ABSTRACT
The process by which hypnosis is induced is remarkably innocuous when one considers the apparently dramatic changes that occur. It is recognized that there is no generally accepted definition of hypnosis, though considerable consensus exists at a descriptive level and observers readily agree that they have witnessed hypnosis after they have watched a highly responsive S responding to hypnotic suggestions. The real-simulating model is particularly well adapted to explore issues of the kind and permits the investigator to evaluate the likelihood of an alternative mechanism accounting for the behaviors observed during hypnosis. Damaser, Shor, and Orne were able to show that striking changes in heart rate and galvanic skin response are induced in hypnotized individuals by hypnotic suggestions. The inference drawn from the behavior of the simulating Ss is concerned with assessing the adequacy of the procedure for answering the experimental question, rather than with answering the experimental question itself.
