Abstract
Previous research has suggested that highly hypnotisable participants (‘highs’) are more sensitive to the bistability of ambiguous figures—as evidenced by reporting more perspective changes of a Necker cube—than low hypnotisable participants (‘lows’). This finding has been interpreted as supporting the hypothesis that highs have more efficient sustained attentional abilities than lows. However, the higher report of perspective changes in highs in comparison to lows may reflect the implementation of different expectation-based strategies as a result of differently constructed demand characteristics according to one’s level of hypnotisability. Highs, but not lows, might interpret an instruction to report perspective changes as an instruction to report many changes. Using a Necker cube as our bistable stimulus, we manipulated demand characteristics by giving specific information to participants of different hypnotisability levels. Participants were told that previous research has shown that people with similar hypnotisability as theirs were either very good at switching or maintaining perspective versus no information. Our results show that highs, but neither lows nor mediums, were strongly influenced by the given information. However, highs were not better at maintaining the same perspective than participants with lower hypnotisability. Taken together, these findings favour the view that the higher sensitivity of highs in comparison to lows to the bistability of ambiguous figures reflect the implementation of different strategies.
Highlights
Within the field of hypnosis, it is widely acknowledged that people are not responsive to hypnotic suggestions (Heap, Brown, & Oakley 2004; Hilgard 1965; Kallio & Ihamuotila 1999; Laurence, Beaulieu-Prévost, & Du Chéné 2008; Perry, Nadon, & Button 1992; Shor & Orne 1962; Weitzenhoffer & Hilgard 1962; but see; Barber 1969; Spanos 1986)
Because the nature of the information given to participants depended on their hypnotisability level, at the very beginning of the experiment participants were reminded what their level of hypnotisability was: We recruited you for this experiment because you have shown high hypnotic abilities during screening [Translated from the French version given to participants]
When no specific information is given to participants (Neutral Block), highs in comparison to lows and mediums show a higher rate of perspective changes with a Necker cube
Summary
Within the field of hypnosis, it is widely acknowledged that people are not responsive to hypnotic suggestions (suggestions for altered experiences of reality or volition) (Heap, Brown, & Oakley 2004; Hilgard 1965; Kallio & Ihamuotila 1999; Laurence, Beaulieu-Prévost, & Du Chéné 2008; Perry, Nadon, & Button 1992; Shor & Orne 1962; Weitzenhoffer & Hilgard 1962; but see; Barber 1969; Spanos 1986). If the instruction consists in asking participants to report every perspective change, as was the case in previous studies comparing highs and lows on the perception of bistable figures (Crawford et al 1993; Wallace 1986; Wallace et al 1976), the higher rate of switches by highs might reflect the implementation of specific strategies in order to fulfil what they thought to be a “good high” in this context (Orne 1959, 1969; Spanos 1986; for recent instances of the effect of demand characteristics in different perceptual phenomena and new methods to unveil them, see; Firestone 2013; Firestone & Scholl 2014; Martin, Sackur, Anlló, Naish, & Dienes 2016). Our inclusion of the group of mediums enables us to test whether any difference in the rate of perspective switches was due to highs or lows showing extreme behaviour
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