Uncancelled Hypnotic Suggestions: Initial Studies

Abstract

Despite considerable anecdotal evidence of uncancelled hypnotic suggestions persisting posthypnotically, no laboratory investigation of the phenomenon's parameters has ever been attempted. From the literature on posthypnotic suggestion, one might expect uncancelled suggestions to have a quasi-automatic component and to be affected additionally by social, expectational and interactional variables. The report summarizes three initial investigations of parameters that may affect the carry over of uncancelled suggestions into the posthypnotic period. In the first two, the incidence of uncancelled suggestions influencing behaviour following hypnosis was low. In a third experiment, there was a marked increase in the number of Ss manifesting the phenomenon. This appeared to be related to the hypnotist's instruction that Ss would experience all effects suggested for as long as the hypnotist asked them to. The finding is interpreted in the light of evidence indicating that highly hypnotizable Ss may imbue the hypnotist's communications with special meaning. The role of Ss motives, attitudes and sets, and of differences in specialized skills among highly hypnotizable Ss are also discussed as a basis for future investigation of other parameters affecting the phenomenon's occurrence.