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Auditory hallucinations predict likelihood of out-of-body experience

  • Authors: De Foe, Alexander , Van Doorn, George , Symmons, Mark
  • Date: 2012
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Australian Journal of Parapsychology Vol. 12, no. 1 (2012), p. 59-68
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  • Description: An Out of Body Experience (OBE) occurs when the centre of a person's awareness appears to temporarily occupy a position which is spatially remote from their body. Prior research suggests that fantasy proneness factors are predictors of OBE likelihood, specifically prior auditory, visual, and kinaesthetic hallucinations. Three hundred and seventy participants completed an online questionnaire investigating variables that, potentially, contributed to their OBEs. Binary Logistic Regression identified one item that predicted whether or not a person had experienced an OBE: whether a participant had, or had not, previously experienced an auditory hallucination.

Adding thermal information to multisensory input in simulated environments

  • Authors: Van Doorn, George , Richardson, Barry , Symmons, Mark , Wells, Jonathan
  • Date: 2009
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: International Journal of Intelligent Defence Support Systems Vol. 2, no. 4 (2009 2009), p. 350-362
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  • Description: Although simulated environments are improved by adding sensory information, temperature is one input that has rarely featured in them. Here we report findings from experiments that examine the efficacy of adding temperature information to the multimodal complex known to be of benefit in simulations. In the first experiment, Peltier tiles added thermal information to the kinesthetic feedback given by a hand-worn exoskeletal device and this increased ratings for 'presence' during interactions with simulated objects. In an experiment in which exploratory movements across surfaces of differing temperatures were either active or passive-guided, the degree of 'coldness' felt at the fingertip was reported as less intense when movement was active, suggesting that intentionality of movement plays a role in the attenuation of the thermal stimulus. Other work reported here suggests that the perception of temperature is not influenced by a simultaneously presented colour. For example, the perception of coldness is not enhanced when it is processed in conjunction with a blue colour. We discuss the potential value of thermal information within the context of the hypothesis that presence in simulated environments is enhanced by multisensory inputs that include redundant information.

Fitting a bionic eye to the body: how haptics can help

  • Authors: Van Doorn, George , Richardson, Barry , Wuillemin, Dianne
  • Date: 2013
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: International Journal of Autonomous and Adaptive Communications Systems Vol. 6, no. 4 (2013), p. 377-390
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  • Description: The function of any visual prosthetic will be to generate patterned stimulation of the visual cortex arising from either direct stimulation (e.g. using cortical implants) or more peripheral inputs (e.g. an artificial retina). Direct cortical stimulation may result in patterns containing relatively few elements (say 10-100) while an artificial retina may deliver more complex patterns. We propose that regardless of the site of intervention, a tactile copy of the input, delivered to the skin at the same time as it is sent to the visual cortex, will offer significant advantages, especially during early stages of testing and development in which the user must 'make sense' of the novel input. The advantages of such a display include: (1) exploitation of multisensory processes such as cross-calibration, learning to discriminate sub-threshold stimuli and perceptual redundancy, (2) a means of measuring strengths and weaknesses of the prosthetic's visual input and evaluation of improvements and (3) a way of quickly adapting the congenitally- or late-blind user to the prosthetic.

Floating sensations prior to sleep and out-of-body experiences

Haptics can "lend a hand" to a bionic eye

  • Authors: Richardson, Barry , Van Doorn, George
  • Date: 2010
  • Type: Text , Conference paper
  • Relation: Haptics: Generating and Perceiving Tangible Sensations p. 320-325
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  • Description: Here we argue that haptics (touch and kinaesthesis) can play a key role in the development of a bionic eye. Tactile displays can supplement and complement the incomplete information that a visual prosthetic will offer the brain in early stages of the prosthetic’s development. Kinaesthetic inputs give the brain feedback about motor activities that correlate with both visual and tactile inputs, and are critical for perceptual competency. Haptic inputs can also help “teach” the new visual sense to respond to stimuli that are initially indiscriminable and enable cross-calibration of inputs to strengthen multimodal cortical connections. By using haptics to supplement and complement inputs from a visual prosthetic, a bionic eye can develop more quickly than did the Bionic Ear.

