Helen J. Crawford

Hypnotizability, daydreaming styles, imagery vividness, and absorption: A multidimensional study

In 25 male and 31 female university student and staff volunteers, the interrelationships between the following measures were studied: hypnotic susceptibility (Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Forms A and C), imagery vividness (Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire; VVIQ), involvement in everyday activities (Tellegen Absorption Scale; TAS), and daydreaming styles (28 scales of Singer & Antrobuss Imaginal Processes Inventory). Factor analysis produced a factor characterized as a positively vivid and absorptive imagination style. Hypnotic susceptibility, VVIQ, TAS, and positive-affect daydreaming styles all loaded on this factor. Two other factors were a dysphoric daydreaming style and a lack-of-attentional-control style. Stepwise multiple regressions suggested that males and females, at least within this sample, exhibit different relationships between hypnotic susceptibility and predictor variables. Similar differences were found for the VVIQ and the TAS and their daydreaming-scale predictor variables.

The relation between the Hypnotic Induction Profile and the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scales, forms A and C.

Abstract Measures from the clinically derived Hypnotic Induction Profile (HIP) of Spiegel (1974a) were correlated with those from the laboratory derived Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scales, Forms A and C (SHSS:A, SHSS:C) of Weitzenhoffer and Hilgard (1959, 1962), and with some scores from the related Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A (Shor & E. Orne, 1962). Ss were paid volunteers from student populations at the University of Pennsylvania (N = 87) and from Stanford University (N = 58). Some differences in sampling procedures and orders of testing are discussed, but only minimal differences between the 2 samples resulted. Positive but nonsignificant correlations were found between the Eye-Roll sign alone and SHSS in the 2 samples. Both the Induction (IND) and Profile scoring methods of HIP were compared with SHSS. The IND, an actuarial scale, was positively correlated with SHSS. A representative value is the significant correlation of .34 between IND and SHSS:(A + C)/2 scores when ...

Hypnotic susceptibility as related to gestalt closure tasks.

The investigation was concerned primarily with the relationship of gestalt closure tasks to hypnotizability on a test of the hypothesis that the more highly hypnotizable do better on a task of holistic visuospatial functioning than those less responsive to hypnosis. Several other cognitive tasks were included: visualization, disembedding of hidden figures, and syllogistic reasoning. Sex differences were inconsistent in the four studies reported. In Study 1 (22 male and 20 female university students), high hypnotizables scored significantly higher than low hypnotizables on the gestalt closure tasks, but there were no significant correlations between hypnotizability and the other cognitive tasks. In Study 2 (25 male and 25 female university students) and Study 3 (41 male and 37 female university students), females showed significant correlations between hypnotic susceptibility and gestalt closure scores. In Study 4 (37 male and 27 female high school students), a significant correlation between hypnotic susceptibility and gestalt closure was found for males. The results are consistent with studies of different types of cognitive functioning (hemispheric preference, creativity, attentional distribution, imaginative involvement, and absorption), all indicating differences in cognitive abilities associated with high hypnotizability.

The stanford hypnotic arm levitation induction and test (shalit): A six-minute hypnotic induction and measurement scale

Abstract The Stanford Hypnotic Arm Levitation Induction and Test (SHALIT) has been designed as a short (6-minute) induction and measurement method for screening Ss according to hypnotizability for either clinical or experimental purposes. In Experiment 1 conducted with college students in two institutions, SHALIT was substituted for the eye closure induction of the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form A (SHSS:A) of Weitzenhoffer and E. R. Hilgard (1959) and followed by the remaining SHSS:A items. The SHALIT levitation score correlated .63 (N = 64) with SHSS:A. Some Ss who participated in the study were invited back for Experiment 2. This second experiment yielded a correlation of .52 (N = 27) between SHALIT and the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form C (Weitzenhoffer & E. R. Hilgard, 1962). Alternative simplified scoring methods designed for maximal convenience also proved satisfactory. The limitations of short tests as adequate measures of hypnotizability are noted.

Spatial Memory Processing: Enhancement during Hypnosis

Hypnosis is a state in which responsive individuals commonly report that their imagery is more vivid, spontaneous, and effortless than during the waking state. The loss of a generalized reality orientation (Shor, 1970), so that the distinction between imagination and reality is decreased or nonexistent with a concomitant increase in imagery and possibly primary process thinking, is seen to be an important reason why hypnosis is an effective therapeutic technique. Additionally, some highly hypnotizable subjects report during hypnosis that their cognitive processing becomes more holistic and visual in nature. Such phenomenological descriptions suggest that there may be a shift in emphasis from a more verbal, detailoriented coding system during the normal state to a more visual, imageoriented coding system during hypnosis. This paper will present research which is concerned with whether or not information is processed differently during hypnosis, and, if it is indeed differently processed, what is different about it.

Iconic Memory and Hypnotizability: Processing Speed, Skill, or Strategy Differences?

Abstract The purported relationship between hypnotizability and speed of information transfer from iconic to short-term memory was studied in a comparison of 12 low and 12 high hypnotizable Ss. As in Ingram, Saccuzzo, McNeill, and McDonald (1979), high hypnotizable Ss showed less interference from a visual mask in the report of a briefly presented item than did low hypnotizable Ss when the mask delays were predictable. When the delay of the mask could not be anticipated, however, differences between high and low hypnotizable Ss disappeared. It is suggested that differences in information processing related to hypnotizability may be due to differences in strategy, skills, or other factors, rather than underlying information processing speed.

Fear survey schedule-III: Oblique and orthogonal factorial structures in an American college population

Abstract The 78-item Fear Survey Schedule-III (Wolpe and Lang, 1964) was administered to 474 men and 545 women, ages 17–27, from the University of Wyoming and the scores were evaluated in orthogonal and oblique factor analyses using stringent criteria. Four main factors, similar in both genders, were identified, relating to fear of interpersonal events, animals and insects, medical and surgical procedures and bodily insults, and environmental concerns (agoraphobia-like). A majority of both men (59%) and women (78%) reported one or more extremely intense fears (rated “very much”), ranging in number from 1 to 40. This has not been reported in previous literature, yet is shown to have relevance for psychological research. The mean score on the majority of fear items was higher for women than men. Needs for additional items that are more male-oriented in the FSS-III and a greater theoretical grounding in FSS-III research are discussed.

The effects of hypnosis upon cognitive responses to persuasive communication

Several writers have suggested that hypnotic responsiveness is directly related to the content of Ss covert self-statements. To test this notion, low and high hypnotizable Ss in either hypnosis or waking conditions were exposed to a recorded message advocating that college seniors be required to pass a comprehensive exam in order to graduate. Following message presentation, Ss listed all of the thoughts which occurred to them while listening to the message; these thoughts were later coded as counterarguments, favorable thoughts, or neutral thoughts. Hypnotized Ss generated significantly fewer counterarguments and agreed more with the message than waking Ss. In addition, high hypnotizable Ss (in both waking and hypnosis conditions) produced significantly more favorable thoughts and agreed more with the message than low hypnotizable Ss. Results, therefore, provided a demonstration of the differential impact of context (induction) and trait (hypnotizability level) upon different cognitive phenomena. Implications for the occurrence of hypersuggestible behavior are discussed.

IMAGERY PROCESSING DURING HYPNOSIS: RELATIONSHIPS TO HYPNOTIZABILITY AND COGNITIVE STRATEGIES

One of the basic phenomena of hypnosis is the involvement in suggestion-related imaginings, with an accompanying cessation or significant decrease in reality testing. Certain cognitive abilities must exist in order for an individual to respond to a hypnotic induction and to experience subsequent suggestions. One such ability which is necessary, but certainly not sufficient, is the aptitude for imaginal processing. Once in hypnosis the responsive individual commonly reports enhancements or changes in imaginal processing--the images are more vivid and real, they tend to be more holistic, and they come more effortlessly. In this paper this author shall explore research that has examined (a) the correlates between hypnotic responsiveness and imaginal processing abilities, and (b) changes or shifts in imaginal processing and cognitive strategies during hypnosis.

Visual Memory Processing During Hypnosis: Does it Differ from Waking?

Cognitive processing differences in waking and hypnotic states have been suggested by several studies. While previous studies have examined self-reports of imagery vividness (Coe et al., 1980; Sanders, 1967), this paper presents a series of investigations using more objective visual memory tasks to investigate the hypothesis that hypnosis can facilitate imagery processing such that either visual memory is better encoded or the preferred mode of scanning visual information is shifted within the highly hypnotizable individual.