MAY 2008, VOLUME 36, NUMBER 2, Abstract 15
Can Hypnosis Turn off Reading? Investigating Hypnotic Modulation of the Stroop Effect
Lynette Hung, University of New South Wales, Sydney
Amanda J. Barnier, Macquarie University, Sydney
Reading words is widely considered to be automatic; once learned, skilled readers supposedly cannot help but process words. However, recent findings have suggested that a simple hypnotic instruction can stop hypnotised people from reading. Such effects imply that hypnosis can powerfully influence cognitive processing. I describe a program of research that used the classic Stroop paradigm to investigate whether hypnosis can produce extraordinary alterations in high hypnotisable individuals’ reading experiences (i.e., “I can’t read the word”) as well as in their reading processing (i.e., modulated or eliminated Stroop effect). Although my experiments overwhelmingly indicated that hypnotic suggestions altered only highs’ reading experiences, there was a small subset who also demonstrated altered processing. I focus in particular on the strategies and experiences of this subset of highs to consider claims that hypnosis fundamentally alters the way in which people process information.