Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

8-2009

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Psychology

Major Professor

Michael R. Nash

Committee Members

Donald W. Hastings, Lance T. Laurence, John Lounsbury

Abstract

The construct of “suggestibility” has garnered great interest in the field of psychology over the years. It has been invoked as an explanatory construct in social, clinical, and forensic psychology. Yet, the nature of the construct and of its factor structure is unclear. In earlier studies we operationalized suggestibility by measuring conformity, interrogative suggestibility, placebo effects, persuasibility and hypnotizability. There was no discernible factor structure obtained. Similar results were found when we narrowed our focus to sensory suggestibility. There was no cohesion among responsiveness to these types of suggestive situations by examining this phenomenon across eight sensory measures (tactile, auditory, visual, and olfactory). The present study broadens the focus of our research by investigating the stability (test/re-test) of previously evoked suggestion and suggestibility tests (e.g., sensory suggestibility, conformity, interrogative suggestibility, persuasibility, placebo effects, and hypnotizability). Factor analytic methodologies will be applied foreseeing that our previous finding of a non-coherent unitary or multi-factorial solution will be replicated. Results and implications of these findings will be discussed.

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