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Biomedical subjects

E J Van Denburg

Publications and source records attributed to E J Van Denburg.

2 recordsLinked to original sources

Hypnotic age regression and the autokinetic effect.

Based on research with children, we hypothesized that hypnotically age-regressed adult subjects would respond differentially across stimuli conditions on the autokinetic illusion. We assigned 18 highly susceptible subjects, assessed on the Harvard Group Susceptibility Scale, to one of three treatment groups: waking control, standard hypnotic induction, and age regression. Three target shapes, a control stimulus (circle), a representational stimulus (profile of a man), and a symbolic stimulus (cross) were presented. Results failed to show reinstatement of childlike performance on this perceptual illusion. The conceptual and empirical implications for future age-regression studies on memory, perception, and emotion are discussed.

Adult↗

Changes in body attitude as a function of posthypnotic suggestions.

This study hypothesized that highly hypnotizable Ss who remained amnesic for posthypnotic suggestions to improve body attitude would show greater changes than Ss who were not amnesic. Ss given simulating instructions were used as a comparison group to assess experimental demands. 48 females were screened with the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A (Shor & E. Orne, 1962) and assigned to one of 4 conditions: (a) high hypnotizable with amnesia suggestions, (b) high hypnotizable without suggested amnesia, (c) low hypnotizable simulators with amnesia, and (d) low hypnotizable simulators without suggested amnesia. A fifth group was formed of those high hypnotizable Ss who remembered the suggestion despite instructions to the contrary. The Body Attitude Scale (Kurtz, 1966) was administered prior to and 3 days after the experimental suggestions. Results generally demonstrated that high hypnotizable amnesic Ss manifested the greatest attitudinal and phenomenological changes as a result of the posthypnotic suggestion, although conclusions were tempered by performance of simulating Ss. The implications for hypnosis research and clinical practice are discussed.

Adolescent↗