The effectiveness of an ecodrive course for heavy vehicle drivers

  • Authors: Symmons, Mark , Rose, Geoffrey , Van Doorn, George
  • Date: 2008
  • Type: Text , Conference paper
  • Relation: Proceedings of the Australasian Road Safety Research, Policing and Education Conference 2008 p. 1-8
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  • Description: Amongst other changes, ecodriving requires drivers to drive more smoothly – to “flow” the vehicle. In order to save fuel and reduce emissions drivers must operate at lower engine revolutions, change up gears as soon as possible, and anticipate traffic conditions and drive defensively. A field trial was conducted using a 30 km metropolitan circuit and B-double heavy vehicles. Compared to their pre-course measures, the trained group reduced their fuel consumption by an average of 27%, the number of gear changes by 29%, and the number of brake applications by 41%. Importantly, these gains were not offset by increases in the time taken to complete the circuit – indeed average speed increased slightly. Further, the benefits did not lose any strength 12 weeks after the training, at which point the pilot trial concluded – in fact for some variables the results continued to improve over time. The number of drivers participating in the trial was relatively small and some questions remain unanswered, including actual road safety implications, building a strong case for a larger trial.

Face to facebook: social media and the learning and teaching potential of symmetrical, sychronous communication

  • Authors: Van Doorn, George , Eklund, Antoinette
  • Date: 2013
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice Vol. 10, no. 1 (2013), p. 1-14
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  • Description: Social networking offers teachers and learners exciting opportunities to communicate. Web 2.0 and its synchronous communications platforms provide new avenues for teachers to deliver curriculum and facilitate learning. Further, they provide new avenues for students to engage and intensify their own learning. Being able to chat in real-time with a teacher, usually via face-to-face discussions, is something that many students studying in on-campus (or day) mode take for granted, and is something that distance or off-campus students are generally unable to experience. In the evolving, flexible-learning tertiary environment, viable and effective computer mediated communication (CMC) alternatives to face-to-face teaching need to be explored. These alternatives will only work if they prove useful to students. This article considers student reactions to social media as a teaching tool, probing its benefits and limitations. Over the course of a semester, third year on- and off-campus students communicated with an academic, outside lecture times, via the social networking site facebook®. Students were allowed to ask any questions they had that related to the unit. At the end of the semester students were provided with a 10-item questionnaire asking them to evaluate their experience. This study looked at a specific aspect of social networking — synchronous text-based chat — and the students’ perceptions of its usefulness for their learning

Visual and haptic influence on perception of stimulus size

  • Authors: Van Doorn, George , Richardson, Barry , Wuillemin, Dianne , Symmons, Mark
  • Date: 2010
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Attention, Perception & Psychophysics Vol. 72, no. 3 (2010 2010), p. 813-822
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  • Description: In six experiments, subjects judged the sizes of squares that were presented visually and/or haptically, in unimodal or bimodal conditions. We were interested in which mode most affected size judgments in the bimodal condition when the squares presented to each mode actually differed in size. Three factors varied: whether haptic exploration was passive or active, whether the choice set from which the subjects selected their responses was visual or haptic, and whether cutaneous information was provided in addition to kinesthetic information. To match the task for each mode, visual presentations consisted of a cursor that moved along a square pathway to correspond to the haptic experience of successive segments revealed during exploration. We found that the visual influence on size judgments was greater than the influence of haptics when the haptic experience involved only kinesthesis, passive movement, and a visual choice set. However, when cutaneous input was added to kinesthetic information, size judgments were most influenced by the haptic mode. The results support hypotheses of sensory integration, rather than capture of one sense by the other.

Illusory upward self-motion results in a decrease in perceived room temperature

  • Authors: Seno, Takeharu , Van Doorn, George
  • Date: 2013
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Psychology (Irvine) Vol. 4, no. 11 (2013), p. 823-826
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  • Description: Purpose: Stationary observers often experience illusory self-motion (vection) when they are exposed to large patterns of optic flow. The effect of different temperatures on the strength of vection was investigated. Method: Eleven participants were exposed to visual stimuli that induced illusory motion (up, down) in three room temperatures (26°C - 27°C, 21°C - 22°C, 5°C - 6°C). Participants rated (a) the vection magnitude, and (b) the room temperature (twice; before and after vection). Results: Upward vection was rated as stronger than downward vection in the 26°C - 27°C temperature. In addition, after experiencing upward and downward vection, subjective ratings of room temperature decreased and increased, respectively, when the room temperature was 26°C - 27°C. This effect was not observed when the room was 5°C - 6°C. Conclusion: These results suggest that a cross modal association exists between the direction “up” and 26°C - 27°C temperatures.

A reverse horizontal-vertical illusion? Auditory length perception and its relevance to virtual environments

  • Authors: Howell, Jacqui , Van Doorn, George , Symmons, Mark
  • Date: 2013
  • Type: Text , Conference paper
  • Relation: IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics. 13-16 October, 2013. p.257-260
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  • Description: The effect of a white noise stimulus on perceived length was investigated. In contrast to our expectations, stimulus lengths presented in the radial-vertical axis were underestimated relative to those presented in the horizontal axis. Surprisingly, differing stimulus lengths and exposure times had no influence on percentage error scores, suggesting that these factors play no role in what we are calling a 'reverse auditory horizontal-vertical illusion'. This article reviews the relevant literature and, in conjunction with the data we have collected, discusses the importance of stimulus frequency, a topic of importance to builders of virtual reality interfaces and environments.

