A Test of the Psychedelic Model of Altered States of Consciousness
Archives of General Psychiatry July 1, 1976 DOI: 10.1001/archpsyc.1976.01770070097012 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Experimental study with comparison groups Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Intervention | instructions involving direct sensitization to immediate subjective state |
| Duration | Ten minutes |
| Topics | Altered states of consciousness |
| Keywords | Consciousness Sensitization Developmental psychology Intentionality Cognitive psychology Altered state |
| Citations | 43 |
| Key findings | Instructions for direct sensitization to immediate subjective state produced a striking incidence of anomalous subjective reports after ten minutes of isolation and inactivity, compared with nonsensitization groups. |
Abstract
The term "psychedelic" applied to "altered states of consciousness" would imply that such subjective anomalies are direct expressions of normal psychological functioning. The anomaly in such experience would depend in the first instance on sensitization to qualities of immediate subjective state. Such sensitization should in itself be considered nonadaptive, cutting off the "intentionality" of psychic functioning at a microgenetically primitive level. This hypothesis was experimentally confirmed, in a setting involving isolation and inactivity for a period of ten minutes, by the striking incidence of anomalous subjective reports in groups provided instructions involving direct sensitization to immediate subjective state compared with nonsensitization groups. In addition, as would be predicted from a "psychedelic" model of altered states, a study of the experimental protocols of the early introspectionists revealed subjective anomalies similar to those found in drug and meditational states.
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on altered states of consciousness, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Standardized Psychometric Assessment of Altered States of Consciousness (ASCs) in Humans Healthy subjects in six countries | 1998 | Experimental and field study | n = 1,133 |
| TMS-EEG and resting-state EEG applied to altered states of consciousness: oscillations, complexity, and phenomenology. | 2023 | Experimental study | |
| Neural Correlates of Non-ordinary States of Consciousness in Pranayama Practitioners: The Role of Slow Nasal Breathing Experienced meditators | 2022 | Within-subjects comparison | n = 12 |
| Increased spontaneous EEG signal diversity during stroboscopically-induced altered states of consciousness Healthy adults | 2019 | Experimental study | |
| Cannabis-induced altered states of consciousness are associated with specific dynamic brain connectivity states Healthy occasional cannabis users (smoking cannabis ≤2 per week) | 2019 | Repeated-measures, within-subjects design | n = 19 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 20
- Self-disturbance and schizophrenia: structure, specificity, pathogenesis (Current issues, New directions). Schizophrenia Research 2014
- Alterations in the sense of time, space and body in the Mindfulness-trained brain: A neurophenomenologically-guided MEG study Frontiers in Psychology May 22, 2014
- “Dark Nights of the Soul”: Phenomenology and Neurocognition of Spiritual Suffering in Mysticism and Psychosis Review of General Psychology September 1, 2007
- Phenomenology and neurobiology of self disorder in schizophrenia: Secondary factors. Schizophrenia Research December 1, 2015
- Introspection and schizophrenia: a comparative investigation of anomalous self experiences. Consciousness and Cognition September 1, 2013
and 15 more in the library
Cites 4
- Altered States of Consciousness Archives of General Psychiatry September 1, 1966
- On the Use and Abuse of LSD Archives of General Psychiatry March 1, 1968
- Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD-25): I. Physiological and Perceptual Responses The Journal of Psychology 1955
- Consciousness and brain. II. Introspection, the qualia of experience, and the unconscious. Archives of General Psychiatry August 1, 1973