Дисертації з теми "Hypnotic suggestion"

On the basis of a critical review of the literature in chapter one, it is concluded that no existing theory of hypnosis is able to provide a satisfactory account of the entire set of behavioural, cognitive, social and physiological evidence pertaining to the phenomenon. In an attempt to rectify this situation, an integrative conceptual framework amalgamating existing theories of hypnosis into a single model on the basis of contemporary cognitive psychological theory is presented in chapters two and three. According to the model, successfully executed suggestions result from the automatic activation of perceptual and behavioural representations following the receipt of triggers by low level attentional systems. By this view, the process involved in hypnotic and non-hypnotic suggestions are essentially the same; however, it is argued that contextual features and state changes associated with the hypnotic situation are responsible for the increased responsivity to suggestions typically displayed therein. In the following chapters, four studies designed to assess predictions from the model are described. In the first two, the related predictions that suggestibility is positively related to a low level processing predisposition and negatively related to a high level processing predisposition were assessed. Both studies provided support for the first hypothesis although no evidence for the second hypothesis was obtained. the third and fourth studies examined the related hypotheses that hypnosis is associated with (i) a low level processing bias; and (ii) a high level processing inhibition. Neither hypothesis received any significant empirical support. In the final chapter, the results of these studies are discussed with reference to the theoretical framework outlined in the introductory chapters. It is concluded that the model provides a fairly good account of suggestion, although certain revisions are required before an adequate account of hypnosis can be offered. Avenues for future research are explored.

People have always been fascinated by the extent to which belief or will may influence

behavior. Proverbs, like “we tend to get what we expect,” and concepts, such as optimistic

thinking or self-fulfilling prophecy, reflect this intuition of an important link between one’s

dispositions and subsequent behavior. In other words, one’s predictions directly or

indirectly cause them to become true. In a similar manner, every culture, country or

religion has their own words for ‘expectation,’ ‘belief,’ ‘disappointment,’ ‘surprise,’ and

generally all have the same meaning: under uncertainty, what one expects or believes is the

most likely to happen. This relation between what caused a reaction in the past will

probably cause it again in the future might not be realistic. If the expected outcome is not

confirmed, it may result in a personal ‘disappointment’, and if the outcome fits no

expectations, it will be a ‘surprise’. Our brain is hardwired with this heuristic capacity of

learning the cause-effect relationship and to project its probability as the basis for much of

our behavior, as well as cognitions. This experience-based expectation is a form of

learning that helps the brain to bypass an exhaustive search in finding a satisfactory

solution. Expectations may thus be considered an innate theory of causality; that is, a set of

factors (causes) generating a given phenomenon (effects) influence the way we treat

incoming information but also the way we retrieve the stored information. These

expectancy templates may well represent one of the basic rules of how the brain processes

information, affecting the way we perceive the world, direct our attention and deal with

conflicting information. In fact, expectations have been shown to influence our judgments

and social interactions, along with our volition to individually decide and commit to a

particular course of action. However, people’s expectations may elicit the anticipation of

their own automatic reactions to various situations and behaviors cues, and can explain that

expecting to feel an increase in alertness after coffee consumption leads to experiencing

the consequent physiologic and behavioral states. We call this behavior-response

expectancy. This non-volitional form of expectation has been shown to influence

cognitions such as memory, pain, visual awareness, implicit learning and attention, through

the mediation of phenomena like placebo effects and hypnotic behaviors. Importantly,when talking about expectations, placebo and hypnosis, it is important to note that we are

also talking about suggestion and its modulating capability. In other words, suggestion has

the power to create response expectancies that activate automatic responses, which will, in

turn, influence cognition and behavior so as to shape them congruently with the expected

outcome. Accordingly, hypnotic inductions are a systematic manipulation of expectancy,

similar to placebo, and therefore they both work in a similar way. Considering such

assumptions, the major question we address in this PhD thesis is to know if these

expectancy-based mechanisms are capable of modulating more high-level information

processing such as cognitive conflict resolution, as is present in the well-known Stroop

task. In fact, in a recent series of studies, reduction or elimination of Stroop congruency

effects was obtained through suggestion and hypnotic induction. In this PhD thesis, it is

asked whether a suggestion reinforced by placebos, operating through response-expectancy

mechanisms, is able to induce a top-down cognitive modulation to overcome cognitive

conflict in the Stroop task, similar to those results found using suggestion and hypnosis

manipulation.
Doctorat en Sciences Psychologiques et de l'éducation
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