The misperception of length in vision, haptics and audition

  • Authors: Howell, Jacqui , Symmons, Mark , Van Doorn, George
  • Date: 2012
  • Type: Text , Book
  • Relation: Haptics: Perception, Devices, Mobility, and Communication: International Conference, EuroHaptics. Part 1 2012 Vol. 7283
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  • Description: Participants felt, saw and heard stimuli travel over predetermined distances in three orientations – gravitational-vertical, radial and horizontal. On all trials participants were required to judge the length of the distance travelled. Judgments based on visual information over-estimated length in the radial direction, while those based on haptic information overestimated length in the gravitational-vertical direction. Length estimates based on auditory information were similar across the three orientations. A combined modality condition using visual, haptic and auditory information mimicked the vision condition. Results are interpreted in light of the horizontal-vertical illusion.

The importance of temperature information in virtual training environments

  • Authors: Van Doorn, George , Symmons, Mark , Richardson, Barry
  • Date: 2009
  • Type: Text , Conference paper
  • Relation: SimTect 2009 Conference Proceedings p. 393-397
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  • Description: Thermal input is an important, but often unacknowledged, source of information in our interactions with the environment. Besides the extremes that alert us to discomfort and danger, even a small change in temperature adds to the richness of the haptic experience. Temperature assists us in establishing that we have made contact with a surface and it helps to determine what that surface might be. It is not yet clear how important or redundant that temperature information is, a question of particular importance to builders of virtual reality interfaces and environments. Indeed, it is possible that as an under-exploited channel, temperature could be used to code for other information not easily conveyed with current technologies. For example, temperature conveyed by Peltier tiles may intuitively code for hardness - and therefore material type - in simulations or teleremote applications. Temperature may also enhance the learning experience by increasing presence or immersion. The findings from several experiments are brought together to discuss the efficacy of adding temperature feedback to simulation applications. In the first, Peltier tiles are added to an exoskeleton device designed to provide kinaesthetic feedback when interacting in a virtual environment. The effects are explored in terms of useability and the potential to increase presence or realism of virtual objects. We also describe an experiment in which movement was either active or passive-guided. In the active condition the degree of "coldness" felt at the fingertip was reported as less intense than when movement was passive. It appears that intentionality of movement played some role in the attenuation of the stimulus. Other work suggests that the perception of temperature is not influenced by a simultaneously present colour. For example, perceiving cold is not enhanced when it is processed in conjunction with a blue colour. This article will review the relevant literature and, in conjunction with the data we have collected, establish whether introducing temperature to virtual training environments is advisable.

A precision-of-information explanation of sensory dominance

Research note: Induced out-of-body experiences are associated with a sensation of leaving the body

  • Authors: De Foe, Alexander , Van Doorn, George , Symmons, Mark
  • Date: 2012
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Australian Journal of Parapsychology Vol. 12, no. 2 (2012), p. 177-185
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  • Description: Individuals who have had an out-of-body experience (OBE) report that the centre of their awareness appears to, temporarily, shift to a location that is spatially distinct from the location of their physical body. Research suggests that some OBErs report a sensation of leaving their physical body prior to their OBEs, while others instead report spontaneously finding themselves outside of their body. The present study evaluated data collected from 194 participants who claimed to have had an OBE. Instances of spontaneous and autonomously induced OBEs were considered. Binary Logistic Regression identified one item that predicted whether a participant was more likely to have had an induced, rather than a spontaneous, OBE: whether a participant had experienced a sensation of leaving their physical body prior to the OBE.

Cutaneous inputs yield judgments of line length that are equal to, or better than, those based on kinesthetic inputs

Touch can be as accurate as passively-guided kinaesthesis in length perception

  • Authors: Van Doorn, George , Richardson, Barry , Symmons, Mark
  • Date: 2013
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Multisensory Research Vol. 26, no. 5 (2013 2013), p. 417-428
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  • Description: Two experiments were designed to investigate the contribution of touch and kinaesthesis to haptic perception of the length of raised lines. Experiment 1 showed that judgements based on kinaesthetic information were not more accurate than those based on cutaneous information. Instead, kinaesthetic and cutaneous inputs appear to be weighted almost equally in the haptic percept, with haptic performance more closely approximated by cutaneous performance than by kinaesthetic. In Experiment 2 it was shown that effects attributed to condition (modality) were not due to the speed with which the stimulus or exploring finger moved. Our results challenge the view that kinaesthesis is more important than touch for identification of raised line drawings.

