ABSTRACT
The suggestibility charge is essentially related to the prevalence of error in the data produced in the clinical setting. Errors related to memory recall of a long past event are germane to the nature of memory and not to the clinical situation itself. The chapter classifies sources of error in the clinical data into two groups: non-theory-based errors, and theory-based errors. One of the chief complaints against psychoanalytical clinical data is its unreliability due to theory-based errors. The generic charge of suggestibility is based upon a complex notion. The two main sources of error in this respect are what Paul E. Meehl has termed content implantation and selective intervention. The first source of error is related to the suggestive influence of the therapist. The second is biased evidence sifting. In the statistical testing of hypotheses, two sources of error are generally recognised: errors due to external bias and errors due to internal bias.
