The Importance of Being Earnest When Crafting Definitions: Science and Scientism Are not the Same Thing
- 1 July 2005
- journal article
- Published by Informa UK Limited in International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis
- Vol. 53 (3), 265-280
- https://doi.org/10.1080/00207140590961934
Abstract
The APA Division 30 definition of hypnosis is laudable in some respects. For instance, the committee rightly defines the "induction" as nothing more or less than the first suggestion after the introduction. However, the definition stumbles over its nonposition on whether the word hypnosis must be uttered during the procedure. This equivocation invites research designs that preemptively define a hypnotic group and a control group in terms of whether or not the word hypnosis is used in the protocol. These designs represent a backslide into naive operationism; they reveal little new about human nature or hypnosis. The field deserves an optimally heuristic definition that preserves pluralism and is relatively resistant to the teflon shield of preemptive definition. Researchers and practioners require a definition that recognizes the incompleteness of our concepts, generates a level epistemological playing field, and enables hypnosis theories to "reach."Keywords
This publication has 20 references indexed in Scilit:
- Mediation and moderation of hypnotic and cognitive-behavioural pain reductionContemporary Hypnosis, 2003
- Imaginative Suggestibility and HypnotizabilityCurrent Directions in Psychological Science, 2001
- The Tragedy of OperationalismTheory & Psychology, 2001
- Correlates of hypnotizability: the first empirical studyContemporary Hypnosis, 1999
- Imaginative suggestibility and hypnotizability: An empirical analysis.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1999
- Intentional and spontaneous imagery in hypnosis: The phenomenology of hypnotic respondingInternational Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 1999
- Waterloo-stanford group scale of hypnotic susceptibility, form c: Manual and response bookletInternational Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 1998
- Direct Versus Indirect Suggestions: A Conceptual and Methodological ReviewInternational Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 1993
- The Effects of Relaxation and Imagery Inductions on Responses to SuggestionsInternational Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 1986
- Theoretical risks and tabular asterisks: Sir Karl, Sir Ronald, and the slow progress of soft psychology.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1978