L’utilisation de la suggestion hypnotique présente un intérêt considérable pour l’étude des processus cognitifs et de leurs modulations. Depuis plusieurs décennies, un nombre croissant d’études a mis en évidence que des suggestions verbales directes, induites chez des personnes hautement suggestibles, peuvent conduire à des modifications drastiques, transitoires et authentiques de l’expérience consciente et de la cognition. Si ces influences ont été établies pour divers processus, l’impact de la suggestion hypnotique reste cependant à étayer pour les processus cognitifs liés au traitement émotionnel. L’objectif de cette thèse était de caractériser l’influence de la suggestion hypnotique sur les processus émotionnels, en étudiant la modulation du biais attentionnel et des processus d’activation et d’inhibition lexico-émotionnels. Plus précisément, nos travaux visaient à déterminer (1) dans quelle mesure la suggestion hypnotique peut intervenir de façon opposée sur les processus émotionnels, (2) quelle composante hypnotique sous-tend ces modulations, (3) comment les effets de dimensions émotionnelles sont affectés par les suggestions verbales et (4) dans quelle mesure la suggestion hypnotique facilite l’inhibition de réponses prépotentes lors du traitement de stimuli émotionnels. Dans cette perspective, nous avons combiné des suggestions hypnotiques visant à augmenter ou diminuer la réactivité émotionnelle, avec des tâches cognitives utilisant des mots émotionnels. Nous avons ainsi réalisé quatre études expérimentales avec des suggestions, combinées à des tâches de Stroop émotionnel (Etudes 1 et 3), de décision lexicale (Etude 4) et de complétion de phrases (Etude 6), accompagnées par la validation d’une échelle de suggestibilité (Etude 2) utilisée pour le recrutement de participants, et par un corpus de phrases (Etude 5) pour la construction d’un matériel expérimental (Etude 6). Les données ont mis en évidence que la suggestion hypnotique (Etudes 1 et 3), ainsi que l’induction hypnotique par relaxation (Etude 3), conduisent à des modulations effectives du biais attentionnel dans la tâche de Stroop émotionnel. En outre, nous avons montré que la suggestion hypnotique peut spécifiquement influencer l’effet de la dimension d’arousal des mots émotionnels présentés dans la tâche de décision lexicale (Etude 4), et faciliter l’inhibition de mots émotionnels dans la tâche de Hayling émotionnelle (Etude 6). Dans l’ensemble, les résultats permettent de préciser l’influence de la suggestion hypnotique sur les processus émotionnels dans des tâches cognitives utilisant des mots émotionnels. Ils suggèrent que le mode de modulation de l’hypnose est pluriel, pouvant influencer les processus émotionnels de façon opposée, agir sur l’effet de dimensions émotionnelles spécifiques, et impliquer plusieurs composantes de la procédure d’hypnose. Nous proposons des pistes d’approfondissement pouvant conduire à une nouvelle compréhension de l’interaction entre hypnose et émotions, et à des perspectives d’application clinique dans le domaine de la régulation émotionnelle
The use of hypnotic suggestion is of considerable interest for the study of cognitive processes and their modulations. Over the last few decades, a growing number of studies have demonstrated that direct verbal suggestions, induced in highly suggestible individuals, can lead to drastic, transient and authentic changes in conscious experience and cognition. While these influences have been established for various processes, the impact of hypnotic suggestion has yet to be determined for cognitive processes linked to emotional processing. The aim of this thesis was to characterise the influence of hypnotic suggestion on emotional processes, by studying the modulation of attentional bias and lexico-emotional activation and inhibition processes. More specifically, our work aimed to determine (1) to what extent hypnotic suggestion can intervene in opposing ways on emotional processes, (2) which hypnotic component underlies these modulations, (3) how the effects of emotional dimensions are affected by hypnotic suggestion (4) how hypnotic suggestion can facilitate the inhibition of prepotent responses when processing emotional stimuli. To this end, we combined hypnotic suggestions aimed at increasing or decreasing emotional reactivity with cognitive tasks using emotional words. We carried out four experimental studies using suggestions, combined with emotional Stroop (Studies 1 and 3), lexical decision (Study 4) and sentence completion (Study 6) tasks, accompanied by the validation of a suggestibility scale (Study 2) used to recruit participants, and a corpus of sentences (Study 5) used to construct experimental materials (Study 6). The data highlighted that hypnotic suggestion (Studies 1 and 3), as well as hypnotic induction by relaxation (Study 3), lead to effective modulations of attentional bias in the emotional Stroop task. Furthermore, we have shown that hypnotic suggestion can specifically influence the effect of the arousal dimension of emotional words presented in the lexical decision task (Study 4), and facilitate the inhibition of emotional words in the emotional Hayling task (Study 6). Overall, the results help to clarify the influence of hypnotic suggestion on emotional processes in cognitive tasks using emotional words. They suggest that the modulation mode of hypnosis is plural, being able to influence emotional processes in opposite ways, act on the effect of specific emotional dimensions, and involve several components of the hypnotic procedure. We propose avenues for further research that could lead to a new understanding of the interaction between hypnosis and emotions, and to prospects for clinical application in the field of emotional regulation

