Opening the Doors of Perception: Priming Altered States of Consciousness outside of Conscious Awareness
Brandon Randolph-Seng, Michael E. Nielsen
Archive for the Psychology of Religion May 1, 2009 DOI: 10.1163/157361209x424475 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Experimental study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Altered states of consciousness |
| Key findings | Indirect measures of altered states of consciousness were consistent with the priming participants received, supporting the hypothesis that ASC reports can be influenced by priming methods. |
Abstract
Two studies are reported in which participants’ reports of altered states of consciousness (ASC) were manipulated using priming methods. Study 1 used both subtle and blunt supraliminal priming methods, while Study 2 used a subliminal priming method. Across the two studies, two different methods for inducing ASC were used. In both studies a direct and an indirect measure of ASC was employed in order to separate the more nonconscious and spontaneous (indirect) from the more conscious and directive (direct) reports of ASC. As predicted, results indicated that the indirect measures of ASC were consistent with the ASC primes participants received. Implications and future research directions are discussed.
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 | |
| A Test of the Psychedelic Model of Altered States of Consciousness | 1976 | Experimental study with comparison groups | |
| 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 |
Citations in the library
Cites 3
- Psychobiology of Altered States of Consciousness. Psychological Bulletin 2005
- The Innate Capacity: Mysticism, Psychology, and Philosophy Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion December 1, 1999
- Quasi-Experimental Elicitation of the Differential Report of Religious Experience Among Intrinsic and Indiscriminately Pro-Religious Types Dimensions of Mystical Experiences June 1, 1990