Tossing the baby with the (magnetized) bathwater: commentary on jacobson and colleagues

Utilizing the Hypnotic Concomitants of Education: Suggestions to Enhance Teaching and Learning

Clinical hypnosis for improving learning has been advocated by scholars dating back to the late 19^th century. Empirical research seeking to validate its use has been supported particularly for real life applications, though less so in laboratory memory experiments. Suggestions for the use of waking/alert hypnosis suggestion for both highly suggestible students who experience more advanced and compelling phenomena associated with hypnosis, and students in general are offered. Suggestions for future research are also provided.

Using Hypnosis to Enhance Learning Second Language Vocabulary

In this article, we measure the effects of hypnosis and suggestions for learning second language vocabulary. Participants (N = 70) were randomly assigned to a hypnosis or a control group. They were pre-tested, and then presented 21 Spanish words, post-tested immediately and 1 week later. The data were analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance with group (experimental versus control) as the between-subjects factor, and time as the within-subjects factor. The experimental group performed significantly better in both tests. Our results indicate that hypnosis is beneficial for second language vocabulary learning and retrieval.

The Effect of a Suggestion to Generate Interest in a Reading in Highly Hypnotizable People: A Promising Use in Education

Highly hypnotizable participants in the experimental condition were given a waking state suggestion that a reading not intended to be interesting would be fascinating and remarkable. Controls were given task motivational instructions, in which they were told to try to make it interesting. The suggestion had a major influence on participants' enjoyment of the reading, though no effect was found for reading comprehension. Qualitative interviews indicated that the suggestion had a profound impact on some, especially those most responsive to hypnosis. The lack of an effect in reading comprehension may be due to large within-group variances. Findings suggest that hypnotic suggestion, when properly employed, may have a potential use in enhancing the learning capabilities of highly hypnotizable people.