Direct verbal suggestibility: Measurement and significance

Hypnotic suggestibility is part of the wider psychological trait of direct verbal suggestibility (DVS). Historically, DVS in hypnosis has informed theories of consciousness and of conversion disorder. More recently it has served as a research tool in cognitive science and in cognitive neuroscience in particular. Here we consider DVS as a general trait, its relation to other psychological characteristics and abilities, and to the origin and treatment of clinical conditions. We then outline the distribution of DVS in the population, its measurement, relationship to other forms of suggestibility, placebo responsiveness, personal characteristics, gender, neurological processes and other factors, such as expectancy. There is currently no scale specifically designed to measure DVS outside a hypnotic context. The most commonly used and well-researched of the hypnosis-based scales, the Harvard Group Scale, is described and identified as a basis for a more broadly based measure of DVS for use in psychological research.     

Interrogative suggestibility,delayed memory and self-concept

This study investigates the relationship between interrogative suggestibility as measured by the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale (GSS) and variables related to memory recall and self-esteem. There were 30 Ss, tested twice 1 week apart. After completing the GSS they were required to fill in a number of Semantic Differential scales relating to the concepts: Myself as I am generally, Myself during the experiment and The experimenter. Ss were generally more suggestible during the second interview when their memory about the context of the interrogation context had deteriorated. The exception was that negative feedback appeared to have most effect on suggestibility and self-esteem the first time it was applied. Self-esteem related to ‘competence’ and ‘potency’ correlated significantly with suggestibility, especially during the first interrogative session. Perceptions of the experimenter were generally not found to be significantly related to suggestibility.     

A new scale of interrogative suggestibility

This paper describes the construction of the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale (GSS), its rationale and scoring. The scale is quick to administer and contains a sufficiently large range of possible scores to be of practical value with different groups of Ss and individuals. It can be used either as a clinical tool to measure individual susceptibility to suggestion or as a research instrument for obtaining greater understanding of the nature and mechanisms of interrogative suggestibility. Principal-component (rotated) analyses were performed on the scale's item scores. Two types of suggestibility emerged: (i) the extent to which Ss yield to suggestive questions; (ii) the extent to which Ss can be made to shift their replies once interpersonal pressure has been applied. Each aspect of the scale contains 15 items which comprise reasonably homogeneous measures with satisfactory internal-consistency reliabilities. The validity of the scale has been demonstrated in several recent experiments.     

The role of factor analysis in the development and evaluation of personality scales

The purpose of this paper is to examine the usefulness of factor analysis in developing and evaluating personality scales that measure limited domain constructs The approach advocated follows from several assumptions that a single scale ought to measure a single construct, that factor analysis ought to be applied routinely to new personality scales, and that the factors of a scale are important if it can be demonstrated that they are differentially related to other measures A detailed study of the Self-Monitoring Scale illustrates how factor analysis can help us to understand what a scale measures A second example uses the self-esteem literature to illustrate how factor analysis can clarify the proliferation of scales within a single content domain Both examples show how factor analysis can be used to identify important conceptual distinctions Confirmatory techniques are also introduced as a means for testing specific hypotheses It is concluded that factor analysis can make an important contribution to programmatic research in personality psychology     

Imaginative Suggestibility and Hypnotizability

More than a half-century of research aimed at identifying the predictors of hypnotic responding has been described as investigations of 'hypnotizability'. Most of that research, however, has disregarded the well-established findings that (a) people respond to suggestion without being hypnotized almost as much as they do following a hypnotic induction, and (b) nonhypnotic and hypnotic suggestibility are highly correlated. More recent studies have provided the first empirical data on predictors of individual differences in response to the induction of hypnosis. These studies indicate that individual differences in hypnotic suggestibility can be accounted for completely by nonhypnotic suggestibility, expectancy, motivation, and reaction time. Because the amount of variance accounted for is as great as the reliability of the hypnotic-suggestibility scale, and because nonhypnotic suggestibility has been controlled, no additional variables are necessary to account for hypnotic suggestibility.     

The validity of the Holland and Basic Interest scales of the Strong Vocational Interest Blank: Leisure activities versus occupational membership as criteria

This study compared leisure activities with occupational membership as criteria for determining the concurrent validity of the Holland and Basic Interest scales of the Strong Vocational Interest Blank (Form T399). Subjects were 89 thirty-six-year-old males representing a variety of occupations. R. H. Dolliver's (Journal of Counseling Psychology, 1975, 22, 199–203) two methods for assessing validity were used: highest single scores on relevant scales and scores above established cutoff points on relevant scales. Results indicated greater congruence between interest scales and occupations than interest scales and leisure activities, except when Basic Interest scale cutoff scores were used. After chance factors were taken into account, Holland scales were found to be more accurate than Basic Interest scales in identifying occupations and in identifying leisure activities when highest scale scores were used. Using cutoff scores, Basic Interest scales were more accurate than Holland scales in identifying leisure activities. Supplementary analyses indicated that the validity of the Holland and Basic Interest scales increases when they are presumed to reflect either current occupation or preferred leisure activity. Results of this study were compared with Dolliver's (1975) findings.     

