How dose hypnosis works?

Question

How dose hypnosis works? I bought these hypnosis mp3s of internet and they don't work at all. Can everybody be hypnotised,We are having this popular hypnotist in California State Fair right now I might go check it out. How does it work by the way?

Answer 1

A scientific theory attempts to describe and explain the behaviour of a natural or social phenomenon, following the principles of the scientific method. Good theories produce testable hypotheses which can be supported or refuted by experimental data. There are unfortunately many vague and untestable theories of hypnosis which continue to circulate, but high quality research is still published in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

Some theories of hypnosis attempt to describe hypnotic phenomenon in terms of brain activity while others concentrate more on the phenomenological experience. In either case, a fundamental distinction is between 'state' and 'non-state' theories of hypnosis. State theorists believe that an altered state of consciousness is a core part of hypnosis, whereas non-state theorists believe that more mundane psychological processess such as focussed attention and expectation are sufficient to explain hypnotic phenomena. The precise definition of what constitutes an altered state of consciousness is a matter of some debate. Although many people who are hypnotised describe their experience as 'altered' it is difficult to use these terms in the absence of a prior definition.

Dissociation and neodissociation theories
Pierre Janet originally developed the idea of dissociation, literally a splitting-off of some components of consciousness, as a result of his work with hysterical patients. He believed that hypnosis was an example of dissociation: areas of an individual's behavioral control are split off from ordinary awareness. In this case, hypnosis would remove some control from the conscious mind and the individual will respond with autonomic, reflexive behavior. Weitzenhoffer describes hypnosis via this theory as "dissociation of awareness from the majority of sensory and even strictly neural events taking place."[3]

Ernest Hilgard developed Janet's ideas and published his neodissociation theory in 1977. His theory, a classic 'state' theory, postulated an executive ego (essentially a central executive system in today's cognitive psychological terms) which became dissociated from sub-components via an 'amnesic barrier'. Suggestions from a hypnotist could produce alterations in perception and behaviour, which were explainable in terms of these dissociated sub-systems. Hilgard's ideas were influenced by his discovery of the 'hidden observer' phenomenon, a process by which different components of consciousness were investigated (other researchers, notably Spanos, believed the hidden observer to be an experimental artifact).

Social constructionism / Role-playing theory
This theory suggests that individuals are playing a role and allowing the hypnotist to create a reality for them. This relationship depends on how much rapport has been established between the hypnotist and the subject (see Hawthorne effect, Pygmalion effect, and the Placebo effect).

Generally, under hypnosis people become more receptive to suggestion, causing changes in the way they feel, think, and behave. Some psychologists (such as Sarbin and Spanos) have suggested that hypnosis is a social construct, so well-known that strong social expectations are played out by subjects, who believe they are in a state of hypnosis, behaving in a way that they imagine a hypnotized person would behave. Much experimental work has demonstrated that the experiences of hypnotized subjects can be dramatically shaped by expectations and social nuances. This view is often misunderstood: it does not discount the claim that hypnotized individuals are truly experiencing suggested effects, just that the mechanism by which this has taken place has in part been socially constructed and is not necessarily reliant on the idea of an altered state of consciousness

Barber theorizes that hypnosis is not a state or a trance and is not produced as the result of suggestions. He suggests that hypnosis is based on a number of overlapping variables, but, primarily, that interpersonal relationships allow the operator to restructure perceptions and conceptions of the subject. He theorizes that this occurs because the subject is relatively inattentive to the environment and, because of this misdirection of attention, the subject is willing to think as the hypnotist wants them to think.

