Hypnosis has fascinated scientists and everyday citizens for centuries. I have always been skeptical of hypnosis: Should "amazing" things happen while hypnotized? Why are certain people prone to hypnosis?
During my high-school senior class party a hypnotist performed a show: eight students were chosen to come up on stage and be hypnotized. I thought, "Oh this can't possibly work". Surprisingly all of the students reacted to the prompts the hypnotist said. However, hypnosis doesn't have a great impact on suggestibility and it doesn't turn people into robots. A person who responds to 6/12 suggestions without being hypnotized might respond to 7 or 8 after hypnosis (Lilienfeld, pg. 182). And yet hypnotized people don't show similar brain waves to those who are asleep. So while you can push aside the fact that this can't happen or if you fully believe in hypnosis researchers continue to attempt to explain the hypnosis phenomena.
