Suggestibility and signal detection performance in hallucination-prone students

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Science

Background:

• Auditory hallucinations are linked to altered signal detection.
• Understanding factors influencing these perceptions is crucial for clinical insights.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how suggestions impact signal detection tasks in individuals with varying hallucination proneness.
• To explore the relationship between suggestibility, dissociation, and hallucination proneness.

Main Methods:

• Two experiments utilized auditory signal detection tasks with varying suggestion conditions.
• Participants completed validated measures of hallucination proneness, suggestibility, and dissociation.

Main Results:

• Trait suggestibility and dissociation were significant predictors of hallucination proneness.
• Highly hallucination-prone individuals demonstrated heightened signal detection bias and increased reactivity to suggestions.

Conclusions:

• Suggestions can influence source-monitoring judgments, particularly in individuals predisposed to hallucinations.
• These findings highlight the role of suggestibility in the manifestation of hallucinatory experiences.