Citation

The main question addressed with this experiment is whether the hypnagogic state is a special mental state conducive of anomalous cognitive processes. Twelve volunteers with high scores on the transliminality or the absorption scale participated in a guessing-like task alternating trials in hypnotic and relaxed states of consciousness. Each participant contributed to 10 trials in a hypnagogic state and 10 trials in a self-induced relaxed state. Participants were shown 20 different series of 4 emotionally neutral figures presented in sequence one at a time for about 1 min on a PC monitor and successively presented all 4 to guess which one could be the target. Before the participant’s choice, the target, chosen by a pseudorandom algorithm, was simultaneously presented on a monitor in a different isolated room connected with the apparatus installed in the subject’s room. With hypnotic induction emphasising OBE in the hypnagogic state, the mean hits score was 37.5% whereas in the self-relaxation state it was at chance level, 25%. Further support for the hypothesis that the hypnagogic state is psi-conductive was obtained by the significant correlation between ESP performance in the hypnagogic state and the score on transliminality (.71) and absorption scales (.76). Induced hypnagogic imagery associated with a high level of transliminality and/or absorption is proving to be a special mental state conducive to ESP phenomena.