Exekutive Funktionen (EF) sind eine Gruppe von Top-Down-Prozessen, die in neuartigen Situationen eingesetzt werden, um neue Trigger-Response-Assoziationen herzustellen oder vorhandene Handlungsoptionen an neue Situationen anzupassen. Obwohl EF erschöpfend untersucht wurden, bleiben wichtige Fragen offen. Beispiele dafür sind (a) Sind Exekutivfunktionen vollständig trennbar oder beruhen sie auf einem gemeinsamen neurokognitiven System? (b) Was messen verschiedene Versionen der Stroop-Aufgabe, einer der meist-verwendeten Aufgaben zur Prüfung der Inhibitionsfunktion? (c) Muss Inhibition immer Ressourcen-fordernd sein, oder gibt es eine Form der Inhibition, die mühelos implementiert werden kann? Zur Beantwortung dieser Fragen, habe ich neurokognitive Korrelate von EF und ihrer Verbesserung mithilfe posthypnotischer Suggestionen (PHS) und Ereigniskorrelierter Hirnpotentiale (EKP) untersucht. Zusammenfassend ergaben sich folgende Antworten: (a) Psychometrische und EKP-Daten aus den Studien zur Gedächtnisaktualisierung und Inhibition sowie deren Verbesserung anhand PHS zeigten sowohl funktionsspezifische als auch gemeinsame neurokognitive Prozesse der Inhibition und Aktualisierung. (b) Obwohl sowohl die vokale als auch die manuelle Version der Stroop-Aufgabe Inhibitionsfunktionen erfordern, ist die vokale Version Ressourcen-fordernder, da sie mindestens einen zusätzlichen Lokus der Interferenz im Antwort-Produktionsprozess aufweist, der nicht mit PHS beeinflussbar ist und der in der manuellen Version fehlt. (c) Unter Verwendung PHS zur Erhöhung der Präferenzen für kalorienarme Lebensmittel untersuchte ich die Auflösung von Konflikten. Die EKP-Ergebnisse zeigten, dass auch Konflikt-Auflösung, ähnlich wie Inhibition, Ressourcen konsumiert. Insgesamt zeigt dieses Projekt, dass die Verwendung Aufgaben-bezogener PHS in Kombination mit Neuroimaging-Techniken einen fruchtbaren Ansatz für die Untersuchung ungeklärter Fragen über Exekutivfunktionen darstellt.
Executive functions (EF) are a group of top-down processes used in novel situations to develop or adapt existing responses to the task at hand. Even though EFs are studied exhaustively, several important questions remain unanswered: (a) Are EFs entirely separated, or do they rely on a common system? (b) What do different versions of the Stroop task measure? (c) Does inhibition always need to be effortful? To address these questions, I investigated neurocognitive correlates of EFs and their enhancements by means of posthypnotic suggestions (PHS) and event-related potentials (ERP). However, before one can use PHSs, it must be elucidated whether and how they affect EFs. Although PHSs are used repeatedly for improving inhibition, it is unclear whether their effects are mediated by bottom-up or top-down processes. By using an updating task, I showed that effects of PHSs can be attributed to top-down processes. Accordingly, a new theory of hypnosis was proposed and empirically tested by modeling hypnotizability scores with structural equation modeling. In short, the simulation-adaption theory suggests that several top-down processes are employed for responding to suggestions. After elucidating the driving mechanism of PHSs is mentally practicing a novel strategy, PHSs were used for addressing the questions regarding EFs. Summarizing (a) the psychometric and ERP results from several studies indicated that different EFs rely on both function-specific and shared neurocognitive processes. (b) Even though different versions of the Stroop task are tapping into inhibition, the vocal compared to the manual version has at least an extra response-production-related locus of interference. (c) Using PHSs for increasing preferences for low-calorie food items, it is shown that resolve is effortful to implement, as indicated by increased P300 amplitudes. Together, this project shows how PHSs, along with neuroimaging techniques, can provide a novel approach for investigating EFs.

