Pain and dissociation in the cold pressor test: A study of hypnotic analgesia with "hidden reports" through automatic key pressing and automatic talking.

To test whether pain blocked by hypnotic analgesia may still be perceived at some level, 20 highly hypnotizable undergraduates participated in an experiment involving cold pressor pain in the normal condition and in hypnotically suggested analgesia. 3 reports were obtained reflecting felt pain within the hypnotic analgesia condition: the usual verbal report on a numerical scale, a manual report by "automatic key pressing," and a retrospective verbal report through "automatic talking." 9 Ss who were amnesic for both keypressing and automatic talking reported more pain in the automatic (hidden) reports than in their usual verbal reports. 8 of these 9, following release of amnesia, had a clear perception of 2 levels of awareness of the pain: the usual hypnotic experience of pain attenuated by analgesia suggestions, and a knowledge at another level of a more severe pain. In no case, however, did an S give a retrospective report of normal suffering at this "hidden" level. The hypnotically analgesic S may have reported no pain verbally because he was amnesic for it; when amnesia was removed he recalled the sensory pain, but without a suffering component, because suffering apparently did not occur. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Impulsive versus realistic thinking: An examination of the distinction between primary and secondary processes in thought.

The nature of the distinction between primary and secondary processes, as described by Freud, has relevancy for both a cognitive psycholoy and a psychology of motivation. Several issues arising from an examination of the 2 processes are examined. Possible empirical approaches to the basic problems are presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A comparison of active-alert hypnotic induction with traditional relaxation induction.

Describes the testing of an active-alert induction procedure which sufficiently controlled conditions to permit a comparison between the alterations produced by that procedure and those produced by the traditional relaxation induction technique. Ss were 50 university students. In the active-alert induction the S rode a bicycle ergometer under load, keeping eyes open while exercising and receiving suggestions of alertness. The alternate form, used in random alternation with the same Ss, consisted of the standard eye-fixation and relaxation induction of the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form B (SHSS-B). Within each session on 2 days during which each S served, the induction procedure was followed by 8 tests of responses to suggestion, from the SHSS-A and SHSS-B. The mean measured hypnotic responsiveness was independent of the type of induction. The active-alert condition was characterized by an acceleration of the rate of pedaling for the more responsive Ss. Although the subjective alterations differed between the 2 kinds of induction, the highly susceptible reported that in both cases altered states were achieved. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Issues bearing on recommendations from the Behavioral and Social Sciences Survey Committee.

Describes a survey by the Behavioral and Social Sciences Survey Committee, appointed jointly by the National Academy of Sciences and the Social Science Research Council, of departments in American universities granting the PhD degree. Research being done in professional schools is described as well as the behavioral and social science research in government and industry. Recommendations are made for increasing the scope of the social sciences to enhance their pertinence to social problems. Suggestions include the development of social indicators, a privately developed annual report, and an eventual Council of Social Advisers. Universities may have to develop new forms of organization to train professional research workers required to meet the new opportunities possibly graduate schools of applied behavioral science. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Modern learning theory. A critical analysis of five examples.

Reviews the book "Modern learning theory. A critical analysis of five examples," by William K. Estes et al. (see record 2004-21803-000). This book is the product of the Dartmouth summer conference on learning theory, held in the summer of 1950 under the auspices of the Social Science Research Council, with funds supplied by the Carnegie Corporation. Each of the five sections is devoted to one learning theorist. The authors have followed a guiding outline for evaluating each theory, including a discussion of the structure of the theory, methodological characteristics, and, finally, an over-all appraisal of empirical content and adequacy. The issues raised in the book will undoubtedly be challenged and discussed separately by those friendly to the various theories. The critical task which the authors set themselves was admirably done, and we may be thankful for it. The homogeneity in conception of what constitutes a good theory reflects in part the homogeneity of background of those who found it congenial to meet together. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Behavioral predictions from hypnotic responsiveness scores when obtained with and without prior induction procedures.

