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6
ANN
WERTZ
GARVIN
ET
AL.
experimental designs (Campbell
&
Stanley,1963)are employed, and this
occurs when randomized-groups designs are not possible.
The use of "passive" treatments can lead to further complications,
because these interventionshave been shown tobe capableof producing
both psychological (e.g., reduced anxiety) and physiological (e.g.,
reduced blood pressure) effects (Morgan, 1997).The members of a con-
trol group should be treated the same
as
members of
an
experimental
group except for the independent variable (e.g.,hypnosis) that is being
manipulated. This isofteninstructivebecause controlgroups sometimes
experience significant outcomes, and these effects occasionally equal
those seenin the experimentalgroup. Therefore, the questionshould not
be whether or not
an
experimentalinterventionhas an effect, but rather
the issue shouldbe the degreetowhich the outcomeobserved following
the experimental treatment exceeds that
of
a placeboand a no-treatment
control.
It has been reported that state anxiety, asmeasured by the State-Trait
Anxiety Inventory (STAI)(Spielberger,Gorsuch,
&
Lushene, 1983),can
be reliably decreased following noncultic meditation, as well as "quiet
rest" (i.e.,control).
It
has alsobeen reported that cardiovascular(Deabler,
Fidel, Dillenkoffer,
&
Elder, 1973;Raglin
&
Morgan, 1987)and endocrine
(Michaels,Huber,
&
McCann, 1976)changescan accompanysuch inter-
ventions. Indeed, it was reported by Michaels et al. that although tran-
scendental meditation was effective
in
reducing plasma levels
of
epi-
nephrine, norepinephrine, and lactate, the effect was just as great
following a control period of "quiet rest."
In
order to assert that hypno-
sis, meditation, or relaxation reduces physiological arousal or improves
affective states, it is imperative that contrasts be made between such
interventions and the mere passage of time in a quiet setting.
There is one additional methodological issue that has been largely
ignored in this area. It has been accepted that various relaxation proce-
dures aremost effective
in
the supineposition (Benson,1975;Jacobson
&
Baucom, 1977; Schultz
&
Luthe, 1969),and some investigators believe
that the individual's physical posture is very important during the
induction of hypnosis. Newman (1979),for example, has indicated that
tense adults
"
.
.
.
sometimes feel very threatened in the recumbentposi-
tion, and children especially often dislike lying down, presumably
because of associationwith bedtime" (p.
287).
Nevertheless, there is
an
absenceof compellingempiricalresearchdemonstrating that body posi-
tion (e.g., seated versus supine) has
an
influence on outcomes when
these interventions are employed.
It
is possible, of course, that various
physiological effects attributed to relaxation procedures are simply the
result of alterations in body position.
In
addition, there does not appear
to be systematic research dealing with the influence of body position
(seatedversus supine)
on
affective outcomes.
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