Sixty-eight patients suffering from generalized anxiety disorder were allocated to one of four groups to study how hypnotizability (high versus low) and type of suggestion (direct versus indirect) were related to treatment outcome. Patients were assessed on three occasions (Pre-treatment; Post-treatment; and three month Follow-up) using seven anxiety measures and one depression inventory. The Creative Imagination Scale (CIS) was used to assess susceptibility to hypnotic responding. Twenty Ss dropped out prematurely due to both practical and treatment related issues. Interestingly, dropouts were also found to have been significantly more depressed than completers. Patients were given six treatment sessions of hypnotherapy at weekly intervals while the author remained blind to CIS scores. Therapy focused on accessing S's unconscious abilities and resources for symptom resolution, using either direct or indirect suggestion. Patients were provided with self-hypnosis tapes for anxiety reduction in between appointments. Results indicated that completers significantly improved on all dependent measures, but few differences emerged between the four groups. Interestingly, highly hypnotizable patients who received indirect suggestion relapsed slightly on all measures by the Follow-up period, having improved from Pre- to Post-treatment. Discussion is offered on the possible implications these results have for the integrity of the independent variables, concluding that both hypnotizability and type of suggestion have a clinically significant interactive effect. Direct suggestion is recommended for highly hypnotizable generalized anxiety disorder clients, while both direct and indirect suggestion can be used with low hypnotizables, as long as all are couched within permissive language. Limitations of the present research are discussed, along with recommendations for clinical practice and future research

Dans le présent travail, nous proposons qu'un aperçu plus clair de l'interaction entre la suggestion hypnotique et l'attention aiderait à établir le point précis du chronogramme perceptif auquel les effets de l'hypnose interviennent, comment modulent-ils exactement le contrôle cognitif et dans quelle mesure la réponse hypnotique dépend-elle des ressources attentionnelles. Afin de répondre à ces questions expérimentales, nous avons développé trois projets de recherche: (1) les données normatives sur notre traduction en français pour l'Échelle de Susceptibilité Hypnotique de Groupe Harvard, (2) une évaluation des effets de la suggestion posthypnotique sur l'attention visuo-spatiale et (3) une évaluation sur la capacité de la suggestion hypnotique de moduler l'allocation automatique de l'attention accordée par le Anger Superiority Effect. Les résultats de notre première étude nous ont permis de noter avec fiabilité la susceptibilité hypnotique de plus de 500 participants pour les études qui ont suivi. Les résultats de notre deuxième étude indiquent que, pour les participants hautement susceptibles, la suggestion posthypnotique a perturbé avec succès les mécanismes d'attention précoce nécessaires à la stimulation de l'amorçage, ainsi que des jugements de visibilité subjectifs tardifs. Notre troisième étude a révélé que, grâce à une suggestion hypnotique, les participants hautement hypnotizables ont pu empêcher l'allocation automatique de l'attention vers des expressions de colère par un découplage stratégique du contrôle cognitif, mais seulement lorsque les ressources attentionnelles n'avaient pas été cooptées par des processus concurrents. Ensemble, nos résultats appuient les idées selon lesquelles l'hypnose émet ses effets grâce au contrôle cognitif, qui peut perturber les mécanismes attentionnels précoces et tardifs de manières distinctes et que la disponibilité des ressources attentionnelles détermine l'éventail d'action de l'induction et de la suggestion hypnotiques
In the present work, we posit that a clearer outline of the interaction between hypnotic suggestion and attention would help establishing the precise point in the perceptual timeline at which hypnosis effects intervene, how exactly do they modulate cognitive control, and to what extent is hypnotic responding dependent on attentional resources. In order to tend to these experimental questions, we developed three research projects: (1) the normative data on our French translation for the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, (2) an evaluation of the effects of posthypnotic suggestion on visuospatial attention, and (3) an evaluation on the capability of hypnotic suggestion to modulate the automatic attention allocation granted by the anger-saliency effect. The results from our first study allowed us to reliably score the hypnotic susceptibility of over 500 participants for the studies that ensued. Results from our second study indicated that for highly susceptible participants, posthypnotic suggestion successfully disrupted the early attentional mechanisms necessary for the fostering of priming, as well as late subjective visual awareness judgments. Our third study revealed that, through hypnotic suggestion, highly susceptible participants were able to deflect automatic attention allocation towards targets’ task-irrelevant angry features through strategic decoupling of cognitive control, but only when attentional resources were not coopted by competing processes. Pooled together, our findings support the ideas that hypnosis enacts its effects through cognitive control, that these can disrupt both early and late attentional mechanisms in distinct manners, and that the availability of attentional resources determines the range of action of hypnotic induction and suggestion

