SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ON THE TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION AND TM-SIDHI PROGRAMME, VOL.
3
PAPER 221
NEUROPHYSIOLOGICAL ENTRY CHARACTERISTICS:
CORRELATION BETWEEN EEG COHERENCE AND MATH
ACHIEVEMENT WITH SUBJECTS PRACTICING THE TM PROGRAM
S. I. NIDICH, A. ABRAMS, C. JONES, D. W. 0RME-JOHNSON, and R. K. WALLACE
Maharishi International University, Fairfield, Iowa, U.S.A.
Research completed 1981.
EEG coherence was found to be positively correlated with mathematics grades in students
practising Transcendental Meditation. EEG coherence has previously been found to increase
as a result of Transcendental Meditation and to correlate with clarity of experience of
unbounded awareness. Taken together, these findings emphasize the intimate relationship
between higher states of consciousness, neurophysiological integration, and intellectual
performance. -EDITORS
The purpose of this study was to investigate the strength of EEG coherence in predicting math achievement. Twenty-six male students, who were tested for EEG coherence as part of Maharishi International
University,s psychophysiological testing program and were enrolled in sophomore year math courses, were
randomly selected for the study. Statistical analyses were performed to determine: 1) whether a positive
correlation exists between EEG coherence and math grades; and 2) whether EEG coherence is an added predictor of math grades beyond that of prior grades. EEG coherence was found to be positively correlated with
math grades (r= .476) and added to the prediction of math achievement significantly beyond the prediction of prior grades. The multiple correlation between EEG coherence and prior grades and the criterion
math grades was found to be .934, which accounts for approximately 87% of the variance. The suggestion
that EEG coherence is a measure of unbounded awareness, which contributes to math performance, is
discussed.
INTRODUCfiON
Researchers have focused considerable attention
on identifying characteristics that contribute to the
prediction of academic success. Bloom (1976) has
found that cognitive entry characteristics such as aptitude and prior school performance, correlate with
academic achievement between + .50 and + .70, accounting for as much as 50 percent of the variance
in achievement. The International Study of Educational Achievement has found correlations between
affective entry characteristics and school achieve-
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ment to be on the average about + .31 (about .10
higher when corrected for unreliability), accounting
for 10 to 17 percent of the variance in school achievement (Bloom, 1976). In addition, recent advances
in computer technology and electrophysiological
(EEG) correlates of brain-wave functioning have
enabled the development of procedures that may also
contribute to the prediction of academic success
(Gresham and Evans, 1979).
According to Beaumont, Mayes, and Rugg (1978),
one of the best methods for investigating the
NIDICH ET AL.
ELECTROPHYSIOLOGICAL AND EEG CHANGES: EEG COHERENCE AND MATH ACHIEVEMENT -PAPER
dynamic organizational status within the brain is
through the use of EEG coherence data, which
measures the correlation of two signals as a function of frequency, together with the associated crossphase spectrum. Shaw, O'Connor, and Ongley
(1977) have lent support for this type of analysis.
Studies using EEG coherence measures have found
significant relationships between EEG coherence and
creativity (Orme-Johnson and Haynes, in press),
moral development (Nidich et al., 1982), concept
learning (Dillbeck et al., in press), and the subjective experience of pure consciousness, the state of
least excitation of consciousness associated with
heightened alertness during the Transcendental
Meditation (TM) technique (Orme-Johnson, 1977).
In addition, EEG coherence data have been used for
clinical diagnosis (e.g., Sklar, Hanley, and Simmons,
1972), to study waking and sleep phases (e.g.,
Dumermuth, Walz, Scollo-Lavizzari, and Kleiner,
1972), and to investigate hemispheric information
processing (e.g., Beaumont, Mayes, and Rugg, 1978).
The purpose of this study was to determine
whether a positive correlation exists between the
functional organization of the various regions of the
brain as monitored by EEG coherence and math
grades. In addition, this study was conducted to
determine whether EEG coherence is an added
predictor of math grades beyond that of prior
grades.
METHOD
male undergraduate students,
who were tested for EEG coherence as part of
Maharishi International University's psychophysiological testing program and were enrolled in
sophomore year introductory math courses, were
randomly selected for the study. All of the students
had taken the first year core courses at Maharishi
International University and were practicing the TM
program. The Transcendental Meditation (TM)
technique is defined as turning the attention inwards
towards the subtler levels of a thought until the mind
transcends the thinking level and arrives at the source
of thought, the state of least excitation of consciousness (Maharishi, 1966).
221
These courses were taught as one month block
courses and were the equivalent of semester-long
courses. The EEG coherence measures used for this
study were computed within the alpha frequency
band for the following pairs of leads: F 3 , F4
(bilateral frontal); F 3 , C 3 (left intrahemispheric);
and F4 , C4 (right intrahemispheric). Test-retest
reliability coefficients for the frontal, left, and right
alpha coherence measures are reported by OrmeJohnson, Wallace, and Dillbeck (1981) to be .857,
.848, and .740 respectively, over a three to four
month period (N = 45). All measures were monitored
simultaneously with the mean coherence scores being derived from ten .53-minute periods during
which all students practiced the TM program. All
recordings were monopolar referenced to linked ears.
The EEG data was amplified by a Grass model 780
17 channel EEG and Polygraph. The data was
digitized on-line in a Megatek Laboratory Interface
connected to a Data General 32K word Nova 3
minicomputer.
