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EEG Alpha‐Hypnotizability Correlations: A Review
Author(s) -
Dumas Roland A.
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
psychophysiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.661
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1469-8986
pISSN - 0048-5772
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-8986.1977.tb01307.x
Subject(s) - psychology , alpha (finance) , correlation , electroencephalography , population , hypnotic susceptibility , cognition , developmental psychology , hypnosis , neuroscience , psychometrics , medicine , construct validity , geometry , mathematics , demography , alternative medicine , pathology , sociology
Experimental investigations of the relationships between EEG alpha indices and hypnotic susceptibility are reviewed. The literature is characterized as indicating that the simple alpha‐hypnotizability correlation does not exist in the general population. When such correlations are found, they are usually due to complex patterns which result in non‐representative subject pools when subjects are non‐naive volunteers. When subjects are invited to participate in experiments, significant correlations are not found. The implications of these conclusions are threefold: 1) The research on the relationship between EEG alpha and hypnotizability can now center on describing the mechanisms by which volunteer samples yield such correlations. 2) Researchers should be aware that subject selection methods can be the primary determinants of significant results. 3) Experiments based on the assumption that there is no alpha‐hypnotizability correlation in the population can yield information on the differences in cognitive ability between high and low hypnotizables.