ABSTRACT
This chapter considers hypnotic communication from a humanistic viewpoint, and presents some empirical data that seem to support the theoretical approach. Several features of the traditional hypnotic induction seem unusual when considered from the standpoint of psycholinguistics or communications. One convenient means of applying these concepts to concrete data is to compare hypnotic and nonhypnotic language. If mechanistic and humanistic processes can be distinguished within hypnosis, the contrast should be even sharper between hypnotic language and ordinary communication. The results indicated that the hypnotic inductions were more redundant, as expected, than the nonhypnotic instructions. The musical aspects of hypnotic communication are another point of comparison between one of the arts and hypnosis. The emphasis on abstract concepts in the psychological instructions contrasts with the simplicity and concreteness of the hypnotic induction. The humanities and the arts share the hypnotist's concern with vivid, concrete representation, rather than intellectual analysis.
