The revised transliminality scale: reliability and validity data from a Rasch top-down purification procedure.
R Lange, M A Thalbourne, J Houran, L Storm
Consciousness and cognition December 1, 2000 DOI: 10.1006/ccog.2000.0472 via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractA revised 17-item Transliminality Scale (RTS) corrects age and gender biases in the original 29-item version, is unidimensional by a Rasch criterion, and has a reliability of 0.82. The scale defines a probabilistic hierarchy of items addressing magical ideation, mystical experience, absorption, hyperaesthesia, manic experience, dream interpretation, and fantasy proneness. These findings validate William James's and Thalbourne's suggestions that some mental phenomena share a common underlying dimension with selected sensory experiences. Low scores correlate with "tough mindedness," "self-control," and "rule consciousness" on the Cattell 16PF test, while high scores associate with "abstractedness" and "openness to change." An independent validation study confirmed predictions implied by the definition of transliminality.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Scale development and validation Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key finding | The 17-item Revised Transliminality Scale is unidimensional, corrects age and gender biases, and validates that transliminality shares a common underlying dimension with selected sensory experiences. |
Abstract
The concept of transliminality ("a hypothesized tendency for psychological material to cross thresholds into or out of consciousness") was anticipated by William James (1902/1982), but it was only recently given an empirical definition by Thalbourne in terms of a 29-item Transliminality Scale. This article presents the 17-item Revised Transliminality Scale (or RTS) that corrects age and gender biases, is unidimensional by a Rasch criterion, and has a reliability of.82. The scale defines a probabilistic hierarchy of items that address magical ideation, mystical experience, absorption, hyperaesthesia, manic experience, dream interpretation, and fantasy proneness. These findings validate the suggestions by James and Thalbourne that some mental phenomena share a common underlying dimension with selected sensory experiences (such being overwhelmed by smells, bright lights, sights, and sounds). Low scores on transliminality remain correlated with "tough mindedness" in on Cattell 16PF test, as well as "self-control" and "rule consciousness," whereas high scores are associated with "abstractedness" and an "openness to change" on that test. An independent validation study confirmed the predictions implied by our definition of transliminality. Implications for test construction are discussed.