7 papers in the library · 8 citations · publishing 2013-2026
Frontiers in Psychology October 1, 2026 Giovanni Caputo
Eye-to-eye gazing under low-level illumination provides a controlled laboratory paradigm for investigating out-of-body experiences (OBEs) and psychological projections. In the present study, a large sample of healthy participants ( N = 398) completed a dyadic gazing task. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) conducted on nine items of the Strange-Face Questionnaire (SFQ) yielded a three-factor...
Spiritual Psychology and Counseling June 1, 2025 Neil Dagnall, Kenneth Drinkwater, Giovanni Caputo et al. 1 citation
Haunted People Syndrome (HP-S) characterizes recurrent ‘ghostly episodes’ as an interactionist phenomenon emerging from people with heightened somatic-sensory sensitivities that are stirred by dis-ease states, contextualized with paranormal belief, and reinforced via perceptual contagion and threat-agency detection. We tested the applicability of this psychological model via a three-part,...
Journal of Trauma & Dissociation April 3, 2023 Giovanni Caputo 7 citations
Anomalous strange-face illusions (SFIs) are produced when mirror gazing under a low level of face illumination. In contrast to past studies in which an observer's task was to pay attention to the reflected face and to perceive potential facial changes, the present research used a mirror gazing task (MGT) that instructed participants to fixate their gaze on a 4-mm hole in a glass mirror. The...
Eating and Weight Disorders - Studies on Anorexia Bulimia and Obesity August 5, 2020 Benedetta Demartini, Veronica Nisticò, Roberta Tedesco et al.
Purpose: It has been widely shown that dissociative features might play a fundamental role in producing body image distortions in patients affected by eating disorders. Here, we hypothesize that the Mirror Gazing Test (MGT), a task consisting in mirror exposure in a condition of sensory deprivation, would elicit dissociative symptoms in a group of patients with anorexia nervosa (AN). Methods:...
Journal of Trauma & Dissociation April 2, 2019 Giovanni Caputo
Experimentally induced strange-face illusions can be perceived when two individuals look at each other in the eyes under low illumination for about 10 minutes. This task of subject-other eye-to-eye gazing produces the following perceptions by the subject: (i) mild to huge deformations and color/shape changes of face and facial features; (ii) lifeless, unmoving faces and immaterial presences...
Explore September 1, 2017 Giovanni Caputo
Strange-face illusions are produced when two individuals gaze at each other in the eyes in low illumination for more than a few minutes. Usually, the members of the dyad perceive numinous apparitions, like the other's face deformations and perception of a stranger or a monster in place of the other, and feel a short lasting dissociation. In the present experiment, the influence of the...
Behavioral Sciences December 24, 2013 Giovanni Caputo
Mirrors have been studied by cognitive psychology in order to understand self-recognition, self-identity, and self-consciousness. Moreover, the relevance of mirrors in spirituality, magic and arts may also suggest that mirrors can be symbols of unconscious contents. Carl G. Jung investigated mirrors in relation to the unconscious, particularly in Psychology and Alchemy. However, the...