Final grades for the sophomore math courses were
correlated separately with each of the mean EEG
coherence scores. In addition, final course grades
from the students' first year core courses that involved math skills (math and physics of relativity)
were averaged together and correlated with
sophomore math grades. The Pearson product moment correlation coefficient was used for the above
analyses. Following this procedure, multiple regression analysis was used to determine whether EEG
coherence added to the prediction of math grades
beyond that of prior grades.
SUBJECfS-Twenty-six
PROCEDURE-The measure of math grades used for
this study was the final grade given by the instructors in the sophomore introductory math courses.
RESULTS
Both bilateral frontal alpha coherence and left intrahemispheric alpha coherence measures were
positively correlated with sophomore introductory
level math grades (r= .476, p< .01; r= .336, p< .05,
respectively). The correlation between right alpha
coherence and sophomore math grades was not
significant (r= .082). The correlation between
freshmen grades and sophomore math grades was
.613 (p< .005). Frontal alpha coherence accounted
for 23 percent of the variance in sophomore math
grades while left alpha coherence accounted for 11
percent of the variance and prior freshmen grades
accounted for 38 percent of the variance.
When both frontal alpha coherence and prior
freshmen grades were used as multiple predictors of
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SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ON THE TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION AND TM-SIDHI PROGRAMME,
sophomore grades, the multiple J.fwas found to be
.692 (p< .005), thus accounting for 48 percent of
the criterion sophomore grades variance. The partial correlation of frontal alpha coherence and
sophomore grades controlling for freshmen grades
was .321 (p< .05).
When left alpha coherence was used with prior
freshmen grades as a joint predictor of sophomore
grades a multiple R of .669 resulted. Left alpha
coherence did not significantly add to the prediction of sophomore grades beyond that of prior
freshmen grades (partial r= .262, p> .05). The inclusion of left alpha coherence with frontal alpha
coherence in the prediction of sophomore grades
yielded a multiple R increment of only .018 which
indicated that left alpha coherence did not
significantly add to the prediction. Table 1 displays
the means and standard deviations for each variable,
and the single correlation between the predictors and
the criterion sophomore math GPA.
TABLE 1
MEANS, STANDARD DEVIATIONS, AND CORRELATIONS WITH
SOPHOMORE MATH GRADES (2ND YEAR) FOR FRONTAL ALPHA
COHERENCE (F3,F4), LEFT ALPHA COHERENCE (F3, C3), RIGHT
ALPHA COHERENCE (F4,C4), AND PRIOR FRESHMEN GRADES (1ST
YEAR) FOR 26 MALE UNDERGRADUATES.
SIMPLEr
STANDARD WITH 2ND
DEVIATION YEAR MATH
GPA
VARIABLE
MEAN
EEG
Frontal Alpha Coherence
F3,F4
.749
.063
.476**
EEG
Right Alpha Coherence
F3,C3
.681
.101
.082
EEG
Left Alpha Coherence
F4, C4
.681
.078
.336*
.613***
1st Year
Mathematics GPA
2.62
.698
2nd Year
Mathematics GPA
2.90
.752
• p< .05 (one-tailed)
•• p< .01
***p< .005
DISCUSSION
The results of this study indicate that EEG
bilateral frontal alpha coherence is positively correlated with grades in math and is an added predictor of math grades beyond that of prior grades involving math skills. This study suggests that in ad-
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VOL.
3
dition to cognitive entry characteristics, EEG alpha
coherence can account for a substantial amount of
variance in math grades.
This study indicates that the degree of coherence
of activity in the frontal lobes of the brain may play
an important part in student outcomes. According
to Luria (1973) frontal regions of the brain appear
to be responsible for reasoning ability and decision
making. According to Orme-Johnson et al. (1979),
alpha coherence is an index of the level of cortical
tone and may be associated with levels of wakefulness. One interpretation of the results is that
bilateral frontal alpha coherence may be a measure
of psychophysiological readiness that contributes to
the faculty of reasoning, a key element in the area
of mathematics. While prior school performance
gives us a quick and fairly reliable means of predicting school performance by looking at the history of
the student, EEG coherence may provide a measure
of the current psychophysiological organization of
the student which contributes to his/her readiness
to process information. Further studies should be
undertaken to determine whether EEG coherence is
independent of affective entry characteristics.
Bloom (1976) suggests that in addition to correlational studies, research showing causal relationships
between entry characteristics and school achievement
is needed. In terms of EEG coherence measures,
studies by Levine (1976) and Dillbeck and Bronson
(in press) indicates that EEG coherence is increased
through the practice of the TM program. OrmeJ ohnson and Haynes (in press) suggest that there
is a direct relationship between high EEG coherence
and the experience of unbounded awareness during
the practice of the TM program. Looked at from
this perspective, this study suggests that there may
be a direct causal influence between the degree of
unrestricted, unbounded awareness of the student
and actual school performance. According to
Maharishi (1966), unbounded awareness is the prime
factor responsible for achievement in any field of
life.
Future research should be undertaken to find out
whether EEG coherence correlates with grades from
other subjects. It may be that some subjects, e.g.,
mathematics, require that the student have a broad,
flexible level of awareness in order to perform well,
whereas other subjects may be less demanding in this
respect. In addition, studies should be undertaken
to assess whether EEG coherence measures help
NIDICH ET AL.
ELECTROPHYSIOLOGICAL AND EEG CHANGES: EEG COHERENCE AND MATH ACHIEVEMENT -PAPER
predict post-school success, and whether there is a
correlated effect among the length of practice of the
TM program, increased EEG coherence, and improved effectiveness in school and post-school
performance.
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