Gerald S. Blum

The detection over time of subjects simulating hypnosis

Abstract Feasibility of the use of simulator controls for long periods of time in a variety of hypnosis experiments was explored as part of a 6-session training program. One male and one female simulator, both low in hypnotic susceptibility, were included in a group of 6 Ss. The training E was unable to identify the simulators after a session of routine hypnotic manipulations, but, subsequently, as various complex procedures were undertaken, the simulation became readily apparent. A technique which holds exceptional promise for the detection of unsolicited deliberate fakers is the application of hypnotically programmed mental arousal cues to the Stroop Color-Word Test. An incidental finding worthy of further study is the greater frequency of choice by the low susceptible Ss of projection and, to some extent, regression on the Defense Preference Inquiry for the Blacky Pictures.

Anatomically based measurement of facial expressions in simulated versus hypnotically induced affect

In an attempt to determine whether hypnotically induced affect could be reliably discriminated from simulations, three hypnotically trained female undergraduate subjects were presented with posthypnotic cues to either experience or simulate varying degrees of anxiety and pleasure. Facial expressions generated by subjects in response to these cues were recorded on videotape and coded by means of the Facial Action Coding System (FACS). It was hypothesized that simulated emotional expressions, requiring greater cortical processing, would be marked by longer onset latencies and greater irregularity or fluctuation in muscular contraction than the presumably automatic changes in facial behavior accompanying posthypnotic emotions. Statistical analyses confirmed both expectations. The results were viewed as reflecting support for the validity of posthypnotically cued affect.

Selective inattention to anxiety-linked stimuli.

The term selective inattention as used here subsumes those phenomena whose primary function is the active blocking or attenuation of partially processed contents en route to conscious expression. Examples are anxiety-motivated forgetting or perceptual distortion and hypnotically induced negative hallucinations. Studies in the field of selective attention have typically been designed to explain what takes place in a task in which the subject is first instructed to attend to a particular stimulus and then to consciously execute that instruction as well as he can. The rejection of content in process is examined only sceondarily as a consequence of the acceptance of relevant information. In the present experiments and theorizing, the emphasis instead is on inhibitory operations that take place automatically, without conscious intent, in response to a potential anxiety reaction. Experiment 1 explored the interaction of anxiety-linked inattention with strength of a target stimulus. Three female subjects were programmed under hypnosis to respond posthypnotically in the On condition with prescribed degrees of anxiety when certain Blacky pictures popped into mind later ,t the end of experimental trials; in the Off conditionall pictures were to become neutral. With the three female subjects still under hypnosis, each of the loaded pictures was then paired with a four-letter work relevant to the individuals own version of what was happening in the picture. The waking recognition task, carried out with amnesia for the prior hypnotic programming, consisted of tachistoscopic exposure of loaded words and physically similar filler words at four durations within a baseline range of recognition accuracy from 50%--75% correct. The data yielded a curvilinear relationship in which the recognition of only the loaded words was significnatly lower in the On condition at the 60%--70% range of recognition accuracy but not at shorter or longer stimulus durations. Experiment 2, for which the prior hypnotic programming of the same three subjects was similar to Experiment 1, used an anagram approach to comparable four-letter words, except that pleasure-loaded words were introduced as a control along with filler words. Four durations of tachistoscopic exposure of the anagrams were used with each individual, and the major dependent variable was response latency measured in milliseconds. An independent measure of perceptual discriminability of the scrambled stimulus letters was obtained to isolate perceptual from cognitive aspects of the task. The results indicated that both low perceivability and high solvability increase the likelihood of response delays specifically in the presence of anxiety-linked stimuli. Experiment 3 was a nonhypnotic replication of Experiment 2, using 12 male and 13 female subjects. The potential affective loading of key anxiety and pleasure words was accomplished by structured scenarios for the Blacky pictures in which subjects were asked to place themselves as vividly as possible...

A case study of hypnotically induced tubular vision.

Abstract Tubular vision, correepondmg in size and shape to the clinical symptom most commonly noted in hysterical amblyopia, was induced hypnotically in a trained subject. After confirmation of her contracted field of vision by ophthalmological examination, the subject waa systematically exposed to a variety of stimuli presented outside the tubular field. Theoretical and clinical implications of the findings are discussed.

Temporal parameters of negative visual hallucination.

