These studies led to a special experimentation when I attempted in 1932 and 1933 to expound the concept of a certain type of spatial orientation found in schizophrenia, which had interested me since 1929. I had much discussion of this topic with Dr.
Govindaswamy, now deceased, a diplomate in psychological medicine and later superintendent at the mental hospital in Mysore, India, who was spending 15 months in the United States to study American psychiatry. In attempting to outline to him my
understanding of how schizophrenic patients could conceive of themselves as simultaneously sitting in a chair looking out a window and at the same time lying on a bed with eyes closed, I realized painfully the inadequacy of my verbal explanation. He could not follow my explanation of the equality and coexistence of two separate spatial concepts of the self without an accompanying spontaneous comparison or contrast and a consequent evaluative judgment. Accordingly I volunteered to let him witness and participate in such an experience through the utilization of hypnosis, which was also a modality in which he was intensely interested.
This particular instance is cited because it was so well recorded at the time and illustrates so clearly the building up of a Confusion Technique.
To accomplish this purpose, in a large vacant room I stationed two chairs and then Dr. Govindaswamy and myself in a 12-foot square arrangement, the chairs on one side, we two on the other. The respective positions for the chairs were A and B, those for us, C and D, Miss K, an excellent somnambulistic subject who had been used extensively in experimental work, was then summoned.
(Miss K had been deliberately selected for the experiment because of her high intelligence, her quick-wittedness, her fluency of speech, and her remarkably acute ear for changes in voice inflection and voice direction.) All of us are responsive, often unwittingly so, to a minimal change in the spoken voice when the head is changed to a different position and the voice thereby is given a new direction, and Miss K was unusually keen in this respect. One might recall to mind the common experience of the uninteresting lecturer who speaks to a spot on the back wall, contrasted to the interesting lecturer whose eyes roam constantly over the audience, thereby commanding their attention and giving each member of the audience the feeling that each and all of them are being
addressed.
In Dr. G’s presence it was explained to her that she was to develop a profound somnambulistic trance in which she would be in full rapport with Dr. G as well as with me. Shortly Miss K opened her eyes and looked at me, passively awaiting further instructions.
While Dr. G listened and watched, the author pasted paper labels bearing in small characters the letters A and B on the
respective chair seats, and Dr. G was asked to note, for himself that the east chair was labeled A and the west chair was labeled B.
He was asked to take up his position north of chair B and to draw a small circle around his feet with chalk. The author stood 12 feet north of chair A and drew with chalk a small square about his feet.
During this procedure Miss K stood quietly, staring unblinkingly into space. She was then asked to sit down in chair A, which was nearest the author, facing the chair B, the one nearest to Dr. G. Miss K took her seat and again passively awaited further instructions.
Since this entire procedure was a specific experimental effort, full notes were to be made by both Dr. G and the author. (Also, without disclosing his intentions, the author excused himself to correct an oversight, left the room briefly, and secretly summoned Miss F, an assistant, who had worked previously with the author and was well trained in how to record in full his experimental procedures including both words and action. She was asked to remain out of sight behind a certain curtain but where she would have a good view and to make a full shorthand record of all events).
Slowly, distinctly, Miss K was told:
I wish to teach Dr. G something about geography [“spatial orientation,” as a term was purposively avoided] and I need your help. You are to do exactly as I say and nothing more, with one exception. [Italics here indicate a special inflection of slow, intense emphasis with a slight deepening of the voice.] That exception [no special inflection on this use of the word “exception” had been given] is this. You will note mentally and remember whenever I do something that Dr. G does not do and vice versa. This you will do separately and apart from all the rest you are to do, and tomorrow, when you do some typing for Dr. G and for me, these separate memories will come to your mind, and you will fit them into the typing you are doing without saying a word about it to either of us.
Now for today’s work. The special task I have for you to do is this: You are to sit right where you are continuously, continuously, continuously [the same special inflection used in the preceding paragraph with one exception was again used with the word
“continuously”] without ever moving. Dr. G will watch you and so will I. Yet, I want you to know that that chair [pointing at A] you are in is here to you [pointing at B] is there, but to Dr. G this chair [A] is here and that chair [B] is there, but as we go around [the same special inflection mentioned above again being used for go around] the square, I am here and you are there, but you know you are here and you know I am there, and we know that chair [B] and Dr. G are there, but he knows he is here and you are there and that chair [B] is there and I am there and he and I know that you and that chair [B] are there, while you know I am here and Dr.
G and that chair [B] are there, but you know that Dr. G knows that he is here and you are there and that chair [A] is there and that I who am here am really there, and if that chair [B] could think, it would know that you are there and that Dr. G and I both think we are here and that we know that you are there even though you think you are here, and so the three of us know that you are there while you think you are here, but I am here and you are there and Dr. G knows that he is here, but we know he is there, but then he knows you are there while he is here.
