Systematic Self-Observation of Entoptic Phenomena and Their Relation to Hypnagogia
Joseph Glicksohn, Gailie Friedland, Avi Salach-Nachum
Imagination, Cognition and Personality March 1, 1991 DOI: 10.2190/ef06-jd2w-7j6x-1m63 (opens in new tab)
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractSystematic self-observation of entoptics and hypnagogia found that experimental manipulations increased the reported incidence of entoptics but not hypnagogia. The two phenomena appear to be independent, arguing against the entoptic explanation of hypnagogic imagery. The frequency of entoptics follows an inverted U-shaped function of attention level.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Observational study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key finding | Experimental manipulations increased the incidence of entoptics but not hypnagogia, and the two phenomena appear independent, failing to support the entoptic hypothesis. |
Abstract
We report the results of systematic self-observation of entoptics and hypnagogia, in a study whose purpose was to investigate the “entoptic explanation” of hypnagogic imagery (i.e., that entoptic phenomena play a role in the genesis of visual hypnagogic imagery). Employing various experimental manipulations designed to increase the incidence of both phenomena, we were able to show the effectivity of such manipulations on reported incidence of entoptics, but not regarding hypnagogia. Furthermore, the two phenomena seem to be independent, and thus we argue that the entoptic hypothesis cannot be supported. In addition, we report that the frequency of incidence of entoptics is an inverted U-shaped function of level of attention (as defined in this study).