A visual variation of the abstract is available in an interactive video format at razlab.mcgill.ca/thesis_aubertbonn.html.Once automatized, cognitive processes seldom return to the purview of control; when they do, however, this reversal happens with much difficulty.  Inspired by recent evidence introducing the role of suggestion in de-automatization, the present thesis elucidates how hypnotic suggestion renders a difficult task more automatic without extensive practice. Using MoTraK, a task inspired by a documented visual illusion, we investigated whether a specific hypnotic suggestion to view non-existent visual cues would increase performance. Our results show that highly suggestible individuals (i.e., participants who are likely to respond to hypnotic suggestion), but not controls, improved their accuracy after receiving the suggestion. We discuss how these findings, beyond theoretical accounts of hypnosis and visual perception, hold potential clinical implications.  In this regard, MoTraK may serve as a stepping stone in investigations concerning the regulation of mind and body through placebo responses/effects and top–down modulation.
Une vidéo interactive complémentaire à ce résumé est disponible sur le site Internet razlab.mcgill.ca/thesis_aubertbonn.html. Une fois automatisés, certains processus cognitifs retournent très difficilement au contrôle conscient. S'inspirant d'une branche de la recherche selon laquelle la suggestion peut faciliter la dé-automatisation de certains processus cognitifs, la présente thèse cherche à comprendre le rôle des suggestions hypnotiques dans l'automatisation des processus cognitifs difficiles. Nous avons utilisé MoTraK, une tâche basée sur une illusion visuelle documentée en recherche sur la perception, afin de déterminer si une suggestion hypnotique spécifique peut suffire à améliorer la performance sur cette tâche difficile. Nos résultats montrent que les individus hautement susceptibles aux suggestions ont, au contraire des individus non ou peu susceptibles, augmenté la justesse de leurs réponses après avoir reçu la suggestion. Nous établissons que les implications de nos résultats vont au-delà de la croissance des connaissances théoriques concernant l'hypnose et la perception visuelle et détiennent une valeur médicale et de potentielles applications cliniques. Suivant cet ordre d'idées, MoTraK peut servir d'outil pionnier dans l'exploration des interactions corps–esprit telles que l'effet placebo et les régulations descendantes (top–down).

Recent research was reviewed which claimed to demonstrate that hypnotic suggestions could be used to control blood flow. Numerous methodological and conceptual problems in these studies were identified and a rigid experimental design with tighter controls was employed to investigate the claimed effects on blood flow. Subjects listened to either a standardized hypnotic induction or a passage of relaxing music. Both groups then listened to the Creative Imagination Scale (Wilson & Barber, 1978) (CIS) which ended with an added item containing suggestions of coolness. Localized skin temperature of the right hand was monitored throughout as an indication of blood flow. No significant blood flow increases in response to suggestions of warmth nor decreases in response to suggestions of coolness were observed. The experience of suggested events did not differ significantly between those subjects who received the induction and those who received the passage of music. An increase in blood flow occurred in response to receiving either an induction or music. There was, however, no significant difference between these two groups on the magnitude of the increase. Neither was there a significant difference in this magnitude between high scorers on the CIS and low scorers on the CIS. Results of this and previous studies were discussed within the context of the effects of relaxation as an alternative explanation to the supposed effects of hypnotic suggestion.

The sense of agency is the experience of being the initiator of our intentional actions and their outcomes. According to higher order thought theory, a representation becomes conscious when there is a higher order state about it. Thus conscious experience, including that of intentions, is metacognitive. The experience of involuntariness characteristic of hypnotic responding may be attributable to the formation and maintenance of inaccurate metacognitive higher order states of intending. Conversely, the practice of Buddhist mindfulness meditation may develop accurate metacognition, including higher order states of intending. Highly hypnotisable people and mindfulness meditators may therefore occupy two ends of a spectrum of metacognitive ability with regard to unconscious intentions. The presented research investigated predicted trait differences in cognitive tasks which directly or indirectly reflect metacognition of intentions: the timing of an experience of an intention to move and the compressed time interval between a voluntary action and its outcome, known as intentional binding. As an implicit measure of sense of agency, intentional binding was also employed to investigate the veridicality of reports of the experience of involuntariness in hypnotic responding. Additionally, while hypnosis presents a unique opportunity to investigate reliable changes in agentic experience, existing hypnosis screening instruments are time consuming and present a barrier to wider adoption of hypnosis as an instrument for studying consciousness. Here a revised, time-efficient hypnosis screening procedure (the SWASH) is presented. Consistent with predictions, highly hypnotisable groups reported later awareness of motor intentions than less hypnotisable groups and meditators earlier awareness than non-meditators. In an intentional binding task, high hypnotisables showed less binding of an action-outcome toward an action (outcome binding) than low hypnotisables and meditators more outcome binding than non-meditators. Outcome binding was reduced in post-hypnotic involuntary action compared to voluntary action. It is proposed that intentional binding is driven by a cue combination mechanism and that these differences reflect varying precision of motor intention related information in reported timing judgements. The SWASH was found to be a reliable hypnosis screening instrument.