Nicholas Spanos hypothesized that the behaviors associated with hypnosis are acted out knowingly by the person. He believes that all acts that are performed are done under the complete control of the hypnotized person. Spanos stood against Hilgard’s belief that hypnosis is another state of consciousness. Spanos worked for almost ten years on this theory completing sixteen experiments to reveal that many of the actions performed under hypnosis can be simply explained as something other than hypnosis. Spanos alleged that there are two reasons that cause people to misconstrue their state of consciousness as hypnosis. One of the reasons being that people believe that their behavior is caused by an external source instead of the self. The second is related to the way hypnotic rituals are performed. The hypnotist says certain things which are first interpreted as voluntary and then later on in the procedure as involuntary. An example being “relax the muscles in your legs” and then later “your legs feel limp and heavy.” Spanos argues that the hypnotist asks each person two connected requests. The first directly asking the subject to do something and the second being for the subject to infer the request as an involuntary one. Some hypnosis participants follow the first request and realize they are performing the task voluntarily while others do not respond at all. Still others follow both requests and therefore deemed great hypnosis subjects. Using another study, Spanos demonstrates that how people control their hypnotic experience by acting how they believe they are supposed to act during a hypnosis session. The study was performed on two groups of people. One group was given a lecture which included a segment on how arm rigidity was spontaneous during hypnosis and the second group did not. When both groups were hypnotized the group who was informed of the arm rigidity actually had arm rigidity during the session.A second study used by Spanos involved evaluating the analgesia effect in hypnotic and non-hypnotic individuals. The study performed the experiment on two groups of people and the only difference between the groups is that one group was told they were going to be hypnotized. Each participant was asked to put his or her hand in a bucket of ice and hold it there as long as possible. After removing their arm they were asked to rate their perceived pain. While awake those individuals who were expecting hypnosis had a much higher pain rating than those who were not expecting. All participants were hypnotized and then were asked to put their arm in the bucket of ice once more. The people who were not expecting hypnosis had about the same rating of perceived pain as their corresponding awake trial. The expecting participants had a much lower rating then their corresponding awake trial. Spanos claimed that this was due to the subjects wanting to be viewed as a great hypnotic subject. Spanos’ findings were not to prove that the hypnotic state did not exist at all but to prove that the behaviors exhibited by those individuals are due to “highly motivated” individuals. (Hock R. R. (2005). Forty studies that changed psychology: explorations into history of psychological research. Upper Saddle River: Pearson.)

Neuropsychological theory of hypnosis
Neuropsychological theories of hypnosis attempt to explain hypnotic phenomenon in terms of alterations in brain activity. Gruzelier, based on large amounts of EEG research, proposed that hypnosis is characterised by a shift in brain activity from anterior (front) to posterior (back).

Hypnosis as a state of hysteria
Charcot postulated that hypnosis was a symptom of hysteria and that only those people experiencing hysteria were believed to be hypnotizable. Although those exhibiting hysteria seem to be more suggestible, normal individuals are, indeed, hypnotizable which calls this theory into question.

Hypnosis as a conditioned process leading to sleep
Ivan Pavlov believed that hypnosis was a "partial sleep". He observed that the various degrees of hypnosis didn't significantly differ physiologically from the waking state and hypnosis depended on insignificant changes of environmental stimuli. Pavlov also suggested that lower brain stem mechanisms were involved in hypnotic conditioning.

Some modern well-known hypnotherapists subscribe to this theory, since in hypnosis, the subject typically appears to be asleep because of eye closure that is typically part of the induction procedure. However, there is quite a bit of literature on blood pressure, reflexes, physiochemical and EEG studies which indicates that hypnosis more closely resembles complete wakefulness

Hyper–suggestibility theory
Currently a more popular theory, it states the subject's attention is narrowed by certain techniques used by the hypnotist. As attention is narrowed, the hypnotist's words eventually take over the inner voice of the subject. From this theory comes the implication that only gullible or weak-minded people are suggestible. Some people, however, find the narrowing of attention to be desirable. Milton H. Erickson was said to have told his subjects, "... and my voice will go with you," meaning that Erickson's voice would be a comforting presence in the face of adversity and trouble.

Informational theory
This theory applies the concept of the brain-as-computer model. In electronic systems, a system adjusts its feedback networks to increase the signal-to-noise ratio for optimum functioning, called a "steady state". Increasing the receptability of a receptor enables messages to be more clearly received from a transmitter primarily by trying to reduce the interference (noise) as much as possible. Thus, the object of the hypnotist is to use techniques to reduce the interference and increase the receptability of specific messages (suggestions).
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I recommend you not to try with these type of mp3s or books.

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

Well when you're hypnotised it's kind of the part of your brain/subconscious that handles the perception of close reality goes a little numb, making you reaveal stuff about you you wouldn't want to say or do stuff you normally wouldn't want to do. Or at least that's how it's supposed to be...the existence of hypnosis is still debated by scientists.

Answer 4

goto...

www.howstuffworks.com

and type "hypnosis" and search. You will find it.