“How Deeply Hypnotized Did I Get?” Predicting Self-Reported Hypnotic Depth from a Phenomenological Assessment Instrument

Abstract

Procedures for estimating hypnotic depth have been used for more than 70 years. This study predicted self-reported hypnotic depth from the phenomenological and behavioral variables of the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory-Hypnotic Assessment Procedure (PCI-HAP). Participants were divided into 2 groups; 1 was used to generate regression equations, and the other group was used for cross-validation. Both imagery vividness during hypnosis (imagoic suggestibility) and the PCI pHGS measure of hypnotic depth (hypnoidal state) accounted for most of the variance in self-reported hypnotic depth. The above results, further supported by correlational and 3-D visual analyses, are consistent with other researchers’ observations that ratings of hypnotic depth are a function of: (a) alterations in subjective experience, and (b) the perception of responsiveness to suggestions. The findings are also congruent with J. Holroyd’s hypothesis that suggestibility and altered-state effects interact to produce hypnotic effects. 3This research is based on a $50,000 grant received from the Veterans Administration Stars and Stripes (VISN4) Healthcare Network. The authors wish to thank Dr. Jean Holroyd for reviewing two earlier versions of this manuscript, the staff of wards 39A and 39B for their support in doing this research, and the reviewers who helped to further refine this paper with their suggestions.