Sensory deprivation and suggestion: A theoretical approach

Hamlet: Do you see yonder cloud that's almost in shape of a camel? Polonius: By the mass, and 'tis like a camel indeed. Hamlet: Methinks it is like a weasel. Polonius: It is backed like a weasel. Hamlet: Or like a whale? Polonius: Very like a whale. Most investigators have wondered what to do about the obliging subject who “helps science” by telling the experimenter what he thinks the experimenter would like to hear; the anxious subject who gives what he thinks is an appropriate response rather than an actual one; and the creative subject who cannot bear to report the same dull, mundane reaction as everybody else. The authors here suggest that these factors may influence the results of sensory deprivation experiments to a much greater extent than has heretofore been recognized, and recommend a new look at some old interpretations.