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PubMed1992

Effects of "deepening" techniques on hypnotic depth and responding.

The present study attempted to assess the effectiveness of commonly used deepening techniques and of surreptitiously provided stimulation on hypnotizability scores, in-hypnosis depth reports, retrospective realness ratings, and the Field Inventory of Hypnotic Depth (Field, 1965). High, medium, and low hypnotizables were assigned in equal numbers to 1 of 3 groups, each containing 54 Ss. Controls were compared to Ss receiving 2 deepening techniques or 2 suggestions for positive and negative hallucinations that were surreptitiously enhanced. Of the 4 dependent measures employed, the only significant difference between groups related to a change in depth reports for the manipulation items themselves, leading to the conclusion that the effect of the techniques was at best minimal and transient. Some methodological and conceptual issues are also discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Theorizing about hypnosis in either/or terms.

The present paper addresses 3 issues raised by Coe (1992). First, it maintains that the "altered state" issue of the 1960s remains buried in current dichotomous classifications of hypnosis theories as involving either "special processes" or the social-psychological position. Given the current diversity of the field, it appears imprudent to classify theorizing in either/or terms; additionally, despite a history of using the term "altered state" in a circular way, it is not an inherently circular formulation. It can be used descriptively simply to point to the observation that some individuals in hypnosis report subjective alterations. A second issue broached concerns the metaphorical status of the term "hypnosis"; it is accepted as a misleading metaphor inherited from 19th century investigators such as Braid, Faria, Puységur, and Liébeault. Provided that is is recognized that this metaphor refers to a "domain" (E.R. Hilgard, 1973) of characteristically elicited behaviors, no problem ensues in retaining this metaphor derived from nocturnal sleep. A subsequent discussion of current conceptualizations of hypnosis indicates considerable agreement among investigators; there is much consensus that hypnosis is an individual differences phenomenon, in which imagination may, in some individuals, become so intense and so vivid, as to take on "reality value," to the extent that a hypnotized person may have difficulty in distinguishing fantasy from reality. The S abilities of imagery/imagination, absorption, dissociation, and automaticity (which may be proved to be an index of dissociation) are proposed as being the main ingredients of the hypnotic experience. Finally, a synergistic approach is proposed as a means of progressing beyond the current impasse of either/or theorizing.

Awareness↗
PubMed1997

Depersonalization and derealization during panic and hypnosis in low and highly hypnotizable agoraphobics.

The primary aim of the present study was to investigate the association between spontaneous experiences of depersonalization or derealization (D-D) during panic states and hypnosis in low and highly hypnotizable phobic individuals. Secondarily, the association among level of hypnotizability, capacity for imaginative involvement, and severity of phobic complaints was also assessed. Sixty-four patients with panic disorder with agoraphobia according to the DSM-III-R (American Psychiatric Association, 1987) criteria participated in the study. Proneness to experience D-D during hypnosis was positively related to hypnotizability, but only for agoraphobic patients who had already experienced these perceptual distortions during panic episodes. Correlations of level of hypnotizability and capacity for imaginative involvement with severity of agoraphobic complaints were not significant. These findings suggest that hypnotizability may be a mediating variable between two different, although phenotypically similar, perceptual distortions experienced during panic states and hypnosis. Implications for both theory and clinical practice are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

The experience of effortlessness in hypnosis: perceived or real?

Hypnotized individuals who successfully respond to a suggestion typically report that the response requires little or no cognitive effort. It is important, however, to distinguish between whether this effect occurs in actual effort or is only perceived. In addition, the authors distinguish between cognitive effort expended to initiate a response and that required to maintain it. The authors examine the different predictions of four theories-compliance theory, sociocognitive theory (Lynn & Rhue, 1991), Hilgard's (1986) neodissociation theory, and Bowers's (1992) theory of dissociated control-regarding both of these distinctions. Experimental evidence bearing on the various predictions is examined. Additionally, the authors propose a number of design modifications that may help sort out the variables contributing to the effortlessness of the hypnotic response.

Humans↗
PubMed1997

An existential model of group therapy for chronic mental conditions.

A group therapy model for chronic mental patients based on existential principles is described. Focusing on the existential dilemmas of chronically ill patients accesses their inner life and acknowledges their immense strengths in tolerating the illness. These effects can improve the patients' motivation for and compliance with treatment and lower distressing secondary conditions such as shame, hopelessness, and suicidality. The model uses the methods of (a) linking, (b) differentiating the therapy team, and (c) addressing the core issues to counteract the negative processes of derealization, powerlessness and irrelevance that hinder group therapy with these patients. Therapists attempt to highlight divergent perspectives of irresolvable dilemmas, offering patients the opportunity to experience and to communicate the courage, tolerance and love required to carry the burden of chronic mental illness.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Are dolls real? Developmental changes in the child's definition of reality.

