Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1977,45,911-9 15. @ Perceptual and Motor Skills 1977
AUTOKINETIC WORD TECHNIQUE AND PERSONALI'IY JEAN-WES FRIGOW
S u n n a ~ y . - 2 4 male subjects were divided into four groups on the basis of their scores on the Eysenck Personalicy Inventory and were administered the autokinetic word technique test as elaborated by Rechtschaffen and Mednick (1955), with numbers of words and letters reported constituting the response measures. Stable introverts reported significantly more words and letters than stable extraverts; there was no difference between neurotic introverts and neurotic extrzverts. On the basis of the large inter-subject variability, the usefulness of the autokinetic-word situation in the investigation of projection is doubted.
Rechtschaffen and Mednick (1955) using the autokinetic situation have shown that subjects perceive a fixed pinpoint of light in darkness as writing words when given the proper suggestion. This procedure, which they called the Autokinetic Word Technique, has been replicated by Mednick, Harwood, and Wertheim ( 1957) who found that subjects perceived disturbing words less frequently than neutral words. Rethlingshafer and Sherrer (1961) have also established that the phenomenon is affected by practice: the frequency of letters and words perceived as written increases on successive occasions. Miller ( 1967) in an attempt at replication of the original Rechtschaffen and Mednick (1955) study failed to duplicate the original results. H e explained the discrepancies in the results of these studies in terms of inter-subjects differences, suggesting that performance in the technique may be related to suggestibility, thus implying that the capacity to perceive written words or letters in the situation is related to some personality variables. In fact Rechtschaffen and Mednick ( 1955) had already hypothesized that the procedure might serve as a projective technique for the study of personality characteristics. However, as yet few experimental studies have explored this possible relationship. Cornwell ( 1966) has found barely significant correlations ( p = .05) between performance on the autokinetic-word situation and 6 factors of Cattell's 16 PF and he states that the validity of the correlations remains to be established through more precise experimentation. In another study Vaught and Hunter ( 1967) did not find any differences in the number of words reported between field-dependent and field-independent subjects. These negative results could be accounted for by the fact that these investigators did not use, in their study, the pertinent personality variables related to the autokineticword performance. As Miller (1967) hypothesized, one of these pertinent variables could be the dimension of suggestibility. The purpose of the present study was to explore the possible relationship between personality variables re'Request reprints from J.-Y. Frigon, Dkpartement de Psychologie, Universitk de Montrkal, C.P. 6128, MontrGal, P.Q., Canada H3C 317.
912
J-Y. FRIGON
lated to suggestibility and the number of words and letters reported by subjects in the autokinetic-word situation. It has been demonstrated that some variation in perception of autokinetic movement could be accounted for by differences in subjects' hypnotic suggestibility (Wallace & Garrett, 1973). It is also fairly well established that Eysend's dimensions of Extraversion-Introversion and Neuroticism-Stability are related to hypnotic susceptibility (Furneaux & Gibson, 1961; Hilgard & Bentlet, 1963; Gibson & Curran, 1974; Gibson & Corcoran, 1975). It is therefore possible that the capacity of subjects to perceive written words and letters in the autokinetic-word situation is related to their Extraversion-Introversion and Neuroticism-Stability scores as measured with the Eysenck Personality Inventory (Eysenck & Eysenck, 1964). Subjects were 24 male university student volunteers. Their ages ranged from 20 to 31 yr. All subjects were naive with respect to the autokinetic illusion and none of them were psychology students. Subjects were tested individually. Upon reporting to the laboratory each subject was administered the French version of the Eysenck Personality Inventory, Form B (Eysenck & Eysenck, 1971). After completing the questionnaire, the subject was introduced and seated in the dark room. The light source was located 72 in. from the subject, at eye level, and was produced by a 40-w white frosted incandescent electric lamp enclosed in a light proof box measuring 10 X 10 X 10 in. The front of the box was perforated with a pin-hole approximately 1/2 mm. in diameter. The subjects were instructed that their task was to see and recognize words written by a point of light in a dark room. They were encouraged to guess at what a word might be whenever they could not make out every letter of the word clearly. If he was unable then to guess a word, he was asked to give the letters that he could identify. An intercom system provided communication with the experimenter who was located outside the dark room. The experimental session consisted of 20 separate illuminat,ions of the autokinetic light source. The duration of each illumination was 45 sec., with an intertrial interval of 15 sec. The experimenter was blind with respect to subjects personality classification since the personality inventory was rated after the experimental session. Every subject whose score fell between the 40th and 60tbpercentiles on each dimension (Extraversion-Introversion and Neuroticism-Stability) was eliminated from the sample. The remaining subjects were divided into four groups, each representing one of the four possible configurations of personality: stable extraverts (SE, n = 5 ) ; neurotic extraverts (NE, n = 6 ) ; stable introverts (SI, n = 5 ) ; neurotic introverts (NI, n = 8).
