It is often wondered whether subjects can be made to go against their own morals via suggestion by a hypnotist. Most scientists do not think so, yet they do think that if phrased correctly, a subject can be made to go against their morals. For example, a man who would not normally undress in front of strangers might do so if he was made to think that his clothes were covered with biting ants. Nevertheless, hypnotized people can not be totally manipulated by the
hypnotist. They maintain considerable control over their behavior, and often refuse suggestions.
Posthypnotic Suggestions are suggestions that are given to the subject to be carried out later, after the hypnosis process is over. These suggestions are usually linked to some kind of stimulus. Example: "When I cough, you are to take off your glasses." Posthypnotic Amnesia causes the subject, by suggestion, to forget what was said and done during either the entire hypnotic session or a portion of it. The subject can even forget material that was not a part of the session. It most studies involving posthypnotic amnesia, researchers create a stimulus that will restore the subject's memory, such as a snap of the fingers.
The hidden observer phenomenon was discovered by Ernest R. Hilgard. It describes a portion of the subject's consciousness that is separate from the hypnotized portion during hypnosis. This portion of the consciousness can report on everything that occurs during hypnosis, regardless of whether the subject was suggested to be blind, deaf, etc. Studies
relating to the hidden observer phenomenon are not without criticism, but the phenomenon is now accepted as a reliable hypnotic event, even though it will not occur in some subjects. The importance of this phenomenon is in the fact that it provides a new way to look at hypnosis, in which one part of consciousness is altered and the other is not.
This Web page was created and is maintained by Aaron Zafran, Mary Rozenman and Dave Zawitz.What is hypnosis?
Hypnosis is an altered state of consciousness that a person enters voluntarily with the aid of another person. This person is called the hypnotist. However, experienced subjects can induce hypnosis upon themselves, a process called self-hypnosis. Although some call hypnosis a sleep-like state, it is clearly not a state of sleep; brain wave patterns in hypnosis do not resemble sleep. In addition, people can become very active during hypnosis, if the hypnotist suggests it.
Hypnotic Susceptibility:
Some claim that all people are hypnotizable to a point, but it is clear that the amount that people can be hypnotized varies significantly. Weitzenhoffer and Hilgard discovered that hypnotizability is normally distributed, in that most people are moderately hypnotizable, and 5 - 10% are either very susceptible, or not at all. Nevertheless, it is unknown as to what determines a person's susceptibility at this point. Heredity plays some role, but so does environment and childhood experience.
Hypnotic Phenomena:
Even if the level of hypnosis is light, individuals are very suggestible. Yet, they must be suggestible to be hypnotized in the first place. It is possible to make the subject experience many emotions by suggesting them, such as emotions involved with being blind, deaf, and insensitive to pain. Of course, these dramatic effects do not always occur in all subjects, but in most cases the subject is ready to accept suggestions and these examples do work.
Uses of Hypnosis:
As we grow to understand the process of hypnosis more and more, its usefulness will increase, both as a therapy technique and an adjunct to therapy. For quite some time, psychologists have used it without knowing why it works on some people and not others, or why it works at all, for that matter. In clinical usage, hypnosis serves as an aid to cognitive restructuring, in which patients are helped to think of their problems a different way. The greatest success of hypnosis has been in the control of pain, either by substantially reducing it or eliminating it.