Does Latent Inhibition Underpin Creativity, Positive Schizotypy, and Anomalous Cognition?
Nicola J. Holt, Christine Simmonds-Moore, Stephen L. Moore
Journal of Parapsychology December 1, 2020 DOI: 10.30891/jopar.2020.02.02 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Experimental study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Intervention | psi stimulus |
| Keywords | Schizotypy Creativity Latent inhibition Cognition Cognitive psychology |
| Citations | 4 |
| Key findings | In Experiment 1, no psi effect was found, but non-linear cognition in the creative process was significantly associated with a psi-LI-like effect; in Experiment 2, a significant psi effect operated under similar conditions as latent inhibition, but creativity and positive schizotypy did not moderate its strength. |
Abstract
This paper presents two experiments in which an experimental paradigm developed to examine the efficacy of filtering mechanisms of attention, Latent Inhibition (LI), was adapted to include a psi component. LI assesses the processing of irrelevant stimuli, thus we tested whether a psi-stimulus might be processed akin to the irrelevant stimulus. Because the processing of the irrelevant stimulus has been shown to be moderated by creativity and positive schizotypy, we hypothesized that these same variables would also moderate the processing of any psi effect. In Experiment 1, a significant LI effect was observed but no psi effect. However, non-linear cognition in the creative process (NLCC) (e.g., intuition and hypnagogia) was significantly associated with a psi-LI-like effect. In Experiment 2 there was a significant psi effect that seemed to operate under the same conditions as LI (being attenuated with a high attentional load). However, creativity and positive schizotypy did not moderate the strength of this psi-LI-like effect. The LI effect was significantly enhanced by NLCC and attenuated by originality.