title: Suggestibility and signal detection performance in hallucination-prone students.
abstract: Auditory hallucinations are associated with signal detection biases. We examine the extent to which suggestions influence performance on a signal detection task (SDT) in highly hallucination-prone and low hallucination-prone students. We also explore the relationship between trait suggestibility, dissociation and hallucination proneness.
  
  
  
  In two experiments, students completed on-line measures of hallucination proneness (the revised Launay-Slade Hallucination Scale; LSHS-R), trait suggestibility (Inventory of Suggestibility) and dissociation (Dissociative Experiences Scale-II). Students in the upper and lower tertiles of the LSHS-R performed an auditory SDT. Prior to the task, suggestions were made pertaining to the number of expected targets (Experiment 1, N = 60: high vs. low suggestions; Experiment 2, N = 62, no suggestion vs. high suggestion vs. no voice suggestion).
  
  
  
  Correlational and regression analyses indicated that trait suggestibility and dissociation predicted hallucination proneness. Highly hallucination-prone students showed a higher SDT bias in both studies. In Experiment 1, both bias scores were significantly affected by suggestions to the same degree. In Experiment 2, highly hallucination-prone students were more reactive to the high suggestion condition than the controls.
  
  
  
  Suggestions may affect source-monitoring judgments, and this effect may be greater in those who have a predisposition towards hallucinatory experiences.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychological Sciences , Liverpool University , Liverpool , UK.
authors.forename: Fatimah
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Alganami
authors.affiliation: b Section of Clinical and Health Psychology , School of Psychological Sciences, University of Manchester , Manchester , UK.
authors.forename: Filippo
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Varese
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychological Sciences , Liverpool University , Liverpool , UK.
authors.forename: Graham F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Wagstaff
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychological Sciences , Liverpool University , Liverpool , UK.
authors.forename: Richard P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Bentall
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D006212:Hallucinations / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010259:Paranoid Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011594:Psychometrics; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Hallucination proneness; dissociation; signal detection; source monitoring; suggestibility