C. Unsure

35. Some claim that hypnosis reveals dissociation between conscious and unconscious processes, discuss and evaluate theories and evidence that supports this view?