Influences of Subject Self-Selection on the EEG Alpha-Hypnotizability Correlation

To determine the effect of subject self-selection on the alpha-hypnotizability correlation, the correlations between volunteer and invited subject groups were compared. For 8 volunteers the correlation between baseline eyes-closed occipital alpha and the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility score was r=.72; for 12 invited subjects, that correlation was r=-.02. The significant difference in these correlations gives support to a previously published paper which hypothesized, on the basis of a literature review, that sampling modifications generated by subject self-selection were responsible for the occurrence of significant alpha-hypnotizability correlations.