Hypnotic devices may be more than placebo.

The study attempted to assess the effectiveness of two devices in facilitating the induction of hypnosis in subjects preselected as low in hypnotizability. Undergraduates were exposed to no treatment (control) or one of four combinations of devices during the induction phase of being administered the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form B of Weitzenhoffer and Hilgard (1959). Analyses revealed only one of the conditions resulted in a significant difference in subjects' realness ratings of hypnotic items and an increase in hypnotizability score. If the effect is more than a chance significance of placebo, the underlying mechanisms remain unknown.

In search of predictors of hypnotic sequelae.

The present one-group correlational study was an attempt to examine questionnaire data that included medical and psychosocial histories and an inventory of fears, social problems, and previous stressful situations in an effort to determine if any predictors of negative sequelae to hypnosis would emerge. After completing questionnaires, undergraduates (n = 432) were administered a group hypnotic susceptibility scale, then were given sequelae questionnaires to complete within two hours, and another two days later. Significant correlations were obtained between occurrence of aftereffects and susceptibility score, number of somatic complaints, and number of previous stressful situations. Results are discussed in the context of the overall ability of these data to predict hypnotic sequelae.

The use of hypnosis in cocaine addiction.

An unusual case is presented in which hypnosis was successfully used to overcome a $500 (five grams) per day cocaine addiction. The subject was a female in her twenties. Six months into her addiction, she acquired a commercial weight-control tape that she used successfully to stop smoking cigarettes (mentally substituting the word "smoking"), as well as to bring her down from her cocaine high and allow her to fall asleep. After approximately 8 months of addiction, she decided to use the tape in an attempt to overcome the addiction itself. Over the next 4 months, she listened to the tape three times a day, mentally substituting the word "coke." At the end of this period, her addiction was broken, and she has been drug free for the past 9 years. Her withdrawal and recovery were extraordinary because hypnosis was the only intervention, and no support network of any kind was available.

The effect of preventive measures in reducing aftereffects to hypnosis.

In the present study we assessed the efficacy of several procedures in minimizing the occurrence of aftereffects of a hypnotic induction. We gave experimental subjects (n = 347) a brief lecture dispelling some myths about hypnosis, told them no psychological treatment would be undertaken, and then administered the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A (HGSHS:A) in which all references to aftereffects had been removed. We gave the standard version of the HGSHS:A to control subjects (n = 340). Although the treatment condition did not reduce the overall incidence of effects, long-term effects were significantly reduced. Medical and psychosocial histories were obtained from subjects prior to the induction, but they proved to be of limited value in predicting sequelae. Contrary to the results of Coe & Ryken (1979), hypnosis produced more frequent sequelae than a nonhypnotic classroom experience (watching a film followed by an introductory psychology lecture) for subjects in an ad hoc control group.

The effect of prior knowledge of hypnotic items on hypnotic performance and depth.

First we exposed experimental subjects to either the hypnotic items they were about to experience or to those items embedded in a longer list of hypnotic items. We then asked them to give item-difficulty ratings prior to administration of a standard group susceptibility scale. Controls received no prior exposure to any hypnotic items. We obtained four dependent measures: hypnotic susceptibility score, an in-hypnosis depth report, Field (1965) Depth Inventory score, and retrospective depth reports. The three groups did not differ significantly on any of the dependent measures. Although this result differs from that of Shor, Pistole, Easton, and Kihlstrom (1984), who found that prior knowledge of items depressed susceptibility scores, this may be due to procedural differences between the two studies. Subjects' self-predictions of item difficulty were poor to modest, and accuracy of predictions was not related to any of the four dependent measures.

Effects of "deepening" techniques on hypnotic depth and responding.

