HypnosisModule 22

What is Consciousness?• Consciousness – Your immediate awareness of thoughts,

sensations, memories, and the world around you. • William James – described consciousness as a "stream" or

"river" that is always changing but unified and unbroken.• Consciousness first studied through introspection (verbal

self-reports) and later rejected in favor of studying only observable overt behavior.

• 1950's brought a new desire to study consciousness for two reasons.

1. Complete understanding of behavior had to consider the role of conscious mental processes.

2. Psychologists had created more objective ways to study consciousness.

Hypnosis• A social interaction in which one person (the

hypnotist) makes suggestions about perceptions, feelings, thoughts, or behaviors, and another person (the subject) follows those suggestions

• Hypnotist serves as a coach or tutor showing you the way.

Hypnosis

• Works best with people who are open to suggestion or value respect for authority

• State of awareness• Highly focused attention• Works better with children• Vivid imagery/imagination• Willingness to accept distortions of logic• People do NOT lose control of their behavior. Instead, they remain

aware of where they are, who they are, and what is transpiring. • Alteration of sensation and perception

Hypnotic Induction• The process by which a hypnotist creates a state of

hypnosis in a subject

• Usually done by voicing a series of suggestions

• Voice is usually calm and of a rhythmic tone

• People with positive views of hypnosis and open to it are easier to hypnotize

Hypnotic Techniques:Hypnotic Suggestions

Limits to Hypnotic Suggestions

• Suggestions usually involve sensations, thoughts, emotions, and a wide variety of behaviors.

• Hypnosis does not cause behaviors.

• Hypnosis can lead people to certain behaviors but so can ordinary suggestions.

Posthypnotic Suggestions

• A suggestion, made during a hypnosis session, that the subject will carry out when no longer hypnotized

• Technique can be used to encourage helpful behavior changes, such as stopping smoking or losing weight.

• Most only last for a few hours or days.

Hypnotizability

Is Hypnosis a Special State of Consciousness?

Social Influence Theory• Powerful social influences produce a state of hypnosis.• Subject responds to social demands of the situation.

– Play the role of what is expected from a good hypnotic subject.

• Argues that people will perform unusual acts simply because an authoritative figure tells them to do so.

• Social factors/expectations influence people to believe hypnosis will work.

Divided Consciousness Theory• Promoted by Ernest Hilgard (1904-2001)• People experience dissociation – the splitting of consciousness into

two or more simultaneous streams of mental activity.• Neodissociation theory of hypnosis – a hypnotized person consciously

experiences one stream of mental activity that is responding to the hypnotist’s suggestions. – A second dissociated stream known as the hidden observer is processing info

that is unavailable to the consciousness of the hypnotized subject.

A woman doesn’t notice the smell of ammonia. How can this be explained?

Evidence Supporting Hypnosis• Role-Playing hypnotics drop the act when not observed while

actually hypnotized subjects maintain the act when not observed.

• PET Scans reveal activity increased in the left and right hemisphere color areas when they were told they were seeing color. Activity decreased in the left and right hemisphere color areas when they were told to see gray rectangles regardless of what color they were. Only the right hemisphere color areas were activated in people not hypnotized. This shows hypnosis is a mental state.

• Imaginative suggestibility – the degree to which a person is able to experience an imaginary state of affairs as if it were real. Many people are open to suggestion even when not under hypnosis.

Hypnosis and Memory

Hypnosis and Memory

• There are isolated cases of hypnosis helping recall.

• Cannot be sure if the memory came back due to hypnosis

• Cannot be sure if the memory is accurate or one that is created to please the hypnotist

Hypnosis and Memory• Posthypnotic Amnesia – person is unable to

recall specific info or events that occurred before or during hypnosis. Produced by a hypnotic suggestion. – Effects are usually temporary and where off either

spontaneously with a posthypnotic signal.

• Hypermnesia – Enhancement of memory for past events using hypnotic suggestion. – Not proven to work and can lead to distortions and

inaccuracies or pseudomemories.

• Age Regression – Recall or reexperience an earlier developmental period. – Often distorted and not accurate.

Hypnosis&

Pain Control

Pain and Hypnosis

• Dissociation– Dissociate the sensation of pain from the

emotional suffering we define as painful (think of “ice bath” study)

• Selective Attention– Hypnosis doesn’t block sensory input but it may

block our attention to painful stimuli

Hypnosis & Pain Control• If Time Allows:

• Play “Hypnotic Dissociation and Pain Relief” (3:03) Segment #2 from The Mind: Psychology Teaching Modules (2nd edition).

• Watch this & read Time article on this subject.

• Our cerebral cortex allows to filter out certain info and focus on other info.

Other Hypnotic Claims

Hypnosis helped me…

• Placebo Effect - Many claim hypnosis can make a person quit smoking, etc…

• Improvement may be due to the power of positive expectations

• People think they will get better so they do

Feats of Strength• Many feats of strength done under hypnosis

can be accomplished without hypnosis.

The "amazing" hypnotized "human plank" Actually, unhypnotized people can also perform this feat.

Limits to Hypnosis

• You cannot be hypnotized against your will.

• Hypnosis cannot make you perform behaviors that are contrary to your morals and values.

• Hypnosis cannot make you stronger or give you new talents.

MEDITATION

Meditation• Aim to control or retrain attention. Two

general categories.1. Concentration Techniques – focusing on a

visual image, your breathing, a word or phrase. Often a mantra is repeated mentally.

2. Opening-up Techniques – Present-centered awareness of the passing moment, without mental judgment. • Concentrate on the here and now without

distractive thoughts. • Zazen or “just sitting” technique of Buddhism is a

form of this.

Effects of Meditation • Transcendental Meditation (TM) – Concentrative

meditation that does not require any lifestyle changes and follows a simple format. – Sit with eyes closed and say a mantra or focus on breathing

over and over allowing distracting thoughts to fall away.

• BENEFITS: lowering of psychological arousal by…• lowering heart rate• blood pressure• change to alpha-brain-waves similar to the state of

drowsiness that precedes stage 1 sleep.• Learn more about the benefits of Meditation for ABC

News anchor Dan Harris (4 min)

SPECT scans show increased blood flow to both frontal lobes and decreased blood flow to the right parietal lobe during meditation. Frontal lobes are involved in attention focusing tasks

and parietal lobes are involved in visual-spatial tasks, which are not needed in mediation.