Abstract
The historical association of hypnosis with suggestion has distracted theorists from the task of giving a comprehensive account of the effects of the trance state. Characteristics of this state may be revealed by the qualities of responses made to stimuli which are free of suggestions about expected responses. It was hypothesized that trance involves a regressive change in ego functions, and it was inferred that subjective responses to a poem spoken aloud to hypnotized subjects would involve increased primary process thinking in the absence of explicit suggestions to that effect. This prediction was confirmed in a study in which introspective reports were systematically recorded and content-analyzed. Comparison with one control group indicated that the high level of primary process functioning was the outcome of hypnosis and not just of hypnotizability, while comparison with a second control group suggested that this finding could not be attributed to subtle demand characteristics.
Presentation of this report was made possible by assistance from Macquarie University, Australia, and in part by Grant # 19156 from the National Institute of Mental Health, Public Health Service, to the Unit for Experimental Psychiatry, The Institute of Pennsylvania Hospital, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.A.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Auden, W.H. (editor) Selected poems of Louis MacNiece. London: Faber and Faber, 1964.
Erickson, M.H., & Erickson, E.M. The nature and character of post- hypnotic behavior. Journal of General Psychology, 1941, 24, 95–133.
Evans, F.J. Recent trends in experimental hypnosis. Behavioral Science, 1968, 13, 477–487.
Gill, M.M., & Brenman, M. Hypnosis and related states. New York: International University Press, 1961.
Hull, C.L. Hypnosis and suggestibility. New York: Appleton-Century, 1933.
Kagan, N. Influencing human interaction. East Lansing, Michigan: Author, 1972.
Kihlstrom, J.F., & Edmonston, W.E. Jr. Alterations in conscious- ness in neutral hypnosis: Distortions in semantic space. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 1971, 13 (4), 243–248.
Kubie, L.S., & Margolin, S. The process of hypnotism and the nature of the hypnotic state. American Journal of Psychiatry, 1944, 100, 611–622.
Perry, C.W. A manual of procedures for analysing manifest dream content into narrative elements and for classifying such elements with respect to distortion from reality. Unpublished manual, University of Sydney, 1964.
Sherman, S.E. Very deep hypnosis: An experimental and electro- encephalographic investigation. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University Microfilms, 1971.
Shor, R.E. Hypnosis and the concept of the generalized reality-orientation. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 1959, 13, 582–602.
Shor, R.E. Three dimensions of hypnotic depth. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 1962, 10, 23–38.
Shor, R.E., & Orne, E.C. Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A. Palo Alto, California: Consulting Psychologists Press, 1962.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1978 Plenum Press, New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hammer, A.G., Walker, WL., Diment, A.D. (1978). A Nonsuggested Effect of Trance Induction. In: Frankel, F.H., Zamansky, H.S. (eds) Hypnosis at its Bicentennial. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2859-9_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2859-9_8
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-2861-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-2859-9
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive