V. K. Kumar

Hypnotizability, Absorption, and Individual Differences in Phenomenological Experience

Abstract The phenomenological effects associated with a baseline condition of eyes-closed and a hypnotic induction condition were compared across individuals of differing absorption capacity and hypnotizability. The results indicated that individuals of differing absorption capacity and hypnotizability reported different intensities of phenomenological experience during the baseline eyes-closed condition. The induction further augmented intensity differences for low, medium, and high absorption and hypnotizable Ss, but more so for high (and medium) than low hypnotizable Ss. The results support both a trait and state interpretation of hypnotizability, and highlight the importance of the interaction between these factors on the resulting hypnotic experience of S.

Operationalizing "Trance" I: Rationale and Research Using a Psychophenomenological Approach

Abstract Despite the popularity of the term “trance” among clinicians to describe the subjective effects associated with being hypnotized, heretofore there has been no means to operationalize that definition. The authors present a rationale and psychophenomenological method to operationalize the term “trance” in terms of (a) hypnotic depth, a quantitative measure of subjective trance assessed via a pHGS (predicted Harvard Group Scale) score, derived from regression analysis, and (b) “trance typology profiles,” a qualitative differentiation of empirically derived (via cluster and discriminant analyses) categories of subjective trance experiences. The authors then discuss theoretical and clinical implications of this psychophenomenological approach for developing an operational definition of the concept of trance.

Trait factors, state effects, and hypnotizability.

This study examined the relationship of 15 trait (e.g., absorption, ego-permissiveness) and 21 phenomenological variables (assessed by the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory) with performance on the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A. Factor analyses suggested three trait factors (absorption-permissiveness, general sensation seeking, and social desirability) and five state factors (dissociated control state, positive affect, negative affect, attention to internal processes, and visual imagery). The factors correlated to hypnotizability were absorption-permissiveness, dissociated control, positive affect, and attention to internal processes. In predicting hypnotizability, the amount of variance accounted for by the trait factors was approximately 9%; an additional 22% was accounted for by state factors. The interactions did not account for any additional variance in predicting hypnotizability.

Suggestibility, Expectancy, Trance State Effects, and Hypnotic Depth: I. Implications for Understanding Hypnotism

Abstract This paper reviews the relationships between trance or altered state effects, suggestibility, and expectancy as these concepts are defined in the theorizing of Weitzenhoffer (2002), Holroyd (2003), Kirsch (1991), and others, for the purpose of demonstrating how these concepts can be assessed with the PCI-HAP (Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory: Hypnotic Assessment Procedure; Pekala, 1995a, b). In addition, how the aforementioned variables may relate to the nature of hypnosis/hypnotism as a function of self-reported hypnotic depth are discussed, along with how the PCI-HAP may be used as a means to measure hypnotic responsivity from a more phenomenological state perspective, in contrast to more traditional behavioral trait assessment instruments like the Harvard, the Stanford C, or the HIP. A follow-up paper (Pekala, Kumar, Maurer, Elliott-Carter, Moon, & Mullen, 2010) will present research data on the PCI-HAP model and how this model can be useful for better understanding hypnotism.

Hypnotizability, Creative Capacity, Creativity Styles, Absorption, and Phenomenological Experience During Hypnosis

The study investigated relationships between self-report measures of creative capacity, styles of creativity, hypnotizability, and absorption. Participants were 429 students enrolled in Introduction to Psychology classes. Students first completed questionnaires pertaining to creative capacity, creativity styles, and absorption. They were subsequently hypnotized using the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility: Form A (Shor & Orne, 1962) and completed the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory (Pekala, 1982/1991a). The pattern of results suggest that creative capacity is more closely related to absorption than hypnotizability. The support for the assertion that effortless experiencing while engaged in creative tasks and hypnotic tasks is a process that is common to both high creative and high hypnotizable subjects was weak. Hypnotizability was more strongly and negatively correlated with Volitional Control (feelings of effortless experiencing) for suggestions experienced during hypnosis than both absorption and creative capacity. Creativity styles of Belief in Unconscious Processes, Use of Techniques, Final Product Orientation (extrinsic motivation), Environmental Control and Behavioral Self-Regulation, and Superstition were negatively correlated with Volitional Control during hypnosis, but the correlations were small in magnitude.

