Secondary identity enactments during hypnotic past-life regression: A sociocognitive perspective.

Abstract

In 4 studies. Ss received hypnotic suggestions to regress beyond birth to a previous life. In Study 1, the development of a past-life identity was unrelated to indexes of psychopathology. Studies 2 and 3 demonstrated that Ss developed past-life identities that reflected hypnotist-transmitted expectations. In Study 4 the credibility that Ss assigned to their past-life experiences was influenced by whether the hypnotist defined such experiences as reaiox imagined. Combined data from the first 3 studies indicated that hypnotizability predicted the subjective intensity of past-life experiences but not the credibility assigned to these experiences. Alternatively, beliefs, attitudes, and expectations concerning reincarnation predicted the degree of credibility assigned to these experiences. Implications of these findings are discussed.

The (perceived) meaning of spontaneous thoughts.

“…Hypnosis, for example, may be used to treat some disorders such as smoking cessation (Wadden & Anderton, 1982). People's beliefs about the power of the thoughts revealed in hypnosis extend beyond the realm of the scientific, however, believing that the images that come to mind during hypnosis may offer evidence of past lives (Loftus, Garry, Brown, & Rader, 1994;Spanos, Menary, Gabora, DuBreuil, & Dewhirst, 1991). Similarly, while dreaming can serve to consolidate information in the service of problem solving (Stickgold & Walker, 2004;Wagner et al, 2004), lay beliefs about the insight revealed in dreams extends far beyond the intrapsychic information they might provide to the belief that the thoughts that occur in dreams can foretell the future (Morewedge & Norton, 2009).…”

Creating false memories of infancy with hypnotic and non-hypnotic procedures

“…Our ®ndings suggest that many individuals will report false memories when they are given a rationale from an authoritative source that makes the occurrence of such memories plausible, when they are provided with information that leads them to expect that they possess such memories, and when they are administered procedures that they believe will facilitate the recovery of their hidden memories. When these three conditions are met, people will report false memories of abductions by space aliens (Jacobs, 1992;Mack, 1994), past lives (Fiore, 1989;Wambach, 1979;Spanos et al, 1991), satanic ritual abuse (Young et al, 1991;Shaer and Cozolino, 1992), early childhood events Loftus and Pickrell, 1995), traumatic foetal experiences (Van Husen, 1988) and, as demonstrated in the present study, experiences occurring on the day after birth. That these three conditions frequently occur together during some types of abuse resolution therapy only serves to increase the risk of false memory reporting in patients who are exposed to them.…”

“…In response to this criticism, two studies (Loftus and Pickrell, 1995;Spanos et al, 1991) demonstrated the development of complex false memories in nonclinical contexts. With the aid of cooperating relatives who provided the relevant suggestions, Loftus and Pickrell (1995) in¯uenced participants to falsely remember that, at 5 years of age, they had been lost in a shopping mall.…”

“…With the aid of cooperating relatives who provided the relevant suggestions, Loftus and Pickrell (1995) in¯uenced participants to falsely remember that, at 5 years of age, they had been lost in a shopping mall. Spanos et al (1991) employed a hypnotic regression procedure to inculcate false memories of having lived a past life in university undergraduates. The extent to which students de®ned their past-life experiences as real memories was correlated with the strength of their prehypnotic beliefs and expectations concerning reincarnation.…”

Is the Reincarnation Hypothesis Advanced by Stevenson for Spontaneous Past-life Experiences Relevant for the Understanding of the Ontology of Past-life Phenomena?

“…In general, PLEs have received a mixture of interpretations and have been associated with a variety of phenomena that range from paranormal encounters (Braude, 2003;Chari, 1978;Grof, 1994, Hales, 2001a, 2001bLuke, 2011;Stevenson, 1977) and altered states of consciousness (Luke, 2011;Simöes, 2002;Tart, 1974Tart, , 1992Woolger, 1999) to fantasy constructions (Baker, 1982;Dwairy, 2006;Kampman, 1976;Mariott, 1984;Robertson & Gow, 1999;Spanos, 1988Spanos, , 1996Spanos, Menary, Gabora, DuBreuil, & Dewhirst, 1991;Venn, 1986;Wickramasekera, 2009), repressed memories (Loftus, 1997(Loftus, , 2000Pasricha, 2011) or genetic memories (Almeder, 1992;Pasricha, 2006;Stevenson, 1987;Tarazi, 1990), and some others.…”