Hypnotic conflict: A brief report

American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, Oct 2006 by Wickramasekera, Ian II

Mallard, D., & Bryant, D. (2006). Hypnotic conflict: A brief report. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 54(3), 292-302. This article discusses the results of two small studies where the role of conflict was investigated in hypnotic responding. Twenty-three highly gifted hypnotic participants were tested in the first experiment using a hypnotic blindness task although the participants were not screened for their ability to produce hypnotic blindness.

The participants were instructed to monitor a light circle projected on a screen that either increased very subtly (no subjects reported detecting the experimental manipulation) or did not change while the participants were attempting to accomplish hypnotic blindness for the stimuli. The participants experience of hypnotic blindness was reduced by the experimental increases in the actual stimuli. The authors discuss some of the limitations of the paradigm that they used but conclude that the their methods may prove useful in investigating how conflict management occurs between hypnotically based suggestions, demand characteristics, and the background perceptual experiences that they interact with. Address for reprints: Richard A. Bryant, Ph.D., School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Sydney, Australia. Email address: r.bryant@unsw.edu.au.