Modifying hypnotizability: a new component analysis

The effects of the Carleton Skills Training Program (CSTP) on hypnotizability were compared to those of a modified training program in which instructions for physical enactment of the response were omitted. After training, subjects in the original CSTP reported an increase in the extent to which they intentionally enacted suggested behaviors. In contrast, subjects in the modified training program reported increased fantasy without voluntary physical enactment. Nevertheless, both training programs increased behavioral and subjective responsiveness to suggestion, and there were no significant differences in response enhancement between the two programs. Across conditions, increases in behavioral and subjective responses to suggestion were correlated with increased use of fantasy. In contrast, increases in enactment were correlated only with compliance. The modified training program is recommended as a means of enhancing suggestibility with less likelihood than the original CSTP of engendering compliance.