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Abstract
Exceptional experiences (ExE) incorporate a range of phenomena including subjective paranormal and transpersonal experiences. Synesthesia and synesthetic experiences are discussed as important variables in understanding the etiologies of ExE. The neural and psychological correlates of synesthetic experiences (associated with hyperconnectivity) are discussed in relation to ExE. It is argued that synesthetic processes enable both the detection and conscious perception of information from a range of sources that are usually unseen or inaccessible, including abstract, unlanguaged, preconscious, and potentially other nonlocal sources.
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Olson JA, Jeyanesan E, Raz A. Ask the pendulum: personality predictors of ideomotor performance. Neurosci Conscious 2017; 2017:nix014. [PMID: 29877514 PMCID: PMC5858027 DOI: 10.1093/nc/nix014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2016] [Revised: 05/04/2017] [Accepted: 05/15/2017] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
For centuries, people have asked questions to hand-held pendulums and interpreted their movements as responses from the divine. These movements occur due to the ideomotor effect, wherein priming or thinking of a motion causes muscle movements that end up swinging the pendulum. By associating particular swinging movements with "yes" and "no" responses, we investigated whether pendulums can aid decision-making and which personality traits correlate with this performance. Participants ( N = 80 ) completed a visual detection task in which they searched for a target letter among rapidly presented characters. In the verbal condition, participants stated whether they saw the target in each trial. In the pendulum condition, participants instead mentally "asked" a hand-held pendulum whether the target was present; particular motions signified "yes" and "no". We measured the accuracy of their responses as well as their sensitivity and bias using signal detection theory. We also assessed four personality measures: locus of control (feelings of control over one's life), transliminality (sensitivity to subtle stimuli), need for cognition (preference for analytical thinking), and faith in intuition (preference for intuitive thinking). Overall, locus of control predicted verbal performance and transliminality predicted pendulum performance. Accuracy was low in both conditions (verbal: 57%, pendulum: 53%), but bias was higher in the verbal condition ( d = 1.10 ). We confirmed this bias difference in a second study ( d = 0.47 , N = 40 ). Our results suggest that people have different decision strategies when using a pendulum compared to conscious guessing. These findings may help explain why some people can answer questions more accurately with pendulums and Ouija boards. More broadly, identifying the differences between ideomotor and verbal responses could lead to practical ways to improve decision-making.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jay A Olson
- Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3A 1A1
| | - Ewalina Jeyanesan
- Department of Neuroscience, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3A 1A1
| | - Amir Raz
- Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3A 1A1
- Department of Psychiatry, Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research
- Chapman University, Institute for Interdisciplinary Brain and Behavioral Sciences
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Influencing choice without awareness. Conscious Cogn 2015; 37:225-36. [DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2015.01.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2014] [Revised: 12/30/2014] [Accepted: 01/06/2015] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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Schilhab T. Re-live and learn - Interlocutor-induced elicitation of phenomenal experiences in learning offline. PROGRESS IN BIOPHYSICS AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2015; 119:649-60. [PMID: 26272800 DOI: 10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2015.08.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Contemporary neuroscience studies propose that sensory-motor experiences in the form of 're-enactments' or 'simulations' are significant to the individual's development of concepts and language use. To a certain extent, such studies align with non-Cartesian perspectives on situated cognition. Since perceptual activity is reflected neurally, however, the neural perspective of experiences and re-enactments allows us to distinguish between online and offline conditions within situated cognition, thereby addressing the extent to which direct experiences contribute to a particular learning episode. Whereas online situated cognition reflects the 'traditional' 4e's (minds as embodied, embedded, enacted, and extended) and focus is on cognitive processes confined to the individual, offline situated cognition introduces Others as significant contributors to cognitive processes in the individual. In this paper, I analyse how offline situated cognition entails a hitherto underdescribed but radical receptivity to the social world that works through language. Based on the unfolding of how we acquire the concepts of mental states as part of theory of mind, I establish that in the hands of interlocutors, words cultivate minds by first eliciting phenomenal sensations and then facilitating an association of these to experiences that originate with a different phenomenal content. Thus, I conclude both that phenomenal experiences online are central to conceptual learning offline through re-enactions and that Others are profoundly essential in forming cognising Selves.
