Boosting the hypnotic experience. Inhibition of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex alters hypnotizability and sense of agency. A randomized, double-blind and sham-controlled tDCS study.

Hypnotizability refers to the individual responsiveness to hypnosis, and literature shows that the greater the hypnotizability, the more effective the hypnotic suggestions. So far, few studies attempted to enhance hypnotizability, and only two adopted brain stimulation with magnetic pulses. In the present study, we aimed to boost hypnotizability through transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS).

Hypnotism as a Function of Trance State Effects, Expectancy, and Suggestibility: An Italian Replication.

Previous research using stepwise regression analyses found self-reported hypnotic depth (srHD) to be a function of suggestibility, trance state effects, and expectancy. This study sought to replicate and expand that research using a general state measure of hypnotic responsivity, the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory: Hypnotic Assessment Procedure (PCI-HAP). Ninety-five participants completed an Italian translation of the PCI-HAP, with srHD scores predicted from the PCI-HAP assessment items.

Empathic Features and Absorption in Fantasy Role-Playing.

This study examined the levels of empathy and absorption of individuals who regularly play fantasy and science fiction role-playing games. A hypothesis was developed that higher levels of empathy would be found in individuals who fantasy role-play based upon previous research in hypnosis such as J. R.

The "Mysteries of Hypnosis:" Helping Us Better Understand Hypnosis and Empathic Involvement Theory (EIT).

Wickramasekera II (2015) has penned a comprehensive and thoughtful review article demonstrating how empathy is intimately involved in the psychology and neurophysiology of hypnosis and the self. Hypnosis is a very "mental" or subjective phenomenon for both the client and the research participant. To better assess the mind of the client/participant during hypnosis, it is my belief that we need to generate more "precise" phenomenological descriptors of the mind during hypnosis and related empathic conditions, as Wickramasekera II (2015) has suggested in his article.

Imagery vividness before and during the PCI-HAP: a partial replication.

This study sought to replicate an earlier study wherein imagery vividness before and during a phenomenological hypnotic assessment procedure was assessed, while also measuring trance (hypnoidal) state effects and several other variables. Correlational and regression analyses for that study suggested that imagery vividness during hypnotism was predicted by combined imagery vividness before hypnotism and trance (altered) state effects during hypnotism. The present study procured a larger sample employing a similar design and a similar subject pool.

A cross-validation of two differing measures of hypnotic depth.

Several sets of regression analyses were completed, attempting to predict 2 measures of hypnotic depth: the self-reported hypnotic depth score and hypnoidal state score from variables of the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory: Hypnotic Assessment Procedure (PCI-HAP). When attempting to predict self-reported hypnotic depth, an R of .78 with Study 1 participants shrank to an r of .

Reply to Wagstaff: "Hypnosis and the relationship between trance, suggestion, expectancy, and depth: some semantic and conceptual issues".

Wagstaff (2010) reviews and comments on two recent papers by Pekala et al. (2010a, 2010b), concluding that "many of the problems relating to the definition and conceptualization of terms associated with hypnosis..

Trance state effects and imagery vividness before and during a hypnotic assessment: a preliminary study.

This preliminary study explored the relationship between imagery vividness before and during a hypnotic phenomenological assessment procedure, the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory-Hypnotic Assessment Procedure (PCI-HAP), while also assessing trance (hypnoidal) state effects and several other variables. The PCI-HAP allows the assessment of trance state effects associated with hypnotism to be quantified and statistically assessed. The 102 subjects completed the PCI-HAP along with several other questionnaire items.

Suggestibility, expectancy, trance state effects, and hypnotic depth: II. Assessment via the PCI-HAP.

This study sought to determine if self-reported hypnotic depth (srHD) could be predicted from the variables of the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory - Hypnotic Assessment Procedure (PCI-HAP) (Pekala, 1995a, 1995b; Pekala & Kumar, 2007; Pekala et al., 2010), assessing several of the processes theorized by researchers to be associated with hypnotism: trance (altered state effects), suggestibility, and expectancy. One hundred and eighty participants completed the PCI-HAP.

