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To cite this article: David M. Wark (1996) Teaching College Students Better Learning
Skills Using Self-Hypnosis, American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 38:4, 277-287, DOI:
10.1080/00029157.1996.10403352
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Teaching college students
better learning skills using self-hypnosis
DavidM. Wark
Untversity of'Minnesota
these and other reports on learning three groups: (1) The experimental
under hypnosis. He notes 2% to 40% group, on two different days, received
increases in verbal learning from hypno- an hour of induction and deepening, and
sis. Thus there is evidence that hypno- four quarter-hour sessions of post
sis and suggestions can improve labora- hypnotic suggestions to improve their
tory learning task efficiency, concentra- study. (2) The active control group
tion and motivation to study, and that listened to two hours of recorded humor,
the effects may be greater for the more and received the same suggestions
hypnotizable students. without hypnosis. (3) The inactive
On the other hand, there are some control group members were identified
arguments against the general use of but received no special treatment.
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hypnosis for improving learning skills Beyond that, the students in all three
by college students. Fowler (1961) gave groups were given the same instruction
suggestions for reading and test taking and practice exercises in learning skills
improvement in trance or in the waking (rapid reading, comprehension, listen-
state. Testing immediately after hypno- ing) as the non-volunteering students in
sis seemed to lower scores, but his the class.
hypnotized subjects reported subjec- Cole (1979) evaluated his treatments
tively better concentration when study- by changes in scores on standardized
ing, even after "many weeks." Oetting tests. The McGraw Hill Basic Skills tests
(1964) opined that relaxation needed for (Raygor, 1970) covered reading, spelling
a traditional trance was antithetical to and other study skills and were system-
active study, and students in deep atically designed to measure changes
trance may become dependent on the produced by the self-instructional books
therapist to solve their study problems and tapes used in the course. Cole (1979)
magically. Oetting described a tech- found no evidence the suggestions for
nique in which concentration is sug- better study had any effect on any test
gested without mention of hypnosis, scores significantly greater than the
relaxation or drowsiness. He presented curriculum alone. He does not mention
no data. Porter (1978) and Krippner any relation between hypnotizability
(1963) also encouraged treating study and any other variables. Cole (1979)
problems with hypnosis when students concluded that hypnosis has no special
expect it. Again, neither offered con- impact on learning or using study skills.
trolled data. There are factors that weaken Cole's
On balance, it seems reasonable to (1979) conclusions. All the subjects
expect some impact by hypnosis on were students in a validated training
learning, concentration and grades. course, so the impact of the carefully
However, a computer search of the constructed teaching materials may
hypnosis and education literature pro- have hidden the effects of the one hour
duced only two controlled studies of of hypnosis. Nor was there any measure
college students using hypnosis to of students' involvement in the project
improve learning skills. throughout the sessions.
Cole (1979) taught a traditional In a later study, Cooper (1990) also
semester-long learning skills class. Vol- taught learning skills using self-hypno-
unteers were randomized into one of sis. Subjects were 167 volunteers self-
identified as academic underachievers. section that met at the same time. Since
They were pretested on state, trait and there was no randomly selected control
test anxiety, as well as hypnotizability, group of students who wanted hypnosis
and randomized into one of three but did not receive it, the independent
treatments: (1) Self-hypnosis practice variable was level ofhypnotizabilty.
and suggestions for better study, (2)
Study skills instruction without hypno- Instrumentation
sis, and (3) A no-contact control group. Each student filled out the Learning
The treatment groups had four sessions and Study Skills Inventory (LASSI) by
of one hour each. Weinstein & Palmer (1987) during the
Cooper (1990) found some positive first week of the course. The LASSI has
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Other studies have qualified the because unlike the HGSHS:A, it can be
interpretation of the CIS. McConkey et validly and comfortably administered in
aI. (1979) found a correlation ofr = .28 a single 50-minute class session.
with the HGSHS:A, when using "think The CIS was modified in the present
with" instructions (Barber and Wilson, study for two reasons. First, the
1977). In that induction there is no students expected a hypnotic induction
mention of "sleep," "drowsiness," or ritual. The "think-with" instructions,
"hypnosis." McConkey, Sheehan and typically used with the CIS, mentioned
White (1979) concluded that the CIS neither hypnosis nor trance experience.
using that induction is a valid and Second, the high correlations with the
reliable measure of imagery ability, but HGSHS:A reported by Monteiro,
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probably not the dissociative skills McDonald and Hilgard (1980) suggest
tapped by the Harvard Group Scale of that the CIS might be a better measure of
Hypnotic Susceptibility: Form A hypnotic disassociation if it were pre-
(HGSHS:A) of Shor and Orne (1962) ceded by a more traditional induction. In
when subjects are openly inducted into the study, the CIS was preceded by the
hypnosis. traditional and standardized induction
Later Monteiro, McDonald and Hil- from the Stanford Clinical Scale (Morgan
gard (1980) studied the CIS along with and Hilgard, 1978/79). (The five items,
theHGSHS:A,(ShorandOme 1962),the ideomoter, dream, regression, amnesia
Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale and post hypnotic suggestions, were
form C, (WeitzenhofIer and Hilgard, not administered).
