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\My Documents\Papers\Boundaries NAJP.doc 6-30-01 Boundaries in the Mind: Past Research and Future Directions Ernest Hartmann1, Robert Harrison2, and Michael Zborowski3 1. Ernest Hartmann, M.D., Department of Psychiatry, Tufts University School of Medicine, Director of Sleep Disorders Center, Newton-Wellesley Hospital. 2. Robert Harrison, Ph.D., Graduate Program in Clinical Psychology, Boston University. 3. Michael Zborowski, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, State University of New York, College at Buffalo Boundaries of one kind or another are of obvious importance in our lives. What we will discuss here is the concept of the thickness of boundaries — thin versus thick boundaries as a dimension of personality. The concept was developed as a dimension of personality, and we will review many studies relating thickness of boundaries with a variety of other personality measures, as well as other psychological measures, in normal as well as clinical populations. We will discuss a great deal of work relating boundaries to measures of sleep and dreaming. We will examine boundaries in clinical populations and in persons who have unusual mystical or paranormal experiences. We will discuss the fact that although thick vs. thin boundaries is basically a personality dimension or trait measure, there are nonetheless also intra-individual differences in boundary functioning. We all function in a more thick boundary manner at certain times and in a more thin boundary manner at other times. We will address, or at least approach, an understanding of the biology of boundaries, and we will examine some broader implications of the concept of boundaries. The Concept of Boundaries in the Mind — Thin and Thick Boundaries The basic underlying notion is a fairly obvious one. No matter how we think of the content of our minds — whether we think in everyday terms of thoughts, feelings, memories; in cognitive psychology te