Absorption: Construct Explication by Q-Sort Assessments of Personality

This study reports on observer-assessed personality correlates of the personality disposition of absorption. A total of 45 young females and 43 young males were measured via the Tellegen Absorption Scale, with the relations of absorption to the independently evaluated items of the California Q-sort then being examined. Results indicate that for both sexes, the disposition to enter states of high absorption coexists with an implicative pattern of personality items consistent with the core conceptual definition of the disposition as defined by Tellegen (1992)—the willingness to destructure conventional modes of cognitive and perceptual processing. Sex differences in the correlates of absorption were also observed, suggesting that the phenotypical expression of the latent construct of absorption is moderated by sex.     

Absorption, openness to experience, and hypnotizability

Absorption, a correlate of hypnotizability, is conceptually related to openness to experience. Study 1 found no evidence that gender moderated the correlation between absorption and hypnotizability, or of nonlinear trends. Study 2 showed that openness was factorially complex, and that absorption was related to imaginative involvement, but not to social-political liberalism. Study 3 found small quadratic trends in the relations between these variables and hypnotizability; hypnotizability was related to imaginative involvement, but not liberalism. Study 4 confirmed differential correlations between absorption subscales and hypnotizability but failed to confirm the nonlinear trends. Implications for future studies of the correlates of hypnotizability, and for the nature of the "fifth factor" in personality structure, are discussed.     

Visual Elaboration Scale as a measure of imagery

We studied the correlation of one measure of imagery ability, the Visual Elaboration Scale, with two others, absorption of image and effort required to form a mental image. Significant correlations were obtained between the Visual Elaboration Scale and the other scales, with the exception of Absorption for women.     

Absorption and hallucinatory experience

In this paper, we investigate whether the personality trait of Absorption is a predisposing factor for hallucinatory experience. Our participants completed a number of questionnaires, assessing absorption, hallucinatory experiences, subjective experiences along the sleep–wakefulness continuum, paranormal experiences and belief, and dissociation. Our findings are indicative of a common, pseudo‐hallucinatory experiential base, suggesting that absorption can indeed serve as the predisposing factor for hallucinatory experience. In our discussion, we look at the implications of this finding for applied cognitive psychology, focusing on the study of false memories and reality monitoring, and on the study of probability judgement and paranormal belief. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The dark side of Absorption: Empirical associations between an experiential response style and hypochondriacal concerns

We examined associations between hypochondriacal concerns and the personality dimensions of Absorption and Negative Emotionality (NE). On the basis of research suggesting that Absorption is associated with both negative and positive affective experiences, we hypothesized that participants with high levels of Absorption and NE would report higher levels of hypochondriacal concerns. A sample of 212 undergraduates completed a set of self-report measures assessing Absorption, NE, and aspects of hypochondriacal concerns. Results provide preliminary but mixed evidence that Absorption relates positively to certain hypochondriacal concerns, in some cases by means of interactions with NE.     

Personality factors and somatic symptoms

This study investigates the association between self-reported somatic complaints (GSCL, Giessen Symptom Check List), medically evaluated global health and coping style (MBHI, Millon Behavior Health Inventory), current emotions (TESI, Tension Effort Stress Inventory), subjective well-being, and mental absorption (ABS, Tellegen Absorption Scale). The MBHI basic coping scales denoted introversive, sociable, confident, and respectful were negatively correlated with the GSCL, while the inhibited and the sensitive scales were positively correlated with the GSCL. The forceful and the cooperative scales were uncorrelated with symptoms. All the psychogenic attitude scales were firmly positively associated with reported somatic complaints. Mental absorption was weakly positively associated with the GSCL. Current emotions were firmly positively and negatively related to symptom report. Medically assessed health status was almost uncorrelated with the MBHI scales, current mood, well-being, and absorption. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Absorption and spiritual experience: A review of evidence and potential mechanisms

Some people seem to have a ‘talent’ for spiritual experience: they readily sense the presence of supernatural beings, receive special messages from God, and report intense feelings of self-transcendence, awe and wonder. Here we review converging strands of evidence to argue that the trait of 'absorption' captures a general proclivity for having spiritual experiences. Participants scoring highly on the Tellegen Absorption Scale report vivid experiences of hearing God's voice during prayer, intense mystical experiences in response to psychedelics or placebo brain-stimulation, and strong feelings of presence and transcendence when confronted with natural beauty, virtual reality, or music. Several mechanisms may help to explain the relationship between absorption and spiritual experience. We suggest that absorption captures an experiential mindset that intensifies inner and outer sensory experience in ways that reflect both prior expectation and novel sensory engagement. It seems to enable that which must be imagined to feel more real.     