The present study attempted to assess the effectiveness of commonly used deepening techniques and of surreptitiously provided stimulation on hypnotizability scores, in-hypnosis depth reports, retrospective realness ratings, and the Field Inventory of Hypnotic Depth (Field, 1965). High, medium, and low hypnotizables were assigned in equal numbers to 1 of 3 groups, each containing 54 Ss. Controls were compared to Ss receiving 2 deepening techniques or 2 suggestions for positive and negative hallucinations that were surreptitiously enhanced. Of the 4 dependent measures employed, the only significant difference between groups related to a change in depth reports for the manipulation items themselves, leading to the conclusion that the effect of the techniques was at best minimal and transient. Some methodological and conceptual issues are also discussed.

A comparison of the effects of standardized Chiasson and eye-closure inductions on susceptibility scores.

Numerous induction techniques have been described in the literature, many of which are standardized, facilitating their use in research. Recent studies have compared inductions for their effects on susceptibility scores (e.g., Spanos, Lush, Smith, & de Groh, 1986; Woolson, 1986), finding little or no differences. In the present study we tested a Chiasson (1973) induction technique (recently standardized) for its relative efficacy at inducing hypnosis as measured by the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form A (SHSS:A) of Weitzenhoffer and Hilgard (1959). Subjects were 80 volunteer undergraduates at a midwestern university. We administered the SHSS:A using its standard eye-closure induction to half of the subjects; half were given the SHSS:A using the Chiasson induction. Following dehypnosis, all subjects gave a subjective rating of their depth. The results indicated that the two standard inductions have a comparable effectiveness as measured by susceptibility scores and subjective depth ratings.

Psychogenic and physiological sequelae to hypnosis: two case reports.

Two cases of hypnotic sequelae occurring in a research context (with a non-clinical college population) are reported. Case 1 was a male who experienced retroactive amnesia following hypnosis: He was unable to recall familiar telephone numbers later that day. This was not a continuation of an earlier confusion or drowsiness (as is often found) since he indicated he was wide awake following hypnosis. Two parallels exist with previous reports: unpleasant childhood experiences with chemical anesthesia and a conflict involving a wish to experience hypnosis but a reluctance to relinquish control. Case 2 was a female who, while in hypnosis, experienced an apparent epileptic seizure that had characteristics of both petit mal and grand mal seizures. Although having a history of epilepsy, she had not had a seizure in 7 years. We suspect that the seizure was psychogenic and may have been triggered by wording used in the hypnotic scale or other similarities. Possible mechanisms are discussed and preventative recommendations are made.

An attempt to induce lower moral reasoning under hypnotic and task-motivated age regression.

In this study, we attempted to partially replicate and extend the findings of the Page (1985) study of hypnotic age regression and moral reasoning. The Kohlberg (1976) Moral Judgment Interview (MJI) was used to assess the initial stage of moral reasoning in 32 adults who were preselected on the basis of their hypnotic susceptibility. Subjects were hypnotized and age regressed to two of four possible ages (16, 13, 10, and 7), or were given task-motivation instructions before being age regressed. All were then administered the MJI, which involves the resolution of certain dilemmas. Both groups were able to lower their moral reasoning scores when given age regression instructions, but no significant differences were found between groups. Thus the results of this study are inconsistent with those of Page (1985), but are consistent with those of O'Brien et al. (1977). Reasons for the failure to reaffirm the earlier results of Page (1985) are discussed.

The effects of methylphenidate on repeated acquisition of serial discrimination reversals.

Rats were trained to bar-press for sucrose solution in the presence of one of two stimulus conditions. On each daily training session, the stimulus during which bar-pressing was reinforced was reversed. The subjects were trained in this Serial Discrimination Reversal procedure until successive acquisitions of the discrimination had stabilized. Drug treatments consisting of saline or 0.25, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0, 6.0 or 8.0 mg/kg of methylphenidate were then administered 20 min prior to the daily training sessions. Acquisition of the discrimination was enhanced by low doses of methylphenidate (1,2, and 4 mg/kg) and attentuated by higher doses (6 and 8 mg/kg).