Criterion Validity for Rotton's Paralogic Test-Beliefs of Forbidden Knowledge May Negatively Affect Inferential Problem Solving

The hypothesis was tested that belief in restricted or exclusionary knowledge interferes with strong inferential processing. Scores on Rotton's Paralogic Test, multiple-choice examinations (mutually interactive items), and the belief clusters from the Personal Philosophy Inventory were factor analyzed for 55 part-time university men and women. Subjects who endorsed more items concerning forbidden knowledge (i.e., there are some things that Science should not investigate) displayed poorer logical and inferential performance (25% explained variance). These results suggest that such beliefs may limit cognitive exploration of certain conceptual domains.

Enhanced power within the default mode network in normal subjects with elevated scores on an egocentric scale

Integrated global power from the primary structures that composed the Default Mode Network (DMN) and from a random collection of other structures were measured by sLORETA (standardized low-resolution electromagnetic tomography) for young university volunteers who had completed an inventory that contained a subscale by which egocentricity has been inferred. Subjects who exhibited higher scores for egocentricity displayed significantly more power within the DMN structures relative to comparison areas. This was not observed for individuals whose egocentricity scores were lowest where the power differences between the DMN and comparison structures were not significant statistically. DMN power was greater in the right hemisphere than the left for men but greater in the left hemisphere than the right for women. The results are consistent with our operating metaphor that elevation of power or activity within the DMN is associated with greater affiliation with the self and its cognitive contents.

Complex partial epileptic-like experiences in university students and practitioners of Dharmakaya in Thailand: comparison with Canadian university students

We tested the hypothesis that individuals who frequently practice meditation within another culture whose assumptions explicitly endorse this practice should exhibit more frequent and varied experience associated with complex partial epilepsy (without the seizures) as inferred by the Personal Philosophy Inventory and Roberts' Questionnaire for the Epileptic Spectrum Disorder. 80 practitioners of Dharma Meditation and 24 university students in Thailand were compared with 76 students from first-year courses in psychology in a Canadian university. Although there were large significant differences for some items and clusters of items expected as a result of cultural differences, there were no statistically significant differences between the two populations for the proportions of complex partial epileptic-like experiences or their frequency of occurrence. There were no strong or consistent correlations between the history of meditation within the sample who practiced Dharma meditation and these experiences. These results suggest complex partial epileptic-like experiences may be a normal feature of the human species.

Control of "choice" by application of the electromagnetic field equivalents of spoken words: mediation by emotional meaning rather than linguistic dimensions?

Electromagnetic equivalents (about 1 microT) of the acoustic signature of spoken words were applied across the temporoparietal lobes by an array of external solenoids. Participants were asked to select the target word within a group of words. The experimental group of 7 chose the target word or words that shared its emotional dimensions (activation, evaluation) more frequently than did the reference group of 6 who received no electromagnetic equivalents. Implications for the neurocognitive detection of the emotional (connotative) components of word stimuli when transformed to electromagnetic equivalents rather than direct images or "word sounds" are discussed.

Preliminary study of death anxiety of believers versus percipients of the paranormal

This research tested the hypotheses that belief in the paranormal is associated with a lessening of death anxiety and that direct experiences of the paranormal are stronger correlates with less fear than the stated belief. Contrary to predictions, scores on Templer's 1970 Death Anxiety Scale were not associated with scores on either Belief in the Paranormal or Paranormal Experiences, subscales of the Anomalous Experiences Inventory. Instead, significant sex differences were found on three out of the five subscales which indicate a need to clarify possible sex-specific variables in the perception and report of anomalous phenomena by 14 men and 19 women.

Tolerance of ambiguity and fear of the paranormal

Houran, et al's model for haunting phenomena predicts that fear of "paranormal phenomena" is associated with intolerance of ambiguity. Consistent with this prediction, ratings by 86 undergraduates (14 men and 72 women) showed a correlation of 33 between the scores on the Anomalous Experiences Inventory and the Rydell Rosen Ambiguity Tolerance Scale.

SUBJECTIVE PSEUDOCYESIS IN NORMAL WOMEN WHO EXHIBIT ENHANCED IMAGININGS AND ELEVATED INDICATORS OF ELECTRICAL LABILITY WITHIN THE TEMPORAL LOBES: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE “MISSING EMBRYO SYNDROME”

About one-fifth of 371 university women (mean age 26 years) reported that they had experienced symptoms of subjective pseudocyesis (false pregnancy). These women displayed markedly elevated indicators of complex partial seizure-like signs (particularly olfactory experiences, automatic behaviors and depersonalization), dissociative experiences, memory disruptions, hypomania, and right hemispheric arousal compared to women who did not report subjective pseudocyesis; for this phenomenon the ratio of women who were Roman Catholic vs Protestant was 8.2:1. This cluster of symptoms and experiences are very similar to those reported by women who believe their embryos have been removed after “impregnation” by non-human entities. Possible mechanisms are discussed.

