Ernest Hilgard

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Ernest Ropiequit "Jack" Hilgard (1904 - 2001) was an American psychologist who became famous in the 1950s for his research on hypnosis. He is specifically known for his work in finding a so-called "hidden observer" in the mind while hypnosis is taking place. This presumably provided support for his Disassociation theory where a person undergoing hypnosis can still understand his/her own pain. It should be noted that this phenomenon of the "hidden observer" was not only controversial but easily distorted by suggestions, indicating that it was likely no more than an artifact of the instructions given to the research participants.

[edit] Education

Hilgard was born in 1904 in Belleville, Illinois. He attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and earned his Bachelor's Degree there. He also studied graduate classes at Yale University, where he met his wife, Josephine Rohrs. After marriage they moved to California and he earned a job at Stanford University.