New paradigms of hypnosis research

Abstract

In hypnosis, verbal suggestions, in responsive individuals, can lead to remarkable alterations in subjective experiences. These include atypical changes in perception (positive and negative hallucinations), pain (analgesia), memory (amnesia) and the experience of volition. Some behaviours may appear to occur without volitional control (ideomotor suggestion) whilst others occur despite volitional control (challenge suggestion). The considerable effects of hypnotic suggestion on somatic physiology have been successfully applied in the treatment of a variety of medical disorders, i.e. the effects of hypnosis may be observed in phenomenological, behavioural and physiological data. Historically, research paradigms in hypnosis have emphasized methodologies largely restricted to one or another of these possible data sets.