Dissociation as a Function of Child Abuse and Fantasy Proneness in a Substance Abuse Population

To our knowledge, no research has empirically assessed the relationships among dissociation, child abuse, and fantasy proneness in a single study. The present study assessed 1229 male substance abuse patients at a VA Medical Center on dissociation (measured by the Dissociative Experiences Scale, DES), child abuse (measured by the Child Abuse and Trauma scale, CAT), and fantasy proneness (assessed by the Inventory of Childhood Memories and Imaginings, ICMI). A regression analysis was used to predict dissociation with the five CAT subscales and fantasy proneness. The five CAT subscales accounted for 12 percent of the variance when predicting the DES from only the five CAT subscales. However, 22 percent of the variance was accounted for when using both the ICMI and the CAT subscales. Cross-validation regression analysis yielded very similar results. Regression analyses suggested that fantasy proneness is as important as sexual abuse in predicting dissociation. These results may shed light on the recent controversy concerning “repressed memories,” as well as understanding the development of dissociative disorders and differences between borderline personality disorder and the dissociative disorders.

Phenomenological experiences associated with hypnotic susceptibility

Abstract Following the administration of a Hungarian translation of the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form C (SHSS:C), 104 Hungarian subjects completed the Hungarian translation of the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory (PCI). Subjects had also been administered the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A (HGSHS: A) about 1 week to 2 months before the SHSS:C The pattern of correlations between hypnotizability (as measured by the HGSHS:A and the SHSS:C) and the 5 factors of the PCI was quite similar to that of previous work carried out using the English language versions on subjects in the United States. SHSS:C and HGSHS:A scores correlated significantly with the PCI factors of dissociated control, positive affect, and attention to internal processes factors. In addition, the SHSS:C score correlated significantly with the visual imagery factor, as found in previous work.

Suggestibility, Expectancy, Trance State Effects, and Hypnotic Depth: II. Assessment via the PCI-HAP

Abstract This study sought to determine if self-reported hypnotic depth (srHD) could be predicted from the variables of the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory - Hypnotic Assessment Procedure (PCI-HAP) (Pekala, 1995a, 1995b; Pekala & Kumar, 2007; Pekala et al., 2010), assessing several of the processes theorized by researchers to be associated with hypnotism: trance (altered state effects), suggestibility, and expectancy. One hundred and eighty participants completed the PCI-HAP. Using regression analyses, srHD scores were predicted from the PCI-HAP pre-hypnotic and post-hypnotic assessment items, and several other variables. The results suggested that the srHD scores were found to be a function of imagoic suggestibility, expectancy (both estimated hypnotic depth and expected therapeutic efficacy), and trance state and eye catalepsy effects; effects that appear to be additive and not (statistically) interactive. The results support the theorizing of many investigators concerning the involvement of the aforementioned component processes with this particular aspect of hypnotism, the self-reported hypnotic depth score.

Emotional Creativity, Alexithymia, and Styles of Creativity

ABSTRACT Averills Emotional Creativity Inventory (ECI) was correlated (n = 322) with self-report measures of creative capacity, alexithymia, fantasy proneness, and styles of creativity in everyday life. Two sets of findings suggest an overlap between the emotional and cognitive aspects of creativity: (a) a principal components analysis of the 3 ECI subscales, the creative capacity, and the fantasy proneness measures revealed 1 factor with high loading on all 5 measures; and (b) the pattern of correlations of the different creative capacity measures with styles of creativity were similar. As expected, the ECI and its subscales correlated with a measure of fantasy proneness and negatively correlated with a measure alexithymia. Earlier findings of the relationship between the measures of creative capacity, fantasy proneness, and styles of creativity were replicated and extended to the ECI.

The harvard group scale of hypnotic susceptibility and related instruments: Individual and group administrations

The Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A (HGSHS:A), Tellegens Absorption Scale (TAS); Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES); and Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory (PCI) were administered either individually or in groups. Eighty students from undergraduate Introduction to Psychology classes were randomly assigned to 1 of the 2 administration conditions with 40 students each. Although there was a general trend of differential item difficulty levels across the 2 administration conditions, a variety of results (descriptive characteristics, reliability, and validity) point to the similarity of behavioral and subjective responses to hypnosis in the 2 conditions. The TAS, DES, and PCI also produced similar results across both conditions of administration.