All this was said slowly, carefully, impressively, while Miss K listened intently, and the author strove to record his statements and
tried to give Dr. G an opportunity to record them. (His record was later found to be most confused and incomplete as was the author’s record, but fortunately Miss F obtained a full and accurate record because of her previous training in recording the author’s Confusion Techniques).
Shortly Dr. G appeared to be unable to record any of the author’s impressively uttered statements, glanced at and traced with his finger the chalk mark about the author’s feet. The instructions were continued:
And now Miss K, slowly at first and then more and more rapidly until you are talking at a good speed, explain to Dr. G that while he thinks he is here and you are there, that you are here and that he is there even as I think that chair is there and I am here and you are there, and just as soon as you are saying it rapidly and Dr. G is beginning to understand that he is here and you are there, still talking rapidly, you slowly change from this [pointing at A] chair to that [pointing at B] chair, but keep his attention on your explanation of how each of us can think be here and be there or be there and think be here and then when he sees you sitting there, and thinks you are here, gently return, still explaining and even laughing at him for thinking you are there when you are here, and then not recognizing that you are there while he is still thinking you are here.
Miss K then took over, first speaking slowly, then with increasing rapidity. At first Dr. G ceased to try to record, and it soon became impossible for the author to record Miss K’s rapid utterances identifying here and there variously employed.
At about this time the author noted horizontal nystagmus in Dr. G’s eyes, and Miss K, still talking rapidly, reiterating variously the author’s explanations of here and there, glided gently from chair A to chair B. Dr. G checked visually his chalk circle, the author’s chalk square, and suddenly shouted, “You are sitting here in this chair,” to which Miss K replied simply, “Yes, I am sitting here [changing places] in that chair there [changing places again].”
The horizontal nystagmus in Dr. G’s eyes became worse, and he seized a piece of chalk and walked hastily over and marked a small x in front of one chair and a small o in front of the other chair. The author promptly signaled Miss K with his right hand,
pointed at the chalked x and o with his left hand, and made a covering movement with his foot. Miss K kept on talking here and there, gliding back and forth between the two chairs, sitting first in one and then the other, each time covering the x or the o with her foot while Dr. G said “You are sitting in the x chair—no, the x is gone but the o is there, so you are sitting in the o chair, but the o is gone (Miss K had quickly moved over) and the x is there, but the x is gone and the o is here and so you are there.”
His eye nystagmus increased greatly, he complained of severe vertigo, nausea and a painful headache. The experiment was discontinued, Miss K was aroused and dismissed, and the author deliberately began a continuation of the original question of dual spatial orientation in schizophrenia. Gradually Dr. G’s headache, nausea, and vertigo disappeared; he picked up his notebook, began to read, and seemed suddenly to have a partial sudden recollection of some of the experimental procedure.
He explained that as the author had given his original instructions about here and there he had experienced much confusion, but that when Miss K had taken over and increased the rate of her speech, he had felt himself becoming dizzy and that suddenly the room began turning around and around. This he had attempted to stop by making x and o marks, but those seemed to shift back and forth and to disappear unaccountably even though the chalk circle and square remained constantly present. He appeared to have no realization that Miss K had actually changed back and forth from one chair to another, only that the room kept whirling around with increasing subjective distress and confusion on his part.
The next day Miss K was asked to type her recollections of yesterday’s experimental procedure. She promptly developed a spontaneous trance and remained inactive. She was given instruction to recall and given a posthypnotic suggestion that she then type her recollections. She explained in the trance state, “I was so busy watching Dr. G and you and remembering here and there that I can’t remember. I was just concentrating on saying here and there in different ways and being sure of what was being said just to me and what was being said to both Dr. G and me by the inflections of your voice. When you first said “one exception” and then said I was to sit `continuously, continuously, continuously’ with that same inflection three times, I knew you were saying one thing to Dr. G but something different to me, and I had to watch for it (the inflection) again because I knew you meant something special.”
Nevertheless in the waking state Miss K readily typed my notes and Dr. G’s, but it was noted that she apparently developed brief spontaneous trances whenever she inserted parenthetically various items in both Dr. G’s record and mine, arousing spontaneously and continuing her typing without apparently noticing the insertions. (Much later I thought of time distortion and its possible bearing on Miss K’s spontaneous trances and parenthetical insertions in her typing without there being any interruption of her typing.
Perhaps, even quite possibly, she relived in distorted time the events of the previous day despite her trance assertion of inability to remember. These parenthetical insertions were less complete, but in good accord with Miss F’s full record).
In Dr. G’s effort to record Miss K particularly noted his failure of recording certain notes, his marking of the x and the o, his glancing at and fingering the chalk circle about his feet and glancing at the square about mine, and his apparent confusion when he emphatically announced that she was sitting in chair A and then noting that she was actually in chair B without having noticed her shifting of her position. She also noted his confusion about the appearance and disappearance of his marks of x and o, and she had observed the nystagmus. (This latter Miss F did not note—she could not see it—but she did note unsteadiness and arm waving as if to keep his balance. This latter Miss K also noted). She also noted many gaps in the author’s record because of his intense
concentration on the task and correctly interpreted the author’s notations of x and o and his writing of them crossed out or not crossed out as meaning “covered up” and “in view.”
