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Biomedical subjects

J W Rhue

Publications and source records attributed to J W Rhue.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

Pseudomemory in hypnotized and simulating subjects.

High hypnotizable (n = 23) and low hypnotizable simulating (n = 13) subjects received pseudomemory suggestions. High hypnotizable and low hypnotizable simulating subjects were equally likely to pass the target noise suggestion during hypnosis and were also equally likely (high hypnotizables, 47.83%; low hypnotizable simulators, 64.29%) to report pseudomemories when tested for pseudomemory after instructions to awaken. As in previous research with task-motivated subjects, pseudomemory rate (high hypnotizables, 47.48%; low hypnotizable simulators, 46.15%) was not reduced by informing subjects that they could distinguish fantasy and reality in a nonhypnotic state of deep concentration. At final inquiry, after deep concentration, high hypnotizable and low hypnotizable simulating subjects' pseudomemories remained comparable (43.48% and 38.46%, respectively). Unlike previous research, high hypnotizable subjects did not report more unsuggested noises and more pseudomemories of novel sounds than did awake low hypnotizable simulating subjects. Pseudomemory reports were generally consistent with subjects' ratings of whether the hypnotist expected them to believe the sounds were real or imagined.

Adult↗

Storytelling, hypnosis and the treatment of sexually abused children.

The present article describes an assessment and therapy program for sexually abused children using hypnotherapeutic techniques which center on storytelling. Storytelling presents the therapist with an opportunity to use comforting suggestions, symbolism, and metaphor to provide the emotional distance necessary to deal with the trauma of abuse. Hypnotherapy proceeds in a stepwise fashion from the building of a sense of safety and security; to imaginative sharing; to the introduction of reality events; to the final step of addressing complex emotional issues of loss, trust, love, and guilt brought about by the abuse.

Child↗

Fantasy proneness, hypnotizability, and absorption--a re-examination: a brief communication.

In a previous study (Lynn & Rhue, 1986) of fantasy-prone persons, "fantasizers" participated in an 8-10 hour, multi-session study. Group selection was based on scoring in the upper 4% of the college population on the Inventory of Childhood Memories and Imaginings (ICMI) of Wilson and Barber (1981) and conforming to the fantasy-prone personality syndrome (Wilson & Barber, 1981) during an interview. Fantasizers differed from nonfantasizers (lower 4% of population) and medium range scorers on measures of hypnotizability (Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A, Shor & E. Orne, 1962) and absorption (Tellegen Absorption Scale, Tellegen, 1976). In the current study, Ss were selected on the basis of their ICMI scores and participated in a 1-session experiment. As in our first study (Lynn & Rhue, 1986), fantasizers differed from both comparison groups on the measure of absorption and from the nonfantasizers on the measure of hypnotizability. Further, the correlations among fantasy proneness, absorption, and hypnotizability were stable across studies. Fantasy proneness and absorption were not found to be truly discriminable constructs. Unlike our initial study (Lynn & Rhue, 1986), fantasy-prone and medium range Ss were equally hypnotizable. Methodological differences across studies provide a plausible explanation for the disparate results obtained.

Attention↗

Fantasy proneness and psychopathology.

Fantasy prone persons ("fantasizers") selected from "normal" populations report experiences associated with psychopathology in clinical populations (e.g., fantasies that reach hallucinatory proportions, difficulty discriminating reality from fantasy). In Study 1, we administered objective (MMPI) and projective (Rorschach) measures to high fantasy prone individuals (upper 4% of college population), medium fantasy prone individuals (middle range), and nonfantasizers (lowest 4%). Subjects who were fantasizers appeared to use fantasy for defensive or adaptive purposes compared with others and produced 8/9 modal code types on the MMPI. On the basis of the MMPI findings, a subset of fantasizers could be described as exhibiting a significant degree of psychopathology. In Study 2, a second sample of fantasy prone individuals could not be distinguished from comparison groups in contacts with professionals for help with psychological problems, use of psychotropic medication, or number of close friendships. Although fantasizers perceived themselves as less well adjusted than comparison subjects and reported greater difficulty in distinguishing fantasy from reality, most fantasizers rated their psychological functioning as adequate and above and did not differ from less fantasy prone subjects in ratings of positivity of self-concept. As demonstrated in Study 1, a subset of fantasizers did appear to be more pathological than other subjects were, with three fantasizers reporting a history of psychiatric hospitalizations. It is estimated that between 10 and 20% of fantasizers exhibit significant signs of maladjustment/psychopathology; however, as a rule, fantasy proneness does not appear to be antecedent to severe manifestations of psychopathology.

Adult↗

Goal-directed fantasy, hypnotic susceptibility, and expectancies.

We conducted an initial screening session in which hypnosis was presented as a "test of imagination" and administered with other imagination measures. In a second session, we instructed high- and low-hypnotizable subjects to imagine along with suggestions but to resist responding to motoric suggestions. Subjects received either instructions to use goal-directed fantasies (GDFs) or no facilitative instructions. Sizable individual difference effects were secured. Hypnotizable subjects exhibited more suggestion-related movements and reported greater involuntariness than did low-hypnotizable subjects. With GDF instructions, low- and high-hypnotizable subjects reported equivalent GDF absorption and frequencies. However, hypnotizable subjects exhibited greater responsiveness and reported greater involuntariness than did those low in hypnotizability, even when their GDFs were equivalent. Thus, no support was generated for the hypotheses that sustained, elaborated suggestion-related imagery mediates response to suggestion (Arnold, 1946) or that absorption in suggestions is of particular importance for low-hypnotizable subjects (Zamansky & Clark, 1986). Our finding that measures of response expectancy paralelled responding and reports of nonvolition support the hypothesis that expectancies mediate the relation between imagination, involuntariness, and responding (Kirsch, 1985; Spanos, 1982). Hypnotizable imagining subjects in the study discussed here exhibited greater responsiveness than a comparable sample of subjects did in a previous countersuggestion study (Lynn, Nash, Rhue, Frauman, & Stanley, 1983) in which no attempt was made to foster an association between imagining and involuntary responding in the initial screening session.

Adult↗

The fantasy-prone person: hypnosis, imagination, and creativity.

The present study evaluated the so-called fantasy prone personality by selecting subjects who ranged along the continuum of fantasy proneness and then administering measures designed to assess hypnotic susceptibility (Harvard Group Scale, HGSHS:A; Shor & Orne, 1962), absorption (Tellegen Absorption Scale; Tellegen, 1976), vividness of mental imagery (QMI; Sheehan, 1967), response to waking suggestion (Creative Imagination Scale; Wilson & Barber, 1978), creativity (Barron Welsh Art Scale; Barron & Welsh, 1952), and social desirability (Crowne & Marlowe, 1960). Fantasy-prone (N = 23; upper 4% of college population), medium range (N = 22), and nonfantasy-prone persons (N = 17; lower 4% of population), were selected using the Inventory of Childhood Memories and Imaginings (Wilson & Barber, 1981). Strong support was secured for J. R. Hilgard's construct of imaginative involvement and Wilson and Barber's contention that fantasy prone persons can be distinguished from others in terms of fantasy and related cognitive processes. Fantasizers were found to outscore subjects in both comparison groups on all of the measures of fantasy, imagination, and creativity, with social desirability used as a covariate. Low fantasy-prone subjects were no less creative or less responsive to hypnosis than their medium fantasy-prone counterparts.

Adult↗