Further studies of physiological concomitants of hypnosis: skin temperature, heart rate and skin resistance.

Forehead skin temperature, heart rate and palmar skin resistance were recorded during passive hypnosis and compared with corresponding data obtained during the resting awake condition in a group of highly hypnotizable subjects experienced in self-hypnosis. Similar physiological measures were also monitored during experimental periods when subjects were experiencing suggested environmental conditions of cold and heat in hypnosis as compared with imagining the stress conditions. The data from these subjects were also compared with those obtained from a randomly selected group of people who were low in waking suggestibility and had never been hypnotized. The results indicate that the differences in mean physiological parameters were greatest between the two subject groups, although some noteable differences were also apparent between hypnosis and the awake condition within the experimental group.