Credulous versus Skeptical Accounts of Hypnotic Phenomena: The Methodology of J. Philip Sutcliffe

Of all methodologies of hypnosis the paradigm proposed by J.P. Sutcliffe is the most general of those considered in this book. The model is concerned primarily with scientifically indexing the "subjective experience" of the susceptible subject; it attempts to deal with the basic dilemma about how we know whether hypnotic experience is real or not. Understanding of the model is best approached through the historical survey Sutcliffe (1958, 1960) himself conducts into science's changing opinions as to the legitimacy of hypnotic phenomena.