Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1976,43, 822.
@ Perceptual and Motor Skills 1976
INFLUENCE OF TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION ON PERCEPTUAL ILLUSION: A PILOT STUDY RAYMOND F. MARTINETTI
Marywood College This preliminary investigation determined whether or not the consistent practice of Transcendental Meditation would reduce the non-veridical, oscillatory perception associated with the Ames Trapezoid Illusion, on the basis that such meditation is an easily learned method of inducing a state of relaxed alertness ( 1 ) . Practitioners of Transcendental Meditation have been reported to experience increased perceptual response ( 2 ) such as faster reaction time, lower auditory threshold, and increased speed and accuracy in mirror-star tracing. Ten male ~ractitionersfrom the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area were matched with a control group of 10 nonpractitioners on the basis of age, visual acuity, eye dominance, and five relevant scores on the Keystone Telebinocular Test: simultaneous vision, vertical imbalance, lateral imbalance, fusion, and stereopsis. The subjects ranged in age from 17 to 48 yr. The mean age of the experimental group was 25 yr. and for the control group 26.1 yr. The meditators had practiced Transcendental Meditation for at least 2 but not more than 4 yr. Both groups were asked to view binocularly a rotating trapezoid positioned in direct visual alignment at a distance of 6 m. The stimulus, presented in a totally darkened room, was illuminated by an ultraviolet light source. The rotation speed of the trapezoid was 25 rpm. Each subject was tested individually and viewed the trapezoid for five 10-min. trials. Perceived oscillations were recorded by a Single Impulse Counter (Lafayette Instrument Co.) . Using proportion of perceived oscillation as the dependent variable, a t test for correlated data indicated significantly fewer reported oscillar~onsby the meditators ( t = -3.74, p < .01). The meditators reported a mean of 29 7 % ooscillation with a SD of 13.98%. The non-meditators reported a mean of 62.6% oscrllarion with a SD of 25.48%. Subjective reports of the observers indicated that the controls were more easily distracted from the task than meditators. The preliminary findings do not permit a definitive statement whether Transcendental Meditation improves perceptual awareness. A more comprehensive study is underway with many more subjects and analyses of variance across groups with differential experience in meditating are being conducted. The present data permit the tentative conclusion that practitioners of Transcendental Meditation may have learned to focus their attention to a level at which thresholds for pertinent perceptual cues such as binocular disparity may be lowered. The concomitant increase in response sensitivity would account for the apparent superiority in capability for signal detection in the Ames illusion. REFERENCES 1. DENNISTON, D., & MCWILLIAMS, P. T h e T M book. Allen Park. Mich.: Versemonger Press, 1975. 2. ORME-JOHNSON,D . W., DOMASH, L., & FARROW,J. T. (Eds.) Scientific research in rhe Transcendental Meditation program: collected papers. Vol. 1. Los Angeles: Maharishi International University Press, 1974. Pp. 107-108.
Accepted September 29, 1976.
@ Perceptual and Motor Skills 1976
INFLUENCE OF TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION ON PERCEPTUAL ILLUSION: A PILOT STUDY RAYMOND F. MARTINETTI
Marywood College This preliminary investigation determined whether or not the consistent practice of Transcendental Meditation would reduce the non-veridical, oscillatory perception associated with the Ames Trapezoid Illusion, on the basis that such meditation is an easily learned method of inducing a state of relaxed alertness ( 1 ) . Practitioners of Transcendental Meditation have been reported to experience increased perceptual response ( 2 ) such as faster reaction time, lower auditory threshold, and increased speed and accuracy in mirror-star tracing. Ten male ~ractitionersfrom the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area were matched with a control group of 10 nonpractitioners on the basis of age, visual acuity, eye dominance, and five relevant scores on the Keystone Telebinocular Test: simultaneous vision, vertical imbalance, lateral imbalance, fusion, and stereopsis. The subjects ranged in age from 17 to 48 yr. The mean age of the experimental group was 25 yr. and for the control group 26.1 yr. The meditators had practiced Transcendental Meditation for at least 2 but not more than 4 yr. Both groups were asked to view binocularly a rotating trapezoid positioned in direct visual alignment at a distance of 6 m. The stimulus, presented in a totally darkened room, was illuminated by an ultraviolet light source. The rotation speed of the trapezoid was 25 rpm. Each subject was tested individually and viewed the trapezoid for five 10-min. trials. Perceived oscillations were recorded by a Single Impulse Counter (Lafayette Instrument Co.) . Using proportion of perceived oscillation as the dependent variable, a t test for correlated data indicated significantly fewer reported oscillar~onsby the meditators ( t = -3.74, p < .01). The meditators reported a mean of 29 7 % ooscillation with a SD of 13.98%. The non-meditators reported a mean of 62.6% oscrllarion with a SD of 25.48%. Subjective reports of the observers indicated that the controls were more easily distracted from the task than meditators. The preliminary findings do not permit a definitive statement whether Transcendental Meditation improves perceptual awareness. A more comprehensive study is underway with many more subjects and analyses of variance across groups with differential experience in meditating are being conducted. The present data permit the tentative conclusion that practitioners of Transcendental Meditation may have learned to focus their attention to a level at which thresholds for pertinent perceptual cues such as binocular disparity may be lowered. The concomitant increase in response sensitivity would account for the apparent superiority in capability for signal detection in the Ames illusion. REFERENCES 1. DENNISTON, D., & MCWILLIAMS, P. T h e T M book. Allen Park. Mich.: Versemonger Press, 1975. 2. ORME-JOHNSON,D . W., DOMASH, L., & FARROW,J. T. (Eds.) Scientific research in rhe Transcendental Meditation program: collected papers. Vol. 1. Los Angeles: Maharishi International University Press, 1974. Pp. 107-108.
Accepted September 29, 1976.