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Exploring the perceptual biases associated with believing and disbelieving in paranormal phenomena. Conscious Cogn 2014; 28:30-46. [DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2014.06.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2014] [Revised: 06/13/2014] [Accepted: 06/17/2014] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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Valášek M, Watt C, Hutton J, Neill R, Nuttall R, Renwick G. Testing the implicit processing hypothesis of precognitive dream experience. Conscious Cogn 2014; 28:113-25. [PMID: 25062119 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2014.06.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2013] [Revised: 06/19/2014] [Accepted: 06/29/2014] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Seemingly precognitive (prophetic) dreams may be a result of one's unconscious processing of environmental cues and having an implicit inference based on these cues manifest itself in one's dreams. We present two studies exploring this implicit processing hypothesis of precognitive dream experience. Study 1 investigated the relationship between implicit learning, transliminality, and precognitive dream belief and experience. Participants completed the Serial Reaction Time task and several questionnaires. We predicted a positive relationship between the variables. With the exception of relationships between transliminality and precognitive dream belief and experience, this prediction was not supported. Study 2 tested the hypothesis that differences in the ability to notice subtle cues explicitly might account for precognitive dream beliefs and experiences. Participants completed a modified version of the flicker paradigm. We predicted a negative relationship between the ability to explicitly detect changes and precognitive dream variables. This relationship was not found. There was also no relationship between precognitive dream belief and experience and implicit change detection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Milan Valášek
- Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
| | - Caroline Watt
- Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Jenny Hutton
- Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Rebecca Neill
- Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Rachel Nuttall
- Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Grace Renwick
- Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
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Strick M, van Noorden THJ, Ritskes RR, de Ruiter JR, Dijksterhuis A. Zen meditation and access to information in the unconscious. Conscious Cogn 2012; 21:1476-81. [PMID: 22546473 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2012.02.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2011] [Revised: 02/15/2012] [Accepted: 02/17/2012] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
In two experiments and two different research paradigms, we tested the hypothesis that Zen meditation increases access to accessible but unconscious information. Zen practitioners who meditated in the lab performed better on the Remote Associate Test (RAT; Mednick, 1962) than Zen practitioners who did not meditate. In a new, second task, it was observed that Zen practitioners who meditated used subliminally primed words more than Zen practitioners who did not meditate. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Madelijn Strick
- Social Psychology Program, Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, Montessorilaan 3, PO Box 9104, 6500 HE, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
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The transliminal brain at rest: baseline EEG, unusual experiences, and access to unconscious mental activity. Cortex 2008; 44:1353-63. [PMID: 18814870 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2007.08.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2006] [Revised: 08/02/2007] [Accepted: 08/07/2007] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Transliminality reflects individual differences in the threshold at which unconscious processes or external stimuli enter into consciousness. Individuals high in transliminality possess characteristics such as magical ideation, belief in the paranormal, and creative personality traits, and also report the occurrence of manic/mystic experiences. The goal of the present research was to determine if resting brain activity differs for individuals high versus low in transliminality. We compared baseline EEG recordings (eyes-closed) between individuals high versus low in transliminality, assessed using The Revised Transliminality Scale of Lange et al. (2000). Identifying reliable differences at rest between high- and low-transliminality individuals would support a predisposition for transliminality-related traits. Individuals high in transliminality exhibited lower alpha, beta, and gamma power than individuals low in transliminality over left posterior association cortex and lower high alpha, low beta, and gamma power over the right superior temporal region. In contrast, when compared to individuals low in transliminality, individuals high in transliminality exhibited greater gamma power over the frontal-midline region. These results are consistent with prior research reporting reductions in left temporal/parietal activity, as well as the desynchronization of right temporal activity in schizotypy and related schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Further, differences between high- and low-transliminality groups extend existing theories linking altered hemispheric asymmetries in brain activity to a predisposition toward schizophrenia, paranormal beliefs, and unusual experiences.
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Thalbourne MA, Maltby J. Transliminality, thin boundaries, Unusual Experiences, and temporal lobe lability. PERSONALITY AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 2008. [DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2008.01.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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Thalbourne MA, Houran J. Patterns of self-reported happiness and substance use in the context of transliminality. PERSONALITY AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 2005. [DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2004.04.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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Thalbourne MA, Houran J, Crawley SE. Childhood trauma as a possible antecedent of transliminality. Psychol Rep 2004; 93:687-94. [PMID: 14723429 DOI: 10.2466/pr0.2003.93.3.687] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Previous theoretical and empirical work leads to a prediction that the developmental sequelae of childhood trauma may be risk factors in the development of transliminality. 106 undergraduate students completed the Revised Transliminality Scale and the Survey of Traumatic Childhood Events. In support of the prediction, scores on the Revised Transliminality Scale correlated .39 (p<.001) with the total scores on the index of childhood trauma. Follow-up analyses suggested that various sorts of childhood trauma could be interpreted for this group as related to transliminality: having one's house destroyed, robbed, or vandalized; being struck by someone within or outside the family; being yelled and screamed at by a caregiver; witnessing the physical abuse of a parent; and sexual abuse. Longitudinal study is required to sharpen evidence.
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Houran J, Thalbourne MA, Lange R. Methodological note: erratum and comment on the use of the Revised Transliminality Scale. Conscious Cogn 2003; 12:140-4. [PMID: 12617865 DOI: 10.1016/s1053-8100(02)00025-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- James Houran
- Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit, Department of Psychology, University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5005, Australia.
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THALBOURNE MICHAELA. CHILDHOOD TRAUMA AS A POSSIBLE ANTECEDENT OFTRANSLIMINALITY. Psychol Rep 2003. [DOI: 10.2466/pr0.93.7.687-694] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
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