Caught in the act

Preserved ancient hell ant found attacking its prey

WHAT DID THEY DO?

Psychologists at the University of McGill had more than 600 students with an average age of 21 listen to a 45-minute audio recording that was designed to induce hypnosis. Next, they were given 12 verbal suggestions such as ‘you will momentarily be unable to open your eyes’. They were then taken out of hypnosis, and asked to complete a questionnaire detailing how many of the prompts they had followed. Next, they answered questions that assessed how much their phone use disrupts their normal lives and were given a score on the Smartphone Addiction Scale.

WHAT DID THEY FIND?

The higher a participant’s score on the Smartphone Addiction Scale, the more likely they were to follow the hypnotic suggestions.

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

There was a small link between problematic smartphone use and hypnotisability. Hypnotisability and heavy smartphone use are both defined by absorbed states in which someone loses track of time and responds automatically to stimuli. The researchers suggest that interventions that target the absorbing effect of phones could encourage healthier use.