Plans for a Fall Protocol towards a program of flotation-REST as an exposure elicting individual differences in access to and experience of altered states of conciousness.

 

FallSchedule

 

For the next phase of our REST research we should begin exploring more varied measures of an individuals personality and cognitive style in addition to meditative experience. Obvious and intuitively, different people have different ways of apphrehending the world, and each reality tunnel is unique - we just want to come up some a few measurable traits which may act as poles on a graph. We also want to continue to show that flotation-REST is an active exposure towards the interruption of stress-withholding habit structures. Yet here too there are individual differences - different floats for different folks. So we should design a protocol around the measurements of a few individual traits relating to how a particular person percieves and thus structures their world; then choose a program which reliably acts upon certain measurable psychological states of those individuals; and at the end of program look for differences among those individuals towards degree and intensity of state change. We should also have a curious eye towards whether or not a sufficient exposure to flotation-REST can induce trait changes as well. However, as our long term goal is the exploration in genetic components of phenotypes expressing a drive towards and experienced intensity of altered states of conciousness, our experimental design should always be looking for ways to deliniate these phenotypes.

 

Fall Protocol Methods and with particular attention towards changes requiring IRB approval:

 

As for an experimental design which reliably instantiates the state changes we're curious to measure, we have some excellent prior research to run with. The Human Performace group of Karlstad University have explored a program of 12 flotation-REST treatements doled out twice a week over the course of six weeks. (Bood, 2006) This protocol has been found necessary and sufficient to induce a measurable relaxation response which is effective as a treatment for stress-related muscle pain. Increasing numbers of sessions beyond 12 have been found to be no more or less effective in another paper. This program of 12 flotation sessions also seems effective as a reliable means of inducing the variations on several psychometric scales measuring subjective levels of stress, anxiety, depression, optimism, and altered states of conciousness.

 

Trait Based Measures:

 

Meditative History - already approved and on interview form.

 

Witkin Embedded Figure Test - The GEFT is a perceptual test based on the theory of cognitive-style. Performance on the GEFT translates to a coordinate on the gradient of field independence/dependence. Relative levels of field independence have been associated with a broader concept of psychological differentiation. For example, subjects showing a high level of field-independence also tend to show a more articulated sense of self. With a high test-retest reliability, field independence/dependence has been considered to be a steady attribute of an individual personality - one which may be genetically influenced. We would like to investigate how varying levels of field independence mediate individual experiences with flotation-REST. Also of interest: at least one study has shown that certain experimental conditions may significantly influence an individuals performance on the GEFT. We would also like to test whether or not the environment of flotation-REST has any influence on subsequent performance on the GEFT at the conclusion of the program of floats.

 

Spielberger State/Trait Anxiety Inventory- Flotation-REST has continually been described as a technology of relaxation. However, much of the existing literature is concerned with describing norms over the population among indicators of a relaxation response (average cortisol change, average changes in the Hospital Anxiety Depression scale, etc.) We are interested in how inter-individual differences of anxiety levels express themselves in reaction to flotation-REST. The Spielberger State/Trait Anxiety Inventory has seen extensive use in research and clinical practice and is useful in that it seperates an individual's natural tendency towards anxiety from their temporary and situational state of stress. By this deliniation we can address a very important questions about flotation-REST usefulness as a technology of mind/body interaction, especially among populations of higher anxiety.

 

Tellegen Absorption Scale - A 34 item inventory measuring "Absorption," a common correlate of hypnotizabiliy. "Absorption is interpreted as a disposition for having episodes of "total" attention that fully engage one's representational (i.e., perceptual, enactive, imaginative, and ideational) resources." At least one study has found a genetic association with polymorphisms of AVPR1a and higher levels of Absorption in a study of the phenotype of the creative dancer. Administer at introductory session.

 

 

 

State Based Psychometrics:

 

Spielberger State Anxiety Inventory - we should give this before and after flotation several times during the course of the program - but perhaps not after every float. An additional consideration is exactly when to administer the after test: immediately after flotation, after showering, at the end of the day? A model protocol might consist of 10 assays, before and after the first, third, sixth, ninth, and twelth

 

EDN - Flotation-REST effectiveness as an intervention for stress-related ailments and chronic pain seems to be correlated with a particular experience of altered state of conciousness as measured by a scale called the Experienced Deviation from Norm. (EDN) In a personal communication, Torsten Norlander shared with me a rough prediction: "Typical results after 1 flotation would be around 30 points, and after 12 about 40 points. After chamber-REST we typically get about 15 points, and after sitting in a comfortable arm-chair you would expect 3 . 5 points." Of particular interest is this paper (page 6) for the Human Performance group which describes asignifigant intraindividual variation on the EDN among participants exposed to floation-REST for a single session. Similarly, earlier work by Arreed Barabasz indicated difference among individual descriptions of REST as a function of an individuals hypnotizability. The EDN is already approved by IRB for the six-float arm and single-float arm of the study. We simply need to plan when to give it - maybe after every three floats: so after the first, fourth, seventh, tenth and twelth floats.

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