Flexibility in Processing Visual Information: Effects of Mood and Hypnosis 1

Abstract

This quasi-experiment using a real/simulator model investigated differences in cognitive flexibility in high and low hypnotizable participants. Using the variables of hypnotizability (low/high), consciousness (nonhypnotized/hypnotized), mood (happy/sad), and visual-information processing (global/local), reaction times and target detection paradigms of the subjects were evaluated during both nonhypnotic and hypnotic states. Flexibility in cognitive processing was operationalized as the ability to overcome the typical global precedence and answer quickly about the nonprevalent local features. It was observed that the low hypnotizable participants were not influenced in their preference for the global or local dimension by any manipulated variable, whereas the high hypnotizables were more flexible.