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RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HGSHS
AND
SHSS:C
341
gestibility. Scores for clusters of these items correlate only
.23
and
.43
in HGSHS:A and SHSS:C respectively.
If
8
failed a passive sugges-
tion, he was eventually classified in the low susceptibility group. How-
ever, many low-scoring
Ss
successfully respond to these suggestions,
and this kind of item seems to detract from the validity of the scales.
Success
or
failure
on
challenge items
on
HGSHS:A did significantly
discriminate between subgroups, and did predict
SHSS
:
C perform-
ance. These items account in large part
for
the predictive validity
of
HGSHS :A.
Conclusions. A comparison of HGSHS
:
A
and
SHSS
:
C produced
results supporting the following conclusions.
(a) There is a considerable degree of overlap, as intended by their
respective authors, in the attributes of susceptibility to hypnosis
measured by the two scales.
(b) Although the two scales provide, for most purposes, adequate
measures of susceptibility to hypnosis, about one-third
of
the reliable
variance of the scales consists of specific aspects of hypnotic respon-
siveness not measured by the other scale. Consequently, the delinea-
tion of even broad categories
of
susceptibility to hypnosis will depend
upon which scale is used.
(c)
Those
Ss
who are classified as unsusceptible to hypnosis on the
basis
of
HGSHS:A scores will be similarly classified after being ad-
ministered SHSS:C. However, the same stability of scores does not
necessarily occur during SHSS
:
C for
Ss
who were initially classified
as medium
or
high in susceptibility after HGSHS:A.
(d) Both scales contain items which do not discriminate between
different levels of susceptibility. These items are
of
the passive motor
suggestibility type; they do not relate to susceptibility to hypnosis as
much as has been traditionally believed. Inclusion of these items, par-
ticularly evident in HGSHS:A, detracts from the validity of the
scales, although they account for the stability of performance of the
low
ss.
(e) Challenge suggestibility items do discriminate between levels
of susceptibility. Scores on the challenge items in HGSHS:A contribute
to the prediction of performance
on
SHSS:C. Whether such items
predict other aspects
of
hypnotic responsiveness not well represented
on
SHSS:C remains
a
question for future research.
References
BENTLER,
P.
M.,
&
Hmam,
E. R. A
comparison
of
group
and individual induc-
tion
of
hypnosis
with
self-scoring
and
observer-scoring.
Znt.
J .
din.
em.
Hypnosis,
1963,11,49-54.
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