Donald N. O'Connell

Diagnostic ratings of hypnotizability

Abstract A clinically derived system for the diagnostic rating of hyp-notizability is described. 5 major categories of hypnotizability are differentiated. Diagnostic ratings are contrasted with standardized verbatim tests of hypnotic susceptibility. Potential usefulness in both laboratory and clinical settings is stressed.

Response during Sleep with Intervening Waking Amnesia

During stage 1 sleep, subjects responded to suggestions on two or more nights, up to 5 months apart. While they were awake they did not recall the material to which they successfully responded while asleep on a subsequent night.

Verbally induced behavioral responses during sleep.

This study explored the possibility of eliciting motor responses from sleeping Ss. Nineteen Ss slept in the laboratory for 2 nights. Some Ss responded behaviorally, while remaining asleep, to verbal suggestions which had been administered previously during stage 1 sleep. Many responses were obtained without elieiting alpha activity during the suggestion, after the cue word was administered, or before and after the response. When a successful response occurred, alpha frequency was not significantly different from the slowed frequency occurring spontaneously during stage 1 sleep. The average response latency was 32 seconds, and this increased as the temporal dissociation between the administration of the suggestion and the eue word increased. After the S awakened, he did not remember the verbally presented material, nor could he remember responding, and he did not respond to the eue word while awake. When S returned to sleep the next night, or even 5 months later, the mere repetition of the relevant eue word (without repetition of the suggestion itself) was sufficient to elicit the appropriate response. It is concluded that a subject is capable of some interaction with his environment while he is aslcep.

A. comparison of hypnotic susceptibility as assessed by diagnostic ratings and initial standardized test scores

Abstract In a nonrandom sample of 63 Ss, a correlation of .79 was found between Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form A (SHSS:A) of Weitzenhoffer and Hilgard (1959) scores and diagnostic ratings of hypnotizability. This degree of correlation corresponds to an index of forecasting efficiency of 36.8%. Limitations on the interpretation of this finding both as a validity coefficient and as an indicant of the predictive value of SHSS: A are discussed.

Sleep-induced Behavioral Response: Relationship To Susceptibility To Hypnosis And Laboratory Sleep Patterns

Nineteen Ss slept for 2 nights in the laboratory. Verbal suggestions were administered to the Ss while they were in stage 1 sleep (defined by conservative electroencephalographic criteria). A cue word presented during alpha-free stage 1 sleep was sometimes sufficient to elicit the suggested response without awakening the S, even when a temporal delay existed between the suggestion and the cue word. For example, the cue word could be repeated in the same stage 1 period as the suggestion (immediate), or during a 2nd night without repetition of the suggestion (carry over). With the latter, the S had no waking memory for the procedures of the previous night. Susceptibility to hypnosis was assessed after all Ss had completed the sleep sessions. A complex relationship was found among the frequency of sleep-induced response, susceptibility to hypnosis, and how well the S slept. Insusceptible Ss were less likely to respond while asleep and had less opportunity to respond because they awakened when cue words were presented. They had also reported that they were poor sleepers outside of the laboratory situation. Response to sleep-induced suggestions was not correlated with waking motor suggestion, nor with hypnotic passive and challenge suggestion. Rather, sleep response rate was significantly related to hallucinatory and posthypnotic clusters of hypnotic behavior (which can be experienced only by deeply hypnotized Ss), particularly with responses obtained when there was temporal dissociation between the suggestion and the cue word. Thus, the multiple correlation predicting the carry over response frequency during sleep, using Ss subjective sleep patterns and either the hallucinatory or posthypnotic clusters as predictors, was .62 and .68, respectively. The relationship between sleep-induced behavior and hypnosis docs not seem to imply any similarity or interchange-ability of hypnotic and sleep states.

SPECIFIC MOTOR RESPONSE DURING SLEEP TO SLEEP- ADMINISTERED MEANINGFUL SUGGESTION: AN EXPLORATORY INVESTIGATION

Complex meaningful suggestions were given during various stages of physiological sleep as defined by EEG monitoring to 4 Ss high and 4 Ss low in hypnotizability. All the high hypnotizability Ss gave accurate behavioral responses while remaining asleep, but none of the low hypnotizability Ss did so. Specific response to sleep-administered suggestion was obtained only during Stage 1 periods.

Endosomatic electrodermal correlates of hypnotic depth and susceptibility

Abstract Correlations between endosomatic measures of electrodermal activity and hypnotic depth and susceptibility were made for 51 subjects. Significant correlations appeared between waking level of GSP and hypnotic performance; high subjects tended to maintain a high level of GSP, low ones to show gradual drift during the experiment in a positive (lower alertness) direction. Apparent correlations with shift in level during hypnotic induction disappeared when the correlation between waking level and shift in level was taken into account. No correlations between spontaneous activity and either depth or susceptibility were found. An interpretation in terms of more sustained rapport is suggested.

Behavioral sleep, physiological sleep, and hypnotizability

Abstract A sleep-induction procedure requiring manual response to a repetitive auditory signal was administered to 52 Ss who had clear alpha activity in their waking EEG and whose hypnotizability was known. The occurrence of sleep was defined by physiological, behavioral, and subjective criteria. Neither the tendency to develop EEG sleep nor the ability of some Ss to respond while in EEG sleep was related to hypnotizability. Hypnotizability was related to a type of dissociation between EEG sleep and both behavioral and subjective sleep shown by 5 Ss, all highly hypnotizable.