[Hypnosis: alert or non-alert].

The article includes a review of literature and own studies about hypnosis considered from the point of view of the subject's alertness or non-alertness, his activity or passivity in the hypnotic state. Activity is considered as a construct describing behavioral and experiential dynamics. This includes the general reactivity and the level of spontaneousness and initiative. The author's studies refer to the influence of hypnotic behavior on the dimension alert-non alert. The following factors were found to be important subject's preconception of hypnosis, the kind of hypnotic procedure used, subject's hypnotic susceptibility, subject's personality traits, implicite demand characteristics of particular suggestions, specific explicit suggestions and subject's training.