Administered the Barber Suggestibility Scale (BSS) and the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form A (SHSS) to 80 high school students, half with imagination instructions and half with hypnotic induction instructions. The Stanford Profile Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form I (SPS), was subsequently administered to test the predictive effectiveness of the scales. The SPS has both different induction procedures and different item content from the BSS and the SHSS, which are very similar in their test-suggestion topics. Correlations with the SPS were much higher following prior testing under induction rather than imagination conditions, and induction conditions raised both objective and subjective scores above imagination conditions. Although both the BSS and the SHSS yielded similar results, some differences were noted. The subjective correction makes a greater difference for BSS than for SHSS scores, so that the subjective correction is to be recommended especially when the BSS is used. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reversible tumorigenesis in mice by conditional expression of the HER2/c-erbB2 receptor tyrosine kinase

In the present study we describe the reversible transformation of NIH3T3 fibroblasts by overexpression of the HER2/c-erbB2 receptor tyrosine kinase. Cell lines expressing HER2 under control of a tetracycline-responsive promoter were isolated. Induction of HER2 expression resulted in cellular transformation in vitro as depicted by growth in soft agar and focus formation in tissue culture. Subsequent treatment of these cells with the effector anhydrotetracyline switched-off HER2 expression and induced morphological and functional changes characteristic for non-transformed cells. Subcutaneous transplantation of cells in nude mice resulted in the formation of solid tumors. Interestingly tumor formation was completely suppressed by treatment of the animals with anhydrotetracyline. Our findings indicate that overexpression of HER2 induces the transformed phenotype of NIH3T3 cells and is required for tumor formation and progression in nude mice. By linking the expression of the marker gene secreted placental alkaline phosphatase to the expression of HER2, a sensitive monitoring of tumor development in nude mice was feasible.     

On the degree of stability of measured hypnotizability over a 25-year period.

Conducted a longitudinal study of hypnotizability, as measured by the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form A, that yielded a relatively high degree of stability in hypnotic responsiveness over repeated testings spanning a 25-year period. The 50 Ss were retested in 1985, after tests when they were students, between 1958–1962 and again in 1970. The statistically significant stability coefficients were .64 (10-year retest), .82 (15-year retest), and .71 (25-year retest). The means did not change significantly, and the median change in the scores of individuals was only 1 point on the 12-item scale. A set of score measures and their intercorrelations are insufficient to resolve the issue of why stability occurs. The stability of hypnotizability over time compares favorably with that of other measures of individual differences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Covert pain in hypnotic analgesia: Its reality as tested by the real-simulator design.

Simulation of covert pain, as reported by the hidden observer method, proved very successful for 12 simulator Ss known to be unable to reduce overtly reported pain through hypnotic analgesia procedures, as compared with 12 highly hypnotizable Ss whose pain had been shown to be reduced by at least one third through hypnotic analgesia suggestions. Preliminary practice in dissociation (and in simulated dissociation) through amnesia for a word list and through attempted automatic writing also demonstrated successful simulation. However, in an honesty inquiry by a staff member not participating as a hypnotist-experimenter, no simulator claimed to have been amnesic, to have performed automatic writing, or to have reduced pain beyond the reduction that could be achieved through waking suggestion. The methods by which the successful simulation was achieved were explored in subsequent interviews. In contrast with the simulators, no highly hypnotizable S modified any earlier report on the basis of the honesty inquiry. Results confirm the importance of postexperimental honesty interrogation when the real–simulator design is used. Results also lend support to the reality of the covert experience of pain in the absence of its overt experience in hypnotic analgesia. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Grandfather clause" reopened by the American Board of Examiners in Psychological Hypnosis.

Notes a "grandfather clause" through June 30, 1968 waiving formal written and oral examinations for otherwise qualified candidates seeking certification by the American Board of Examiners in Psychological Hypnosis. (0 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)