Geophysical Variables and Behavior: LV. Predicting the Details of Visitor Experiences and the Personality of Experients: The Temporal Lobe Factor

@article{Persinger1989GeophysicalVA,
  title={Geophysical Variables and Behavior: LV. Predicting the Details of Visitor Experiences and the Personality of Experients: The Temporal Lobe Factor},
  author={Michael A. Persinger},
  journal={Perceptual and Motor Skills},
  year={1989},
  volume={68},
  pages={55 - 65}
}
  • M. Persinger
  • Published 1 February 1989
  • Psychology
  • Perceptual and Motor Skills
The visitor experience, a more intense form of the normal sense of presence, emphasizes the deep belief of personal contact with an extraterrestrial (or religious) entity. Phenomenological details of visitor experiences are expected to reflect the functions of deep temporal lobe structures; common details involve cosmic meaningfulness, vestibular experiences, flickering, complex visual sensations and alimentary references. After intense experiences, interictal-like behaviors similar to… 
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27 Citations
Background Citations
8
Results Citations
1

27 Citations

The feeling of a presence and verbal meaningfulness in context of temporal lobe function: Factor analytic verification of the muses?
The Role of Religious and Mystic Experiences In Human Evolution: A Corollary Hypothesis for NeuroTheology
The adaptive value of maintaining a portion of our population subject to religious, mystic or spiritual experiences is discussed. An evolutionary mechanism, which may be unique to humans, is posited…
Hallucinations That Comfort: Contextual Mediation of Deathbed Visions
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A sample of 49 accounts of deathbed visions from Barrett's 1926 classic collection were analyzed using the classification scheme for contextual variables proposed recently by Lange, Houran, Harte, and Havens to consistent with the interpretation that death bed visions are comforting hallucinations and that contextual variables serve to structure these otherwise ambiguous experiences.
Neuropsychological Profiles of Adults Who Report “Sudden Remembering” of Early Childhood Memories: Implications for Claims of Sex Abuse and Alien Visitation/Abduction Experiences
TLDR
The hypothesis that enhanced imagery due to temporal lobe lability within specific contexts can facilitate the creation of memories is supported; they are strengthened further if there is also reduction in anxiety.
Toward an Explanation of the UFO Abduction Phenomenon: Hypnotic Elaboration, Extraterrestrial Sadomasochism, and Spurious Memories
Autobiographical memories are often suspect. For example, a surprisingly large number of people report having been abducted by extraterrestrials. We offer a prototype of the abduction experience and…
Four Types of Explanations of CE IV UFO Reports
Based on a review of recent CE IV explanations in the literature the author distinguishes, from the point of view of the analytic philosophy of the social sciences, four different types of…
Geomagnetic, Cross-cultural and Occupational Faces of Sleep Paralysis: An Ecological Perspective
S leep paralysis (SP) is a rapid eye movement (REM) sleep disturbance and concurrent dream phenomena which usually occurs at sleep onset, upon awakening, or during the transition between REM and…
Satanist abuse and alien abduction: A comparative analysis theorizing temporal lobe activity as a possible connection between anomalous memories
SUMMARY This paper compares two sets of scarcely believable reports: those of satanist abuse survivors and those of people with apparent memories of alien abduction. There are striking parallels…
Alien abduction experiences: Some clues from neuropsychology and neuropsychiatry
TLDR
There is currently no convincing evidence for higher rates of serious psychopathology amongst abductees compared to the general population, however, abductees do seem to show higher levels on some potentially relevant measures.
Temporal Lobe Signs, the Dissociative Experiences Scale and the Hemispheric Quotient
Scores for the inference of Temporal Lobe Signs, the Dissociative Experiences Scale, and the Hemispheric Quotient were obtained for men and women. Moderately strong positive correlations (.70) were…
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References

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