“How Deeply Hypnotized Did I Get?” Predicting Self-Reported Hypnotic Depth from a Phenomenological Assessment Instrument

Abstract

Procedures for estimating hypnotic depth have been used for more than 70 years. This study predicted self-reported hypnotic depth from the phenomenological and behavioral variables of the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory-Hypnotic Assessment Procedure (PCI-HAP). Participants were divided into 2 groups; 1 was used to generate regression equations, and the other group was used for cross-validation. Both imagery vividness during hypnosis (imagoic suggestibility) and the PCI pHGS measure of hypnotic depth (hypnoidal state) accounted for most of the variance in self-reported hypnotic depth. The above results, further supported by correlational and 3-D visual analyses, are consistent with other researchers' observations that ratings of hypnotic depth are a function of: (a) alterations in subjective experience, and (b) the perception of responsiveness to suggestions. The findings are also congruent with J. Holroyd's hypothesis that suggestibility and altered-state effects interact to produce hypnotic effects.

Trance State Effects and Imagery Vividness Before and During a Hypnotic Assessment:A Preliminary Study

“…Prior research (Pekala, Kumar, Maurer, Elliott-Carter, & Moon, 2006) found a correlation between self-reported hypnotic depth and imagoic suggestibility of .72, identical to the present study. However, correlation is not causality, and this hypothesis must await future research.…”

Modulation of the heartbeat evoked cortical potential by hypnotizability and hypnosis

“…Hypnosis is a state of consciousness that can be self‐induced or promoted through various procedures (“induction”) enacted by other persons (Elkins et al, 2015). It is described as different from the ordinary state of consciousness (Pekala et al, 2006) and cannot be defined independently from self‐reports, although many cortical correlates have been observed by imaging (Landry et al, 2017; Wolf et al, 2022) and EEG studies (Baghdadi & Nasrabadi, 2012; Hiltunen et al, 2021; Rho et al, 2021; Yargholi & Nasrabadi, 2015). Neutral hypnosis (NH) is a state following hypnotic induction without specific suggestions, that is, requests to imagine perception, memory, and behavior different from the actual ones (for instance, analgesia, hallucination, movement) and to experience them as real and involuntary.…”

Modulation of the heartbeat evoked cortical potential by hypnotizability and hypnosis.

“…Hypnosis is a state of consciousness which can be self-induced or promoted through various procedures ("induction") enacted by other persons (Elkins et al, 2015). It is described as different from the ordinary state of consciousness (Pekala et al, 2006) and cannot be defined independently from self-reports, although many cortical correlates have been observed by imaging (Landry et al, 2017;Wolf et al, 2022) and EEG studies (Baghdadi & Nasrabadi, 2012;Hiltunen et al, 2021;Rho et al, 2021;Yargholi & Nasrabadi, 2015). Neutral hypnosis (NH) is a state following hypnotic induction without specific suggestions, i.e., requests to imagine perception, memory and behavior different from the actual ones (for instance, analgesia, hallucination, movement) and to experience them as real and involuntary.…”