CoNcnpruALrzING Tn¡.xsr,rurlNAr,rrY ¿.s FuNcrroNAL Rncur.lrroN oF INrnR¡.crrow AuoNc Bn¡¡N RpcroNs By J¡.nrcs Houru,N, M.A. Cr,rNIc¡,L Psvcnor-ocv TnnsrS SUBMITTED FoR THE DoCnnB Or DOCTOn or PIITT,OSOPHY Dpp¡.nrvttNT oF PsvcHor-ocv, UNtvnRSITY or Alnl-lmrt Aonr.¡.ron, Souttt Ausrnar,r¡. Aucusr 2003 Sr¡,rpunNt Ihis thesis contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other d.egree or diploma in any university, and, to the best of my lcnowledge, contains no material previously publíshed or written by another person, except where due references have been given in the text. I give consent to this copy of my thesis, when deposited in the Barr Smith Library, being made available for loan and photocopying. Signed, August 2003 James Houran Anomalistic P sychology Res earch Unit D ep ar tment of P sy ch ol o gY University of Adelaide l1 DnnrcarroN AND AcxNowI,EDGMENTS This thesis is dedicated to my loving parents, Michael G. and Alice R. Houran. It was completed due the collective support and encouragement of many individuals. First and foremost, my family sacrificed much in the way of time and attention during its preparation. My son was especially affected, as he is well aware that he missed out on an amazitgtrip to Scotland! Drs. Michael A. Thalbourne (University of Adelaide), Peter S. Delin (University of Adelaide), and Larry F. Hughes (Southern Illinois University School of Medicine) were tremendously gracious in sharing their expertise with me and for serving as the supervisors of this work. They provided me the freedom to express my ideas, and the focus to explore them. Several people also deserve acknowledgment for stimulating discussions on some of the ideas presented in this thesis-A. G. Alias, Peter Brugger, M. Alan Kuzler, and Rense Lange. Furthermore' Diane D. Ashe, V. K. Kumar, Nicole E. Lavertue, and Richard Wiseman kindly assisted me in collecting data for several studies, while Susan E. Crawley and Lance Storm re-analyzed some of their own data for inclusion in this work. Appreciation is also extended to the anonyÍlous reviewers of the six publications that derived from this thesis. Finally, I am extremely grateful to the BIAL Foundation (Portugal) who funded this research (Bursary # 03/00). James Houran University of Adelaid e, 2003 111 T¡.nr-p or CoNrBNrs II STATEMENT ilI DEDICATION ¿.NO ACTUOWLEDGMENTS........ IV TReI-n o¡ CoNrnNrs................. XI LIST OF TABLES XIV LIST OF FIGURES........ Assrnacr .. XV CHAPTER 1: DEVELOPMENT AND EMPIRICAL MEASUREMENT OX' TRANSLIMINALITY I 1. 1 PRoLocuE ............... I.2THECONCEPT ON MENT¡.I BOUNDARIES TN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE '......,,........2 11 1.3 EvoLUTIoN oF TRANSLIMTNALITY AND ITS Mr¡'sun¡vENT""""""""""""""""' 18 1.3 CONNNTATES OF THE TRANSLIMINALITY SCEI-N ¡.NO THBTR IIT'TPLICATIONS """"' 18 1.3.i Psychological Correlates... """"""""""' l.3.2Parapsychological Correlates.. """""""'29 1.3 TOP-DOWN PURIFICATION OF THE TRANSLIMTNALITY SC4T8........ ."""""""""""32 ..'....32 1.3.1 Rationale for a Re-Analysis of the Transliminality scale..... 33 1.3.2 Rasch Scaling....'.. 36 1.3.3 Differential Item Functioning 38 1.3.4 Multidimensionality ^.........'... 38 3B 38 .. 38 1. 