Reduced sensory stimulation in the BBC

Later in the term, we will be studying sensation and perception and its relation to consciousness. The BBC has an article on what happens when we are left alone with an active perceptual system getting little external sensory stimulation. The terminology and attitude of the article are a bit dated though.

What is referred in the article as “sensory deprivation” is now referred more to restricted environmental stimulation technique (REST), and has been studied for a long time. Early studies of this phenomenon had focused on the deleterious effects and sensationalized the hallucinations and delirium that resulted. More recent studies have been focused on how it can be helpful in clinical therapy. My graduate school advisor, Peter Suedfeld, has done much with this research, including demonstrating its effects on cognition and usefulness for smoking cessation and other behavioral change.

BBC NEWS | Magazine | Alone in the dark:

North American scientists paid students to stay in conditions of sensory deprivation for varying lengths of time. Most dropped out after 72 hours, and very few were able to stay more than four or five days. The boredom and oppression of the experiments’ conditions became overpowering.

Mickey, a postman is seeing mosquitoes and fighter planes buzzing around his head and it’s frightening him.

Claire a psychology student doesn’t mind the little cars, snakes and zebras. But she gets scared when she suddenly feels somebody is in the room.

“In the dark room there is nothing to focus on,” says Prof Robbins as he monitors their behaviour. “In the absence of information the human brain carries on working and processing information even if there is no information to process and after a while it starts to create that information itself.”

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Dana C. Leighton, Ph.D.

I am a social psychologist, broadly interested in the psychological basis of peace and conflict. I am working for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as a Program Analyst, leading our survey research to better understand how our disaster response is promoting equity in service delivery, workforce readiness, and recovery and mitigation efforts.

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