MAY 2001, VOLUME 29, NUMBER 1, Abstract 1
Touching the Unseen: An Investigation Of Hypnotic Conflict
David Mallard, University of New South Wales
Richard A. Bryant, University of New South Wales
Resolving the conflict between hypnotic suggestion and conflicting reality information is fundamental to understanding hypnotic responding. Twenty-nine high and twenty five low hypnotisable subjects were administered a suggestion for a negative visual hallucination of an object, and were subsequently required to touch the position where the “unseen” object was located. Nigh high hypnotisable subjects initially passed the suggestion, and six (67%) of these subjects subsequently saw the object when they touched it. Three (33%) subjects maintained hypnotic blindness of the object by employing behavioural or cognitive strategies that reduced awareness of the object during the conflict manipulation. These findings are discussed in terms of the active problem-solving strategies employed by hypnotic subjects to manage hypnotic conflict.