3. 6. 1 Prelimínary Analyses.. -.. 43 1.3.6.2 The "Purified" scale 47 t. 3. 6. 3. Ancillary AnalYses ..'.. iv 1.3.7 Discussion...... ..50 1.4 Epr1ocuE............... 51 CHAPTER 2: Ä PRELIMINARY COGNITM MODEL OF TRA¡ISLIMINALITY BASED ON CORRELATES OF'THE RE,VISEI) TRANSLTMTNALTTY SCALE (RTS)......... .......................55 2.1Pnorocup.... 55 2.2 A NBw LooK AT OLD DRrn: RE.ANALYSEs oF SruoTES PERTTNENT To MooBTNc TRANSLIMTNALITY 56 2.2.1 P sy chological Correlates... s6 2.2.2 P arapsvchological Correlates... s8 2.3 N¡w STUDIES wITH.THE REVISED TRANSLIMINALITY Scel-n.... 59 2.3.1 Transliminality and Varieties of Dream Experience. 59 2.3 .2 Transliminality and Temporal Lobe Lability.......... 6l 2.3.3 Transliminality and childhood rrauma: A Potential Developmental Antecedent. ...........67 2.4 TOWARDS A PSYCHOPHYSIoLoGICAL MoDEL oF TRANSLIMINALITY ........,,...,...,7I 2.4. I Initial Speculations 7I 2.4.2 A Cognitive Regulation Paradigm ......... 74 2.4.3 General Predictions from a Cognitive Regulation paradigm..........................77 2.5 8prlocuE................. ...................79 CIIAPTER 3: ENCOUNTER EXPERIENCES IN TIIE CONTEXT OF MENTAL BOUNDARIES AND BILATERALITY: A. CONTRIBUTION TO THEORY- BUILDTNG ...................81 3.l PROLoGUE ..81 3.2 BncrcnouND AND HYPoTHESES ., 82 3.2.1 Levels of the Boundary Construct............... 82 3.2.ZHandedness and the Boundary Construct 83 3.2.3 Transliminality and Persinger's Model of Apparitional Phenomena.. 84 3.2.4Transliminality and a Psychological Approach to Apparitions.......... 86 V 3.2.5 Hypotheses...... 90 3.3 Hnnrlr¿em¡' s BoLINDARY QunsrIotwAIRE ........... 91 3.3.1 Description of the Boundary Questionnaire..... 9l 3.3.2 Conelates of the BQ ............. ..9s 3.4 BNGGS-NEBES HANDEDNESS SCRI-E........ .101 3.5 RnvtsBo PnRRNoRlvtAL BELiEF ScnlB (RPBS)... 101 3 .6 MPESUNN OF ENCOTINTER EXPERIENCES'..........'. 103 3.7 MBrHoo .. 103 103 3 .7 .l Pafücipants............. 3.7.2 Measures ................ .......... 104 3.7.3 Procedure ............... ,.......... 105 3.8 RBsuLrs ............ ...........106 3.8.1 Preliminaries ...........106 3.8.2 Main Findings..... ........... 107 3.8.2. 1 Hypothesis I ................. ...........107 3.8.2.2 Hypothesis 2 ....... ,.............. I l0 3.8.2.3 Hypothesis 3 ....... ............... I 12 12 3. 8. 2.4 Hypothesis 4 ....... ............... I 3.8.2. 5 Hypothesis 5 ....... ............... I 13 3.8. 2. 6 Hypothesis 6 ....... ............... I 13 3.9 Eprl.ocuE.......................... ......,,,.,.,.' I|4 3.9. 1 Implications for the Boundary-Threshold Construct ..'.....' ..114 3.9.2 Ongins of Encounter Experiences and Implications for Modeling Transliminality ............. 116 CIIAPTER 4: TRANSLIMINALITY AND PARANORMAL IDEATION RELATIVE TO HTPOCHONDRIASIS AND THE SOMATIZATION SYNDROME"""""""" """"""""' 121 4.1Pnorocue.. ..121 V1 4.2 BACKGRoUND AND HYPoTHESES ................... ..12r 4.2.1 Cognitive Aspects of Hypochondriasis and the Somatization Syndrome .....121 4.2.2 P ar anormal Ideations as Idioms of P sychophysiological Distress t28 4.2.3 Hypotheses............ ............131 4.3ScREENrNcFoRSorr¡Rrz¡.rroNSyMproMS(SOMS-2)............... ...132 4.4 WsrrBlEY INDEX W0... 