Parapsychology/Print version

Parapsychology

A Glimpse into the Unknown

Social Sciences

Psychology

Parapsychology

Parapsychology is the academic study of certain types of reported phenomena which cannot be explained by current scientific understanding. These paranormal phenomena are often popularly referred to as psychic, but parapsychology also includes phenomena such as reincarnation, which do not fall under this umbrella. Parapsychology as an academic discipline began in 1882 with the founding of the Society for Psychical Research (SPR) in London, England.

The term paranormal describes reported phenomena which cannot be explained by current scientific understanding. Parapsychologists do not study all types of paranormal phenomena, and many parapsychologists specialize in a particular area. Parapsychology does not encompass all paranormal phenomena- examples of excluded ideas include UFOs and cryptozoology. This book seeks to encompass both parapsychological and other paranormal ideologies.

This book uses the word phenomenon for the purposes of objectivity. Proponents and sceptics may use other terms that more closely fit their point of view.

This book is divided into two main sections:

Parapsychology

This is the study of unexplained activity centered around people. This includes extra-sensory perception, street light interference, telekinesis, poltergeists etc.

Paranormal Activity

This section addresses the paranormal- unexplained events which do not seem to revolve around a particular person. It includes apparitions, hauntings, reincarnation, near-death experiences, etc., and the methods of testing environmental changes surrounding these events.

Parapsychology

Parapsychology is the study of unexplained activity centered around people.

Section Contents

• Introduction: The concept of 'psi'
• Extrasensory Perception
  • Clairvoyance/Remote Viewing
  • Precognition/Retrocognition
  • Psychometry
  • Telepathy
  • Out-of-Body
  • Mediumship/Psychics
  • Psychokenisis
• Street Light Interference
• Near Death Experiences
• True-Believer Syndrome

Introduction

According to parapsychologists, Psi is a blanket term referring to all parapsychological phenomenon and is divided into two types:

• Psi-Gamma: This refers to cognition, e.g., extrasensory perception and remote viewing.
• Psi-Kappa: This refers to action, e.g., telekinesis and street light interference.

Parapsychology is considered to be on the fringe of standard science, due to its difficulty in testing and measurement.

History

The field was created by Joseph Banks "J.B." Rhine, a graduate of both Wooster College and Ohio Northern University in Ohio. He attended graduate school at the University of Chicago in the early 1920s, earning a Master's and Ph.D. in botany. He then attended Harvard University to study psychology with psychologist William McDougall. McDougall left for Duke University in 1927, and Rhine went with him. While at Duke, Rhine attended a lecture by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and was amazed. He began experimenting with extrasensory perception through psychological tests, and would later test psychokinesis. He continued his studies at Duke for many years, founding the Foundation for Research on the Nature of Man in the early 1960s. It was Rhine and McDougall coined the term parapsychology. Today, the FRNM is the Rhine Research Center Institute for Parapsychology, and continues research in parapsychology.

Other terms

Anomalous operation is a term used to describe the use of psi to explain paranormal activity.

Paraphysics is a term of debated definition. It dates back to the late 19th century; however, many varied definitions have been used, and as a term, it is not widely used. A more modern definition differentiates paraphysics and parapsychology by saying the focus is on physics and psychology respectively. However, such a small part of parapsychology extends into physics that it is not studied as a science.

Sources

• wikipedia:Parapsychology
• wikipedia:Psi (parapsychology)
• wikipedia:Anomalous operation
• wikipedia:Joseph Banks Rhine
• wikipedia:Paraphysics pre-deletion version

Extrasensory Perception

Extrasensory perception, or ESP, is the ostensible ability to acquire information without observing it with one of the five basic senses. The scientific community does not accept this due to the disputed evidence base, the lack of a theory which would explain ESP, and the lack of experimental techniques which can provide reliably positive results.

Parapsychologists believe there are multiple ways in which ESP manifests:

• Clairvoyance or Remote Viewing: The subject experiences a vision an event that they are not a part of, possibly from a far location.
• Precognition or Retrocognition: The subject not only sees an event that they are not a part of, but one that takes place in a different time. In the event of retrocognition, they experience something from that past that they did not experience when it occurred (which could be before the subject's birth). In precognition, the subject sees into the future, later realizing that they had foreseen the event.
• Psychometry: The subject obtains information about an individual from an object belonging to that individual.
• Telepathy: The sending of decipherable messages without the use of the five senses.
• Out of Body (OOB) Experience or Astral Projection: The subject mentally leaves their body and experiences event occurring at the current time. This often occurs during sleep or lucid dreaming.
• Mediumship: The ability to communicate with dead spirits.
• Psychokenisis: The ability to move objects without touch.

