The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between early childhood experiences and susceptibility to hypnosis. A longitudinal analysis was used to investigate the relationship between a follow-up measure of susceptibility and a large number of child rearing measures established during earlier studies of the same population. This study is a follow-up of Sears, Macoby & Levin's Patterns of Child Rearing, 1951-1958 (A235).

Of the 379 original participants who were five or six when their mothers were first interviewed in 1951-1952, 98 participated in this follow-up. At the time of the follow-up, all participants were high school seniors. Participants completed a measure of hypnotic susceptibility and a Personal Experience Questionnaire, which asks participants to indicate the frequency and intensity of 149 trance-like experiences.

The Murray Center has acquired computer-accessible data of coded responses.Other follow-ups of this sample, also available at the Murray Research Center, are: Crowne, Conn, Marlowe, & Edwards, 1965 (A572); Edwards, 1968 (A575); McClelland, 1978 (A046); and McClelland & Franz, 1987-88 (A1012).