Cognitive flexibility in hypnosis Responses to change communication from the hypnotist

Bibliographic Data

ID10160069
AuthorsPeter W Sheehan (corresponding author), Lyndy Bowman
Year1975
Volume32
Issue3
Pages547-555
Publication date1975-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Personality and Social Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-3514 • E-ISSN: 1939-1315
PublisherAmerican Psychological Association (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1037/h0077104
PMID1177088
OpenAlexW2035563883
LanguageEN
References cited6

It was predicted that modification of response as it indexes cognitive flexibility in the hypnotic subject is related to susceptibility to hypnosis and the difficulty of the hypnotic task attempted. Experiment 1 isolated two distinct hypnotic tasks (easy and difficult); alternative forms of each item conveyed either clear or unclear structure concerning the response that was perceived as most appropriate. In Experiment 2, 101 subjects were administered hypnotic induction procedures and tested for modification of response on both items; for each subject, the hypnotist posed a conflict in communication by plausibly requesting an alteration in response from the behavior that the subject had chosen to indicate previously. Change data demonstrated that hypnotic subjects modified their behavior in hypnosis, but their cognitive flexibility was much more relevant to easy than to difficult tasks. Results highlight a further dimension of role enactment as well as the special role cognitive skills in play in our understanding of performance on hypnotic test items

Cognition · Cognitive psychology · Developmental psychology · Flexibility (engineering · Hypnosis · Hypnotic · Hypnotic susceptibility · Suggestibility · Task (project management · Academic and Historical Perspectives in Psychology · Medicine · Mind wandering and attention · Neuroscience · Pain Management and Placebo Effect · Psychology

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