Comparison between Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale 2 (GSS2) and Bonn Test of Statement Suggestibility (BTSS) in measuring children’s interrogative suggestibility

Susceptibility of children to leading questions and interrogative pressure is an important forensic issue. The most used techniques for assessing interrogative suggestibility are the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scales (GSS) and the Bonn Test of Statement Suggestibility (BTSS). Apart from minor differences, the two tests, investigate the same dimensions: Yield, Shift, Immediate Recall, and Total Suggestibility. In this study, to investigate correlation measures for the corresponding variables in the two tests, we individually examined 84 children from the fourth and fifth grades (44 boys and 40 girls). All the participants completed the GSS2 the BTSS-1, the Vocabulary and the Similarity subtests of the WISC-R, and Raven’s Colored Progressive Matrices. No significant gender differences were observed for any of the variables studied. Comparison between the corresponding variables for the two tests showed a positive correlation. Yield and Total Suggestibility scores correlated negatively with the three cognitive variables. We conclude that although the two suggestibility scales measure analogous variables, the BTSS seems more suitable than the GSS2 for assessing a child’s suggestibility during police and forensic interviews.     

Cross-sectional studies of personality in a national sample: 1. Development and validation of survey measures

Short scales were developed to measure three broad dimensions of personality in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES I) Epidemiologic Followup Study. Items to measure neuroticism were selected rationally from the General Well-Being Schedule, and items to measure extraversion and openness to experience were selected by multiple regression from the NEO Personality Inventory. In a sample of 654 men and women from the Augmented Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, all three short scales showed clear evidence of convergent and discriminant validity against full scales in self-reports, and against peer and spouse ratings. Because they were developed and validated on a sample with a comparable age range, the NHANES scales should be useful in examining age trends in these three personality dimensions in a national sample.     

(Inadvertently) Instructing Missionaries in (Public University) World Religions Courses: Examining a Pedagogical Dilemma,its Dimensions,and a Course Section Solution

In this article, I explore an ethical and pedagogical dilemma that I encounter each semester in my world religions courses: namely, that a great number of students enroll in the courses as part of their missionary training programs, and come to class understanding successful learning to mean gathering enough information about the world's religious “traditions” so as to effectively seduce people out of them. How should we teach world religions – in public university religious studies courses – with this student constituency? What are/ought to be our student learning goals? What can and should we expect to accomplish? How can we maximize student learning, while also maintaining our disciplinary integrity? In response to these questions, I propose a world religions course module, the goal of which is for students to examine – as objects of inquiry – the lenses through which they understand religion(s). With a recognition of their own lenses, I argue, missionary students become more aware of the biases and presumptions about others that they bring to the table, and they learn to see the ways in which these presumptions inform what they see and know about others, and also what they do not so easily see.     

Subtle-Obvious Scales of the MMPI: Indicators of Profile Validity in a Psychiatric Population

This study explored the usefulness of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) Subtle-Obvious scales as profile validity indicators with a inpatient psychiatric population. Some 292 MMPI profiles were utilized and divided into overreporters, underreporters, and standard reporters, based on their Subtle-Obvious scale scores. Reporting style was shown to be unrelated to actual patient pathology because of the lack of relationship between reporting style and diagnostic categorization according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed., rev. [DSM-III-R]; American Psychiatric Association, I987) Axis I and II. Comparisons of MMPI profiles of the three groups revealed that overreporters endorsed more pathology on the MMPI clinical scales than did either underreporters or standard reporters. The same pattern of response style was demonstrated by subjects on another objective measure, the Beck Depression Inventory, whereas on a projective measure, the Rorschach Inkblot Test, there were no differences between groups. These findings suggest that clinicians may want to utilize the Subtle-Obvious scales to gain information about MMPI profile validity. Specifically, profiles of patients identified as overreporters should be interpreted with caution so as to not overstate their level of pathology.     