Stress associated with commencing university : A comparison of metropolitan and rural and regional students

  • Authors: March, Evita , Van Doorn, George , Howell, Jacqui , Moore, Kathleen
  • Date: 2015
  • Type: Text , Conference paper
  • Relation: 7th Australian Rural and Remote Mental Health Symposium p. 27-38
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  • Description: Most people find times of transition stressful, such as commencing a new job or moving house. In this study, our aim was to investigate stress reported by students as they commenced university. Specifically, we aimed to investigate whether stress levels and perceived social support levels differed among students (i.e., metropolitan and rural and regional) who moved house to commence university and those who did not. Results from 551 students (144 males) indicated that 88% of all students rated the level of stress associated with commencing university as being above the mid-point on a 5-pt Likert scale. The stress of commencing university was higher among rural and regional students who left home to study than it was among metropolitan students who shifted house. In addition, the stress associated with moving house significantly predicted both metropolitan and rural and regional students’ ratings on the stress of commencing university. There were no group differences in perceptions of available social support when commencing university. Results of this study, especially for rural and regional students, are discussed in terms of student welfare, and ways to ameliorate the potential stress and depression associated with commencing university and shifting house.

Colour-temperature correspondences : When reactions to thermal stimuli are influenced by colour

  • Authors: Ho, Hsin-Ni , Van Doorn, George , Watanabe, Takahiro , Spence, Charles
  • Date: 2014
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: PLoS One Vol. 9, no. 3 (2014), p. e91854
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  • Description: In our daily lives, information concerning temperature is often provided by means of colour cues, with red typically being associated with warm/hot, and blue with cold. While such correspondences have been known about for many years, they have primarily been studied using subjective report measures. Here we examined this correspondence using two more objective response measures. First, we used the Implicit Association Test (IAT), a test designed to assess the strength of automatic associations between different concepts in a given individual. Second, we used a priming task that involved speeded target discrimination in order to assess whether priming colour or thermal information could invoke the crossmodal association. The results of the IAT confirmed that the association exists at the level of response selection, thus indicating that a participant's responses to colour or thermal stimuli are influenced by the colour-temperature correspondence. The results of the priming experiment revealed that priming a colour affected thermal discrimination reaction times (RTs), but thermal cues did not influence colour discrimination responses. These results may therefore provide important clues as to the level of processing at which such colour-temperature correspondences are represented.

Does the shape of the drinking receptacle influence taste/flavour perception? A review

  • Authors: Spence, Charles , Van Doorn, George
  • Date: 2017
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Beverages Vol. 3, no. 3 (2017), p. 1-12
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  • Description: In this review, we summarize the latest evidence demonstrating that the shape and feel of the glassware (and other receptacles) that we drink from can influence our perception of the taste/flavour of the contents. Such results, traditionally obtained in the world of wine, have often been interpreted in terms of changes in physico-chemical properties (resulting from the retention, or generation, of specific volatile aromatic molecules), or the differing ways in which the shape of the glassware funnels the flow of the liquid across the tongue. It is, however, not always clear that any such physico-chemical differences do, in fact, lead to perceptible differences. Others, meanwhile, have stressed the importance of cultural factors, and the perceived appropriateness, or congruency, of the receptacle to the drink, based on prior experience. Here, though, we argue that there is also a much more fundamental association at work between shape properties and taste/flavour. In particular, the suggestion is made that the shape properties of the drinking receptacle (e.g., whether it be more rounded or angular) – regardless of whether the receptacle is seen, felt, or both – can prime certain expectations in the mind of the drinker. And, based on the theory of crossmodal correspondence, this priming is thought to accentuate certain aspects of the tasting experience, likely as a result of a taster’s attention being focused on the attributes that have been subtly primed.

Is J the new K? Initial letters and brand names

  • Authors: Van Doorn, George , Paton, Bryan , Spence, Charles
  • Date: 2016
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Journal of Brand Management Vol. 23, no. 6 (2016), p. 666-678
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  • Description: According to the marketing literature on sound symbolism, ‘‘K’’ is overrepresented as the initial letter in top brand names relative to the frequency with which it appears as the initial letter of words in the English dictionary. However, it is now 35 years since the original study on ‘the K-effect’ was published and there is, of course, a possibility that trends have changed during that time. Using the Top 200 company names from the Fortune 500 list, and comparing the initial letter-frequency to two benchmarks (i.e. the relative frequencies of first letters of words in the English dictionary and Card and Eckler’s (1975) derived letter-frequencies), our analyses (using conservative Bonferroni corrections) reveal, in fact, that A and J are overrepresented as initial letters in top company names, while S is underrepresented. We argue that the paucity of company names starting with the letter K, and the fact that K is thought to be unique, may reflect an opportunity for those starting new companies.