Reliability of two observers scoring the stanford hypnotic susceptibility scale, form C

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Abstract
2 observers scored the responses of 60 Ss on a 12-item objective test, Stanford Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form C (Weitzenhoffer & Hilgard, 1962). Mean total scores reported by the 2 Es did not differ significantly. The correlation between the total scores of the 2 Es was .947. Nevertheless, differences in total scores assigned occurred with 40% of Ss, which is a significant departure from perfect agreement. The 2 Es disagreed about correct scoring of 54 items (7.5% of all items scored). The extent of disagreement was significantly greater than 0. Disagreement was not related to the level of susceptibility of Ss, nor to the relative experience of Es with hypnosis. More than half of the disagreements involved systematic differences in the interpretation and application of the scoring criteria for 2 items; item 6: Dream, and item 9: Anosmia to Ammonia. These systematic differences affecting scoring reliability happened to counterbalance to produce similar total scores in this study. Several sources of potential scoring unreliability of SHSS:C are discussed.

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