MAY 2008, VOLUME 36, NUMBER 2, Abstract 12
Examining Associations Between Susceptibility to Optical Illusions and Correlates of Hypnotisability
Kathryn Gow, Mirela Habota, Joseph Wagner, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane
Peter Grimbeek, Griffith University, Brisbane
An association between susceptibility to illusion and to hypnosis was suggested by Erickson and Erickson as far back as 1938, when they successfully evoked negative colour aftereffects following an induction of hallucinatory colour in highly hypnotised subjects. Four out of five participants perceived negative aftereffect to the suggested colour, thus indicating a link between optical illusions and hypnotisability. Although links have been found between susceptibility to illusion and hypnotisability, considerable limitations exist in the research methodologies previously used. Additional studies have tried to correct this methodology by an inclusion of contingent aftereffects as a measure of illusion, combined with two scales of hypnotisability, but this has led to conflicting results. This paper reports on the third and final study which attempted to correct the methodological procedures previously used in the QUT studies and illustrates the relationship between hypnotisability and optical illusions, particularly the McCollough effect.