Hypnotizability, Imaging Ability, and the Detection of Embedded Objects

40 Ss participated in an experiment designed to determine the influence of hypnotizability and imaging ability on cognitive performance. Individuals were asked to locate objects embedded within a series of pictorial scenes. For each scene, Ss were allocated a total of 6 minutes to find as many objects as possible. The objects were described to Ss prior to their search for them. Although there were no significant differences in total number of objects found as a function of hypnotizability, high hypnotizable Ss made significantly fewer errors in locating and identifying objects. This difference was attributed to the superior ability of the high hypnotizable Ss in visualizing the hidden objects and in using produced images as a means for correctly identifying them. This did not appear to be the case for the low hypnotizable Ss. It was this difference in search strategy that may ultimately have led to the error difference between high and low hypnotizable Ss.