ABSTRACT
Hypnotic studies have been concerned with the effects of complex hypnotic phenomena on conditioned responses or the effects of hypnotic induction on complex motor and verbal learning. Few investigations have been conducted on the more basic issue of the effects of neutral hypnosis; that is, the presentation of hypnotic induction instructions without further motivational instructions, on relatively simple conditioned responses. Conditioned responses and their relationships to hypnosis have been of primary concern to the Russian investigators. Pavlov, in his early work on two dogs, concluded that hypnosis, brought about by prolonged, monotonous environmental stimulation, creates in the cells of the cortex a state of irradiated inhibition. Up until 1967 these investigations were the only studies offering some direct measure of the effects of neutral hypnosis on a conditioned eyelid response; yet the findings of Korotkin and Suslova are at variance with those of McCrainie and Crasilneck.