Suggestibility, expectancy, trance state effects, and hypnotic depth: I. Implications for understanding hypnotism.

This paper reviews the relationships between trance or altered state effects, suggestibility, and expectancy as these concepts are defined in the theorizing of Weitzenhoffer (2002), Holroyd (2003), Kirsch (1991), and others, for the purpose of demonstrating how these concepts can be assessed with the PCI-HAP (Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory: Hypnotic Assessment Procedure; Pekala, 1995a, b). In addition, how the aforementioned variables may relate to the nature of hypnosis/hypnotism as a function of self-reported hypnotic depth are discussed, along with how the PCI-HAP may be used as a means to measure hypnotic responsivity from a more phenomenological state perspective, in contrast to more traditional behavioral trait assessment instruments like the Harvard, the Stanford C, or the HIP. A follow-up paper (Pekala, Kumar, Maurer, Elliott-Carter, Moon, & Mullen, 2010) will present research data on the PCI-HAP model and how this model can be useful for better understanding hypnotism.

Positive affect, negative affect, and negative effects during a phenomenological hypnotic assessment within a substance abuse population.

Positive and negative affect generated while using the Phenomenology of Consciousness--Hypnotic Assessment Procedure (PCI-HAP) on a sample of drug and alcohol users were predicted using several variables. The results were then cross-validated on a second, smaller sample. The results suggest that, although some negative affect was reported, the PCI-HAP was more likely to generate positive, rather than negative, affect.

Not all group hypnotic suggestibility scales are created equal: individual differences in behavioral and subjective responses.

To examine the influence of hypnotic suggestibility testing as a source of individual differences in hypnotic responsiveness, we compared behavioral and subjective responses on three scales of hypnotic suggestibility: The Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A (HGSHS: A; Shor, R. E., Orne, E.

"How deeply hypnotized did i get?" Predicting self-reported hypnotic depth from a phenomenological assessment instrument.

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.

Direct and indirect scales of hypnotic susceptibility: resistance to therapy and psychometric comparability.

Groups of participants were randomly assigned to receive either direct hypnotic procedure using the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility: Form A (HGSHS:A) or its indirect counterpart, the Alman-Wexler Indirect Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale (AWIHSS). Prior to hypnosis, participants completed the Inventory of Childhood Memories and Imaginings (a measure of fantasy proneness) and the Therapeutic Reactance Scale (TRS, a measure of resistance to therapeutic directives). The Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory was completed in reference to a 2-minute sitting-quietly period embedded in the hypnotic procedure.

Self-hypnosis relapse prevention training with chronic drug/alcohol users: effects on self-esteem, affect, and relapse.

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a self-hypnosis protocol with chronic drug and alcohol patients in increasing self-esteem, improving affect, and preventing relapse against a control, a transtheoretical cognitive-behavioral (TCB), and a stress management (attention-placebo) group. Participants were 261 veterans admitted to Substance Abuse Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Programs (SARRTPs). Participants were assessed pre- and postintervention, and at 7-week follow-up.

Operationalizing trance II: clinical application using a psychophenomenological approach.

Although many clinicians use the word "trance" to describe the subjective effects associated with being hypnotized, heretofore there has been no means to operationalize that concept. In a prior paper (Pekala & Kumar, 2000) the authors operationalized the notion of trance by using a retrospective, self-report instrument, the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory (PCI), to quantify the subjective experience of being hypnotized. Trance was operationalized in terms of: hypnotic depth via a pHGS (predicted Harvard Group Scale) score (derived from regression analysis using subdimensions of the PCI) that gives a quantitative measure of subjective trance depth; and trance typology profiles (derived from cluster and discriminant analyses of the PCI dimensions and subdimensions) that give a qualitative measure of empirically derived clusters of subjective trance experiences.