Hypnotizability, imaginative involvement, and anxiety

Forty-five undergraduate students were investigated to determine the relationship between hypnotizability, imaginative involvement (absorption), and anxiety responses. Hypnotizability was measured independently with the Creative Imagination Scale (CIS), and imaginative involvement was measured with the Absorption Scale (ABS). The results indicated moderate significant correlations between CIS, ABS, and several of the anxiety measures. In particular self-reported physiological aspects of anxiety/activation were associated with the CIS and the ABS. Three of the subjects reported having panic attacks. These subjects also exhibited high hypnotic responsiveness, and their scores on the ABS and several of the anxiety scales were considerably elevated as compared with the group mean level.     

Cognitive Correlates of Boredom Proneness: The Role of Private Self-Consciousness and Absorption

The contributions of private self-consciousness and absorption in explaining boredom proneness were investigated. University students enrolled at a public university in the southeastern United States completed a packet containing the Boredom Proneness Scale (BPS; R. Farmer & N. D. Sundberg, 1986), the Self-Consciousness Scale (SCS; A. Fenigstein, M. F. Scheier, & A. H. Buss, 1975), the Tellegen Absorption Scale (TAS; A. Tellegen & G. Atkinson, 1974), the Need for Cognition Scale (NCS; J. T. Cacioppo, R. E. Petty, & C. F. Kao, 1984), and a demographic questionnaire. Scores on the Boredom Proneness subscale, Internal Stimulation, which indicates the difficulty in keeping oneself interested and entertained, were significantly lower for individuals high in absorption (a measure of attention). Individuals high in positive self-awareness, representing awareness of one's internal states, reported lower overall boredom. Individuals high in negative self-awareness, which focuses on evaluation and judgment, reported increased total boredom proneness scores. Implications of these findings for the treatment of boredom proneness and future research are discussed.     

A longitudinal study of the development of anticipatory nausea and vomiting in cancer chemotherapy patients: the role of absorption and autonomic perception.

We interviewed 70 cancer patients receiving chemotherapy at home before their second treatment session to obtain baseline measures of absorption, autonomic perception, depression, state-trait anxiety, and basic demographic information. Patients were then interviewed before each of their next six treatment sessions, at which time measures of depression, state anxiety, severity and duration of postchemotherapy nausea and/or vomiting (PCNV), and experience of anticipatory nausea and/or vomiting (ANV) were obtained. Previous findings suggesting that motion sickness, trait anxiety, depression, sex of subject, and age are predictors of the development of ANV were not replicated. Patients with ANV did score significantly higher on measures of absorption and autonomic perception than patients who did not develop ANV. Those variables hypothesized to mediate conditioning (i.e., toxicity of treatment drugs, severity of PCNV, levels of state anxiety) accurately predicted which patients developed ANV. Absorption and autonomic perception added significantly to the prediction.     

Absorption and hypnotizability: context effects reexamined

Two independent studies failed to find evidence consistent with Council, Kirsch, and Hafner (1986), who argued that the repeatedly observed correlations between Tellegen's (1981) Absorption Scale (TAS) and hypnosis measures were artifacts of testing context, and de Groot, Gwynn, and Spanos (1988), who claimed evidence for a Gender x Context moderator effect. In the present studies, Ss completed the TAS and other personality questionnaires on 2 occasions: during an independent survey and later immediately prior to an assessment of hypnotizability. In Experiment 1 (N = 475), the effect of context on the relation between questionnaire scores and hypnotizability was weak and variable; in Experiment 2 (N = 434), these weak effects were reversed. The results reaffirm the construct validity of absorption as both a major dimension of personality and as a predictor of hypnotic responsiveness.     

