Uncovering the Truth about Hypnosis

Throughout history, hypnosis has been a widely accepted practice that was said to solve everything from psychological disorders, to weight loss. Hardly any research had been conducted on the effectiveness of hypnosis. That is, until Nicolas Spanos (1982) released his findings gathered from sixteen separate studies on hypnosis. Spanos’ theory was that hypnosis was not an altered state of consciousness, but actually voluntary actions carried out by the hypnosis patients. He claimed that due to the patients being convinced that hypnosis was real, they voluntarily abided by all instructions given by the hypnotist.

Spanos (1982) generated his theory of hypnosis based on sixteen studies conducted before 1982 that he was directly involved with. Throughout these studies, different groups of people participated. They ranged from university students to random volunteers. In most of his studies, control groups were used that were either told different things about hypnosis, or were not told about it at all. These control groups were crucial to Spanos (1982) in concluding that hypnosis relied heavily on prior opinion and perception about hypnosis. The control groups underwent the same studies as other groups, but reacted in a more normal way compared to groups with expectations of being hypnotized.

Several different methods were used by Nicholas Spanos (1982) to support his theory of the nonexistence of an altered conscious. The first notable method was using two groups and giving them varying types of instruction. One group was given instructions using a suggestive method, like “your arm is very light and is rising.” The second group was given a more direct instruction, such as “raise your arm.” (Spanos 1982) These results showed that using...

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..., I most notably remember an episode of That’s So Raven where one of the characters was forced to undergo a hypnotic state. Believe it or not, that specific episode had me convinced for many years that hypnotism was a real phenomenon and a powerful one at that.

While the idea of hypnotism is one that perceives a change of consciousness, in reality, it may be nothing but a fantasy. When Nicholas Spanos (1982) revealed his findings on hypnotism, he shocked psychologist and turned their previous beliefs upside down. Although Spanos was unfortunately killed in a 1994 plane crash, his research is bound to live on as the series of studies that first questioned a two hundred year old ideology.

Works Cited

Spanos, N. P. (1982). Hypnotic behavior: A cognitive, social, psychological perspective. Research Communications in Psychology, Psychiatry, and Behavior, 7, 199-213.