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Toward a theory of “hypnotic” behavior: Positive visual and auditory hallucinations

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Abstract

Two interrelated series of experiments are critically reviewed: experiments concerned with the objective validity of hypnotic visual and auditory hallucinations; and experiments which set out to specify the variables relevant to eliciting such hallucinations. The first series of experiments failed to demonstrate that hypnotic hallucinations produce objective effects which are the same as the effects produced by visual or auditory stimulation or different from the effects produced by imagining. Experiments in the second category indicate that the so-called “trance state” may be an extraneous variable in eliciting testimony from experimental Ss that suggested objects were seen and suggested sounds were heard. The relevant variables appear to include: (1) direct suggestions to see (nonexistent) objects and to hear (nonexistent) sounds, that are (2) given firmly and seriously to Ss who are motivated to perform to the best of their ability on assigned experimental tasks.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Medfield Foundation, Harding, Massachusetts, USA

    Theodore Xenophon Barber

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  1. Theodore Xenophon Barber
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The writing of this paper was made possible by grants (MY-04825 and MH-07003) from the National Institute of Mental Health, United States Public Health Service.

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Barber, T.X. Toward a theory of “hypnotic” behavior: Positive visual and auditory hallucinations. Psychol Rec 14, 197–210 (1964). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03393578

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