Hypnosis - Comparing What People 'Think' to What is Actually 'Real'
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The Truth About Experiencing Hypnosis
| IF YOU THINK... | THE REALITY IS... |
| It's all a matter of having a good imagination. | Ability to imagine vividly is unrelated to hypnotizability. |
| Relaxation is an important feature of hypnosis. | It's not. Hypnosis has been induced during vigorous exercise. |
| It's mostly just compliance. | Many highly motivated subjects fail to experience hypnosis. |
| It's a matter of willful faking. | Physiological responses indicate that hypnotized subjects are not lying. |
| It is dangerous. | Standard hypnotic procedures are no more distressing than lectures. |
| It has something to do with a sleep-like state. | It does not. Hypnotized subjects are fully awake. |
| Responding to hypnosis is like responding to a placebo. | Placebo responsiveness and hypnotizability are not correlated. |
| People with certain types of personalities are likely to be more hypnotizable. | There are no substantial correlates with personality measures. |
| People who are hypnotized lose control of themselves. | Subjects are perfectly capable of saying no or terminating hypnosis. |
| Hypnosis can enable people to "relive" the past. | Age-regressed adults behave like adults play acting as children. |
| A person's responsiveness to hypnosis depends on the technique used and who administers it. | Neither is important under laboratory conditions. It is the subject's capacity that is important. |
| When hypnotized, people can remember more accurately. | Hypnosis may actually muddle the distinction between memory and fantasy and may artificially inflate confidence. |
| Hypnotized people can be led to do acts that conflict with their values. | Hypnotized subjects fully adhere to their usual moral standards. |
| Hypnotized people do not remember what happened during the session. | Post hypnotic amnesia does not occur spontaneously. |
| Hypnosis can enable people to perform otherwise impossible feats of strength, endurance, learning and sensory acuity. | Performance following hypnotic suggestions for increased muscle strength, learning and sensory acuity does not exceed what can be accomplished by motivated subjects outside hypnosis. |
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