Sources of reports of visual and auditory sensations in perceptual-isolation experiments.

The review analyzes the experiments on perceptual isolation with special reference to the phenomena of reported visual and auditory sensations. Variables analyzed include: methods of confinement and restriction, conditions of illumination, duration of isolation, set, instructions and suggestions, reporting or verbalization instructions, sleep, S populations, prior knowledge and expectations, intelligence and personality characteristics of Ss, stress response, and methods of obtaining reported visual and auditory sensations. The relevance of some of the findings to physiological, psychoanalytic, cognitive, and social psychological theories of perceptual isolation are discussed. Variables which seem important in the phenomena discussed are set, verbalization instructions, S's alertness, and E's methods of obtaining responses. (2 p. ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)