Discriminant analysis of a sexual-functioning inventory with intrafamilial and extrafamilial child molesters.

Several suggestions have been offered by clinicians who work with sex offenders concerning etiological distinctions between incest offenders and extrafamilial child molesters. In this study we hypothesized that nonincestuous child molesters would have more sexual problems in general than would incestuous offenders. Ninety-five incest offenders and 127 nonincestuous child molesters were administered the Derogatis Sexual Functioning Inventory (DSFI), a self-report instrument. On the global Sexual Functioning Index the total sample of child molesters scored below the first percentile compared to the normative sample. In a direct discriminant analysis of the 10 subscales, satisfaction, fantasy, and experience were the principle variables discriminating between incestuous and nonincestuous offenders. Incest offenders were higher on experience and satisfaction and lower on fantasy. However, the discriminant analysis failed to yield clinically relevant distinctions between the sexual problems of extrafamilial and intrafamilial child molesters. DSFI scores for both groups indicated that their overall level of sexual functioning is poor relative to the general population.

Effects of social-physiological variables on hypnotic amnesia.

Three experiments assessed the hypothesis that suggested amnesia for a previously learned word list is a function of subjects' interpretations of the ambigous aspects of the amnesia testing situation. By manipulating preliminary instructions concerning interpretations of this situation, subjects who were unselected with respect to hypnotic susceptibility were induced to show either substantial increments or decrements in amnesia. However, subjects high on hypnotic susceptibility ignored preliminary instructions and therefore could not be induced to show decrements in amnesia. Previous findings of more amnesia in hypnotic than in task-motivated subjects were both replicated and reversed by varying subjects' interpretations of the amnesia task. Analyses on the combined data from the three experiments confirmed earlier findings that partial amnesics tend to recall list items in a relatively disorganized fashion. All of these findings are consistent with an inattention hypothesis of suggested amnesia. Theoretical implications for hypnosis research are discussed.

Lateral eye-movements, hypnotic susceptibility and imaginal ability in right-handers.

A total of 46 male and 36 female right-handers were assessed on three measures of left-moving, as well as on hypnotic susceptibility, and several measures of imaginal ability. The three left-moving indices intercorrelated significantly. However, none of these indices correlated significantly with hypnotic susceptibility or imaginal ability variables in either sex.

Effects of hypnotists' and subjects' sex on hypnotic susceptibility.

2 male and 2 female student-hypnotists administered the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form C to 49 male and 42 female subjects. Subjects were also administered a group hypnotic-susceptibility scale and questionnaire measure of absorption and willingness to cooperate with hypnosis. The effects of these three measures on Stanford, Form C scores were statistically controlled with analysis of covariance. Neither hypnotists' sex, subjects' sex, nor the interaction of these variables was significantly related to scores on the Stanford scale. Implications for hypnosis research were briefly discussed.