Toward a more inclusive understanding of the “brain drain”

I argue in this paper that the proposals developed by Gillian Brock in Debating the Brain Drain: May Governments Restrict Emigration? should not only be applied to so-called “highly skilled” emigrants. I contend that Brock’s proposals, in order to be implemented justly, must be re-framed such that they are inclusive of so-called “low-skilled” or “unskilled” migrants. I argue for a more inclusive understanding of the “brain drain” in immigration policy – one that can make use of Brock’s important proposals in an expanded fashion – and I provide an account of what this more inclusive understanding should look like.     

Portuguese adaptation of the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scales (GSS1 and GSS2): Empirical findings

In study 1 (n = 51, M_age = 21.4 years, SD = 5.7), the validity of the Portuguese adaptation of the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scales ( Pires, 2011) was shown through the comparison of means of the original ( Gudjonsson, 1997) and the translated scales and the analysis of the correlations between the GSS1 and GSS2 scores. The relationships between interrogative suggestibility and the big five were also addressed and the results point to independence between suggestibility and personality, which is in line with Polczyk’s findings (2005). Study 2 (n = 87, M_age = 48.9 years, SD = 20.7) explored the relationships among interrogative suggestibility, the state–trait anxiety and demographic variables (i.e., age and gender). There were no significant relationships between anxiety and suggestibility. These results are in line with other studies that point to a lack of relationship between suggestibility and anxiety in normal samples (  and ). As for the relationships between age and interrogative suggestibility, ANCOVA confirmed that the increased suggestibility in old age was not due to age differences but rather to the limited memory capacity of the older adults group. There were no significant gender differences in the GSS1 subscales.     

Two experiments on the relation between psychoticism and response uncertainty in normal subjects

Previous studies have suggested that schizophrenics are affected by response uncertainty to a greater degree than normals or other psychiatric groups. Two studies examined whether a similar pattern of performance would be produced in normal Ss scoring high on questionnaire measures presumed to measure psychotic predisposition. The Psychoticism (P) scales from the EPQ and the unpublished PEN Inventory were employed; and response uncertainty was varied using a card-sorting procedure. In Experiment 1 males were more affected by increases in response uncertainty than females, but there was no difference between Ss scoring high and low on the P scales. Experiment 2 included a condition in which guide-cards were randomly reordered between trials. There was a highly significant tendency for Ss scoring high on the PEN P scale to be more affected by response uncertainty in this experiment. Again males were more influenced by uncertainty than females, but this was due largely to their performance under the condition where guide-cards were varied. Ss high on EPQ P also showed decremental performance under this condition. The data provided partial support for the validity of the P scales, particularly the PEN version of the scale, as indices of schizophrenic predisposition.     

Sensation seeking,decision making styles,and preference for individual responsibility

Two scales were designed to measure respectively how people report they make plans and decisions; the Active/Decisive (AD) scale, and the degree to which they prefer environments that offer some type of personal initiative, personal freedom, and/or personal control; the Individual Responsibility (IR) scale. The results indicate that people can be differentiated in terms of being active/decisive and, to some degree, in terms of preferring environments that offer greater or lesser amounts of individual responsibility. Factor analysis of the AD scale indicated there are four distinct factors that correspond to four of the attributes that Peters and Waterman (1982) suggest characterize the planning and decision making styles of the executives of some of the top companies in the U.S. The AD scale was found to correlate 0.42 (P < 0.01) with Zuckerman's Sensation Seeking scale (SSSV) while the IR scale was found to correlate 0.24 (P < 0.01) with the SSSV scale. It is suggested that the trait of sensation seeking ‘prepares’ individuals to develop the active/decisive planning and decision making style as well as influences them to endorse the concept of ‘individual responsibility’.     

Epistemic Gradualism and Ordinary Epistemic Practice: Responce to Hetherington

This paper responds to Stephen Hetherington's discussion of my ‘Is Fallibility an Epistemological Shortcoming?’ (2004). The Infallibilist skeptic holds that in order to know something, one must be able to rule out every possible alternative to the truth of one’s belief. This requirement is false. In this paper I first clarify this requirement’s relation to our ordinary practice. I then turn to a more fundamental issue. The Infallibilist holds – along with many non-skeptical epistemologists – that Infallibility is epistemically superior to the epistemic position attained when we have (what we ordinarily call) knowledge. This is false, too, as our ordinary practices show. Ordinary epistemic appraisal does not concern our standing on a scale of evaluation which has Infallibility at its apex. For this reason, even if gradualism is correct, it does not show how Infallibilist skepticism can arise out of our ordinary practice.     

