Nicholas P. Spanos

The Carleton University responsiveness to suggestion scale: normative data and psychometric properties.

A normative sample of 400 subjects was administered the Carleton University Responsiveness to Suggestion Scale (CURSS) in small groups. The Carleton scale yields three suggestibility scores for each subject; objective (CURSS:O) scores reflect overt response to suggestion, subjective (CURSS:S) scores reflect experiential response to suggestion, and objective-involuntariness (CURSS:OI) scores reflect the extent to which objectively “passed” responses were experienced as occurring involuntarily. Guttman scale analyses and factor analyses indicate that each dimension is primarily unidimensional and cumulative. CURSS:O scores had a bell-shaped distribution while CURSS:OI scores were much more strongly skewed toward the low suggestibility end of the distribution. Subjects who “passed” suggestions by objective criteria frequently rated their responses as primarily voluntary rather than involuntary. Implications of these findings for the measurement of hypnotic susceptibility are discussed.

Multiple identity enactments and multiple personality disorder : a sociocognitive perspective

People who enact multiple identities behave as if they possess 2 or more selves, each with its own characteristic moods, memories, and behavioral repertoire. Under different names, this phenomenon occurs in many cultures; in North American culture, it is frequently labeled multiple personality disorder (MPD). This article reviews experimental, cross-cultural, historical, and clinical findings concerning multiplicity and examines the implications of these findings for an understanding of MPD. Multiplicity is viewed from a sociocognitive perspective, and it is concluded that MPD, like other forms of multiplicity, is socially constructed. It is context bounded, goal-directed, social behavior geared to the expectations of significant others, and its characteristics have changed over time to meet changing expectations.

The effects of complainant age and expert psychological testimony in a simulated child sexual abuse trial

Mock jurors viewed a videotape of a simulated child sexual abuse trial and then deliberated to a unanimous verdict. The complainant was described as either a 13- or 17-year-old female child. Jurors voted to convict more often when the younger complainant was seen, and the younger complainant was rated as more credible than the older complainant. Female jurors voted the defendant guilty more often and rated the complainant as being more credible than male jurors. Jurors voted to convict more often and rated the defendant as less credible when expert psychological testimony was specific to the case than when they were presented with either general expert testimony or no expert testimony. Jurors who saw a psychological expert testify became less accepting of child sexual abuse misconceptions than those in the no expert control condition. The implications of these findings are discussed.

A social-cognitive skills approach to the successful modification of hypnotic susceptibility

Subjects low and medium in hypnotic susceptibility were administered cognitive strategy and instructional set information and also practiced responding to test suggestions in order to enhance susceptibility. Those in one modification treatment received this information both from the experimenter and by observing a videotaped female model who responded successfully to suggestions and reported on the cognitive strategies she used to do so. Those in a second modification treatment received the information and practice but were not exposed to the model. Low and medium susceptibles in a third condition (practice alone) received a hypnotic induction procedure and practice suggestions but neither modification information nor modeling. No-treatment controls performed a filler task. All subjects were posttested on two different susceptibility scales. Information plus modeling produced significantly greater increments on all objective and subjective indices of susceptibility on both posttests than did practice-alone or control treatments. Susceptibility increments in the information without model treatment always fell between those of the model and practice-alone treatments. In the modeling treatment, over half of the initial low susceptibles and over two thirds of the initial medium susceptibles scored as high susceptibles on both posttests. These findings provide strong support for a social-cognitive skill formulation of hypnotic susceptibility.

The Carleton University Responsiveness to Suggestion Scale: Relationship with other Measures of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Expectancies, and Absorption

The Carleton University Responsiveness to Suggestion Scale (CURSS) yields scores on three suggestibility dimensions. Objective (CURSS:0) scores and subjective (CURSS:S) scores reflect overt and experiential response to suggestion, respectively. Objective-Involuntariness (CURSS:OI) scores indicate the number of objective responses rated as feeling involuntary. Study 1 indicated that all three suggestibility dimensions correlated significantly with the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, and Study 2 showed the three Catleton suggestibility dimensions correlated significantly with Form C of the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale. The majority of subjects who obtained high scores on the Stanford:C also scored high on the Carleton suggestibility dimensions. Like the Harvard:A and Stanford:C the three Carleton suggestibility dimensions also correlated significantly with attitude/expectancy measures, absorption, and Fields (1965) “hypnotic experiences” inventory. CURSS:VC (voluntary-cooperation) scores reflect the number of objective responses rated as feeling primarily voluntary rather than involuntary. CURSS:VC scores did not correlate significantly with attitude/expectancy variables, absorption or “hypnotic experiences.” Theoretical implications are discussed.