Virtual-reality-based attention assessment of ADHD: ClinicaVR: Classroom-CPT versus a traditional continuous performance test

Virtual-reality-based assessment may be a good alternative to classical or computerized neuropsychological assessment due to increased ecological validity. ClinicaVR: Classroom-CPT (VC) is a neuropsychological test embedded in virtual reality that is designed to assess attention deficits in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or other conditions associated with impaired attention. The present study aimed to (1) investigate the diagnostic validity of VC in comparison to a traditional continuous performance test (CPT), (2) explore the task difficulty of VC, (3) address the effect of distractors on the performance of ADHD participants and typically-developing (TD) controls, and (4) compare the two measures on cognitive absorption. A total of 33 children diagnosed with ADHD and 42 TD children, aged between 7 and 13 years, participated in the study and were tested with a traditional CPT or with VC, along with several cognitive measures and an adapted version of the Cognitive Absorption Scale. A mixed multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) revealed that the children with ADHD performed worse on correct responses had more commissions and omissions errors than the TD children, as well as slower target reaction times . The results showed significant differences between performance in the virtual environment and the traditional computerized one, with longer reaction times in virtual reality. The data analysis highlighted the negative influence of auditory distractors on attention performance in the case of the children with ADHD, but not for the TD children. Finally, the two measures did not differ on the cognitive absorption perceived by the children.     

Expectancy versus absorption in the prediction of hypnotic responding

The Absorption Scale, a measure of imaginative involvement, was administered to 64 subjects in the context of a hypnosis experiment and to an additional 64 subjects in a context unrelated to hypnosis. Expectancies of responding to hypnotic suggestions were assessed both before trance induction and after trance induction but before administration of hypnotic test suggestions. Hypnotic depth was assessed on the Long Stanford Scale (LSS) before the administration of test suggestions, and on the Inventory of Hypnotic Depth (IHD) after the hypnosis session. Absorption was correlated with hypnotic responsivity and expectancy, but only when assesed in the hypnotic context. Completing the Absorption Scale in a hypnotic context appeared to affect hypnotic responsiveness by altering subjects' expectancies. Only postinduction expectancies were uniquely predictive of response to hypnotic test suggestions, and all variables except the LSS were predictive of IHD scores. Results of path analysis supported the hypothesis that trance inductions alter expectancies for responding to hypnotic suggestions and that these altered expectancies determine subsequent hypnotic behavior.     

Individual differences in imagery and reports of aversions

Recent theoretical models highlighting the role of imagery in trauma and aversion learning focus on the role of images in memory (e.g., Brewin, Dalgleish, & Joseph, 1996) and images as substitute stimuli in aversive conditioning (Dadds, Bovbjerg, Redd, & Cutmore, 1997). An unanswered question is whether individual differences in imagery are associated with different rates of traumatisation and aversion states (fear and avoidance of various stimuli). We examine one aspect of this: does high imagery ability correlate with the frequency with which people report aversions? Three samples of university students were tested on the Betts Questionnaire Upon Mental Imagery, the Tellegen Absorption Scale, and a new measure we designed to sample of range of aversions. As hypothesised, vividness of imagery showed positive correlations with number of aversions reported. This relationship held after controlling for general neuroticism and proneness to disgust. Results for absorption showed no relationship. The results are unable to disentangle causal paths but suggest a focus on individual differences in imagery vividness may be fruitful for understanding individual differences in aversion learning.     

Individual differences in imagery and reports of aversions

Recent theoretical models highlighting the role of imagery in trauma and aversion learning focus on the role of images in memory (e.g., Brewin, Dalgleish, & Joseph, 1996) and images as substitute stimuli in aversive conditioning (Dadds, Bovbjerg, Redd, & Cutmore, 1997). An unanswered question is whether individual differences in imagery are associated with different rates of traumatisation and aversion states (fear and avoidance of various stimuli). We examine one aspect of this: does high imagery ability correlate with the frequency with which people report aversions? Three samples of university students were tested on the Betts Questionnaire Upon Mental Imagery, the Tellegen Absorption Scale, and a new measure we designed to sample of range of aversions. As hypothesised, vividness of imagery showed positive correlations with number of aversions reported. This relationship held after controlling for general neuroticism and proneness to disgust. Results for absorption showed no relationship. The results are unable to disentangle causal paths but suggest a focus on individual differences in imagery vividness may be fruitful for understanding individual differences in aversion learning.     