AUTOKINETIC WORD TECHNIQUE AND PERSONALITY
913
RESULTS Ten subjects failed to report any words, while every subject reported at least some letters. A total of 64 words and 633 letters was reported by the subjects. The total numbers of words and letters reported by each subject ranged respectively from 0 to 14 and 7 to 89.
TABLE 1 MEANSAND STANDARD DEVIATIONS OF THE NUMBEROF WORDS AND LETTERSREPOREDBY EACH GROUP Group Neurotic Extravert Stable Extravert Neurotic Introvert Stable Introvert
Words
n 6 5 8 5
Letters
M
SD
M
SD
2.67 0.0 2.25 6.00
1.86 0.0 3.58 5.10
23.83 10.40 24.25 48.80
12.20 4.04 18.65 26.46
Means and standard deviations of the number of words and letters reported by each group are shown in Table 1. Examination of Table 1 shows that the results are similar for the number of words and letters reported, the trend of which is illustrated in Fig. 1. The words data were subjected to a 2 X 2 (high and low Extraversion and Neuroticism) analysis of variance which is summarized in Table 2. It can be seen that the Extraversion-Introversion X Neuroticism-Stability interaction is significant. Fig. 1 depicts that introverts report more words than extraverts when both obtain a high score on the Neuroticism factor. This is confirmed by Introversion
&--A
Extraversion
NEUROTICISM
FIG. 1.
situatron
STABILITY
Mean number of words reported by each group in the autokinetic-word
914
J-Y. FRIGON
an analysis of the simple effects of Extraversion-Introversion at each level of the Neuroticism variable which shows that stable-introverted subjects report more words than stable-extraverted subjects in the autokinetic-word situation ( F = 9.87, df = 1/20, p < .01), while the neurotics do not differ significantly. Similar results are obtained fro'm the analysis of variance performed on the data for letters. TABLE 2 ANALYSISOF VARIANCEOF NUMBER OF WORDS REPORTEDBY EACH GROUP Source
df
MS
F
Gtraversion-Introversion ( A ) Neuroticism-Stability ( B )
1 1 1 20
44.99 1.68 59.56
4.27
AXB Within cell
-
5.65
P
AUTOKINETIC WORD TECHNIQUE AND PERSONALI'IY JEAN-WES FRIGOW
S u n n a ~ y . - 2 4 male subjects were divided into four groups on the basis of their scores on the Eysenck Personalicy Inventory and were administered the autokinetic word technique test as elaborated by Rechtschaffen and Mednick (1955), with numbers of words and letters reported constituting the response measures. Stable introverts reported significantly more words and letters than stable extraverts; there was no difference between neurotic introverts and neurotic extrzverts. On the basis of the large inter-subject variability, the usefulness of the autokinetic-word situation in the investigation of projection is doubted.
Rechtschaffen and Mednick (1955) using the autokinetic situation have shown that subjects perceive a fixed pinpoint of light in darkness as writing words when given the proper suggestion. This procedure, which they called the Autokinetic Word Technique, has been replicated by Mednick, Harwood, and Wertheim ( 1957) who found that subjects perceived disturbing words less frequently than neutral words. Rethlingshafer and Sherrer (1961) have also established that the phenomenon is affected by practice: the frequency of letters and words perceived as written increases on successive occasions. Miller ( 1967) in an attempt at replication of the original Rechtschaffen and Mednick (1955) study failed to duplicate the original results. H e explained the discrepancies in the results of these studies in terms of inter-subjects differences, suggesting that performance in the technique may be related to suggestibility, thus implying that the capacity to perceive written words or letters in the situation is related to some personality variables. In fact Rechtschaffen and Mednick ( 1955) had already hypothesized that the procedure might serve as a projective technique for the study of personality characteristics. However, as yet few experimental studies have explored this possible relationship. Cornwell ( 1966) has found barely significant correlations ( p = .05) between performance on the autokinetic-word situation and 6 factors of Cattell's 16 PF and he states that the validity of the correlations remains to be established through more precise experimentation. In another study Vaught and Hunter ( 1967) did not find any differences in the number of words reported between field-dependent and field-independent subjects. These negative results could be accounted for by the fact that these investigators did not use, in their study, the pertinent personality variables related to the autokineticword performance. As Miller (1967) hypothesized, one of these pertinent variables could be the dimension of suggestibility. The purpose of the present study was to explore the possible relationship between personality variables re'Request reprints from J.-Y. Frigon, Dkpartement de Psychologie, Universitk de Montrkal, C.P. 6128, MontrGal, P.Q., Canada H3C 317.
