CH. 5 SENSATION AND PERCEPTION: Part 3 → The Chemical Senses: Taste and Smell
HYPNOSIS
What?
A social interaction in which the subject responds to another person’s (the hypnotist’s) suggestions
regarding certain perceptions, feelings, thoughts, and/or behaviors (a heightened state of
__________________________)
How?
A hypnotic ___________________ can proceed in various ways and may involve the soft-spoken,
repetitive, suggestion that the subject is relaxing, feeling tired or drowsy, breathing is deep, and the
eyelids/limbs are growing heavy
Who?
People vary in their hypnotic _______________________________, which can be measured using
standardized susceptibility scales, but about 10-20% are highly hypnotizable and the same %s are not
CAN HYPNOSIS RELIEVE PAIN?
________! Hypnosis is used effectively by physicians and dentists as an alternative for anesthesia
(10% of hypnotizable people can have surgery w/o any anesthetic drugs)
→ typical explanations for reduced pain such as relaxation, placebos and endorphins appear
to play no part
CAN HYPNOSIS ENHANCE MEMORY RECALL?
Hypnotically recalled memories generally combine fact and _______________ (remember, not all
memories are permanently encoded); pseudomemories can be ‘planted’ by the hypnotist
→ hypnosis-induced evidence is not allowed in court
CAN HYPNOSIS LEAD PEOPLE TO DO THINGS AGAINST THEIR WILL/BECOME DISINHIBITED?
Hypnotized people have indeed been coerced into doing dangerous/otherwise unacceptable things
(throwing ‘acid’ into the hypnotist’s face)
→ unhypnotized _______________ groups in lab settings have perform the same acts as the
hypnotized experimental group
CAN POSTHYPNOTIC SUGGESTIONS WORK?
Subjects told that they will forget that they were hypnotized – _______________________ amnesia
– admit to remembering
→ posthypnotic ________________________ have been successful in treating headaches,
stress-related skin disorders, and obesity, but causal relationships haven’t been established
IS HYPNOSIS ALTERED CONSCIOUSNESS?: TWO THEORIES
NO says the ______________ influence/__________-playing theory: there is no measurable change
in brain-wave activity involved with hypnosis
→ subjects play their roles like actors according to social _____________________ as long as
they like and trust the hypnotist
→ this is supported by __________hypnotized subjects performing similar acts
YES says the __________________-consciousness theory: certain distinctive brain activities may
accompany hypnosis
→ hypnotized subjects sometimes carry out suggested behaviors when they think noone is
watching…and then there is that bit about ___________…
→ Ernest ____________ proposed the idea of disassociation, a split in consciousness allowing
different layers to occur simultaneously, to explain pain-tolerance specifically and hypnosis in general
MEDITATION
Meditation involves a deliberate effort to ______________ consciousness using a variety of
techniques that may or may not have religious significance
→ open monitoring meditation involves remaining ____________________ to whatever
arises in your consciousness from moment to moment w/o latching on to it
→ _________________ attention meditation involves concentrating on something specific
(your breath, a mantra, etc.) in order to remove the ‘clutter’ in the mind
Meditation does involve __________________ in brain wave activity as well as both short-term
(decreased state of arousal) and long-term (reduced stress, blood pressure, etc.; increased selfesteem, awareness, etc.) benefits
→ the verdict is out if these results are meditation-specific or common to any type of
_______________________ technique
DRUGS
People want to alter their _____________________________ and imbibing the chemical substances
in psychoactive drugs are a commonly used and abused method
→ drug use and effect are based on a multitude of ________________ that vary from person
to person, situation to situation, and culture to culture
Drug effect are based on both multifactorial ___________________ and ______________________
of experience: age, mood, experience, body weight, dosage, potency, environment, expectations all
contribute to the impact of drug use
→ different drugs also vary in the rate in which _____________________ – diminishing effect
of a drug, thus requiring larger doses – is produced
In general, psychoactive drugs work by manipulating specific ______________________________
action in the synaptic clefts in the brain
→ the increased release of dopamine in the mesolimbic dopamine pathway - the so-called
“________________ pathway” – is consistent with most drug use and abuse
DRUG DEPENDENCE AND RISK
People can and do become _______________________ to drugs physically – avoid withdrawal
symptoms - and/or psychologically to satisfy cravings
→ like most aspects of drug use, ______________________ symptoms from physical and
psychological addiction vary, but for both they can be intense and powerful
Drug use comes with the risks of long-term physiological effects, indirect behavior-related problems,
and the potential for __________________
→ overdose risk is greatest among sedatives, narcotics and alcohol; in particular,
_____________________________ of these and/or other drugs