1962), the Tellegen-Atkinson Absorp-
tion Scale (Tellegan and Atkinson, 1974) Content of the course
and the Questionnaire Upon Mental In the second week of the term,
Imagery (Sheehan, 1967). They report a following the modified CIS, the students
correlation ofr =.55 between the CIS and learned to induce an alert trance (Banyai
the HGSHS:A, using the "think with" & Hilgard (1976); Banyai, Zseni & Tury
induction. Their analysis of the intercor- (1993), deepen the trance, give them-
relations among these tests of motor selves a suggestion for study improve-
response, imagery, absorption and am- ment, open their eyes and begin to study
nesia concluded that the CIS loaded on while hypnotized. The induction they
two subfactors, those tapping ideo learned is as follows:
motor skills or cognitive illusion. "This is a practical technique to
In a companion study, Hilgard, quickly bring your mind to a state of
Sheehan, Monteiro and McDonald (1981) focused tension and your body to a
concluded that the CIS seemed to be state of efficient relaxed calmness. The
weighed on two factors, (1) Hypnotic technique is called the LEVER because
responsiveness that seems related to you lift your mind to a state of sharp
ideo motor skill and (2) absorption! focus and relax your body while holding
imagery that seems related to cognitive your mind's tension. Then you lever up
illusions. Thus both studies support the your mental focus a bit higher, and again
conclusion that the CIS is a measure of relax your body. And then a third time
hypnotic-like behavior and imagery. A you raise your mental focus, and relax
modified CIS was used in this study your body. In that alert state you give
focusing on your target. Tense all the their confidence in their recall
muscles below your waist; your hips and (McConkey, 1991),which mayhelp in an
thighs and calves and feet. Increase actual test situation. Finally, they
your alert attention on the target, and leamed how to use self-hypnosis to
slowly relax your lower body as you reduce test anxiety (Stanton, 1993;
exhale. Wark & Flippo, 1991).
"Take a third deep breath. Tense your Students reported their experience for
whole body, and even more alertly each hypnotic study session. Before
observe your target as you keep your hypnosis they wrote the suggestion
spine erect but exhale and relax your they planned to use. They also made two
whole body. reports after each session. First, using
"Notice that your mind is alert and the 10-level Long Stanford Self-Report
your gaze is fixed on the target while Scaleof Depth (Tart, 1970)they reported
your body relaxes." their depth just before they gave
When you are ready, give yourself themselves a suggestion. Second, after
your suggestion and begin to study study they recorded their satisfaction
(Wark, 1990). with the experience. The scale items
This self-hypnotic maneuver has were as shown in Figure 1.
been shown, in a systematic controlled The journals were the source of two
study, to help students improve reading dependent measures; hypnotic depth
comprehension (Wark and LaPlant, and satisfaction with the experience.
1991). Grades, the third dependent measure,
After learning to use alert hypnosis, were collected the quarter before, the
students applied self-hypnosis to sev- quarter while learning self-hypnosis,
eral learning skills. They generated and the quarter after so there was
suggestions to overview assignments adequate follow-up of effects.
Figure 1
Circle the number that indicates your feeling about the session
Very What I Very
Disappointed Disappointed Expected Satisfied Satisfied
2 3 4 s
Figure 2
Depth of trance and satisfaction with experience
for 19 study sessions
10 5.0
9 S
...
4.5
A
8
:0. ......
