ABSTRACT
This chapter is divided into five sections. The first part introduces the concepts of cortical activation and auditory thresholds as determinants of bizarre thought. The second section tests the predictions of two competing models of bizarreness on four sets of mentation reports drawn from laboratory subjects in sleep and waking states. Part three continues the content analysis of bizarre features of dreams and waking thought, while part four introduces concepts from cognitive psychology that are helpful in understanding the origins of bizarreness. The chapter concludes with a brief description of how a neural network (PDP) model could successfully account for bizarre features of thought in various states of consciousness.