Cognitive-behavioral interventions for children's distress during bone marrow aspirations and lumbar punctures: A critical review

Children with cancer often have difficulty coping with the invasive medical procedures that are part of diagnosis and treatment. Bone marrow aspirations and lumbar punctures are painful and cause some children severe anxiety and distress. The increased risk and expense of general anesthesia and the relative ineffectiveness of sedatives and anxiolytics has prompted clinicians to examine nonpharmacologic methods for controlling pain and distress. This report critically examines intervention studies that focus on cognitive-behavioral strategies such as distraction, imagery, or hypnosis for reducing procedural distress in children with cancer.

Battered Women Who Kill

This study assesses acquital rates using mock jurors in cases involving a battered woman charged with killing her husband. The simulated trial format was based on actual courtroom proceedings including witness cross-examination and jury deliberation proceedings. The type of plea entered was varied and reflected either self-defense, automatism, or a hypothetical plea of psychological self-defense. The severity of abuse incurred by the defendant was also varied along with expert testimony. Jurors more frequently found the defendant not guilty when a plea of automatism was entered compared to a plea of self-defense. The frequency of acquittals following a plea of psychological self-defense resulted in more acquittals than the self-defense plea but significantly fewer than the automatism plea. The likelihood of acquittal increased under conditions of severe abuse as opposed to moderate abuse. Expert witness testimony was observed to influence verdicts during juror deliberations.

Cognitive activity and suggestions for analgesia in the reduction of reported pain.

Pain magnitude and pain tolerance for arm immersion in ice water were assessed during a baseline and posttest session. Before the posttest half the subjects received (and half did not receive) an analgesia suggestion. On the basis of their written testimony, subjects were classified as having either predominantly coped (e.g., imagined events inconsistent with pain; made positive self-statements) or predominantly exaggerated (e.g., worried about and exaggerated the noxious aspects of the situation) during each immersion. On both immersions copers reported less pain and exhibited higher pain tolerance than exaggerators. Moreover, the suggestion was associated with reductions in reported pain only when it transformed baseline exaggerators into posttest copers. Theoretical implications are discussed.

The Carleton University Responsiveness to Suggestion Scale: Stability, Reliability, and Relationships with Expectancy and “Hypnotic Experiences”

The Carleton University Responsiveness to Suggestion Scale was administered twice to 152 subjects in small groups. The interval between testings ranged from 2 wk. to 3 mo. The three suggestibility dimensions remained relatively stable across testings. For both testings scores on the Objective dimension (CURSS: O) were substantially higher than those on the Objective-Involuntariness dimension (CURSS: OI). This indicates that many subjects who “passed” suggestions in terms of overt response, rated their responses as primarily voluntary rather than involuntary. All three suggestibility dimensions correlated significantly with expectations for hypnosis and Fields “hypnotic experiences” inventory. However, neither expectancies nor “hypnotic experiences” correlated significantly with the number of “passed” responses rated as primarily voluntary (CURSS: VC, i.e., Voluntary Cooperation scores). Theoretical implications are discussed.

Close encounters: an examination of UFO experiences

Ss who reported UFO experiences were divided into those whose experiences were nonintense (e.g., seeing lights and shapes in the sky) and those whose experiences were intense (e.g., seeing and communicating with aliens or missing time). On a battery of objective tests Ss in these 2 groups did not score as more psychopathological, less intelligent, or more fantasy prone and hypnotizable than a community comparison group or a student comparison group. However, Ss in the UFO groups believed more strongly in space alien visitation than did comparison Ss. The UFO experiences of Ss in the intense group were more frequently sleep-related than the experiences of Ss in the nonintense group. Among the combined UFO Ss, intensity of UFO experiences correlated significantly with inventories that assessed proneness toward fantasy and unusual sensory experiences. Implications are discussed.