Dinges, David F

Kihlstrom, John F

McConkey, Kevin M

eScholarship - University of California

UC BerkeleyUC Berkeley Previously Published WorksTitleIN MEMORIAM: Emily Carota Orne, 1938–2016Permalinkhttps://escholarship.org/uc/item/5vc0v1hwJournalInternational Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 65(1)ISSN0020-7144AuthorsDinges, David FKihlstrom, John FMcConkey, Kevin MPublication Date2017-01-02DOI10.1080/00207144.2016.1248121 Peer reviewedeScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital LibraryUniversity of CaliforniaIN MEMORIAM:Emily Carota Orne, 1938–2016Emily Carota Orne, wife of the late Martin T. Orne and his compa-nion in research for almost 40 years, passed away on August 1, 2016,from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.Emily Orne was born in Boston on September 7, 1938, to Ruth FarrellCarota and Emil Carota. As an undergraduate at Bennington College, shedid a fieldwork term at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center, whichbrought her into contact with Martin, who was Senior ResearchPsychiatrist there, and Director of the Studies in Hypnosis Project. Aftergraduation in 1959, she did graduate work in psychology at BrandeisUniversity, where she was taught by Abraham Maslow, Ulric Neisser,and Walter Toman.Emily and Martin were married in 1962 and worked together for thenext 38 years. In 1964, the Orne laboratory, known as the Unit forExperimental Psychiatry, moved to the Institute of PennsylvaniaHospital and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, inPhiladelphia, where she was a Research Associate of Psychology inPsychiatry. Martin died in 2000, and Emily retired in 2014.Emily’s most salient contribution to hypnosis research was to develop,with Ronald E. Shor, the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility,Form A, an adaptation for group administration of Weitzenhoffer andHilgard’s Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form A. The HarvardScale introduced substantial economies into the assessment of hypnotiz-ability and made it possible for investigators of even limited resources tobecome involved in hypnosis research. By any standard, it has been themost frequently employed measure of hypnotizability by researchersworldwide, having been cited almost 1500 times (according to GoogleScholar) and been translated into many languages.Emily was particularly concerned with the forensic use of hypnosisand was a leading figure in the debate over the hypnotic recovery ofmemories of child sexual abuse and other traumas. She coauthoredinfluential studies that warned of the dangers that the suggestivenature of hypnosis posed for the accuracy of memory and cautionedthat any memory “recovered” through hypnosis should be indepen-dently confirmed. She was also interested in the medical applications ofhypnosis and published a number of studies on the use of hypnosis inpain relief and stress management in children with sickle-cell disease.Through all of her research, Emily insisted—as Martin did—that theeffects of hypnosis were “real” in the sense that they were subjectivelyIntl. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 65(1): 1–3, 2017Copyright © International Journal of Clinical and Experimental HypnosisISSN: 0020-7144 print / 1744-5183 onlineDOI: 10.1080/00207144.2016.12481211compelling, even as the subject’s interpretation of contextual demandcharacteristics shaped his or her response to the hypnotist’ssuggestions.The research program at the unit was very broad, and Emily wasalso involved in a wide variety of studies outside of hypnosis,including the effects of sleep and naps on attention and humanperformance and the psychophysiological detection of deception.Whatever the topic, she devoted herself to the research completely.She had an excellent eye for viewing experimental situations “fromthe subject’s point of view.” When new studies were being dis-cussed, planned and piloted, Emily, as Martin did, ensured thatthe investigators could articulate the conceptual and methodologicalalignment of those studies, would anticipate the possible empiricaloutcomes (not just the desired one) and consider alternative expla-nations for those outcomes and would bring the investigators backto understanding the perspectives of the subjects in the study. Andafter the study was completed and being written up, regardless ofwhether Emily was an author, she was a tireless editor of the unit’spublications. Draft after draft would pass through her hands,returned to its author(s) liberally splashed with red ink, until thefinal version was as good—clear, concise, and convincing—as itcould possibly be before submission. And when the paper cameback from editorial review, she would repeat the process all overagain. She lavished the same talent on articles submitted to theInternational Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis duringMartin’s term as Editor-in-Chief (1961–1992), a period in which thejournal rose to preeminence not only as a venue for hypnosisresearch but also as an exemplar of strong contemporary thinkingin psychology and psychiatry. In recognition of her contributions tothe field of hypnosis, she was awarded the Benjamin Franklin GoldMedal from the International Society of Hypnosis.Many people worked with Emily, and with Martin, at the Unit forExperimental Psychiatry over their years there, some for short peri-ods of time and some had a long association; that association washighly influential for many. Indeed, whatever the period of timetogether, whatever career followed, and wherever in the worldthey went, Emily’s direct and indirect influence continued in variousways. In addition to an ongoing interest in the careers of many ofthose people, as evident in letters and e-mails from Emily about apublication by them she read or a career move she heard about,Emily also expressed keen interest in the personal activities, familymembers and loved ones, and happiness of those whose careers shehad helped to shape at the Unit for Experimental Psychiatry.2 DAVID F. DINGES ET AL.Emily Carota Orne is survived by her son Frank T. Orne, herdaughter Tracy M. Orne, her brother Noel Farrell Carota, her sisters-in-law Lindsay Stradley Carota and Susie Orne, and their families, andby her caregiver Michael McCullough.DAVID F. DINGESPerelman School of Medicine, Universityof Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USAJOHN F. KIHLSTROMUniversity of California, Berkeley, USAKEVIN M. MCCONKEYUniversity of New South Wales, Sydney,AustraliaIN MEMORIAM: EMILY CAROTA ORNE 3

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IN MEMORIAM: Emily Carota Orne, 1938–2016

https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5vc0v1hw

IN MEMORIAM: Emily Carota Orne, 1938-2016.

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