1,721,068 research outputs found
Changing beliefs about implausible autobiographical events: A little plausibility goes a long way
No full textThree experiments investigated the malleability of perceived plausibility and the subjective likelihood of occurrence of plausible and implausible events among participants who had no recollection of experiencing them. In Experiment 1, a plausibility-enhancing manipulation (reading accounts of the occurrence of events) combined with a personalized suggestion increased the perceived plausibility of the implausible event, as well as participants' ratings of the likelihood that they had experienced it. Plausibility and likelihood ratings were uncorrelated. Subsequent studies showed that the plausibility manipulation alone was sufficient to increase likelihood ratings but only if the accounts that participants read were set in a contemporary context. These data suggest that false autobiographical beliefs can be induced in clinical and forensic contexts even for initially implausible events
"Don't know" responding to answerable and unanswerable questions during misleading and hypnotic interviews
No full text"Don't know" (DK) responses to interview questions are conceptually heterogeneous, and may represent uncertainty or clear statements about the contents of memory. A study examined the subjective intent of DK responses in relation to the objective status of information queried, in the context of memory distorting procedures. Participants viewed a video and responded to answerable and unanswerable questions phrased in misleading or nonmisleading formats, while hypnotized or not hypnotized. Subjective meanings of DK responses were queried, and a recognition measure assessed the contents of memory. Lower DK and accuracy rates were consistently associated with unanswerable and misleading questions. One-third of DK responses were statements that the information had no not presented. When these were recoded, accuracy estimates for answerable questions decreased and more so for hypnotized participants. These results demonstrate that DK responses convey different types of information, thus accuracy estimates in studies that permit DK responses may be misestimated. Robust risks associated with asking unanswerable questions and asking questions at all were observed. Implications for working with DK responses during interviews are discussed
Effects of misleading questions and hypnotic memory suggestion on memory reports: A signal-detection analysis
No full textIn 2002, the first author and collegues reported data indicating that both hypnosis and misleading questions decreased the accuracy of memory reports and decreased "don't know" response rates, that the effects of misleading questions were significantly greater than those of hypnosis, and that the two effects were additive. Using a sample of 194 undergraduate students, the present study replicated the findings that misleading questions reduce accuracy and "don't know" responding but failed to replicate the negative effect of hypnosis on memory reports. Signal detection analysis indicated that misleading questioning produced decreased sensitivity accompanied by higher response bias, though affecting sensitivity more than producing a criterion shift. Copyright © International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis
Hypnotic induction decreases anterior default mode activity
No full textThe 'default mode' network refers to cortical areas that are active in the absence of goal-directed activity. In previous studies, decreased activity in the 'default mode' has always been associated with increased activation in task-relevant areas. We show that the induction of hypnosis can reduce anterior default mode activity during rest without increasing activity in other cortical regions. We assessed brain activation patterns of high and low suggestible people while resting in the fMRI scanner and while engaged in visual tasks, in and out of hypnosis. High suggestible participants in hypnosis showed decreased brain activity in the anterior parts of the default mode circuit. In low suggestible people, hypnotic induction produced no detectable changes in these regions, but instead deactivated areas involved in alertness. The findings indicate that hypnotic induction creates a distinctive and unique pattern of brain activation in highly suggestible subjects
The Effects of Observation and Gender on Psychogenic Symptoms
No full textObjective: To assess the effects of modeling and its interaction with gender in the production of psychogenic symptoms. Design: Healthy volunteers were asked to inhale an inert substance described as a suspected environmental toxin that had been reported to provoke 4 physical symptoms. Subsequently, half of the participants observed a confederate inhale and display the 4 expected symptoms. To control for the general tendency of women to report more physical symptoms than men, participants were also asked to rate the presence of 4 unexpected symptoms. Main Outcome Measures: Symptom ratings at 10-min intervals over a 1-hr period. Results: With unexpected symptoms controlled, observation of symptom displays increased reports of expected symptoms significantly. In addition, the presence of another person of the same gender as the participant increased the production of expected symptoms, even when symptoms were not modeled by the confederate. There was also a trend for women to show more expected symptoms than men. Conclusion: Although the effect of modeling was independent of gender, the mere presence of a same-gender individual, as opposed to a person of the opposite gender, increased reports of expected symptoms, regardless of whether the second person (i.e., the confederate) displayed symptoms. © 2010 American Psychological Association
