Successful response to hypnotic suggestions can be achieved by forming an intention (in the executive system) to perform the action or cognitive activity required, without forming the higher order thoughts about intending that action that would normally accompany the reflective performance of the action (but rather forming inaccurate higher order thoughts to the effect that one did not intend the action).
intending to perform (motorically or cognitively)
These different accounts lead to different predictions about the relation of hypnotisability to mindfulness of mental states:
While the means are in the right direction for highs being less mindful than lows as measured by the task (as seen by meditation scores), there is insufficient sensitivity to detect any significant differences. Although these measures correlate with mindfulness (see table 1), a longer time may be needed for the meditation task to see clear effects.
Fig. 2: Mean differences between highs and lows on self-report measuresAfter controlling for social desirability, highs scored significantly lower on a measure of mindfulness than lows (p = .02). Highs scored significantly higher than lows on a measure of cognitive failures (p = .04). They also scored higher on measures of absorption, thought suppression, and internal encoding style, yet these differences were not significant.