Preschoolers (n = 20), second graders (n = 20), fifth graders (n = 20), and graduate-level college students (n = 20) were asked to determine the reality status of specific items, such as dolls and dreams, and to generate examples of real and not-real things. The criteria used for determining whether or not specific items were real differed significantly across the age range sampled and were strongly influenced by the type of items being judged. Criteria clearly changed with age, with item-specific criteria being substituted for more general verification criteria.

Child↗
PubMed1993

Are individual differences in fantasy play related to peer acceptance levels?

Individual differences in fantasy play, as they relate to cognitive competence and peer acceptance, were examined in a sample of 66 children between the ages of 4 and 8 years. Each child's free-play behaviors were videotaped and then coded for frequency of fantasy play and nonfantasy play, as well as for the unreality level and unfamiliarity level of the fantasy play. Solitary play was rarely observed; therefore all play measures that were coded were social (i.e., play involving at least one partner). Cognitive competence measures included self-ratings and teacher ratings of academic skills. Peer acceptance measures included self-ratings and teacher ratings of friendships and social activities. Results showed that high-fantasy players had higher self-ratings of peer acceptance than did average-fantasy players. High-fantasy players, however, had lower teacher ratings of peer acceptance than did average-fantasy players. These differential relations could be related to an inability on the part of high-fantasy players to distinguish imagined popularity from actual peer acceptance levels. Future research is recommended to provide more detailed characterizations of individual differences in fantasy play and how they relate to outcomes in the social, cognitive, and affective domains.

Affect↗
PubMed1995

Symbolic immunity and flexibility in preschoolers' human figure drawings.

Twenty-eight preschoolers (14 boys, 14 girls) ranging in age from 3 years 11 months to 5 years 8 months (M = 4 years 6 months) drew pictures of a person and then were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 conditions, to determine if they would change their human figure drawings after participating in tasks designed to make body parts more salient. Half of the children were given a snowman-shaped outline and were asked to draw nine body parts read by an experimenter. The other children heard the same list and pointed to the parts on themselves. Then the children were given more paper and were asked to draw a person again. Analyses indicated that, in both groups, there was no significant difference in the number of body parts in the two sets of drawings. Overall, the preschoolers displayed symbolic immunity to attempts to change their drawings of human figures. However, there was a curvilinear relationship between the children's artistic stage and addition of body parts: Tadpole-person drawers added body parts to second drawings more than did scribblers or conventional drawers. Findings are discussed in terms of theories of human figure drawings, symbolic flexibility, and the role of contextual support in artistic skill.

Art↗
PubMed1996

Children's understanding of the distinction between real and apparent emotions: a training study.

The effects of two types of training on 4-year-old children's understanding of the distinction between experienced positive affect and neutral or negative display were examined. One type of training provided first-hand experience of possible discrepancies between facial expression and actual affect. The other training focused on the sorts of motives that might prompt the concealment of positive affect. Compared with a control group, both experimental groups showed modest gains.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed1990

Assessment of children's fantasies with the Make a Picture Story: validity and norms.

One purpose of this study was to examine the validity of the Make A Picture Story (MAPS) for assessment of children's fantasies. Children from a university laboratory school who were exhibiting good adjustment comprised our first sample. The second sample was composed of children from special education classes who were experiencing behavioral and/or academic difficulties. Children told stories to seven MAPS backgrounds. Stories created by special education children contained more dysphoric and fanciful fantasies than did nonproblem children's stories. Behavior disordered children had more aggressive fantasies in their stories than did nonproblem and learning disabled children. Another purpose of this study was to provide norms for children's choice of figures, number of figures used, moving and adding figures, story length, and choice of backgrounds. These norms should facilitate clinicians' interpretations of children's responses to the MAPS.

Affect↗
PubMed1990

Potential space and the Rorschach: an application of object relations theory.

This article examines the concept of potential space, developed by Winnicott (1971), and its relevance for Rorschach assessment. I propose that the response process can be viewed as occurring in the potential space between reality and fantasy and that various forms of psychopathology can be conceptualized as forms of the collapse of potential space. I suggest that this model can be of utility in interpreting the Rorschach protocols of a variety of difficult-to-diagnose patients. Examples from the Rorschach of a patient diagnosed with a dissociative disorder are presented to illustrate these points.

Arousal↗
PubMed1998

The accuracy of dysphoric and nondepressed groups' predictions of life events.

The phenomenon of depressive realism was examined in relation to the future prediction of positive and negative life events. A group of dysphoric (n = 20) and nondepressed (n = 38) British undergraduates participated in a prospective study lasting 3 months. Partly consistent with the depressive realism hypotheses, dysphoric participants were more realistic concerning the negative life events they would experience, but they were less realistic concerning the negative life events they would not experience. Although no difference was found for predicting the occurrence of positive life events, dysphoric participants were found to be more realistic concerning positive life events that they would not experience.

Adolescent↗