Hypnotic sex change: Creating and challenging a delusion in the laboratory.

Abstract

The authors suggested a change of sex to virtuoso, high-hypnotizable, and low-hypnotizable simulating participants in an application of the real-simulating paradigm of hypnosis. The experiences of sex change that participants reported during hypnosis were challenged through procedures of contradiction and confrontation. Behavioral and self-report data indicated that virtuosos experienced a transient delusion about their sex that was compelling and resistant to challenge. Implications are discussed for investigations of delusion through the use of hypnosis in the laboratory and for understanding delusion in the clinical setting.

Developing hypnotic analogues of clinical delusions: Mirrored-self misidentification

“…The latter two suggestions were based on the clinical patient TH, who believed that a mirror functioned like a window and that his reflection was a stranger outside the window. Based on previous hypnotic sex-change studies (Burn et al, 2001;Noble & McConkey, 1995), participants were expected to experience a subjectively compelling mirror delusion. Within the twofactor model, factor two is thought to involve the failure to reject implausible beliefs.…”

“…During the suggested delusion, participants were administered two challenges, a contradiction and a confrontation, based on techniques used by Noble & McConkey (1995) and Burn et al (2001) in studies of hypnotic sex-change. Following a suggestion to become the opposite sex, Noble & McConkey (1995) and Burn et al (2001) administered a contradiction by asking participants what they would say to a hypothetical doctor who can find no reason for them to be the suggested sex. They also administered a confrontation by asking participants to open their eyes, look at themselves on a monitor and describe what they were experiencing as they did so.…”

“…However, there are few studies of clinically relevant hypnotic delusions (Burn, Barnier, & McConkey, 2001;Noble & McConkey, 1995;Zimbardo, Andersen, & Kabat, 1981) and even fewer contemporary comparisons of hypnotic and clinical cases (Kihlstrom & Hoyt, 1988). This study is part of a larger project that aims to assess the relationship between a variety of hypnotic and clinical delusions.…”

Proceedings of the 9th Conference of the Australasian Society for Cognitive Science

“…Indeed, both delusions and hypnotic suggestions are (1) believed with absolute conviction, (2) resistant to rational counter argument, (3) maintained regardless of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, and (4) not shared by others from the same socio-cultural group (see . These shared features have, for example, been illustrated in previous work using hypnotic suggestion to model delusions of sex-change (Noble & McConkey, 1995) and delusions of identity distortion (Cox & Barnier, 2009).…”

“…Indeed, both delusions and hypnotic suggestions are (1) believed with absolute conviction, (2) resistant to rational counter argument, (3) maintained regardless of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, and (4) not shared by others from the same socio-cultural group (see . These shared features have, for example, been illustrated in previous work using hypnotic suggestion to model delusions of sex-change (Noble & McConkey, 1995) and delusions of identity distortion (Cox & Barnier, 2009).Thirdly, hypnosis has a track record of successfully modelling many psychopathologies (Oakley, 2006;Oakley & Halligan, 2009). These include, for example, conversion hysteria (Halligan, Bass, & Wade, 2000), auditory hallucinations (Woody & Szechtman, 2000), paranoia (Zimbardo, Andersen, & Kabat, 1981) and functional blindness (Bryant & McConkey, 1989).…”