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States of Consciousness

American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, Jan 2004 by Frederick, Claire

States of Consciousness. Charles T. Tart, Ph.D. Lincoln, NE: iUniverse.com, Inc. (2000). 305 pages. (Original work published 1983). $30.95. Reviewed by: Claire Frederick, M.D., Cambridge, MA.

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The study of consciousness is an arduous process, be it from either psychological or philosophical perspectives. The scientific consideration of states of consciousness that differ from ordinary waking consciousness is a path filled with hazards and booby traps. Tart's (1975) publication of States of Consciousness was a tour de force of the application of the philosophy and the discipline of science itself to a topic too often treated as an outcast within psychological science: Altered states of consciousness. It was Tart who created this term and applied a rigorous discipline of study for many phenomena of consciousness. Although States of Consciousness is widely cited in authoritative studies of consciousness such as that by Farthing (1992), as well as in current examinations of hypnosis and meditation phenomena of consciousness (Holroyd, 2003), unfortunately, the original publication has been out of print. This current edition was produced to fill the need for access to the original work.

In the Introduction Tart describes his book as "transitional" in several ways. One is social. This is because concepts of consciousness (like those of science itself) are based on consensus. We are living in an age in which standards and mores are rapidly shifting, and the process of consensus (as well as its value) is being questioned. A second transition is within the field of psychology itself which has alternated from the study of mind to the study of behavior and may be returning to the study of mind again. Tart's book may also represent a transition for the author in the sense that in it he reaches out as a theoretician instead of as an experimentalist.

In Chapter One Tart orients the reader to a systems approach to considering states of consciousness. he postulates the necessity of basic awareness and structure in what he calls "discrete states of consciousness (d-SoC)" and identifies processes that are necessary for their stabilization. he also defines the "discrete altered states of consciousness (d-ASC)" which are different from various baselines of consciousness. Their differences can be identified via ten sub-systems that show variations in d-ASC's. These are: (1) Exteroception; (2) Interoception; (3) Input-Processing; (4) Memory; (5) Subconscious; (6) Emotions; (7) Evaluation and Decision Making; (8) Space/Time Sense; (9) Sense of Identity; and (10) Motor Output. Tart explains how one transitions from a discrete state to consciousness to an altered state through an interaction of disrupting forces and patterning forces.

In Chapter Two the author focuses on the components of Consciousness which are Awareness, Energy, and Structure, and painstakingly sets up experiential criteria for detecting an altered state of consciousness. he reminds the reader that many structures interact simultaneously in the human being. The third chapter is devoted to examining conservative and radical views of the mind, with the former dedicated to the proposition that all mental activity is generated by the brain activity, while the latter admits to other influences upon the brain that come from outside the organism. Tart, the scientist, tells us: "I do not like the radical view" (p. 32). The radical view of consciousness runs contrary to all of what has been considered rational in nineteenth and twentieth century empirical science. The scientist who questions it faces the risk of being discredited within the field. Chapter Four examines ordinary states of consciousness in great detail, and Chapter Five defines discrete states of consciousness, explores how they may be mapped, and ties them to Tart's operational concepts of ego states.

In Chapter Six the author explains how states of consciousness are stabilized, and in Chapter Seven he examines the induction of the altered states of going to sleep, hypnosis, and meditation. A very lengthy Chapter Eight scrutinizes each of the subsystems set up in Chapter One in great detail, and Chapter Nine treats the topic of individual differences. Tart regards their inadequate recognition as a methodological deficiency that has retarded the progress of psychological science.

In the tenth chapter the use of drugs to induce altered states of consciousness is introduced, and in Chapter Eleven the author concentrates in the observation of internal states and introduces his operational concept of the Observer. This Observer is not a hidden one at all. It sounds very much like the rational, observing ego, postulated by Sterba (1934), that arises in the development of a therapeutic alliance. The next chapter expands on the complexity of consciousness states by dealing with various Identity States and considering how important they can be as adaptive, stabilizing factors for discrete states of consciousness and ultimately, for the organism. Chapter Thirteen re-visits the systems approach in greater complexity and presents certain useful strategies such as merging two discrete states of consciousness.

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States of Consciousness

American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, Jan 2004 by Frederick, Claire

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