Cognitions held about hypnosis have an important impact on areas such as initial rapport and hypnotic-treatment compliance. The Valencia Scale on Attitudes and Beliefs toward Hypnosis may be the first instrument specifically geared to the Spanish-speaking population. Besides measuring these cognitions, the scale can also help evaluate the effect of clinical and experimental manipulations on people's attitudes and beliefs toward hypnosis. The article pres-

This paper examines how attitudes of initially reluctant subjects towards hypnosis are influenced by three different approaches to introducing the topic. Participants (N = 90) were assigned to one of three experimental conditions: minimal information, cognitivebehavioural information and trance information. All three groups showed positive changes in attitudes toward hypnosis. Contrary to our expectations, positive attitudinal changes were not diminished for subjects exposed to trance information. Groups given trance and cognitive-behavioural explanations demonstrated significantly greater collaboration compared to the control group. No differences in hypnotic suggestibility were obtained.

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