133 4.5 CocNrroNS ABourBoDy AND HEALTH QursrromvArRE (CABAH) ............... 134 4.6ANoru,ql.ous EXPERTENCES INVENTORY (AEÐ ......... .... 135 4.7 METHOD ................137 4.7 .l Pafücipants............. ...........137 4.7 .2 Measures .......... ... t37 4.7.3 Procedure .............. ... 139 4.8 Rrsurrs 139 4.8.1 Preliminaries 139 4.8.2 Corr elational Findings t4t 4.8.3 Multiple Regression Analyses 143 4.9 EpnocuE................ r45 CHAPTER 5: IMPACT OF.TRANSLIMINALITY AND COMPETING PERCEPTUAL-PERSONALITY VARIABLES ON ANOMALOUS EXPERIENCES IN A NATIIRALISTIC SETTING. .....I52 5.1 Pnorocun.... 152 5.2 BecrcnouND AND Hyporsps¡s 154 5.2. 1 Perceptual-Personality Variables and Haunt Experiences r54 5 .2.2 Hypotheses............ 159 *The 5.2.3 Edinburgh Ghost Project" 160 5.3 MBrHoo t63 5.3. 1 Participants....... r63 vll 5.3.2 Measures..... t64 5.3.3 Procedure.... 166 5.4 RESULTS ............. ..................... 169 5.4.1 Pattems in the Reported Haunt Experiences r69 5.4.2Ðxperients vs Non-Experients...'.....'.. """"""""""'I73 5.4.3 Associations Among the Perceptual-Personality Variables and Their Relation to the Reported Haunt Experiences ..""""175 5.4.4 Two Distinct Classes of Experience?...'........... ..................... 179 5.5 Eprl-ocuE................. ...'........'...' 182 CHAPTER 6 : QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL STI]DY OF TRAIISLIMINALITY' VIBRATACTILE SENSITI\TTY, PROCESSING SPEED, AND SELF- REPORTED ABERRATIONS IN M8MORY............. ...190 6. 1 PnolocuE .............. 190 6.2 BACKGROUND AND HYPOTHESES 192 6.2.1 D efinltion and Measurement of Thre sholds. .... .'. t92 6.2.1 .l Absolute and Differential Thresholds . ..r92 6.2.1 .2 Methods of Estimating Thresholds ..... 194 6.2.2 Transliminality and Signal Detection Theory.... 196 6.2.3 Overview of Cutaneous Sensitivity ..'................ .......201 6. 2. 3. 1 Vibratactile Sensitivity... .......202 6.2.3.2 Thresholds for Pressure ...,...203 6. 2. 3. 3 Point Localization for Pres sure. - - ,,....,204 6.2.3.4 Adaptation to Pressure ,................. 205 6.2.4 Hypotheses.............. ....,,....'...,..' 206 6.3 O-ScALE ................ ......,....,.,....206 6.4 CovpurnR AIDED SeNsoRv EvALUAToR (CASE IV) SYSTEM 207 6.4.1 Description of CASE fV System 207 6. 4.2 D escription of CAS E IV System Hardware... 208 vl11 6.4.3 Description of Calibration Procedure .... ...209 6.5 METHOD 209 6.5. 1 Participants.......... 209 6.5.2 MpesunES ............. 210 6.5.3 Procedure 210 6.6 Rpsurrs ......... 2t3 6.6.1 RTS and O-Scale Measure of Memory Aberrations .............2t3 6.6.2 Y lbratactile Threshold Data....... .............213 6.6.3 Time to Determine Threshold .............2t6 6.6.4 Reliability............. .............2r7 6.6.5 Possible Response Biases 2t8 6.7 EpnocuB... 2t8 CIIAPTER 7: GENERAL DISCUSSION OF.RESI]LTS F.ROM TIIE SERIES OF. F'OUR STUDIES AND THEIR IMPLICATION F'OR A COGNITIVE REGULATION MODEL OF'TRANSLIMINALITY ....222 7.1 PRoLocuE..... ...222 7.2 GSNTRAL DrscussroN................ 224 7.3 Eprlocup... APPENDrCES.............. ................:....297 APPENDD( A: TRaNslrMrNALrry ScRr.B (Fonv B).............. ..............29g APPENDXB: Hmrva¡rN's BoUNDARY euESTroNNArRE..........