502 - Cold Control
This stems off from Rosenthal’s higher order thought theory. They suggested we had intentions (higher order thoughts) and then thoughts around those intentions. For instance “lift the arm” vs “I know I intend to lift the arm.”
The big idea is that we can form intentions (lift the arm,) and form inaccurate thoughts about it (I did not intend to lift the floating arm,) or even just skip secondary thoughts (awareness) altogether. This is where cold control theory stems off from higher order thought (HOT) theory. HOT theory was primarily concerned with normal cognition, but Zoltan Dienes (the creator of Cold Control theory) saw it as a tool to explain the edge case of hypnosis.
My goal here isn’t to make this the most academically accurate write-up - it’s to give us home-gamers some more tools and perspectives.
This is a theory, not a full and complete explanation. This theory is good for explaining the automaticity in response, but perhaps less things like hallucination.
A Few Terms
- HOT (Higher Order Thought) - in higher order thought theory - this is being conscious of something (in our case usually, an intention), but not aware of something. Just because you have an intention (like turn left at the next light,) doesn’t mean you’re aware of it. (Same with scratching an itch.)
- FOT (First Order Thought) - The FOT would be “lift the arm,” the pure motor intention.
- SOT (Second Order Thought) - the SOT would be “I intend to,” and then first order FOT “turn left at the light.”
- TOT (Third Order Thought) - usually metacognition, thinking about intentions. “I’m aware that” - “I intend to” “turn left at the light.”
- Cold Control is a bit of wordplay on not forming these HOTs about our intentions.
- SAS - Supervisory Attentional System
Trashy Theory Speedrun
According to the theory, the thing that makes hypnosis feel non-volitional is inaccurate or missing HOTs. You may intend to lift your arm, but you may never think “I am aware that I’m intending to lift my arm.” These components of thoughts, called HOTs, are subject to all the same crap that other thoughts are - like expectancy, social pressures, and context. So the misattribution can happen from any number of reasons (attributing it to the hypnotist, I felt dissociated from my arm therefore I did not intend to lift my arm, that voodoo doll looks freakin’ gnarly and I don’t want to piss it off so I’ll lift my arm when he lifts the arm - but I’m not even aware that it was a conscious decision…)
The cool part about cold control is that it’s modern, and still leaves the option open for state theory. State theorists have been fighting back and forth with psychological and socio-cognitive theorists about how this stuff works - but this theory embraces some parts of both sides.
Put flatly for something to work in the cold control framework, there are not multiple “selves” or streams of consciousness as in some theories, and this is not just roleplay or placebo. Many suggestions include executive function (amnesia, analgesia, hallucination) so anything that says your frontal lobes turn off is incompatible with this line of thought.
Conversely, expectation does play a role, so socio-cognitive theorists can come hang out with cold control theorists, and a state of hypnosis is not explicitly forbidden. The entire spectrum from neurophysiological correlates to full on hypnotic state theories are compatible.
I’m just on the recreational side and I’m reading waaaay above my weight class here. But - I like the idea that we can get three cakes instead of one. Or at least be unaware that we are hallucinating the other two.
In Practice
Aside from amnesia just being hard to do in general (with or without hypnosis,) there’s some reasons why motor suggestions could be easier than these heavy-hitters in hypnosis. This theory could also explain why some people respond more easily hypnotically.
“You’ll find that your arm will begin to rise on it’s own… lighter and lighter.”
- FOT - lift the arm. (Still feels automatic, no awareness of intention.)
- SOT - I intend to lift the arm (still feels automatic - you’ve built the intention, but you haven’t thought of it.)
- TOT - I’m aware that I intend to lift the arm. (Fuck, it doesn’t feel automatic.)
Notice that we can get all the way down to TOT before breaking the feeling of automaticity.
Now lets try number amnesia. If we think the HOTs through, we could guess how we could forget the number four as a cognitive behavior.
- FOT - Forget the number four
- SOT - I intend to forget the number four
- Internal brain gremlin: Shit - wait. What was I forgetting? Four. Oh wait. God damnit. We fucked up the hypno.
- TOT - I’m aware that I intend to forget the number four.
But, some high responders may have this going on internally:
- FOT - Forget the number four.
- SOT - After 5 comes 3. Yup.
- TOT - I’m aware that 5 comes after 3.
Caveats
Don’t throw out other tools just because they don’t fit into this model - but this might be an excuse to try out a response expectancy technique, or something like Hypnosis without Trance from James Tripp.
Cold control doesn’t go into imagination affecting physiology. If we cut a lemon in half and think about cramming that bad boy all the way into our mouths, we’re probably already salivating. That did feel automatic, but not particularly hypnotic. I’m out of my league science-wise here, but I don’t think the SAS was involved with making my mouth salivate thinking about a lemon.
Effective Takeaways
- Get them drunk. This gives your frontal lobes a big kick in the face. There’s a small nugget in there that’s associated with forming awareness of intention, lovingly nicknamed the HOT box. If we get the tool we use to create SOTs and TOTs fucked up, we might have an easier time.
- Create dissociation. Dissociation from action promotes feelings of automaticity and reduces attribution to volition. The TOTs might end up being “I’m so out of it, it must be happening on it’s own.”
- Raise expectancy. Since normal cognitive behavior affects higher order thoughts of volition, raising expectancy of hypnosis or automatic response will reduce the chances of thoughts of volition from forming. If your SOT is “FUCK FUCK FUCK,” you don’t even have to worry about “I intend to lift my arm” forming.
- Do not try to wear out your subject. Your subject may need this cognitive will to suppress higher order thoughts about volition, assuming they’re cooperating.
- Complex cognitive behavior (EG - resisting a habit) is absolutely on the table for hypnotic response. “Turn left into the parking lot” is still a first order thought - an intention, before awareness.
- Placebo and hypnotic pain reduction behave differently. Therefore, hypnosis is not ‘just’ placebo.
- Expectancy helps, but does not explain all the effects of hypnosis. Hypnosis is not roleplay.