The induction of an altered state of consciousness as a function of sensory environment and experience seeking

This paper reports on the results of two experiments concerned with the induction of an altered state of consciousness (ASC) in the laboratory. In these experiments different conditions of sensory stimulation were operationally defined (altered sensory environments), and employed in an attempt to change the psychophysiological state of the subject, and thus induce an ASC. Visual and auditory sources of stimulation were used, and conditions of overload and deprivation were defined. The goal of the first study was to investigate how trait (experience seeking) and environment interact to codetermine subjective experience. In the second study, optimal conditions were employed for the induction of an ASC. Two groups of subjects, divided into 'high' and 'low' experience seekers by median split, were randomly allocated to these conditions and completed the experiment. It was found that more than 85% of high experience seekers, exposed to a condition of perceptual deprivation, experienced an ASC.