Why be a good Human Being? Natural Goodness,Reason, and the Authority of Human Nature

The central claim of Aristotelian naturalism is that moral goodness is a kind of species-specific natural goodness. Aristotelian naturalism has recently enjoyed a resurgence in the work of philosophers such as Philippa Foot, Rosalind Hursthouse, and Michael Thompson. However, any view that takes moral goodness to be a type of natural goodness faces a challenge: Granting that moral goodness is natural goodness for human beings, why should we care about being good human beings? Given that we are rational creatures who can ‘step back’ from our nature, why should we see human nature as authoritative for us? This is the authority-of-nature challenge. In this essay, I state this challenge clearly, identify its deep motivation, and distinguish it from other criticisms of Aristotelian naturalism. I also articulate what I consider the best response, which I term the practical reason response. This response, however, exposes Aristotelian naturalism to a new criticism – that it has abandoned the naturalist claim that moral goodness is species-specific natural goodness. Thus, I argue, Aristotelian naturalists appear to face a dilemma: Either they cannot answer the authority-of-nature challenge, or in meeting the challenge they must abandon naturalism. Aristotelian naturalists might overcome this dilemma, but doing so is harder than some Aristotelians have supposed. In the final sections of the paper, I examine the difficulties in overcoming the dilemma, and I suggest ways that Aristotelians might answer the authority-of-nature challenge while preserving naturalism.     

Subtle-obvious scales of the MMPI: indicators of profile validity in a psychiatric population.

This study explored the usefulness of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) Subtle-Obvious scales as profile validity indicators with a inpatient psychiatric population. Some 292 MMPI profiles were utilized and divided into overreporters, underreporters, and standard reporters, based on their Subtle-Obvious scale scores. Reporting style was shown to be unrelated to actual patient pathology because of the lack of relationship between reporting style and diagnostic categorization according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed., rev. [DSM-III-R]; American Psychiatric Association, 1987) Axis I and II. Comparisons of MMPI profiles of the three groups revealed that overreporters endorsed more pathology on the MMPI clinical scales than did either underreporters or standard reporters. The same pattern of response style was demonstrated by subjects on another objective measure, the Beck Depression Inventory, whereas on a projective measure, the Rorschach Inkblot Test, there were no differences between groups. These findings suggest that clinicians may want to utilize the Subtle-Obvious scales to gain information about MMPI profile validity. Specifically, profiles of patients identified as overreporters should be interpreted with caution so as to not overstate their level of pathology.     

How Cognitive Resources Alter our Perception of the Past: Ego Depletion Enhances the Susceptibility to Suggestion

Studies show that engaging in self‐control results in deteriorated performance on subsequent tasks. In legal settings, witnesses and/or suspects are probably involved in self‐control (e.g. controlling their emotions). The current study tested whether such involvement in self‐control would lead to increased suggestibility levels. We found direct evidence for this. Forty‐four participants were randomly divided into a high level of depletion condition (regulation of attention) or a low level of depletion condition (no regulation of attention). Also, they were presented with a suggestibility measure (Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale). We showed that depleted participants were significantly more suggestible than non‐depleted participants. Our findings are relevant in situations in which suggestive practices may take place. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

REPEATED EXPOSURE TO SUGGESTION AND THE CREATION OF FALSE MEMORIES

Abstract— The purpose of the present study was to extend research on repetition and illusory truth to the domain of eyewitness suggestibility. Specifically, we assessed whether repeated exposure to suggestion, relative to a single exposure, facilitates the creation of false memory for suggested events. After viewing a video of a burglary, subjects were asked questions containing misleading suggestions, some of which were repeated. Their memory for the source of the suggestions was tested. The results show that following repeated (relative to a single) exposure to suggestion, subjects were more likely to (a) claim with high confidence that they remembered the suggested events from the video (Experiment 1) and (b) claim that they consciously recollected witnessing the suggested events (Experiment 2). The effects of repeated exposure were highly reliable and were observed over retention intervals as long as I week.     

PHYSICAL SCALE EFFECTS AND PHILOSOPHICAL THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS

Abstract: The scales across which physical properties exist are vast and subtle in their effects on particular systems placed locally on such scales. For example, human experiential access is restricted only to partial segments of the mass density, size, and temperature scales of the universe. I argue that philosophers must learn to appreciate better the effects of physical scales. Specifically, thought experiments in philosophy should be more sensitive to physical scale effects, because the conclusion of a thought experiment may be undermined by unintentionally ignored scale effects, and the changes required to obtain the foreground state of affairs in a thought experiment might require unacknowledged scale‐spanning changes to the contextual background. I discuss four philosophical thought experiments: Putnam's Twin Earth and Brain in a Vat, Searle's Chinese Room, and Chalmers's Zombies Without Qualia. I close by briefly defending the greater interest and importance of physical possibility over logical possibility.