Neuroimaging resolution of the altered state hypothesis
Full text linkA controversy in the field of hypnosis has centered on the question of whether there is a uniquely hypnotic state of consciousness and, if so, whether it is causally related to responsiveness to suggestion. Evidence from brain imaging studies has been used to support claims for various altered state hypotheses, without resolving the debate. The designs of many neuroimaging studies confound the induction of hypnosis with the suggestions that can be given in or out of hypnosis, thus rendering them incapable of resolving the controversy. Brain imaging studies that do not have this confound support the hypothesis that hypnotic inductions produce changes in brain activity, but also indicate that these changes are not required for the experience of hypnotic suggestions or their neural correlates. The data remain equivocal as to whether there is a causal relation between the changes in brain activity produced by hypnotic inductions and those produced by other suggestions. It also remains uncertain whether the changes in activation produced by hypnotic inductions reflect a uniquely hypnotic state as opposed to more mundane processes
Immediate and persisting effects of misleading questions and hypnosis on memory reports
No full textImmediate and persisting effects of misleading questions and hypnosis on memory reports were assessed. After listening to a story, 52 highly suggestible students and 59 low and medium suggestible students were asked misleading or neutral questions in or out of hypnosis. All participants were then asked neutral questions without hypnosis. Both hypnosis and misleading questions significantly increased memory errors, and misleading questions produced significantly more errors than did hypnosis. The 2 effects were additive, so that misleading questions in hypnosis produced the greatest number of errors. There were no significant interactions with level of hypnotic suggestibility. Implications of these findings for the per se exclusion of posthypnotic testimony are discussed
The effect of posthypnotic suggestion, hypnotic suggestibility, and goal intentions on adherence to medical instructions
No full textThe effects of implementation intentions and posthypnotic suggestion were investigated in 2 studies. In Experiment 1, participants with high levels of hypnotic suggestibility were instructed to take placebo pills as part of an investigation of how to best enhance compliance with medical instruction. In Experiment 2, participants with high, medium, and low levels of hypnotic suggestibility were asked to run in place, take their pulse rate before, and send an e-mail report to the experimenter each day. Experiment 1 revealed enhanced adherence as a function of both implementation intentions and posthypnotic suggestion. Experiment 2 failed to find any significant main effects but found a significant interaction between suggestibility and the effects of posthypnotic suggestion. Posthypnotic suggestion enhanced adherence among high suggestible participants but lowered it among low suggestibles
Plausibility and belief in autobiographical memory
No full textInvestigations of the recovery and falsification of childhood memories have used one construct in lieu of another. Autobiographical memories have typically not been distinguished from autobiographical beliefs, and researchers have assumed that plausibility and schematic knowledge measure identical constructs. We tested the hypothesis that plausibility, autobiographical belief, and autobiographical memory are nested constructs, such that memory implies belief and belief implies plausibility. Six hundred and eighty five students answered questions about these constructs in relation to ten possible childhood events. Analysis of item means, response probabilities and the frequency with which items followed the predicted order demonstrated that the predicted pattern was upheld in over 95% of cases. Results did not support the hypothesis that plausibility and script knowledge are significantly related. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
The effects of prevalence and script information on plausibility, belief, and memory of autobiographical events
No full textTheoretical predictions of a recently proposed 'nested' model of factors involved in the creation of false memories for childhood events (general plausibility, personal plausibility, autobiographical belief and autobiographical memory) were tested. Prevalence and/or script-relevant information related to one of two unlikely childhood events was administered to a sample of 92 undergraduate participants. Predictions were (a) that script-knowledge would impact general, but not personal plausibility; and (b) that prevalence information would lead to changes in personal plausibility and to a lesser degree autobiographical belief. Memory ratings should not be affected by these manipulations. Predictions were upheld for plausibility, and were partially upheld for autobiographical belief in one of two target events. New post-manipulation support for the nested model was demonstrated. Implications for the nested model, and the creation of false autobiographical beliefs and memories for childhood events are discussed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
- …