Parental loss of close family members and propensities towards absorption in offspring

Parental unresolved/disorganized responses to loss assessed in the Adult Attachment Interview predict infant disorganized (D) attachment. Parental experiences of loss near the birth of an infant should therefore increase the likelihood of D attachment to that parent. Liotti (1992) suggested that D attachment may increase tendencies to altered states of consciousness, and some support for this hypothesis has been obtained in clinical and high-risk samples. Here, Tellegen's Absorption Scale was used to measure propensities to altered consciousness in two low-risk samples of young adults (N=136, N=308). In both studies, participants whose parents experienced familial loss within two years of their birth showed elevated levels of absorption. These outcomes (a) support the proposed connection between disorganized attachment and tendencies to altered consciousness, and (b) suggest that queries regarding parental loss experiences should be further explored as a ‘rough and ready’ estimate of disorganized attachment in large-scale studies.     

The relationship between different types of dissociation and psychosis-like experiences in a non-clinical sample

This study investigated whether detachment-type dissociation, compartmentalisation-type dissociation or absorption was most strongly associated with psychosis-like experiences in the general population. Healthy participants (N = 215) were tested with the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES, for detachment-related dissociative experiences); the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility (HGSHS: A, for dissociative compartmentalisation); the Tellegen Absorption Scale (TAS, for non-clinical ‘functional’ dissociative experience); and two measures of psychotic-like experiences, the 21-item Peters et al. Delusions Inventory (PDI-21) and the Cardiff Anomalous Perceptions Scale (CAPS). In multiple regression analyses, DES and TAS but not HGSHS: A scores were found to be significantly associated with PDI-21 and CAPS overall scores. A post hoc hierarchical cluster analysis checking for cluster overlap between DES and CAPS items, and the TAS and CAPS items showed no overlap between items on the DES and CAPS and minimal overlap between TAS and CAPS items, suggesting the scales measure statistically distinct phenomena. These results show that detachment-type dissociation and absorption, but not compartmentalisation-type dissociation are significantly associated with psychosis-like experiences in a non-clinical population.     

False Memory Susceptibility in OEF/OIF Veterans With and Without PTSD

False memory susceptibility was measured in 80 Iraq/Afghanistan veterans with (n = 32) and without posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; n = 48) using a modified Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) word list task that included trauma-related critical (nonpresented) lures. PTSD was classified using medical record diagnoses. Participants completed a variety of self-report assessments, including the Beck Depression Inventory, the Anxiety and Stress subscales of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales, the Dissociative Experiences Scale, and the Tellegen Absorption Scale. Veterans with PTSD displayed global memory impairments on all types of items, except for trauma-related critical lures; on these critical lures, they exhibited false memory levels equal to those seen in veterans without PTSD. The magnitude of most effects were reduced, but not entirely eliminated, when controlling for depression, suggesting that neither PTSD nor co-occurring depression entirely explain these findings. The potential effects of other mental health conditions, such as alcohol dependence, could not be ruled out. Our results support explanations of PTSD that emphasize differential processing of trauma-related information.     

Computerized adaptive personality assessment: an illustration with the Absorption scale

This article introduces the theory behind and applications of adaptive personality assessment based on the item response theory. Two adaptive testing strategies were compared: (a) fixed test length and (b) clinical decision. Real-data simulations, based on the item responses from 1,000 subjects who had previously taken the 34-item Absorption scale (Tellegen, 1982) by means of paper-and-pencil format, were used to illustrate these strategies. Results suggest that computerized adaptive personality assessment works impressively well. With the fixed-test-length strategy, a 50% savings in administered items was achieved with little loss of measurement precision. In the clinical-decision testing strategy, individuals who were extreme on the Absorption trait were identified with perfect accuracy using, on average, 25% of the available items. The implications of these results for personality research and assessment are discussed.     

Investigation of the interaction of He and D in FeBSi alloy

He and H can be produced by nuclear reaction. In addition, energetic particles of He and T and D, which are isotopes of H, in the plasma of fusion reactor induce the damage in the surface of materials, such as erosion, sputtering and blistering. To investigate the interaction of He and D, amorphous and crystalline FeBSi alloys were irradiated by He or D₂ or He?+?D₂ ions with 5?keV. The results of thermal desorption indicated that more He atoms were trapped in both the amorphous and crystalline alloy irradiated by He ions than D atoms in those alloys irradiated by D₂ ions. Although He and D atoms were trapped in FeBSi alloy irradiated by He?+?D₂ ions, desorption peaks of D₂ and He were separated. Absorption of D in an amorphous alloy was influenced by the presence of He; however, absorption of He was independent of D₂ irradiation in both alloys.