Frontiers in Psychology
June 13, 2024
Marieta Pehlivanova, Marina Weiler, Bruce Greyson
2 citations
Belief in psychic phenomena is widespread but controversial. A leading hypothesis is that high belief is explained by differences in cognitive styles, but most research has been conducted with lay individuals. This study measured actively open-minded thinking (AOT) and need for closure (NFC) in four groups: academic psi researchers (N=44), lay psi believers (N=32), academic skeptics (N=35), and lay skeptics (N=33). Group differences appeared in AOT but not NFC. Academic psi researchers scored similarly to both skeptic groups on AOT (4.5 out of a possible range), while lay psi believers scored significantly lower (4.2), indicating less willingness to consider evidence that challenges their beliefs.
Frontiers in Psychology
June 2, 2026
Marina Weiler, Marieta Pehlivanova, Philip J. Cozzolino
Out-of-body experiences (OBEs) sometimes involve reports of veridical perception—accurate information obtained from a vantage point outside the body without conventional sensory input. While case collections and early laboratory studies suggest this possibility, replication under standard protocols has been challenging. This review argues that typical target-identification paradigms, conducted in sterile settings with inexperienced participants, misalign with the dynamics of the OBE state. Five key determinants constrain laboratory outcomes: the participant's mental/emotional state, the participant-researcher relationship, researcher intention, variability in participant skill, and the intrinsic purpose of the experience. Reframing methodology around these determinants and complementing lab tasks with rigorously vetted spontaneous cases can increase ecological validity while preserving falsifiability, offering a pathway toward more effective investigation of veridical perception in OBEs and implications for models of consciousness.
Consciousness and cognition
January 18, 2026
Marieta Pehlivanova, Rense Lange, Bruce Greyson et al.
Two scales measuring the phenomenology of near-death experiences—the 16-item NDE Scale and the 20-item NDE-C—were compared in 705 self-identified experiencers. The scales correlate nearly perfectly (r = 0.98), indicating they measure the same underlying construct. However, Rasch analysis revealed problems with the NDE-C's category structure and five novel items. The original NDE Scale's item hierarchy replicated across samples, showing long-term stability. Based on parsimony and psychometric evidence, the original NDE Scale with Rasch scoring and a validated cut-off of 7 (out of 32) is recommended for future research.