Remembering André Weitzenhoffer, Ph.D.

American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, Jul 2005 by Frischholz, Edward J

Second, for the first time, André had measured the hypnotic responsivity of his subjects in a formal manner using the methods developed by Davis and Husband (1931) and White (1940). He reported that, of his initial 23 subjects, "only 6 were capable of developing trance states of any sort" (Weitzenhoffer, 1951b, p. 391).

Third, only the six hypnotizable subjects were later repeatedly tested in both the waking and hypnotic states to determine if their performance was significantly better in the hypnotic state. Previous empirical studies (Eysenck, 1939; Young, 1925; 1926) had found no significant improvement in hypnosis over waking performance. Likewise, 5 out 6 of André's hypnotizable subjects showed no significant improvement when hypnotized compared to their performance in the waking state. However, one subject did show highly significant improvement which was described in great detail. Parenthetically, this subject earned the highest possible score on the Davis-Husband hypnosis scale. André concluded that "hypnotic suggestions of improved differential recognition can bring about a level of performance superior to that of the waking state. This is, however, not true for all individuals. Presumably, only those individuals who are not functioning at their maximum capacity in the waking state are capable of exhibiting improvement under hypnosis." (Weitzenhoffer, 1951b, p. 396). Thus, like his earlier studies on compulsion under hypnosis, hypnotic performance facilitation was also found only in subjects who proved to be extremely hypnotizable. It was not found in the majority of subjects.

Fourth, from a historical perspective, this study was conducted while André was still a graduate student at the University of Oklahoma. However, when finally published in 1951, André listed his institutional affiliation as the University of Detroit.

André told Michael Yapko that he left Oklahoma for two major reasons. First, Oklahoma was not going to immediately develop a doctoral program, and André wanted to earn a Ph.D. in psychology. Second, he had met a woman, Geneva Ballenger, a music major at the University of Oklahoma, whom he wanted to marry. He reasoned "if we were to get married and probably have children, I had better have a job." (Yapko, 2005, p. 32). They were married in August 1950 in Oklahoma. Their son Mark was born in 1954 in Michigan and their daughter Janet was born in Palo Alto in 1957.

André did get a job, first as a research physiologist at Wayne University (1949-1950) in Detroit, and the following year (1950) as an Instructor in physiology and pharmacology at the University of Detroit where he stayed until 1953. André admitted that he didn't have any training in physiology or pharmacology, but that didn't seem to stop him from learning quickly. During his tenure at the University of Detroit, he authored or co-authored five scientific papers which appeared in the American Journal of Physiology, Science and Nature. During this time period he was also able to complete a paper on "Mathematical Structures and Psychological Measurement" (Weitzenhoffer, 1951c) which appeared in Psychometrika.