Auditory hallucinations in normal child populations

It has been accepted for some time that normal adult populations can report hallucinatory experiences. Such experiences can be generated in the labora tory setting. The current study was based upon methodology used by Feelgood and Rantzen (Feelgood, S. R., & Rantzen, A. J. (1994). Auditory and visual hallucinations in university students. Personality and Individual Differen ces, 17(2), 293-296), that exposed adult participants to ambiguous stimuli which in turn generated hallucinatory experiences. The current study used s imilar methodology, but applied to child participants, which yielded simila r results. The results suggested a developmental continuum of hallucination experiences between children and adults. The implication of this is that c hildren can experience hallucinations in a similar way to adults. Links bet ween childhood imaginary companions and hallucinatory experiences were also suggested. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.