Reinforcement generalization as interaction between processes rather than events: absence of schedule-induced hyperdipsia in rats with histories of minimal food-water contiguity

All scientific disciplines contain concepts that reflect interactions between their processes as well as between their units. The divergence process (generalization) applied to reinforcement predicts the existence of reinforcement generalization. Existence of this operation was suggested by the absence of schedule-induced hyperdipsia in rats for which the normal temporal contiguity between eating and drinking had been prevented. The results indicate that through generalization of reinforcement, which could explain the adjunctive class of behaviors, reinforcement of one process evokes comparable changes in other processes even if their overt correlates are not displayed contiguously.

Modification of activation and evaluation properties of narratives by weak complex magnetic field patterns that simulate limbic burst firing

In two separate experiments a total of 71 volunteers were asked to generate spontaneous narratives that were scored automatically by the Whissell Dictionary of Affect. During the narratives, weak (1 microT; 10 mG) magnetic fields were applied briefly through the temporal planes. In Experiment I, subjects who were exposed to simple sine wave or pulsed fields generated more scorable words that indicated lower activation and evaluation than sham-field conditions. In Experiment II subjects exposed to a computer-generated wave form, designed to simulate neuronal burst firing, generated narratives dominated by more pleasantness and less activation than a reference group. The possibility that this approach could be utilized to study the affective dimension of language selection was indicated.

Geophysical variables and behavior: LXXI. Differential contribution of geomagnetic activity to paranormal experiences concerning death and crisis: an alternative to the ESP hypothesis

A total of 621 reports (experienced over an approximately 70-year period) of putative psi experiences concerning death or crisis were differentiated according to traditional labels: telepathic, precognitive, and postmortem phenomena. The 232 telepathic experiences occurred during 24-hour periods in which the global geomagnetic activity was significantly less (quieter) than during the days before or after the experiences; this relationship was not displayed by the 186 precognitive or 203 postmortem cases. Key day differences in geomagnetic activity for the three classes of experiences were equivalent to a correlation of about 0.35. Although content analysis suggests that nocturnal psi experiences and temporal lobe epilepsy may share a similar mechanism, different classes of subjective psi experiences may not be affected by the same stimuli.

Paranormal and religious beliefs may be mediated differentially by subcortical and cortical phenomenological processes of the temporal (limbic) lobes

The vectorial hemisphericity concept predicts that endorsements of beliefs in paranormal phenomena are associated with elevated subcortical (complex partial epileptic-like signs) temporal lobe experiences while endorsements of religious beliefs are associated with experiences of the right (cortical) hemispheric equivalent (the sensed presence) of the linguistic sense of self. Partial correlation analyses, which removed the expected shared variance, supported this hypothesis for 400 men and 400 women; religious affiliation did not contribute any statistically significant influence. However, agreements with extreme religious beliefs, such as killing others in God's name, were associated with weekly church attendance and were primarily endorsed by men but not by women.

Shifts in the Plutchik emotion profile indices following three weekly treatments with pulsed vs continuous cerebral magnetic fields

Compared to baseline measures, the emotional profile indices of normal volunteers who received 3 weekly exposures to 20 min. of bilateral burst-firing magnetic fields along the temporal plane displayed increased aggression and decreased trust relative to those exposed to pulsed (1 sec. every 4 sec.) fields or to control conditions. The effect size was equivalent to an eta of 0.70. There were no shifts in Holtzman Inkblot Projection Scores. These results suggest that brief cerebral exposures to weak magnetic fields that simulate the burst-firing of amygdaloid cells may affect specific limbic emotions.

Tobacyk's sex differences in the experiences of ego-alien intrusions

Tobacyk's Revised Paranormal Belief Scale and an inventory that infers temporal lobe signs were administered to 44 men and 54 women who were enrolled in first-year university courses. Women believed more in psi phenomena, witchcraft, and spiritualism than did men, who believed more in extraterrestrial life forms. Although complex partial epileptic-like signs were moderately (0.40) correlated with total beliefs for both sexes, these signs were dominated by experiences of ego-alien intrusions for women only. The results support the concept of greater interhemispheric coherence in women compared to men and emphasize the importance of limbic processes in the formation and maintenance of religious and paranormal beliefs.