The veridical Near-Death Experience Scale (vNDE Scale): construction and a first validation with human and artificial raters
Bruce Greyson, Jeffrey Long, Janice Holden, Jean-Pierre Jourdan, Robert King, Suzanne Mays, Robert Mays, Titus P.M. Rivas, Natasha Tassel-Matamua, Pim VanLommel, Marjorie Woollacott, Patrizio Tressoldi
July 26, 2025 preprint DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/cd6be_v2 via OpenAlex
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractA new scale, the veridical Near-Death Experience Scale (vNDE Scale), was developed to assess how strong the evidence is for perceptions reported during near-death experiences. Experts in near-death experiences reached consensus on eight criteria covering timing, medical conditions, third-party verification, and the type and quality of perceptions, scored on a four-level Likert scale. When 11 human raters and three artificial raters using large language models applied the scale to 17 cases, overall agreement between human and artificial judges exceeded 75% in 14 of the 17 cases (82.3%), considering adjacent levels of evidence strength. The scale offers a practical way to evaluate the evidential strength of such perceptions.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Scale development and validation |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 17 |
| Population | Cases of potentially veridical near-death experiences |
| Keywords | Scale ratio Psychology Artificial intelligence Computer science Geography |
| Key finding | The vNDE Scale showed over 75% agreement between human and artificial raters in 82.3% of cases, supporting its use for evaluating evidential strength of perceptions reported during near-death experiences. |
Abstract
Introduction: In this study, we describe the construction of the veridical Near-Death Experience Scale (vNDE Scale), a structured instrument for evaluating the evidential strength of perceptions reported during near-death experiences (NDEs), and its first validation by human and artificial raters.Methods: The construction was implemented using a typical Delphi Method. The first draft of the scale was evaluated by 13 experts in NDE, who were asked to suggest revisions and comments within a month for the first round and 20 days for the second round.Results: A general consensus was achieved on the second round on eight criteria related to the timing of the investigation, the medical and physical conditions, the level of third-person verification, and the number, type, and quality of perceptions reported by the near-death experiencer, to be rated on a four-level Likert scale. The validation phase consisted of the application of the vNDE Scale to 17 cases of potentially veridical NDEs by 11 independent human raters and three artificial raters based on Large-Language Models.In 14 of the17 cases (82.3%), the overall agreement between human and artificial judges was over 75%, considering the two close levels of evidence strength, i.e. moderate plus strong, low plus very low, or vice-versa.Discussion: The vNDE Scale is a practical tool for evaluating the evidential strength of perceptions reported by near-death experiencers.