Title: States of Consciousness HYPNOSIS
1States of ConsciousnessHYPNOSIS
2Discuss
- http//www.youtube.com/watch?vprMvP9ustN0
- What different states of consciousness do you
think there are? - Of the time that you are awake , how much time do
you think you are consciously thinking about the
world around you? - What do you think Hypnosis is ?
- What do you think happens to people who are
hypnotised?
3Controversial Question
- When someone is hypnotised, do they enter a
different state of consciousness or is there
another explanation for their behaviour.
4State versus Non-state
- State Theory Hypnosis is a different state from
waking or sleeping - Non-state Hypnosis promotes relaxation,
imagination and compliance. So hypnotised people
are not in a different state, the just behave
differently
5Hypnosis is a state of heightened suggestibility
in which people experience imagined situations as
if they were real.
6Franz Anton Mesmer (1734-1815)
Mesmer developed a technique called animal
magnetism (later renamed mesmerism). Mesmer
noticed that patients would often enter a
trance-like state. Apparent miracle cures also
resulted. Eventually Mesmer realised the magnets
were unnecessary .
7Hypnosis
- In 1841 Scottish surgeon James Braid witnessed a
demonstration of mesmerism and began to develop
his own technique. - Braid held a bright object in front of patients
eyes while also making verbal suggestions. - He argued mesmerism was a state of nervous
sleep produced by concentrated attention. - He renamed it hypnosis after Hypnos, the Greek
god of sleep.
8Hypnotic Induction Procedures
- Hypnotic induction is the process by which one
person leads another into hypnosis. - It is not necessary to swing a watch in front of
the eyes or say you are feeling sleepy! - Moss (1965) reported being able to sometimes
induce a trance simply by saying Please sit in
that chair and go into hypnosis!
9Sample test items from the Stanford Hypnotic
Susceptibility Scale, Form C
Item Suggested Behaviour Criterion for Passing
Arm lowering Right arm will become heavy Arm lowered by at least 6 inches
Moving hands apart Force is pushing hands apart Hands are 6 or more inches apart
Mosquito hallucination Mosquito is buzzing nearby Any grimace or acknowledgement
Posthypnotic amnesia Will not remember suggestions Three or fewer items recalled
10Hypnotic Susceptibility
- According to Hilgard (1977), in an average
testing session 10 of subjects will be
completely nonresponsive, 10 will pass all or
nearly all items, and the rest will fall in
between. This is a stable characteristic when
tested 25 years later people scored the same ! - However susceptibility can be enhanced by
increasing peoples expectations (Spanos et al.,
1991 Vickery Kirsch, 1991).
11Behaviour under Hypnosis
- http//www.youtube.com/watch?v9djiWIWMaOA
- Hypnotised people are very suggestible and their
behaviour will conform with what the hypnotist
tells them. Typical behaviour that can be induced
include - Acting out imaginary scenes.
- Pretending to be an animal.
- Believing a limb cannot move or is insensitive to
pain. - Positive and negative hallucinations seeing
things that are not really there, or not seeing
objects that really are present. - Enhanced memory or posthypnotic amnesia
12Plenary
- What is hypnosis?
- How can we be sure that hypnosis is real?
- What is a key argument against hypnosis being a
real phenomenon? - Why do you think people vary in their
susceptibility to hypnosis? - Why is hypnosis useful?
13Test
- Define Hypnosis
- What is the only essential ingredient for
hypnotic induction? - What is a key argument against hypnosis being a
specific state of consciousness? - According to Hilgard what percentage of people
are not susceptible to hypnosis? - What can increase susceptibility?
-
14Why does hypnosis work?
- There are two main competing explanations for how
hypnosis works - Dissociation (state hypothesis) theories.
- Social Cognitive (non-state hypothesis) theories.
15Dissociation theories of hypnosis
- Dissociation theories view hypnosis as an altered
state of consciousness. - Best known example is the neo-dissociation theory
proposed by Ernst Hilgard (1978, 1991). - Hilgard argued that cognition involves multiple
systems of control which are not all conscious at
the same time. - These systems are controlled and motivated by a
central executive ego.
16Neo-dissociation Theory
- Executive ego distributes cognitive resources to
different tasks e.g driving and using a mobile
phone !!! Multi-tasking divides attention.
17- Hilgard argued that during hypnosis the hypnotist
gains control of the executive ego, and therefore
has access to the various subsidiary control
systems. - Hypnosis creates a division of awareness in which
a person simultaneously experiences two streams
of consciousness (primary consciousness and a
hidden observer)that are cut off from one
another. - The primary consciousness responds to the
hypnotists suggestions, while the hidden
observer is stuck behind an amnesiac barrier,
aware of everything going on but unable to
communicate, until the hypnotist asks it to.
18Hidden Observer Phenomenon
- In one study Hilgard (1977) hypnotised subjects
and suggested that they would not feel pain. - Then placed arm in ice-cold water for 45 seconds
and reported level of pain experienced. - For another group Hilgard said Perhaps there is
another part of you that is more aware than your
hypnotised part. If so, would that part of you
report the amount of pain.
19Hidden Observer Study (Hilgard, 1977)
20Hypnosis and Involuntary Control
- When under hypnosis people subjectively
experience their actions to be involuntary. - Can people be made to perform acts that are
harmful to themselves or others? - Evans Orne (1965) told hypnotized subjects that
a cup of foaming liquid was acid. They were
told to throw it a persons face (to see if they
would follow the instructions despite it being
harmful)
21Evaluation
- However, a control group who were asked to simply
pretend that they were hypnotised behaved in the
same way. - This behaviour can be explained in terms of
destructive obedience i.e., psychological
compliance with an authority figure (Milgram,
1974).
