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Biomedical subjects

A F Barabasz

Publications and source records attributed to A F Barabasz.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1991

Effects of active alert and relaxation hypnotic inductions on cold pressor pain.

We contrasted relaxation and active alert hypnotic inductions with or without a specific suggestion for cold pressor pain analgesia. Groups of high (n = 38) and low (n = 27) hypnotizable subjects were tested; hypnotizability had been determined from results of the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form C. Cold pressor pain data were obtained after counterbalanced exposure to relaxation and active alert inductions. Highly hypnotizable subjects demonstrated lower pain scores than did low hypnotizable ones. Pain reports did not differ between induction conditions. Highly hypnotizable subjects given an analgesic suggestion showed lower pain scores than did those exposed only to hypnosis. The findings, conceptualized within E.R. Hilgard's (1977a) neodissociation theory, show that relaxation is not necessary for hypnotic analgesia.

Analgesia↗
PubMed1989

Effects of restricted environmental stimulation: enhancement of hypnotizability for experimental and chronic pain control.

Enhancement of hypnotizability and pain tolerance has been demonstrated using restricted environmental stimulation therapy (REST) with university students as Ss (A. F. Barabasz, 1982). The purpose of the present study was to determine whether or not similar results could be obtained with chronic pain patients. Ss consisted of outpatients in treatment for conditions in which pain is prominent who also demonstrated low hypnotizability after repeated hypnosis plateau sessions. 2 groups of Ss were exposed to REST. Situational demand characteristics (Orne, 1962) favored an increase in hypnotizability for REST Group 1 (high demand). REST Group 2 (low demand) was exposed to situational demand characteristics designed to disguise the experimental hypothesis. 2 groups of control Ss were exposed to the same alternative demand characteristic manipulations as the experimental groups, but environmental stimulation was maintained. The Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form C (SHSS:C) of Weitzenhoffer and E. R. Hilgard (1962), including a posthypnotic suggestion for an anesthetic reaction, and an ischemic pain test were administered prior to treatment and again immediately following treatment. After 6 hours of REST, significant increases in SHSS:C scores were found for high-demand and low-demand experimental Ss, as well as for high-demand control Ss. No such increase was found for low-demand controls. Significant decreases in pain scores were found for both high- and low-demand experimental groups. No significant pain score decreases were found for either control group, suggesting a relatively weak effect of demand characteristics. An independent postexperimental inquiry suggested all Ss believed they received active treatments. The inquiry, conducted 10-15 days after the experiment, also revealed a majority of experimental Ss were using hypnosis on a daily basis to reduce pain with a substantial decrease in pain medication. Only 2 control Ss (highest in hypnotizability) reported similar success. Anecdotal reports of pain reduction experiences using hypnosis after REST intervention were supportive of E. R. Hilgard's (1977) neodissociation theory.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Enhancement of military pilot reliability by hypnosis and psychophysiological monitoring: preliminary inflight and simulator data.

Subjects were Royal New Zealand Air Force pilots and this investigator (N = 8). Skin conductance response (SCR) was measured during a localizer approach for both inflight and simulator phases of the study. SCR's were noted following all ground controller altitude and heading change instructions and for all pilot-initiated heading and altitude changes employed to comply with the localizer approach plate. Inflight SCR's following ground controller instructions were substantially greater than those related to pilot initiated responses to cockpit information. In the flight simulator phase, posthypnotic suggestions for increased vigilance performance were administered with counterbalancing for hypnosis-no-hypnosis order conditions. Cockpit instrument data was video taped. Posthypnotic instructions for enhanced vigilance performance were found to dramatically increase SCR's to cockpit based information and to significantly reduce heading and altitude error correction time.

Aerospace Medicine↗
PubMed1981

Effects of rational-emotive therapy on psychophysiological and reported measures of test anxiety arousal.

Developed audio taped lectures, taped therapy session models, and homework assignments designed to reduce irrational beliefs associated with test anxiety within Ellis' rational-emotive therapy (RET) approach. The initial sample consisted of 148 university students. Comparisons with an attention placebo counseling program, which was established to be equally credible by a post-experiment inquiry and a no-treatment group found the RET Ss to show significantly lower skin conductance responses to a test anxiety visualization and lower reported anxiety on a questionnaire. However, skin conductance responses to an alternative test anxiety visualization did not show treatment effects.

Anxiety↗
PubMed1980

Effects of hypnosis and perceptual deprivation on vigilance in a simulated radar target-detection task.

Detection efficiency of humans deteriorates rapidly in a variety of monotonous monitoring tasks. The experiment was performed to determine whether or not superior vigilance performance could be obtained through hypnosis in the context of perceptual deprivation. Subjects, forty U.S. Navy personnel, were divided into four groups. Subjects worked on a simulated radar target-detection task before and after one of four treatments. Those given post-hypnotic suggestions for increased alertness made significantly fewer errors in target detection while those exposed to suggestions for decreased performance or perceptual deprivation only showed significant increases in errors. Controls showed no significant changes in errors. Change scores were significantly related to Stanford Hypnotic Clinical Scale hypnotizability scores for subjects in the hypnosis-augment performance group but not for other groups.

Attention↗
PubMed1979

Antarctic wintering--over, suggestion and transient olfactory stimulation: EEG evoked potential and electrodermal responses.

EEG evoked potential and electrodermal responses to real and suggested olfactory stimulation were recorded on a team of nine men who wintered-over at Scott Base, Antarctica. Multi-variate analysis of variance findings indicated some consistent trends despite adverse conditions and marked inter-individual differences. Consistent with studies of secondary afferentation olfaction-related EEGs were evidenced in the occipital area (O1 and O2) as well as the temporal area (T3 and T4). Skin conductance (SC) showed significant responses for real and suggested odorants pre and post wintering-over. Suppression of EEG amplitudes for real and suggested stimuli was evidenced prior to wintering-over. Following wintering-over experience suppression of EEG amplitudes for real stimuli showed a decrease while suppression increased for suggested stimuli. The implications of the suggestion findings are discussed in possible explanation of the apparent conflict between different sources of information about human responses to isolation in the Antarctic environment.

Alpha Rhythm↗
PubMed1978

Focal point location and inversion perception among New Zealand Maori and Pakeha children at two age levels.

The purpose of the investigation was to determine whether differences in focal point dependency in inversion perception exist among New Zealand Maori (N = 42) and Pakeha (N = 44) boys and girls at two age levels. Ss were five- and eight-year-old children individually exposed to 12 figure pairs. The task was to indicate one figure of each pair as appearing upside down. Significant focal point dependency was exhibited for all groups (p less than .01). Significant differences in focal point dependency were found between five- and eight-year-old Pakeha children (p less than .025) and between eight-year-old Maori and eight-year-old Pakeha children (p less than .05).

Age Factors↗