References

• wikipedia:Extrasensory perception

Clairvoyance/Remote Viewing

Clairvoyance and remote viewing refer to the proposed ability for one person to see something, occurring at that exact moment, through means other than the five senses. Their existence has not been scientifically proven.

Experimentation

In the early 1970s, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and later the U.S. Air Force, began funding experiments to test the existence of remote viewing. It lasted until the mid 1990s. At that point, the data was analyzed. Some test subjects had scored above simple chance, however, it was not by a great deal- 10 to 15%. Additionally, the methods of testing were called into question. Remote viewing, like other forms of extra-sensory perception, is generally considered as pseudoscience due to the lack of replicable results, and of a positive theory that explains the outcomes of experiments.

Sources

• wikipedia:Remote viewing
• wikipedia:Clairvoyance

Precognition/Retrocognition

Precognition is the proposed ability to receive information about events before they occur. Retrocognition (or postcognition) is the proposed ability to receive information about a past event that they did not experience.

Sources

• wikipedia:Precognition
• wikipedia:Retrocognition
• wikipedia:Mark Twain
• wikipedia:Futility, or the Wreck of the Titan
• wikipedia:James Van Praagh
• wikipedia:Criticism of Sylvia Browne

Psychometry

Parapsychology/Parapsychology/ESP/Psychometry

Telepathy

Parapsychology/Parapsychology/ESP/Telepathy

Out-of-Body

Parapsychology/Parapsychology/ESP/OOB

Mediumship/Psychics

Parapsychology/Parapsychology/ESP/Mediumship

Psychokenisis

Parapsychology/Parapsychology/ESP/Kinesis

Street Light Interference

Street light interference, or SLI, is a claimed phenomenon where people inadvertantly trip the daylight sensors on daylight-sensing light fixtures. Critics usually attribute the phenomenon to two things. First, the lights are simply shutting off for explainable reasons- for example, sodium vapor type lamps will blink on and off when they start to fail, as they have experience voltage spikes. Second, due to observer bias, the SLIder notices the light turning off (or on), while they pay no attention to lights that are operating normally. SLIders have attempted to rebuke these through demonstration; however, as yet, no one has been able to cause interference during a demonstration.

Near Death Experiences

Parapsychology/Parapsychology/NDE

True-Believer Syndrome

True-believer syndrome is a common occurrence in parapsychology. It is, broadly, a belief without logical foundations. Frequently, this translates to someone believing so strongly in the truth of something, that they refuse to accept when it is proven wrong, even if this proof is irrefutable. Just as skeptics are often too quick to dismiss, supporters often take the other route, and refuse to dismiss in light of evidence.

This occurs frequently in paranormal phenomenon with the staging of events. Someone may become so convinced that an encounter with a UFO, apparition, or cryptozoological figure is real, that they tend not to believe it to be a hoax, even if the original author of the evidence makes the statement.

This concept also occurs completely outside of parapsychology. For example, when a fraud is committed, many victims continue to profess the good faith of the scammer. The term is, however, rarely used outside of parapsychology.

The term was coined by M. Lamar Keene in 1976, in Keene's The Psychic Mafia. Keene attributed the success of many mediums to this. Ironically, people apparently suffering from true-believer syndrome were Keene's downfall. He had originally been a psychic, and in The Psychic Mafia, stated that his practice was fake. The book caused such a firestorm that Keene left the psychic business. However, death threats continued to follow, culminating in a drive-by shooting. Keene subsequently changed his name and relocated, and his whereabouts are unknown.

Paranormal Activity

Paranormal addresses the supernatural- the unexplainable that does not revolve around a particular person. It includes apparitions, hauntings (or the perception thereof), poltergeists, etc., and the methods of testing environmental changes surrounding these events.