22Evidence in favour of hypnosis being a separate
state of consciousness
- For some time now hypnosis has been successful
when anaesthetics cannot be used and in the
treatment of chronic pain (Hilgard and Le Baron
1984). - People can imitate clinical depression
successfully but that is not to say clinical
depression does not exist. The crucial point is
that the hypnotised person believes they are in a
different state, whilst the imitator does not.
(McIlveen 1995). - An important feature of the Hilgard model is the
hidden observer. Hilgard (1973) induced
hypnotic deafness in a participant but also
suggested that he should raise a finger when
asked if there was any part of him that could
still hear. Deafness was convincingly established
but a finger was still raised when the question
was asked. In Hilgards view this is the hidden
observer monitoring the situation and replying to
the question without the participants awareness. - Some researchers feel that hypnosis is associated
with specific changes in brain electrical
activity (Crawford and Gruzlier 1992) - It is possible we are looking at the wrong
measures or the wrong part of the brain for
hypnotic phenomena. - Although Kosslyn et al (2000) found that when pps
were asked to visualise adding colour to a grey
image there was increased brain activity in the
left hemisphere when they were hypnotised but not
when they werent.
23Plenary
- Can you describe Hilgards theory?
- What is the hidden observer?
- Use handout to identify criticisms of State
theories of hypnosis. - Discuss
24Test
- What is the proper name of Hilgards theory of
hypnosis? - Briefly describe Hilgards evidence for the
hidden observer. - What is Hilgards name for the part of
consciousness which is in control of the multiple
cognitive control structures? - Why does hypnosis appear to produce involuntary
actions?
25Social Cognitive theories of hypnosis
- Social cognitive theories deny that hypnosis
produces an altered state of consciousness. - Instead argue that hypnotic experiences result
from expectations of people motivated to take on
the role of being hypnotised. - Subjects develop a perceptual set a readiness
to respond to suggestions and to perceive
hypnotic experiences as real and involuntary.
26(No Transcript)
27(No Transcript)
28(No Transcript)
29Stanley Milgram (1933-1984)Do we need to be
hypnotised to do things against our will?
30I observed a mature and initially poised
businessman enter the laboratory smiling and
confident. Within 20 minutes he was reduced to a
twitching, stuttering wreck, who was rapidly
approaching nervous collapse. He constantly
pulled on his ear lobe, and twisted his hands. At
one point he pushed his fist into his forehead
and muttered Oh God lets stop it. And yet he
continued to respond to every word of the
experimenter, and obeyed to the end. Milgram,
Behavioral Study of Obedience
31- In a study by Orne (1959) subjects were told
prior to being hypnotised that a common feature
of a trance is stiffening of the muscles in the
dominant hand. - This information was fictitious.
- When the subjects were hypnotised, 55
spontaneously displayed hand stiffening. - No subjects in a control group showed this
behaviour. - Social Cognitive theories do not claim that
hypnotised people are pretending. Expectations
can influence behaviour without conscious
awareness (e.g., placebo effects etc.)
32Alternative explanations of hypnosis Non-state
theories
- Barber (1969) suggests that hypnosis is simply
the result of experimental demand
characteristics i.e. the participant pleases the
experimenter and tries not to ruin the show. - All hypnotic phenomena can be imitated by non
hypnotised people, indistinguishably from the
hypnotised (Barber 1979) - In a study by Orne (1959) subjects were told
prior to being hypnotised that a common feature
of a trance is stiffening of the muscles in the
dominant hand. - This information was fictitious.
- When the subjects were hypnotised, 55
spontaneously displayed hand stiffening. - No subjects in a control group showed this
behaviour. - No measure of brain activity successfully
distinguishes between hypnotised and non
hypnotised states consistently. (Sarbin and
Slagle 1972). - Council and Kenny (1992) showed that expert
ratings also failed to distinguish between self
reports of subjects experiencing hypnotic
induction from those experiencing relaxation
training and they conclude that the state of
consciousness produced by the two procedures is
indistinguishable. - Wagstaff (1995) indicates that research and
debate in hypnosis flourishes but we do not seem
to be any further forward in deciding whether
there is an altered state of consciousness we can
call hypnosis.
33Summary
- Hypnosis produces an increased receptiveness to
suggestions. - Hypnotised people subjectively experience their
actions to be involuntary. - Dissociation theories attribute this to divided
streams of consciousness. - Social Cognitive theories attribute this to
subjects expectation as to what effect hypnosis
will have on them.
34Test
- What did Spanos et al find about susceptability
in hypnosis? - What were the specific findings of Ornes study
with the hand stiffening? - What is a major weakness of state theories?
- Explain a problem with the argument that hypnosis
can be faked.
35Evaluation and Analysis
- Evaluation However, Although, On the other hand
- Look for alternative explanations for findings of
research or theoretical conclusions - Criticise the research methods and validity of
findings - Analysis
- This suggests
- This implies that..
- This shows us that.
36Essay plan
- Describe what hypnosis is and how it affects
behaviour. Controversial question is whether it
produces an altered state of consciousness or
not. - Outline and evaluate state theory including 3
pieces of research evidence - Outline and evaluate non-state theory including 3
pieces of research evidence - Conclusion should discuss the usefulness of
hypnosis despite the inability of science to
explain the phenomenon completely.