"Hypnotic-like" suggestibility in children and adults.

724 Ss of ages 6-22 were told that they were to be tested for imaginative ability, and were then given 8 standardized test suggestions as follows: Arm Lowering, Arm Levitation, Hand Lock, Thirst "Hallucination," Verbal Inhibition, Body Immobility, "Posthypnotic-Like" Response, and Selective Amnesia. The sexes did not differ in response to the suggestions. Ss between 6 and 12 were more "suggestible" than adults. Children of 8-10 showed the highest level of response. No differences in "suggestibility" were found among Ss of ages 14-22. Suggestibility in both children and adults was inversely related to "conscious" (verbalizable) resistance to the test suggestions. (29 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)