Psychophysiological Investigations in Sensory Deprivation

Abstract

It was postulated that subjects who rely more on external rather than internal cues would react differently to an experience in which external cues were lacking. Using the Draw-a-Person test and the Rod and Frame test on a population of 109 college students to determine extent of Field dependency, 5 Body and 6 Field subjects were selected and placed in a low-sensory environment for 2 hours. Field-dependent subjects performed more poorly on pre- and postexperimental 2-point discrimination and letter identification, remained more aroused (GSR, EEG), and tended to move around more. Postexperimentally they expressed more discomfort about the experiment, struggled more with feelings and fantasies (or denied them), were more suspicious, and projected internal precepts more. Other trends noted were, (a) a general decrease in arousal (GSR, EEG, pulse rate) for all subjects over the 2 hours, (b) a direct correlation between amount of movement and verbalization artifact, GSR and discomfort, (c) between ego organization and sensory discrimination, (d) between adrenaline level and discomfort, and (e) between adrenaline level and pulse rate.