ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the interaction of expectancy and imagination in determining hypnotic experiences and behaviors. It discusses research demonstrating that the power of both imaginative strategies and personality questionnaires to predict hypnotic responding is largely due to the mediation of situational or contextual factors. Throughout the history of hypnosis, imagination and expectancy have been intertwined as explanatory constructs. In sum, imagination and expectancy have parallel histories. Both were initially regarded as artifacts, and their effects were suspect. The notion that hypnotic responses are imaginative productions has been so widely accepted that for a while it seemed to provide a point of convergence between warring theoretical factions in the hypnosis community. There are two compatible hypotheses about the relation of imaginal variables and hypnosis. One views imaginative activity as a cognitive strategy which produces or enhances hypnotic responding. The second views imaginative ability as a personality trait which underlies hypnotizability.
