How many times have you been driving and you do not know how you got from one point to another? Usually, you start thinking about something and next thing you know, you are at your destination. Some people call it “dozing off”, “spacing out” or “daydreaming”. In psychology, we refer to that process as “Highway Hypnosis“. Ernest Hilgard hypothesized that hypnosis creates a dissociation. Dissociation is a split of two parallel mental streams, a conscious stream and unconscious stream.

The conscious stream consists of all the things we are doing at the present moment and we are aware of them. The unconscious streams consist of all the things we do without being aware of them. Examples of both can be seen during “Highway Hypnosis”. Sometimes we can drive our car responding to traffic lights and other cars without any recollection of consciously doing so. Like other types of hypnosis, “Highway Hypnosis” has an “amnesia” component. Usually, we cannot recall segments of the drive, which was controlled by the unconscious stream.”Highway Hypnosis” is a clear example of Hilgard’s hypothesis about the splitting of streams. The unconscious stream performs the mechanical tasks, like driving; while the conscious stream is engaged in thoughts of other matter.

Has this ever happened to you?
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