The Effects of the Transcendental Meditation Program on Perceptual Style: Increased Field Independence

Forty unpaid normal volunteers (20 men and 20 women) were given the Autokinetic Test, the Embedded-Figures Test, and the Rod-and-Frame Test prior to instruction in the Transcendental Meditation technique. After three months of regular meditation subjects were retested and demonstrated increased ego-distance and field independence, as compared with controls, on all of the above tests. These remarkable variations in an autonomic, enduring response indicate that the practice of the Transcendental Meditation technique produces a shift in the quality of attention and perceptual style in the direction of increased field independence and ego-distance.