Arlene H. Morgan

Differences in bilateral alpha activity as a function of experimental task, with a note on lateral eye movements and hypnotizability

Abstract EEG alpha activity was recorded bilaterally in a sample of 10 high- and 10 low-hypnotizable subjects, under task conditions designed to activate first the left and then the right hemispheres. While more alpha was recorded from the right hemisphere than from the left in both conditions, there was significantly less in the right hemisphere when that hemisphere was engaged in a task. A predicted relationship between hypnotic susceptibility and direction of reflective lateral eye movements was apparent in the data, but reached statistical significance only when data from 7 pilot subjects were added to these data. Suggestions for further research with improved instrumentation were given.

Age differences in susceptibility to hypnosis

Abstract Hypnotic susceptibility scores were compared in a crosssectional sample of 1,232 Ss, ranging in age from 5 to 78 years. The sample was comprised of 579 high school and college students, and a family sample of 653 parents and children. A peak of hypnotizability in the age interval 9-12 years, with a gradual decline thereafter, confirms earlier studies. A comparison of scores by age and sex showed a significant difference (p = .001) for ages 21-32; this difference was produced by a significant rise in scores for the young mothers of the family sample and was not found for students at the same age level. It was concluded that this finding demands replication before too much can be made of it.

The stability of hypnotic susceptibility: A longitudinal study

Abstract 85 former Stanford University students were retested on the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form A (Weitzenhoffer & Hilgard, 1959), after an 8 to 12-year retest interval. There was no overall change in level of susceptibility, and the correlation between the total scores on the two testings was 60. Hypnotic susceptibility thus appears to be a relatively stable characteristic when measured under standard conditions, and when no intervening special training has been given.

The Lack of Retest Reliability for Individual Differences in the Kinesthetic Aftereffect

RECENT interest in the kinesthetic aftereffect (KAE) has taken two directions. First is a more precise quantification of the IUE following the procedures of Kohler and Dinnerstein (1947) , who demonstrated the ICAE by measuring changes in judgments of width (Bakan and Thompson, 1962, 1967; Hilgard, Morgan and Prytulak, 1968). Second is a classification of individuals on a perceptual style dimension based on individual differences in the I lAE response. Petrie (1967) proposed a theory of augmentationreduction, which states that some people “augment” incoming stimuli and others “reduce” them. These characteristic styles can be identified, according to Petrie, by the KAE response. Augmenters exaggerate the IlAE when the standard block feels wider (after rubbing a smaller block); reducers exaggerate the KAE when the standard block feels narrower (after rubbing a larger block). Petrie relates this tendency to a number of personality variables, the most important of which (in her theory) is pain tolerance. She proposed that people who tolerate pain well are those who reduce incoming stimuli, and that they can be selected by their extreme response in the IUE when the stimulus block is larger than the test block. Poser (1960) and Ryan and Foster (1967), supporting her theory, reported that reducers, as selected by their I lAE response to the “reduction’, contrast, tolerated pain

Measuring hypnotic responsiveness: A comparison of the barber suggestibility scale and the stanford hypnotic susceptibility scale, form a

Abstract The Barber Suggestibility Scale (BSS) and the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form A (SHSS:A) were administered, under both imagination and hypnotic-induction instructions, to 2 samples of 40 high-school students. The 2 scales were sufficiently correlated (.62 to .78, for objective and subjective scores) to indicate that, in general, they measure responses in the same broad domain. There is, however, a greater discrepancy between objective and subjective scores on the BSS than on the SHSS:A. The subjective scores are not independent of the objective scores, but correct the objective scores for pressure toward social compliance. Both scales are satisfactory for preliminary S-selection but limited as criteria for the range of hypnotic responsiveness.

The psychophysics of the kinesthetic aftereffect in the Petrie block experiment

Kinesthetic size is reported in the Petrie experiment by a simultaneous size comparison in which a standard block held between the thumb and forefinger of one hand is matched in size by moving the thumb and forefinger of the opposite hand along a wedge until the proper width is reached. After a baseline is obtained, a kinesthetic aftereffect is produced by rubbing a block of contrasting size followed by a return to the standard block. Experiments with 22 male Ss and 20 female Ss, tested in separate cycles, show that augmentation following stimulation with a block smaller than standard and reduction following stimulation with a block larger than standard are both statistically significant, and, at least for augmentation, the aftereffect persists for at least 48 h. When the data are corrected for regression there is no significant relationship between initial baseline and the amount of augmentation or reduction; reasons why such a relationship has been reported are indicated. The results suggest that when this kind of experiment is used for the study of individual differences (a) it is satisfactory to derive augmentation and reduction scores by subtracting the baseline from the absolute scores, provided the scores are corrected for regression, and (b) a counterbalanced order of presentation is not advisable in view of the carryover of augmentation from one day to the next, which is likely to make the two orders incommensurate.

Treatment of Anxiety and Pain in Childhood Cancer Through Hypnosis

Data from consecutive referrals of 34 patients ranging in age from 4 to 19 years are summarized. Sixteen patients were referred for pain and anxiety in bone marrow aspirations and lumbar punctures, five patients for reduction of pain in short procedures such as intravenous injections and changing bandages, three for relief of continuous pain, and ten for ancillary symptoms such as anxiety. All patients were tested on the Stanford Hypnotic Clinical Scale for Children. For young children aged four to six years, it is usually inappropriate to rely upon formal hypnotic procedures. They respond to a kind of protohypnosis where the fantasy is part of the external situation. Anxiety can be reduced by the use of relaxation and distraction; reduction in anxiety is minimally correlated with hypnotic responsiveness. Once anxiety is reduced, the patient is better able to experience hypnotic analgesia.

Subject posture and hypnotic susceptibility: a comparison of standing, sitting, and lying-down subjects

Abstract Because of the prominence of relaxation instructions and suggestions of sleep within common hypnotic induction procedures, it seemed a reasonable conjecture that, in comparison to the customary sitting posture, a lying-down posture would facilitate hypnosis and a standing posture inhibit it. A preliminary experiment, using a slightly modified, tape-recorded Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form C, failed to support either hypothesis. A subsequent experiment under improved conditions with 20 Ss in each group (standing, sitting, and lying down) also showed no significant difference of mean hypnotic susceptibility scores between any 2 of the conditions. Although Ss expressed dislike for the standing posture, the only objective disadvantage seemed to be some dizziness or nausea generated for some Ss (5 out of 39 tested in the standing condition). No clear evidence exists that this effect is to be attributed to hypnosis rather than to standing with eyes closed for an appreciable time. The resul...