HypnosisDefinition: A trancelike state of heightened susceptibility to the suggestions of others

Can and Can’t Do•People do not lose ALL will of their own. •Will not perform antisocial behaviours•Will not carry out self-destructive acts•Will not reveal hidden truths about themselves•CAN lie•CANNOT be hypnotised against their will

SUSCEPTIBILITY•5-20% cannot be hypnotised at all•15% are very easily hypnotised•Most people fall somewhere in between.•People who are hypnotised readily are also easily absorbed while reading books or listening to music, becoming unaware of what is happening around them, and often spend an usual amount of time daydreaming.

HOW DOES IT WORK?•Various ways: •Relaxation- subject is asked to concentrate all their thoughts on a small target while gradually becoming relaxed.•Hyperalert trance – e.g. subjects riding a stationary bicycle while receiving suggestions of strength and alertness were as responsive to hypnotic suggestions as relaxed participants.

Characteristics Of Changes In Hypnotic State•Planfulness ceases – waits for suggestions, does not initiate activity.•Attention is more selective – ignores all but hypnotist’s voice•Enriched fantasy readily evoked•Reduced reality testing and accepts distortions of reality•Suggestibility increases•Posthypnotic amnesia is often present.

POSTHYPNOTIC AMNESIA•At the suggestion of the hypnotist, events occurring during hypnosis may be ‘forgotten’ until a signal from the hypnotist enables the individual to recall them.

Neodissociation Theory•Suggests that hypnosis induces a split between consciousness – an executive/control function and a monitoring function.•‘The hidden observer’ – Hilgard (1978)

Socio-Cognitive Theory•Suggests effects produced by hypnosis are results of the hypnotised persons’ expectations about hypnosis and their social role as ‘hypnotised subject’

•Does not imply faking – sincerely believes their experience in this ASC, but mainly due to expectations and their role rather than the hypnotist’s skills.•E.g. Spanos, Burgess & Perlini (1992) – tone experiment.

USES•Controlling Pain – Patients suffering from chronic pain may be given the suggestion, while hypnotised, that their pain is gone or reduced. They also may be taught to hypnotise themselves to relieve pain or gain a sense of control over their symptoms (e.g. Childbirth and dental procedures)

•Reducing smoking – sometimes helps people stop smoking through hypnotic suggests that the taste and smell of cigarettes are unpleasant.

•Treating psychological disorders – e.g. heighten relaxation, reduce anxiety, increase expectations of success or modify self-defeating thoughts.

•Assisting in law enforcement – witnesses and victims are sometimes better able to recall the details of a crime when hypnotised. •In one case in 1976, a witness to a kidnapping of group of California schoolchildren was placed under hypnosis and was able to recall all but one digit of the kidnapper’s vehicle. However, sometimes hypnotic recollections are inaccurate and the legal status of hypnosis recollections are unresolved.

Meditation and BiofeedbackMeditation• A set of techniques or mental exercises designed to focus attention in a way that interrupts the typical flow of thoughts, worries and analysis.•Can take many forms (sitting quietly or moving) and meanings in different cultures.•Can results in either relaxation or a state of excitement.

Benefits•Can reduce anxiety, stress levels in cancer patients, symptoms of depression, high blood pressure and levels of chronic pain.•State of relaxation•Helps induce sleep•Can be done anywhere

Concentrative & Receptive•Concentrative Meditation:-Attention is directed towards a single focal point

such as an object, a thought or one’s own breathing.Basic idea: find quiet place, assume a comfortable position and focus on a repetitive internal stimulus such as breathing or a word said over and over again.

Examples:•Maupin, 1965:

“When you are sitting, let your breathing become relaxed and natural. Let it set its own pace and depth if you can. Then focus your attention on your own breathing. Do not allow extraneous thoughts or stimuli to pull your attention away from your breathing”

After 2 weeks, reports of deep concentration, pleasant bodily sensations and a new detachment from outside worries and distractions.

Mantra•Smooth and soothing words that are easily repeated; therefore, instead of focusing upon your breathing, you silently repeat a mantra. E.g. ‘om’

ConcentrationThe key to the procedure is concentrating on the particular stimulus so thoroughly that the meditator becomes unaware of any outside stimulation and reaches a different state of consciousness.

Receptive•Less well known, not as easy•Involves trying to expand consciousness outward. E.g. suddenly becoming aware of how vast the universe is, consumed by surroundings…•Attention is focused outward rather than inward.

Use in Sport•Meditation used in sports psychology as a way of enabling athletes to perform at their

maximum level•Ways include: - reducing stress before an event and enabling them, with practice, to relax different muscle groups and appreciate subtle differences in muscle tension.- forming mental images of a specific future event

Use in Drug Abuse•Research suggests that meditation may moderate high blood pressure and that a high percentage of people who previously used drugs stopped or decreased their use of them when they practised meditation

Biofeedback•Biofeedback is a treatment technique in which people are trained to improve their health by using signals from their own bodies. •Also used to teach people how to relax•Some people may be able to learn to control a range of bodily activities which were once thought to be involuntary.•E.g. Yoga masters show unusual control over their heart rate, blood pressure and oxygen

consumption and the temperature of parts of their bodies.

How does Biofeedback work?•By providing feedback from instruments that monitor physiological processes (e.g heart rate, blood pressure, temperature, brain wave, etc), people learn to modify these processes.•E.g. Margaret has headaches caused by muscle tension. If she could learn to relax, her headaches should disappear. During her treatment, metal discs were placed on her forehead and attached to a machine which measures tiny changes in electrical activity. Each time Margaret tenses muscles in her forehead, the machine senses the increased activity and emits a high sound. By thinking thoughts that create feelings of relaxation, or using soothing mental images, Margaret learn to keep the muscles of her forehead relaxed. After several weeks of biofeedback training, she could relax her muscles when she felt the onset of a headache.

Meditation & Biofeedback•Equally effective for altering states of consciousness but one technique may be more appropriate for some more than others.