Miss F’s account was fully comprehensive but could not be read by Dr. G, despite repeated attempts, without developing
vertigo, nausea and a headache. (This recurrent reaction is a most suggestive experimental induction of profound psychological and physiological responses.) Reading by Dr. G of his record with Miss K’s parenthetical insertions elicited sudden but not complete recollections, such as, “That’s right, she did change chairs, only I didn’t see her do it,” and “She put her foot on the x, that’s why it disappeared.” However he could not fully recall the entire experience. After this experiment Dr. G sought out schizophrenic patients who showed altered spatial orientation for special interviews and explained that their assertions had become much more meaningful to him. He also expressed much sympathy for certain patients who complained of distress from altered spatial orientation. It may be added that he was unwilling to be a hypnotic subject, but he did inquire several times if he had been hypnotized on that occasion. An evasive answer each time seemed appropriate to the author and was each time readily accepted by Dr. G. That he did not want to know with certainty is a reasonable interpretation.
As a further test of this procedure with Dr. G it was employed separately on three other subjects, all having doctoral degrees in clinical psychology. The first such subject, Mr. P from Princeton University, personally disliked the author but was an ardent
experimentalist who did not let his emotions interfere with his work. In fact he tended to dislike far too many people, but would collaborate wholeheartedly with them in experimental work.
The second subject, Miss S of Smith College, was interested in hypnosis but opposed for no reason that she knew to being a subject. She had observed others going into a trance unexpectedly without having been asked to do so or without volunteering while observing the induction of a trance in volunteer subjects. She had remarked to the author that she was too wary to allow this ever to happen to her, and when asked what she would do if it were to happen, she replied, “Once would be enough. Then I’d see to it that never did again.”
Mr. Y of Yale University had done some work with Hull, had tried many times to go into a trance as an experimental subject, and had never succeeded. Hull termed him an “impossible subject.” While he was highly intelligent and extremely capable of working out an adequate protocol for controls, subjects, and procedures, he always insisted on a few rehearsals of his experiments with nonsubjects, even in simple nonsense-syllable learning experiments.
All of the subjects, including Dr. G, were in the age range of 27 to 31. Exactly the same procedure was employed with them as had been followed with Dr. G. Separately with each of them the author had discussed the problem of spatial orientation as observed in some schizophrenic patients and then proposed the possibility of doing a hypnotic experiment on the matter by using one of his subjects. Each was interested and expressed interest in being an observer.
Exactly the same procedure as had been employed with Dr. G was followed, with the exception that the term “spatial
orientation” was used instead of “geography” as had been done with Dr. G. The reason for this was that in Dr. G’s case the author did not know just what Miss K would understand by “spatial orientation,” but he did know that she understood the game of “I am here and you are there and New York is there,” etc.
Another difference was that Miss F had read all the reports on Dr. G and was placed so that she could observe the subjects’
eyes and still be out of their sight. Secretly Miss K had been given hypnotic instructions to have an amnesia for Miss F’s presence.
Much rereading of the Dr. G record enabled the author to proceed with greater ease and comfort, and both Miss K and Miss F were better qualified for their tasks, having done it once.
The results obtained with all three subjects were comparable to those secured from Dr. G with minor individual differences.
None used the chalk, as available to them as it had been to Dr. G, to mark an x or an o to identify the chairs A and B. Each personally inspected the seat of the chair on which the author pasted the letters A and B. Mr. Y made this inspection three times for each chair, while Dr. G merely accepted the author’s statement. Miss S and Mr. P merely watched the author draw the chalk circle and square about their feet and his, but Mr. Y glanced back and forth at the circle and square.
With Dr. G a little over an hour elapsed before the experiment was concluded. With Mr. P, who was the first of the three to be used, 35 minutes were sufficient. Miss S was the second, and 45 minutes were needed. Mr. Y needed only 25 minutes.
All three developed nystagmus, Mr. P and Mr. Y by their movements manifested vertigo, Miss S complained verbally of feeling dizzy.
None noticed Miss K slipping back and forth from one chair to the other.
Mr. P was noted to become angry first at Miss K and then at the author in addition. Miss K’s record and that of Miss F typed the next day showed respectively (getting angry me), (more angry) (still angrier me and Dr. E) (yelling at us) (furious) and (getting mad at K) (madder), (really mad both), (yelling and then screaming at both Miss K and Dr. E).
Miss S was noted by both suddenly to glance about the room in a bewildered way and to complain of a severe headache and general physical distress.
Mr. Y was noted to keep moving his arms about as if to balance himself as his nystagmus grew worse. Then suddenly he closed his eyes and stood passively, presenting the appearance of a deep hypnotic trance.
Mr. Y was noted to keep moving his arms about as if to balance himself as his nystagmus grew worse. Then suddenly he closed his eyes and stood passively, presenting the appearance of a deep hypnotic trance.