REPRESENTATIONAL SYSTEMS IN THE NEUROLINGUISTIC PROGRAMMING MODEL

This study attempts to provide empirical support for the concept of representational systems as presented by the Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) model. The major assumptions and principal constructs of the NLP model are presented with special attention paid to eye movements and verbal predicates as potential behavioral indeces of representational systems. Philosophical and neurological foundations of the NLP model are discussed. Research relating to eye movement and previous research on the NLP model is reviewed. Sixty-four subjects underwent a procedure designed to replicate aspects of a clinical interview. Experimenters presented these subjects with both sensory-specified and unspecified stimulus items while observations and recordings were made of subjects' verbal predicates and eye movements. Measures of individual self-report, voice quality, somatotype, and interests were also obtained to explore their predicted relationship to representational systems. This study established significant rater agreement for eye movements and verbal predicates and suggests that representational systems may be partly dependent on what is used to measure them. Clearly specified distinctions between groups of subjects in terms of representational systems were not found, regardless of what behaviors were used to define them. Chi-square tests of association were computed for all measures suggested by NLP to indicate representational systems. While there was a significant association between eye movements during latency and oral predicates as well as between eye movements during latency and at verbalization, neither self-report nor written predicates were significantly associated with any other measures. No significant differences occurred between groups of subjects categorized into representational systems on the basis of significant associations and any other measure. No significant differences were found in eye movements as a function of differences in stimulus items. No support was offered for eye movements as indicators of cerebral hemisphere processes. This study fails to provide any empirical support for the NLP concept of representational systems. Recommendations based on possible limitations of this study are made. The need for future research in the NLP model is discussed.