~
.. 4.0 T
I
... •
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• 3.5 S
F
• 3.0 A
C
2.5 T
2.0 I
3
o
2 uN
1 1.0
12345678910111213141516171819 12345678910111213141516171819
DAYS
- - - DEPTH SATISFACTION········ .
to relax. That alone probably helped taking the course were excluded from the
them study. Then they included person- data set. The results for the remaining 45
ally chosen suggestions for focus and students are presented in Figure 3.
support. Here is an example from a Across all levels of imagery, the
student reading art history: "I am going average gain in grade from before to
to read each word carefully. The words after (m = .448, sd = 1.024) is highly
are interesting and clear. Art is interest- significant (t = 2.37, P = .005). The most
ing. Where I end will be a good spot to interesting finding is the impact of
stop. It will be like me sitting in my boat imagery. An ANOVA showed that the
with mydog. It will be smoothand calm." gain for the High CIS students (m= 1.03,
Another student wrote this suggestion sd = .846) is greater then either the
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for math: "I'm going to look at the Medium(m= .378, 00= .726) or the Low
problem and concentrate on it as though (m = .257, sd= 1.317)atp < .01.
I was working on the engine of my
motorcycle." He rated himself as "satis- Discussion
fied" and happy with the outcome and
his ability to follow the problem solving What is distinctive about students in
steps. Another student used this sug- this study who scored high on the CIS?
gestion to help stay focused and The reviews summarized above sug-
supported: "When I am reading my gested that the CIS is a measure of both
biology, my professor will be write (sic) hypnotic-like behavior and absorption
with me explaining what everything is in imagery. That analysis would lead to
talking about." Some student's sugges- the speculation that the high CIS
tions give a hint of the developmental scoring students in this study were
issues that are behind their study deeply absorbed in their imagery. It is
problems. One student wrote this sug- tempting to speculate that these stu-
gestion to help with her math studies: "It dents create many internal responses
will be as if I'm playing hopscotch with during their study. The teacher or author
my brother, jumping from number to moves from topic to topic in an
number ahead of Mark. Understanding organized, inductive or deductive pat-
how to win." tern. The students may start to track but
A critical question is whether the soon follow their own associative
training had an impact on grades. The fantasy to the detriment of their grades.
students were divided into three groups The High CIS student's thinking may be
of mental imagery ability: Low (CIS I to more responsive to internal associations
20), Medium(CIS 21to 28) and High (CIS than the structure of the lecturer's leads
29 +). The cutting scores were estab- and cues. Such students may not know
lished in the CIS norms published by how to control their imagery. Subjec-
Wilson and Barber (1978) and confirmed tively, they would report difficulty
by Siuta (1987). Each student's GPA was concentrating. Those are the high
recorded the quarter before they took mental image, low achieving students
the class, the quarter in which they who took the learning skills course.
learned and used self-hypnosis, and the Perhaps during the course students
quarter after. Students who formally learn some image control. They find
withdrew from the University after ways to focus their attention, give task-
Figure 3
Grade Point Average (GPA) for the quarter before, during and
after learning hypnosis for three levels of hypnotizability
G ,/
/
--.
•• »:
P . "'"
A . "'" "'"
•• »:
•• »:
2.00
~"'"
1.50
Before During After
Quarter
~ Cis Low 1-20 - -. - Cis Med 21-28 •••• o..• Cis High 29+
relevant self talk, create personal struc- changes in their academic performance.
tures to recall important learning, and First, as shown in Figure 4, High CIS
make positive associations to reduce students were consistently lower on all
test anxiety. For example, recall the the study orientation and skills scores
student who in hypnosis directed on the LASSI. Second, for the High CIS
himself to solve a math problem as if he students, the clearly highest score was
were fixing his motorcycle. Another INF, a measure of information process-
student improved astronomy grades by ing using images of the material studied.
imaging herself orbiting around each Example itemsare: "I try to seehowwhat
planet, focusing minutely and storing I am studying would apply to my
data for analysis and retrieval on exams. everydaylife" and "I translate what I am
In other words, they learned to control studying into my own words." At the
their imagery using self-hypnosis. The beginning of the course the High CIS
relation between the CIS and GPA students have a tendency to use
supports the speculation that imagery imagery in their studies, but have
and hypnotic-like behavior accounts for generally poor study skills. During the
some part of the effect. course they learn to apply their ability in
It is possible to draw conclusions the service of better grades. While the
about why the high CIS students make finding is based ideographically on one
Figure 4
Learning and Study Strategies Inventory Scale
percentiles for three levels of hypnotizability
45
P
40
E
R 35
C
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30
......-~
E 25 -.- ..~. "---
N .. .
..... ..
20
T
I IS
.
.. . ... .
.0•
L 10
•• o
E 5
·0 ••• <> ••• <> •• o· .o ..
·0
0
ATT MOT TMT ANX CON INP SMI STA SFT TST
LASSI SCALES
----.- Cis Low N = 6 - .... - Cis Med N = 6 ••• -0- •• Cis High N = 6