The role of subject expectancies in hypnosis

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Abstract
The influence of S's expectancies and “early data returns” on the depth of hypnosis was investigated in an experiment in which 40 female psychology students were shown 1 of 2 videotapes of “a hypnotic session conducted with a previous S” 1 tape created the set that becoming deeply hypnotized was very probable while the other created the set that it was very improbable. Ss were then hypnotized and administered a series of “depth tests” in such a way that the probability of passing the initial items was very high for half of the Sa and very low for the other half. It was hypothesized that (a) “early data” (Ss response to initial suggestions) congruent with S's expectancies should yield subsequent behavior in keeping with the expectancies and (b) “early data” incongruent with S expectancies should lead to behavior consistent with the early data. Results support the first part of the hypothesis, but not the second.

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