Independent Sessions Research Articles

Sutdifte, Perry, and Sheehan found evidence of a multidimensional relationship between hypnotic susceptibility and a combined index of imagery and fantasy. Subjects manifesting both vivid imagery and high rates of distortion in their dreams were found to be more susceptible to hypnosis than subjects who were low on both of these characteristics. The present study sought to examine further the possibility of a multidimensional relationship between these variables, using a factor-analyti c approach and multiple measures of imagery and fantasy. A sample of 62 college subjects underwent two independent hypnosis sessions. Their imagery was assessed using a shortened version of Betts's Questionnaire on Mental Imagery and their nocturnal dreams, collected by a diary method and evaluated for distortion by content analysis. No relationship was found for imagery alone or for the combined imageryfantasy index and hypnotic susceptibility. However, the finding that subjects with extremely poor imagery tend to be insusceptible to hypnosis was confirmed once again. Sutcliffe (1961) contended that susceptibility to hypnosis depends on the subject's capacity to image vividly and on the degree to which he is prone to fantasy outside of the hypnotic context. This view stems from an analysis of the hypnotic situation as one in which the subject is asked to engage in a type of make-believe or fantasy. In this fantasy situation, the instructions (or suggestions) can be thought of as an attempt to alter subjective reality; the hypnotist suggests a number of reality alterations that are not, in