Suggestion and Suggestibility: a Factor Analysis
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University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 8-2004 Suggestion and Suggestibility: A Factor Analysis Anthony F. Tasso University of Tennessee, Knoxville Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss Part of the Psychology Commons Recommended Citation Tasso, Anthony F., "Suggestion and Suggestibility: A Factor Analysis. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2004. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/4587 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Anthony F. Tasso entitled "Suggestion and Suggestibility: A Factor Analysis." I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Psychology. Michael R. Nash, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Richard A. Saudargas, Laurence P. James, Robert G. Wahler Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Anthony F. Tasso entitled "Suggestion and Suggestibility: A Factor Analysis." I have examined the final paper copy of this dissertation forform and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements forthe degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Psychology. Michael R. Nash, MaJor Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Acceptance forthe Council: n of Graduate Studies SUGGESTION AND SUGGESTIBILITY: A FACTOR ANALYSIS A Dissertation Presented for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Anthony F. Tasso August 2004 DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my parents: Alberto and Geraldine Tasso The firstand most important teachers of my life. 11 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost I want to thankDr. Michael Nash forteaching me so much about psychology, science, and life. Thank you forshowing me that a world exists outside of New Jersey. Thanks also goes to my committee: Dr. Robert Wahler forhis interest and support, Dr. Richard Saudargas for his cheer and encouragement, and Dr. Laurence Jamesfor his patience in teaching me about factoranalysis. I also want to thank the numerous researchassistants that were a partof this dissertation. Their commitmentto this project made completion possible. Thanks also goes to Daniel Klyce and Lucas Edwards for making this dissertation a success. Furthermore, I want to express my special appreciation to Nicole Perez. Her tireless work ethic, organization, andpassion made this possible. This project could not have happened without her. I am also gratefulto Brian Frost for taking the time to help me with the statistics. Special thanksalso goes to Abhijit Jain forhis help with factor analysis. His passion about statistics and thirst for knowledge is truly admirable. In addition, I wish to thank Deza and JeffBorckardt fortheir creativity in designing the artwork. Finally, I would like to thank the Departmentof Psychology at the University of Tennessee. In particular, I want to thankConnie Ogle, for her guidance throughout my tenure in theprogram, and Janet Carnes,for putting up with me and looking over my shoulder when I failed to do so. iii ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to examine the domains of suggestion and suggestibility using factoranalytic methodologies. Previous investigations, all of which were carried-outbetween forty and sixty years ago, yield equivocal results. The present study used nine behavioral measures of suggestibility and hypothesized that three distinct factorswould emerge. It was hypothesized that hypnosis, Chevreul pendulum, and body sway would load on the first factor,the odor test, progressive weights, andplacebo responsiveness on the second factor, and conformity,persuasibility, and interrogative suggestibility to load on the third factor. 110 college students participatedin the study. Factor analyses failedto result in threefactors, meaning our a priori hypothesis of three distinct factorshad to be rejected. Furthermore, two and three-factor models were also rejected. Thus, no clearly delineated factorstructure of suggestibility emerged, indicating that the domain of suggestibility seems to be neither a single attribute or trait, nor does it appearto consist of a related group of abilities. Implications of findingsand areas for futureresearch are discussed. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................... 1 History of the Concept of Suggestion and Suggestibility ................................. 2 Present Study . ... .. ... ... .. ... .... ... .. ... .. ... .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. .. ... .... ... ... .. ... 14 2 METHODS .................................................................................................... 21 Participants...................................................................................................... 21 3 RESUL TS ...................................................................................................... 31 Data Management ........................................................................................... 31 Distribution of Each Item ................................................................................ 31 Correlation Matrix .......................................................................................... 33 ConfirmatoryFactory Analysis of Hypothesized Three-Factor Model .......... 33 Exploratory Analyses ...................................................................................... 3 7 4 DISCUSSION ................................................................................................ 51 Limitations .................................................................................. �................... 58 Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 60 REFERENCES .............................· ............................................................................. 66 VITA ........................................................................................................................... 79 V LIST OF TABLES TABLE PAGE 1. Previous Studies and Suggestibility Measures ................................................. 6 2. Present Study Test Selection Criteria .............................................................. 15 3. Distribution of Variables..................................... ............................................ 32 4. Correlation Matrix .......................................................................................... 34 5. Hypothesized Three-Factor Model ................................................................. 36 6. StandardizedRegression Weights for First Two-Factor Model ..................... 41 7. Regression Weights SignificanceLevels for First Two-Factor Model.. ......... 42 8. Regression Weights for Second Two-Factor Model.. ..................................... 45 9. Regression Weights Significance Levels for Second Two-Factor Model ...... 46 10. Regression Weights for One-Factor Model .................................................... 49 11. Regression Weight SignificanceLevels for One-Factor Model ..................... 50 VI CHAPTERl INTRODUCTION Historically the constructs of suggestion and suggestibility figuredprominently in social (e.g., Hull & Forster, 1930; MacDougall, 1908; Milgram, 1963; Orne,1962), clinical (e.g., Freud, 1910; Janet, 1919/1925), forensic( e.g., Burtt, 1931 ), personality (e.g., James, 1902, Maslow, 1939), cognition/sensation (e.g., Hull, 1933; Wundt, 1892), physiological (e.g., Pavlov, 1941), as well as behavioral and medical psychologies (Barber, 1959). Indeed, some of the early applications of factor analytic methodologies addressed the domain of response to suggestion (Eysenck & Furneaux, 1945; Grimes, 1948). Contemporary interest in suggestibility has actually accelerated over the past 20 years, with theorists invoking the concept of suggestion to explain aspects of perception, experience of pain, hypnosis, eyewitness testimony, psychotherapy outcome, placebo response, and memory distortion in adults and children (Ceci & Bruck, 1993; Gheorghiu et at., 2001; Holliday, Reyna, & Hayes, 2002; Kirsch, 2000; Kirsch & Council, 1992; Loftus, 1979; Moreno, Garcia, & Pareja, 1999; Shobe & Kihlstrom, 2002; Wachtel, 1993; Wells & Turtle, 1987). Still, it has been over 40 years since an attempt has been made to determine the domain of suggestibility - - Are there different kinds of suggestibility? Is suggestibility a single attribute, or many? If the latter, how many? More often, suggestion is defined by what it does not yield (e.g., not a real memory, not a real perception, not a real response to medication). Further, the six factor analyticstudies to date (all carried-out between 40 1 and 60 years ago) offeronly very modest leads as to what the