Effects of a hypnotically altered state of consciousness on intensification of semantic processing.
István Szendi, Zoltán Ambrus Kovács, György Szekeres, Gabriella Galsi, Krisztina Boda, István Boncz, Zoltán Janka
International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis October 2009 DOI: 10.1080/00207140903098791 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Crossover experimental study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 22 |
| Population | Volunteer medical students |
| Intervention | Hypnosis |
| Topics | Altered states of consciousness |
| Key findings | Participants performed better on semantic than phonological fluency in both waking and hypnotic states, with the difference significantly greater in hypnosis. Hypnosis also reduced rule-offending errors and maintained significant semantic priming effects across conditions, suggesting enhanced semantic processing under hypnosis. |
Abstract
In a study of the linguistic processes involved in hypnosis, 22 volunteer medical students performed semantic and phonologic fluency tasks and then associative priming tests with 2 delay-lengths in waking alert and hypnotic conditions as well. The participants performed better during semantic than phonological fluency tests in alert and also in hypnotic states, and this difference was significantly greater in hypnosis. The increased semantic performance in hypnosis was accompanied by a decrease of the rule-offending errors. Significant semantic priming effects were detected in both states of consciousness in direct and indirect relations as well as in the automatic, intralexical level, and also when the extralexical control processes were activated. Overall, the results appear to show that the hypnotically altered state of consciousness produces significantly better performance in semantic information processing than can be elicited in alert waking conditions.