Operationalizing "trance". I: Rationale and research using a psychophenomenological approach.

Despite the popularity of the term "trance" among clinicians to describe the subjective effects associated with being hypnotized, heretofore there has been no means to operationalize that definition. The authors present a rationale and psychophenomenological method to operationalize the term "trance" in terms of (a) hypnotic depth, a quantitative measure of subjective trance assessed via a pHGS (predicted Harvard Group Scale) score, derived from regression analysis, and (b) "trance typology profiles," a qualitative differentiation of empirically derived (via cluster and discriminant analyses) categories of subjective trance experiences. The authors then discuss theoretical and clinical implications of this psychophenomenological approach for developing an operational definition of the concept of trance.

State and trait depression, physical and social anhedonia, hypnotizability and subjective experiences during hypnosis.

This study (n = 465) examined if (a) hypnotic susceptibility (assessed by the Harvard Group Scale, Form A) was related to state and trait depression, and physical and social anhedonia, and (b) phenomenological experiences (assessed by the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory [PCI]) varied with depression, anhedonia,and hypnotizability during hypnosis, compared with a sitting quietly condition. Only physical anhedonia showed a weak, but significant, negative correlation with hypnotizability. Hypnosis, compared with the sitting quietly condition, facilitated lowering of feelings of sadness especially for the chronically depressed.

Phenomenological experience in response to monotonous drumming and hypnotizability.

Participants (N = 206) experienced 15-min of monotonous drumming either before or after hypnosis (Harvard scale). Participants completed the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory (PCI) in reference to the last 4-min of drumming. Stimulus order did not affect the objective trance levels as measured by the Harvard scores.

Types of hypnotically (un)susceptible individuals as a function of phenomenological experience: towards a typology of hypnotic types.

Subjects were 194 nursing students who experienced the HGSHS A (Shor & Orne, 1962) in which was embedded a 2-minute sitting quietly interval subsequent to the eye catalepsy item, but prior to the "counting out" sequence. After the HGSHS:A, subjects completed the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory (PCI) (Pekala, 1982, 1991c) in reference to the sitting quietly interval embedded in the hypnotic induction ceremony. Subjects were divided into low and high susceptible groups.

Trait factors, state effects, and hypnotizability.

This study examined the relationship of 15 trait (e.g., absorption, ego-permissiveness) and 21 phenomenological variables (assessed by the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory) with performance on the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A.

Behavioral and subjective scoring of the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility: further data and an extension.

The present study replicated and extended Kirsch, Council, and Wickless's work evaluating the reliability and concurrent validity of a subjective response scale developed for the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility. Consistent with Kirsch et al.'s findings, the subjective counterpart of the Harvard scale demonstrated high reliability (coefficient .

A short unobtrusive hypnotic induction for assessing hypnotizability: II. Clinical case reports.

Three clinical cases illustrating the use of a brief hypnotic-assessment procedure (HAP) utilizing the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory (PCI) (Pekala, 1982, 1991c) are presented. The PCI-HAP consists of a 20-minute induction procedure, a short debriefing interview, and completion of the PCI by the client after the session. The procedure allows for the assessment of a client's hypnotizability level in a manner that is relatively unobtrusive and that generates phenomenological data to begin to help tailor a hypnotic intervention to the client.

A short, unobtrusive hypnotic-assessment procedure for assessing hypnotizability level: I. Development and research.

In the present study we assessed a short-form hypnotic-induction procedure for determining hypnotic susceptibility. Eighty-four subjects completed a short hypnotic-induction procedure and afterwards completed two self-report phenomenological state instruments (the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory, PCI, Pekala, 1982, 1991c and the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory: Short Form, PCI:SF, Pekala, 1988) in reference to a sitting-quietly period embedded within the hypnotic-induction procedure. A week later the same subjects completed the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility (Shor & Orne, 1962) and the PCI in reference to a short, sitting-quietly interval embedded in the Harvard.