The experience of altered states of consciousness in shamanic ritual: the role of pre-existing beliefs and affective factors.
Consciousness and Cognition December 1, 2010 Vince Polito, Robyn Langdon, Jac Brown 31 citations
Much attention has been paid recently to the role of anomalous experiences in the aetiology of certain types of psychopathology, e.g. in the formation of delusions. We examine, instead, the top-down influence of pre-existing beliefs and affective factors in shaping an individual's characterisation of anomalous sensory experiences. Specifically we investigated the effects of paranormal beliefs...