Abstract Negative visual hallucination was investigated by hypnotically programming two highly trained undergraduates not to see the colored lines of consonants while perceiving clearly a set of dots superimposed on the lines in another color. Effects of three temporal parameters were noted in tachistoscopic presentations of the consonants: priming time, i.e., opportunity for the subject to prepare to execute the negative visual hallucination after the posthypnotic cue was flashed and before the consonant appeared; duration of consonant exposure; and intensive practice over protracted periods of time. Signal strength and inhibitory skill emerged as significant variables.

The capacity for selective concentration on color versus form of consonants

Abstract The concept of active exclusion or inhibition of some stimuli while focusing on others has been largely ignored or rejected in recent work in the field of attention. As part of an ongoing series of studies involving five posthypnotically cued levels of mental concentration, it was possible to test the capacity for active blurring of one stimulus attribute (form) while simultaneously perceiving another attribute (color) accurately. In lowered concentration conditions three highly trained hypnotic Ss were dramatically successful in blurring the form and thereby impairing identification of colored consonants flashed tachistoscopically at speeds ranging from 300 msec down to 50 msec—without any concomitant loss in accuracy of identification of the color in which the letter was printed. Among a supplemental series of control experiments, it was further demonstrated that the active inhibitory process can be reversed so as to act upon color but not form; and that the Ss were unable to duplicate these feats in the waking state without benefit of posthypnotic programming. A theoretical interpretation of the findings, in terms of a conceptual model of the mind, is offered.

Attentional alterations of slant-specific interference between line segments in eccentric vision.

Slant-specific interference between line segments in eccentric vision was altered by attentional methods in hypnotically susceptible observers. These methods included negative and positive posthypnotic hallucination of the inducing elements of the array, and nonhypnotic instruction to actively ignore the elements. Contributions to the experimental effects apparently derived in part from intrinsic inhibitory or facilitatory skill in the individual observer, sharpened by hypnotic training in hallucinations. Control observers with low and with high hypnotic susceptibility were not able to alter significantly the interference effect when attempting to simulate the hallucination conditions. The results seemingly link these attentional alterations to an early cortical stage of visual processing.

The capacity for rapid shifts in level of mental concentration

This investigation continues the exploration of a largely neglected topic in the field of attention, levels of mental concentration, by ascertaining under optimal conditions the capacity for shifting quickly from one level to another. Previous research in our laboratory had applied a set of five post-hypnotically cued levels of concentration or “cognitive arousal”, covering a very wide range, to a variety of perceptual and cognitive tasks. In the present study two highly trained undergraduate hypnotic subjects, one male and one female, were given progressively shorter time durations in which to respond to the post-hypnotic cues before viewing tachisto-scopically flashed consonants under cue influence. The results indicate a striking capacity to shift degrees of cognitive arousal very rapidly to one extreme or the other, on the order of 100 ms or less.

Distinctive mental contexts in long-term memory

Abstract This series of investigations began with the strikingly detailed recall, by a trained hypnotic S, of a dream experienced under hypnosis over 2 years before. The significance of distinctive mental contexts for long-term memory (LTM) was then pursued systematically in a registration session by having S form several unusual visual images, each associated with a unique hypnotic context under conditions which minimized the possibilities for interference. In the retrieval session 143 days later, hypnotic reinstatement of 3 contexts released the associated image, again in such remarkable detail as to suggest the virtual intactness of well-entrenched memories over very long time spans in the absence of rehearsal. A fourth context, not originally experienced as vividly by S, seemed to have decayed along with its associated image. The role of various elements involved in these distinctive mental contexts was then explored in a number of shorter-term studies using intervals of 2-3 hours. Theoretical and met...

EEG correlates of posthypnotically controlled degrees of cognitive arousal

Experimental control over five degrees of cognitive (as opposed to organismic) arousal has been developed by hypnotic programming techniques. Previously, these posthypnotic manipulations have been applied to the investigation of diverse topics such as visual discrimination, performance on the Stroop test, selective concentration on color vs. form of consonants, and cognitive “reverberation.” The present study explored electroencephalographic (EEG) correlates of the five degrees of cognitive arousal in a task requiring participants to visualize objects for l-rain periods while lying on a couch with their eyes closed. Analysis of data from the occipital area in left and right hemispheres revealed that the highest degree of arousal was accompanied by larger amplitudes of alpha and beta power and smaller amplitudes of theta. This pattern of results was similar in both hemispheres, although more marked in the left. The findings, which provide an independent source of support for validity of the hypnotic programming, are discussed in relation to EEG literature on cognitive activity.