Hypnotizability and the modification of cognitive search strategies.

An experiment was conducted to determine if Ss judged to be low in hypnotizability could be taught the efficient search strategies used by high hypnotizable Ss in the performance of a cognitive search task. Ss were requested to find objects embedded within a variety of pictorial scenes. High hypnotizable Ss were found to be more adept than low hypnotizables at finding more objects correctly. When low hypnotizable Ss were taught the efficient search strategies used by the high hypnotizables, their performance improved and was not significantly different from that of the high hypnotizable Ss. Implications of these results for teaching search strategies are discussed.