Two key questions underpin the research presented here. Firstly, how does altered higher order awareness contribute to hypnotic experience? Secondly, how do meditation and hypnosis differ in terms of the role of higher order awareness? These questions are addressed here in the form of four papers. In the first paper I review the literatures of hypnosis and meditation in order to consider the similarities and differences between meditation and hypnosis in terms of the role of attentional skill and the neural underpinnings of each. I then draw conclusions regarding the contrasting role of higher order awareness and metacognition in meditation and hypnosis. Paper two explores higher order awareness in hypnosis by comparing the effects of alcohol, compared to placebo, on hypnotisability and associated frontal lobe executive functioning. Paper three compares meditation and hypnosis by investigating differences in higher order thoughts, mindfulness, absorption and perceptual encoding style as revealed by self-report measures. The final paper takes a broader look at higher order awareness and its relation to the experience of agency and involuntariness in hypnotic suggestion using a Libet type paradigm.

Resumo: Com base no conceito de implementação de intenções (Gollwitzer, 1993, 1999) e na teoria do contexto de resposta de Kirsch & Lynn (1997), o presente trabalho testou a eficácia de uma intervenção combinada de implementação de intenções com hipnose e sugestão pós-hipnótica na promoção da adesão a uma tarefa simples (avaliação do humor) e uma tarefa difícil (actividade física). Os participantes são estudantes universitários de uma universidade na Nova Jérsia, (N=124, Estudo 1, EUA) e em Lisboa (N=323, Estudo 2, Portugal). Em ambos os estudos os participantes foram seleccionados a partir de uma amostra mais vasta baseado num escrutínio da sua sugestibilidade hipnótica avaliada por meio da Escala de Grupo de Sugestibilidade Hipnótica de Waterloo-Stanford (WSGC): Forma C. O Estudo 1 usou um desenho factorial do tipo 2x2x3 (tipo de intenção formada x hipnose x nível de sugestionabilidade) e o Estudo 2 usou um desenho factorial do tipo 2 x 2x 2 x 4 (tipo de tarefa x tipo de intenção formada x hipnose x nível de sugestionabilidade). No Estudo 1 foi pedido aos participantes que corressem todos os dias e durante três semanas durante 5 minutos, que medissem a sua pulsação antes e depois da actividade física e que mandassem um e-mail ao experimentador, fornecendo assim uma medida comportamental e uma medida de auto-relato. Aos participantes no grupo de intenções de meta foi apenas pedido que corressem todos os dias. Aos participantes no grupo de implementação de intenções foi pedido que especificasses com exactidão quando e onde iriam correr e enviar o e-mail. Para além disso, cerca de metade dos participantes foram hipnotizados e receberam uma sugestão pós-hipnótica em que lhes foi sugerido que o pensamento de correr todos os dias lhes viria à mente sem esforço no momento apropriado. A outra metade dos participantes não recebeu qualquer sugestão hipnótica. No Estudo 2 foi seguido o mesmo procedimento, mas a cerca de metade dos participantes foi atribuída uma tarefa fácil (enviar um Adherence to health-related behaviors ix SMS com a avaliação diária do seu estado de humor naquele momento) e à outra metade da amostra foi atribuída a tarefa de exercício físico atrás descrita (tarefa difícil). Os resultados do estudo 1 mostraram uma interacção significativa entre o nível de sugestionabilidade dos participantes e a sugestão pós-hipnótica (p<.01) indicando que a administração da sugestão pós-hipnótica aumentou a adesão nos participantes muito sugestionáveis, mas baixou a adesão nos participantes pouco sugestionáveis. Não se encontraram diferenças entre os grupos que formaram intenções de meta e os que formaram implementação de intenções. No Estudo 2 os resultados indicaram que os participantes aderiram significativamente mais à tarefa fácil do que à tarefa difícil (p<.001). Os resultados não revelaram diferenças significativas entre as condições implementações de intenções, hipnose e as duas estratégias combinadas, indicando que a implementação de intenções não foi eficaz no aumento da adesão às duas tarefas propostas e não beneficiou da combinação com as sugestões pós-hipnóticas. A utilização da hipnose com sugestão pós-hipnótica significativamente reduziu a adesão a ambas as tarefas. Dado que não existiam instrumentos em Português destinados a avaliar a sugestionabilidade hipnótica, traduziu-se e adaptou-se para Português Escala de Grupo de sugestibilidade hipnótica de Waterloo-Stanford (WSGC): Forma C. A amostra Portuguesa (N=625) apresentou resultados semelhantes aos encontrados nas amostras de referência em termos do formato da distribuição dos padrões da pontuação e do índice de dificuldade dos itens. Contudo, a proporção de estudantes portugueses encontrada que pontuaram na zona superior de sugestionabilidade foi significativamente inferior à proporção de participantes na mesma zona encontrada nas amostras de referência. No sentido de lançar alguma luz sobre as razões para este resultado, inquiriu-se alguns dos participantes acerca das suas atitudes face à hipnose utilizando uma versão portuguesa da Escala de Valência de Atitudes e Crenças face à Hipnose e comparou-se com a opinião de Adherence to health-related behaviors xAbstract: On the basis of Gollwitzer’s (1993, 1999) implementation intentions’ concept, and Kirsch & Lynn’s (1997) response set theory, this dissertation tested the effectiveness of a combined intervention of implementation intentions with hypnosis with posthypnotic suggestions in enhancing adherence to a simple (mood report) and a difficult (physical activity) health-related task. Participants were enrolled in a university in New Jersey (N=124, Study 1, USA) and in two universities in Lisbon (N=323, Study 2, Portugal). In both studies participants were selected from a broader sample based on their suggestibility scores using the Waterloo-Stanford Group C (WSGC) scale of hypnotic susceptibility and then randomly assigned to the experimental groups. Study 1 used a 2x2x3 factorial design (instruction x hypnosis x level of suggestibility) and Study 2 used a 2 x 2x 2 x 4 factorial design (task x instructions x hypnosis x level of suggestibility). In Study 1 participants were asked to run in place for 5 minutes each day for a