Research article summary (published 30 Jul 2006):

Hypnotic suggestion modulates cognitive conflict: the case of the flanker compatibility effect.

Full Abstract

The present work was aimed at investigating whether the flanker compatibility effect can be eliminated by means of a posthypnotic suggestion influencing attentional focusing. In Experiment 1, participants who scored high and low on hypnotic susceptibility performed the flanker compatibility task when naturally awake and when under a posthypnotic suggestion aimed at increasing the target's discriminability from the flankers. Results showed that the posthypnotic suggestion effectively eliminated the flanker compatibility effect in highly susceptible participants, whereas low-susceptibility participants did not show any reduction in the effect. In Experiment 2, highly susceptible participants performed the task after receiving a suggestion but without the induction of hypnosis. Results showed that the suggestion alone was not sufficient to reduce the flanker compatibility effect. These results support the view that in highly susceptible participants, hypnotic suggestion can influence the ability to focus on relevant information.

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Author information

Author/s: Iani, Cristina (C); Ricci, Federico (F); Gherri, Elena (E); Rubichi, Sandro (S);

Affiliation: Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Reggio Emilia, Italy.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Psychological science : a journal of the American Psychological Society / APS (Psychol Sci), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-Aug; vol 17 (issue 8) : pp 721-7

Dates: Created 2006/08/17; Completed 2006/10/05;

PMID: 16913956, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adult Cognition Conflict (Psychology) Female Humans

Humans Hypnosis Male Reaction Time Suggestion

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