Attention control and susceptibility to hypnosis

Conscious Cogn. 2009 Dec;18(4):856-63. doi: 10.1016/j.concog.2009.07.002. Epub 2009 Aug 3.

Abstract

The present work aimed at assessing whether the interference exerted by task-irrelevant spatial information is comparable in high- and low-susceptible individuals and whether it may be eliminated by means of a specific posthypnotic suggestion. To this purpose high- and low-susceptible participants were tested using a Simon-like interference task after the administration of a suggestion aimed at preventing the processing of the irrelevant spatial information conveyed by the stimuli. The suggestion could be administered either in the absence or following a standard hypnotic induction. We showed that, outside from the hypnotic context, the Simon effect was similar in high and low-susceptible participants and it was significantly reduced following the posthypnotic suggestion in high-susceptible participants only. These results show that a specific posthypnotic suggestion can alter information processing in high-susceptible individuals and reduce the interfering effect exerted by arrow stimuli.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Attention*
  • Automatism / psychology
  • Color Perception*
  • Conflict, Psychological
  • Female
  • Functional Laterality*
  • Humans
  • Hypnosis*
  • Male
  • Orientation*
  • Pattern Recognition, Visual*
  • Psychomotor Performance*
  • Reaction Time
  • Reversal Learning
  • Suggestion*
  • Young Adult