three-week period, to take their pulse rate before and after the activity, and to send a daily email report to the experimenter, thus providing both a self-report and a behavioral measure of adherence. Participants in the goal intention condition were simply asked to run in place and send the e-mail once a day. Those in the implementation intention condition were further asked to specify the exact place and time they would perform the physical activity and send the e-mail. In addition, half of the participants were given a post-hypnotic suggestion indicating that the thought of running in place would come to mind without effort at the appropriate moment. The other half did not receive a posthypnotic suggestion. Study 2 followed the same procedure, but additionally half of the participants were instructed to send a mood report by SMS (easy task) and half were assigned to the physical activity task described above (difficult task). Adherence to health-related behaviors vii Study 1 result’s showed a significant interaction between participant’s suggestibility level and posthypnotic suggestion (p<.01) indicating that posthypnotic suggestion enhanced adherence among highly suggestible participants, but lowered it among low suggestible individuals. No differences between the goal intention and the implementation intentions groups were found. In Study 2, participants adhered significantly more (p<.001) to the easy task than to the difficult task. Results did not revealed significant differences between the implementation intentions, hypnosis and the two conditions combined, indicating that implementation intentions was not enhanced by hypnosis with posthypnotic suggestion, neither was effective as single intervention in enhancing adherence to any of the tasks. Hypnosis with posthypnotic suggestion alone significantly reduced adherence to both tasks in comparison with participants that did not receive hypnosis. Since there were no instruments in Portuguese language to asses hypnotic suggestibility, the Waterloo-Stanford Group C (WSGC) scale of hypnotic susceptibility was translated and adapted to Portuguese and was used in the screening of a sample of college students from Lisbon (N=625). Results showed that the Portuguese sample has distribution shapes and difficulty patterns of hypnotic suggestibility scores similar to the reference samples, with the exception of the proportion of Portuguese students scoring in the high range of hypnotic suggestibility, that was found lower than the in reference samples. In order to shed some light on the reasons for this finding participant’s attitudes toward hypnosis were inquired using a Portuguese translation and adaptation of the Escala de Valencia de Actitudes y Creencias Hacia la Hipnosis, Versión Cliente, and compared with participants with no prior hypnosis experience (N=444). Significant differences were found between the two groups with participants without hypnosis experience scoring higher in factors indicating misconceptions and negative attitudes about hypnosis.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior
The objective of the present work is to emphasize the theatrical importance of the concepts of libido and transference and their developments in the clinical, scientific and political fields. Such attempt is justified by the fact that, when using these concepts, Freud operates a transformation which had already begun with Charcot in the forms of understanding and dealing with psychic derangement, which was circumscribed to the limits of fantasy and simulation. Beyond that factor, the father of psychoanalysis also enlarges the range of these concepts, since the libido will have a preponderant role in the new knowledge that is designed when he affirms it as |something fundamental| which allows the clinical practice by means of transference as well as the formation of the social tie. In order to achieve our objective, we will develop our reasoning by reviewing the predecessors of Freudian clinical practice animal magnetism, suggestion and hypnosis and from that point derive the postulation of the concept of transference, which will not represent only an evolution of the technique that will have effects in the clinical records; but, at the same time, will also promote a transformation in the epistemic field, as it proposes another notion of reality, a psychic one, whose ordering principle will be the same which figures as a condition for the possibility of the transfer, that is, the libido, which is an issue of impact in the scientific field; finally, we will address the ethical reach of the concepts of libido and transference, which will allow regarding the regulation of the social space from the point of view of the relations established among the different subjects, a preeminently political proposition.
O presente trabalho tem como objetivo resgatar a importância teórica dos conceitos de libido e transferência e seus devidos desdobramentos nos campos da clínica, da ciência e da política. Este intento se justifica na medida em que, ao lançar mão de tais conceitos, Freud opera uma transformação que já havia sido iniciada com Charcot nas formas de entender e lidar com o adoecimento psíquico, circunscrito que estava aos limites da fantasia e da simulação. Para além desse fator, o pai da psicanálise alarga também o campo de alcance destes conceitos, visto que a libido terá papel preponderante no novo saber que se esboça ao afirmá-la como o algo fundamental que possibilita tanto a prática clínica por via da transferência quanto a formação do laço social. Para tanto construiremos nossa argumentação com o resgate dos antecessores da prática clínica freudiana - magnetismo animal, sugestão e hipnose - para daí fazer derivar a postulação do conceito de transferência, que não representará apenas uma evolução na técnica a qual repercutirá nos registros da clínica; mas, a um só golpe, promove também uma transformação no campo epistêmico, ao propor uma outra noção de realidade, agora psíquica, cujo princípio ordenador será aquele mesmo que figura como condição de possibilidade da transferência, a saber, a libido, questão essa de interesse no meio científico; e, por fim, chegaremos ao alcance ético dos conceitos de libido e da transferência, os quais permitirão pensar a regulação do espaço social a partir das relações estabelecidas entre os diferentes sujeitos, propositura política por excelência.

