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The Effects of Short-Term Meditation Practice on Hypnotic Responsivity

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Abstract

Male students were pretested on absorption and three measures of hypnotic responsiveness, and were then randomly assigned to three treatments. One group meditated for eight sessions, while a second listened analytically to lectures about hypnosis for eight sessions. The third group was a no treatment control. Finally all students were posttested on absorption and hypnotic responsivity measures. Degree of meditating remained stable across sessions and meditating subjects were much more likely than those who listened to lectures to report intrusions into their attending. Neither the meditation nor the listening treatments enhanced hypnotic responsivity or absorption.

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Spanos, N.P., Gottlieb, J. & Rivers, S.M. The Effects of Short-Term Meditation Practice on Hypnotic Responsivity. Psychol Rec 30, 343–348 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03394683

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