912
J-Y. FRIGON
lated to suggestibility and the number of words and letters reported by subjects in the autokinetic-word situation. It has been demonstrated that some variation in perception of autokinetic movement could be accounted for by differences in subjects' hypnotic suggestibility (Wallace & Garrett, 1973). It is also fairly well established that Eysend's dimensions of Extraversion-Introversion and Neuroticism-Stability are related to hypnotic susceptibility (Furneaux & Gibson, 1961; Hilgard & Bentlet, 1963; Gibson & Curran, 1974; Gibson & Corcoran, 1975). It is therefore possible that the capacity of subjects to perceive written words and letters in the autokinetic-word situation is related to their Extraversion-Introversion and Neuroticism-Stability scores as measured with the Eysenck Personality Inventory (Eysenck & Eysenck, 1964). Subjects were 24 male university student volunteers. Their ages ranged from 20 to 31 yr. All subjects were naive with respect to the autokinetic illusion and none of them were psychology students. Subjects were tested individually. Upon reporting to the laboratory each subject was administered the French version of the Eysenck Personality Inventory, Form B (Eysenck & Eysenck, 1971). After completing the questionnaire, the subject was introduced and seated in the dark room. The light source was located 72 in. from the subject, at eye level, and was produced by a 40-w white frosted incandescent electric lamp enclosed in a light proof box measuring 10 X 10 X 10 in. The front of the box was perforated with a pin-hole approximately 1/2 mm. in diameter. The subjects were instructed that their task was to see and recognize words written by a point of light in a dark room. They were encouraged to guess at what a word might be whenever they could not make out every letter of the word clearly. If he was unable then to guess a word, he was asked to give the letters that he could identify. An intercom system provided communication with the experimenter who was located outside the dark room. The experimental session consisted of 20 separate illuminat,ions of the autokinetic light source. The duration of each illumination was 45 sec., with an intertrial interval of 15 sec. The experimenter was blind with respect to subjects personality classification since the personality inventory was rated after the experimental session. Every subject whose score fell between the 40th and 60tbpercentiles on each dimension (Extraversion-Introversion and Neuroticism-Stability) was eliminated from the sample. The remaining subjects were divided into four groups, each representing one of the four possible configurations of personality: stable extraverts (SE, n = 5 ) ; neurotic extraverts (NE, n = 6 ) ; stable introverts (SI, n = 5 ) ; neurotic introverts (NI, n = 8).
AUTOKINETIC WORD TECHNIQUE AND PERSONALITY
913
RESULTS Ten subjects failed to report any words, while every subject reported at least some letters. A total of 64 words and 633 letters was reported by the subjects. The total numbers of words and letters reported by each subject ranged respectively from 0 to 14 and 7 to 89.
TABLE 1 MEANSAND STANDARD DEVIATIONS OF THE NUMBEROF WORDS AND LETTERSREPOREDBY EACH GROUP Group Neurotic Extravert Stable Extravert Neurotic Introvert Stable Introvert
Words
n 6 5 8 5
Letters
M
SD
M
SD
2.67 0.0 2.25 6.00
1.86 0.0 3.58 5.10
23.83 10.40 24.25 48.80
12.20 4.04 18.65 26.46
Means and standard deviations of the number of words and letters reported by each group are shown in Table 1. Examination of Table 1 shows that the results are similar for the number of words and letters reported, the trend of which is illustrated in Fig. 1. The words data were subjected to a 2 X 2 (high and low Extraversion and Neuroticism) analysis of variance which is summarized in Table 2. It can be seen that the Extraversion-Introversion X Neuroticism-Stability interaction is significant. Fig. 1 depicts that introverts report more words than extraverts when both obtain a high score on the Neuroticism factor. This is confirmed by Introversion
&--A
Extraversion
NEUROTICISM
FIG. 1.
situatron
STABILITY
Mean number of words reported by each group in the autokinetic-word
914
J-Y. FRIGON
an analysis of the simple effects of Extraversion-Introversion at each level of the Neuroticism variable which shows that stable-introverted subjects report more words than stable-extraverted subjects in the autokinetic-word situation ( F = 9.87, df = 1/20, p < .01), while the neurotics do not differ significantly. Similar results are obtained fro'm the analysis of variance performed on the data for letters. TABLE 2 ANALYSISOF VARIANCEOF NUMBER OF WORDS REPORTEDBY EACH GROUP Source
df
MS
F
Gtraversion-Introversion ( A ) Neuroticism-Stability ( B )
1 1 1 20
44.99 1.68 59.56
4.27
AXB Within cell
-
5.65
P
