Hypnotic Susceptibility And Individual Differences In Attention.
David van Nuys
Deep Blue (University of Michigan) 1970 DOI: 10.7302/16709 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Measures | Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A, Field's Depth of Hypnosis Inventory, Xs Experience Inventory, Stroop Color Word Test, Witkin Embedded Figures Test |
| Key findings | Meditation-based attention measures correlated with hypnotic susceptibility (r = -.42), and combining Meditation and Xs scores improved prediction (r = -.63), while the Witkin and Stroop tests did not correlate as predicted. The authors conclude that good concentration is a necessary but not sufficient condition for hypnotic susceptibility, and report that subjects who had taken LSD or comparable psychedelics were more susceptible to hypnosis. |
Abstract
This study postulated a relationship between individual differ ences in attention and hypnotic susceptibility.It was proposed that sus tained focusing of attention leads to a de-automatization of perceptual and cognitive structures which may be experienced as an altered state of consciousness.Specifically, it was hypothesized that hypnotic sus ceptibility would be correlated with measures of attention.It was also expected that this relationship would be stronger when hypnotic sus ceptibility was assessed on the basis of the subject's reported inner experience rather than his overt response to hypnosis.Hypnotic responsiveness was assessed using three instruments:(1) the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A;(2) Field's Depth of Hypnosis Inventory, a 38-item subjective hypnotic experiences inventory; and (3) the Xs Experience Inventory, a 60-item self-report inventory of non-hypnotic subjective experiences related to hypnotizability.Functions related to attention were assessed using:(1) a novel procedure based upon two Zen Buddhist meditation exercises;(2) the Stroop Color Word Test; and (3) the Witkin Embedded Figures with hypnotic susceptibility (r = -.42); the Witkin and the Stroop, how ever, did not correlate as predicted with the Meditation measures, hypnotizability, or each other.Even greater predictability of hypnotic susceptibility was afforded when scores on Meditation and the Xs were combined in a multiple -correlation (r =-.63).Contrary to prediction, the Meditation measures correlated equally well with the behavioral and the subjective measures of hypnotic susceptibility.The results suggested the conclusion that good concentration is a necessary condition for hypnotic susceptibility, but not a sufficient condition since some subjects who show good concentration are relatively insusceptible.Another significant finding was that subjects who had taken LSD or some other comparable psychedelic drug were more susceptible to hypnosis than those who had not.These findings were discussed in terms of their implications for the de-automatization hypothesis and altered states of consciousness.Credulous Theories....