Section Contents

• Introduction: Supernatural
• The Argument: Genuine or Negative Proof?
• Common Characteristics of Hauntings
• Measurable Environmental Differences
• Recording Paranormal Observations
• Cryptozoology as paranormal phenomenon
• U.F.O.s as paranormal phenomenon
• Urban Legends and Paranormal Activity

Introduction

Paranormal activity describes unexplained activity in nature. Often, this includes the unexplained movement of objects, or unexplainable sensations. People experiencing (or claiming to experience) paranormal activity may see, smell, feel, or hear things that can't be explained by another source, and may be consistent with other aspects of their lives (e.g., someone who had recently lost a relative who was a smoker, may smell smoke reminiscent of that relative).

Critics of the study of the paranormal often cite this correlation as evidence that these occurrences are mentally created. Investigators (often known as "ghost hunters") have made definite observations, however, such as electromagnetic fluctuations, audio recordings, and images on still photos. As these events can be caused by other means, their value as evidence is debatable.

Sources

wikipedia:paranormal

The Argument: Genuine or Negative Proof?

All aspects of parapsychology are challenged based upon the difficulty of scientific testing. Paranormal activity is often considered to be pseudo-science; that is, not tested through scientific means.

Part of this belief comes from various "successful" tests, that later turned out to be fraudulent. One group of experiments, known as the Soal-Goldney Experiments, were taken as proof that extra-sensory perception existed; it was later revealed that the raw data was manipulated.

Specifically to paranormal activity, scientists cite selection bias, that is, the fact that evidence given always points to a positive existence of the phenomenon, without any testing that may provide a negative. In a general sense, supernatural events cannot be tested, and therefore can neither be proven nor disproven.

There are, however, collectors of physical evidence that deal with paranormal activity, commonly know as ghost hunters. These hunters use a variety of equipment to record abnormalities, see Recording Paranormal Observations. Many of these can be explained by other means (e.g. orbs in still photos can be caused by light reflection), as such, critics consider these not to be conclusive evidence.

Sources

• wikipedia:Ghost hunting
• wikipedia:Paranormal
• wikipedia:Supernatural

Common Characteristics of Hauntings

Parapsychology/Paranormal/Haunt

Measurable Environmental Differences

According to ghost hunters, several measurable changes in the local environment will often accompany less measurable signs of paranormal activity. When these are recorded, they feel they are evidence of paranormal activity. Ghost hunters say that fluctuations will occur around a place of interest - for example, a haunt believe to be a dead relative.

• Temperature: Ghost hunters say that areas where a ghost or apparition appears to be may show a significant temperature difference than the surround room, called "hot spots" or "cold spots" accordingly.

• Radiation: Ghost hunters use electromagnetic radiation detectors to seek fluctuations in magnetic fields. EM radiation is particularly susceptible to false positives from electrical wiring.

• Electronic interference: Ghost hunters perceive radios, television sets, or other wireless equipment that may behave strangely as possible evidence of paranormal activity.

Sources

• wikipedia:Ghost hunting

Recording Paranormal Observations

Various tools are used by ghost hunters and paranormal enthusiasts. These include:

• Still photography
• Video cameras
• Audio recordings, (see Electronic Voice Phenomenon, below).
• Electromagnetic sensors
• Temperature measurements

Some groups employ psychics in hopes of communicating with spirits.

Electronic Voice Phenomenon

One method that is widely used by ghost hunters is searching for voices via an audio recording, which they call Electronic Voice Phenomenon, or EVP. Ghost hunters often allow a recorder to record while they ask a perceived ghost questions, hoping to find an answer on the tape. Often, low quality equipment is used, as this equipment introduces background noise. Other methods include using a running electrical appliance (e.g. fans) or a radio or television not tuned to a station. Skeptics say the brain is misinterpreting mere noise, a phenomenon known as Auditory pareidolia.

Sources

• wikipedia:Ghost hunting
• wikipedia:Electronic voice phenomenon

Cryptozoology as paranormal phenomenon

Parapsychology/Paranormal/Crypto

U.F.O.s as paranormal phenomenon

Parapsychology/Paranormal/UFO

Urban Legends and Paranormal Activity

Urban legends often circulate around popular areas of reputed paranormal activity. Many communities have one or more local "haunted" areas, of which stories abound. Often a legend follows these, which claims to explain the cause for the haunting.

Sources

wikipedia:Urban legend

Appendix

Contributors to this book

The following WikiBooks editors have contributed significantly to the creating of this book:

• Jeremy McCracken (User:JeremyMcCracken)

Cover Photo

The cover photo is of the "Easton Maudit church yard", and was taken by R.N. Marshman (m:User:Brookie).