This diploma thesis has the goal of providing the broadest possible acquaintance with the phenomenon of suggestion. It covers various findings regarding the topic of suggestion, across both history and expertise. The author chose this approach to best encompass the multidimensional phenomenon of suggestion. That is why this thesis includes an overview of commonly used, but often misinterpreted terms, explanations of the basic principles of suggestion and the broadness of their use, a historical and geographical excursion regarding the phenomenon, and pointing out suggestion in everyday life. The first to do so in Czech language, the author dissects the cycle of suggestion, as presented by James Rolph, in great detail. To create the cycle of suggestion, manipulation and tricks have been, are being, and will be used. These tactics are close to impossible to track for the academic community, and the therapeutic community should stay far away from employing them. The author also holds a firm stance that hypnosis is just a construct - hypnosis does not exist as a unique state. This stance is supported by the lack of physiological manifestations, which would be exclusive to hypnosis, as well as current neuroscientific findings. Related to this, the author examines the controversial state vs. non-state...

Dissociation is commonly associated with sexual crimes or other forms of trauma where a person experienced a threat to the existence or survival of the self. During dissociation the ego may split in such a way that ego-states (subselves or segments of the greater personality) form to encapsulate feelings of guilt, pain, fear, and anger. If dissociation is severe, sufferers will have no conscious recollection of the sexual trauma as it is deeply repressed in the subconscious. This may result in symptoms/pathology later in life. Research indicated that hypnosis (due to its dissociative nature) is favourable as treatment modality for pathology/symptomatology associated with trauma and dissociation. This research study investigates the development of ego-states during experiences of sexual trauma and hypnosis (especially Medical Hypno-analysis and Ego-State Therapy) as effective treatment modality within the field of psycho-education. It proposes a hypnotherapy model where the diagnostic tools as indicated by the Medical Hypno-analysis model, are being used to determine the existence of repressed memories related to sexual trauma. The therapeutic processes as indicated by the Ego-State Therapy model, are being used to resolve and work through the core repressed traumatic experiences through the mobilization of associated and related ego-states. This study presents four case studies and discusses their clinical diagnostic procedures and therapeutic processes. The case studies illustrate that certain symptomatology/pathology experienced later in life may be the result of repressed memories and the formation of maladapted ego-states earlier in life when sexual trauma was experienced. Highly charged emotional and negative beliefs were set in the ego-states and could only be disarmed from their destructive content through regressions and hypnotherapy. A detailed discussion of the proposed hypnotherapy model and its application and concerns regarding its application within the field of psycho-education are also presented. The results of this study indicate that the proposed hypnotherapy model (the combination of Medical Hypno-analysis and Ego-State Therapy) can be used effectively and successfully when working with survivors and symptomatology/pathology associated with sexual crimes.
Educational Studies
D. Ed.