Test of the Eye-Movement Hypothesis of Neurolinguistic Programming

To test the hypothesis that most people make characteristic eye movements based on whether they are processing visual, auditory, or kinesthetic information, 40 subjects were recruited from an introductory psychology class at a state university and all were right-handed by selfreport.

Abstract

Neurolinguistic Programming, a new model of communication developed by andler and Grinder (1975, 1979), is based on the systematic observation and analysis of communication patterns. Proponents say that most people who have normal cerebral organization process visual information using images, auditory information using sounds, and kinesthetic information using feelings and bodily .sensations. According to the model people make eye movements which indicate the sensory system in use. To test the hypothesis that most people make characteristic eye movements based on whether they are processing visual, auditory, or kinesthetic information, 40 subjects were recruited from an introductory psychology class at a state university. The majority were female, Caucasian, single, and between 18 and 25 yr.; all were right-handed by selfreport. The experiment was conducted in a small room with a one-way mirror. Each subject, facing the mirror, was asked a series of 30 questions by an examiner. There were 10 questions for each of the three major sensory modalities, arranged in random order. Each question required the subject to see mentally an image, hear a sound, or feel a tactile sensation.