Academic literature on the topic 'Parapsychology Investigation'

Is parapsychology a pseudo-science? Many believe that the Eighteenth century philosopher David Hume showed, in effect, that it must be. In this article, Terence Penelhum explains and endorses Hume's arguments concerning testimony of the miraculous, but also explains why he believes there is now evidence of sufficient quality concerning the paranormal to make further investigation scientifically worth-while.

Parapsychology is the scientific investigation of apparently paranormal mental phenomena (such as telepathy, i.e., “mind reading”), also known as psi. Despite widespread public belief in such phenomena and over 75 years of experimentation, there is no compelling evidence that psi exists. In the present study, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used in an effort to document the existence of psi. If psi exists, it occurs in the brain, and hence, assessing the brain directly should be more sensitive than using indirect behavioral methods (as have been used previously). To increase sensitivity, this experiment was designed to produce positive results if telepathy, clairvoyance (i.e., direct sensing of remote events), or precognition (i.e., knowing future events) exist. Moreover, the study included biologically or emotionally related participants (e.g., twins) and emotional stimuli in an effort to maximize experimental conditions that are purportedly conducive to psi. In spite of these characteristics of the study, psi stimuli and non-psi stimuli evoked indistinguishable neuronal responses—although differences in stimulus arousal values of the same stimuli had the expected effects on patterns of brain activation. These findings are the strongest evidence yet obtained against the existence of paranormal mental phenomena.

Stephen Braude is the most prolific of the late 20th and early 21st century philosophers writing about parapsychogy, and his work in the philosophical aspects of parapsychology has been the most influential in this field for the past several decades. This book encompasses both philosophical issues in parapsychology, as well as studies in spontaneous and mediumistic investigations, and this collection spans the spectrum of his interests, including jazz. His title is an apt warning about the dangers to academics pursuing work in parapsychology; however, some suspicion towards those of us in the field can be mitigated if one produces excellent work in the field of one’s doctorate before tenure decisions, as Braude did. Dangerous Pursuits is composed of previously published articles or book chapters, but they are usually substantially rewritten in a way that makes these chapters accessible to a wide range of people, not only academics. Although the book is not divided into sections, the chapters are nevertheless arranged skillfully to focus, after an opening chapter on the fear of psi, a topic that Braude returns to throughout the book, on physical mediumship, then more generally on mediumship, and finally on more theoretical topics, with a coda on jazz.

Remote viewing is a branch of parapsychology involving mental telepathy to view targeted objects. Significant studies and applications are cited that have legitimized remote viewing as a credible and valuable technique. This paper explores the application of remote viewing to some aspects of the auditing process. The author’s premise is that remote viewing can be used to detect anomalies in accounting systems. Its most relevant use may be for assessment questioning in a fraud investigation.

Published articles by the author appended to thesis. Bibliography: p. 288-315. Describes a series of four experiments which were conducted to test the theory of psychopraxia. The thesis is an investigation of the theory from the perspective of paranormal phenomena only. It is argued that the theory of psychopraxia is important to the field of parapsychology because it offers (a) a philosophical critique on taken-for-granted assumptions about the nature of the paranormal, (b) relatively unambiguous terminology, and (c) a process-oriented approach to investigations of the paranormal by concentrating on conditions deemed necessary in bringing about paranormal effects. The thesis concludes that, in its current form, the psychopraxia model needs clarification of its most crucial concepts ("self", "pro-attitude" and "necessary conditions") before it can be regarded as a workable theory.

A series of four experiments were conducted to test Thalbourne's theory of psychopraxia (Thalbourne, 2000a). The thesis begins with an introduction to the field of parapsychology in the form of an argument against extreme skepticism (Chapter 1). It argues that skeptics have failed to produce cogent arguments to undermine the hypothesis that so-called paranormal phenomena exist. A review of the parapsychological meta-analyses (Chapters 2 and 3) provides supporting evidence of the hypothesis that paranormal effects do exist. By argument and by experimentation, the study of anomalous phenomena is deemed justifiable, thus, establishing a rationale for investigation of paranormal phenomena, with particular focus on the theory of psychopraxia. Chapter 4 introduces the theory of psychopraxia - the term 'psychopraxia' is derived from two Greek words: psyche, which means 'soul' or 'mind' or 'self', and praxia, from which we get our word 'practice' (derived from prattein, meaning 'to accomplish' or 'bring about'). The theory of psychopraxia is an attempt to unify both normal and paranormal psychology, and motor action and cognition, so that the conceptual distinction between (i) ESP and PK, and (ii) normal information-acquisition and normal motor control might be 'eliminated' (Thalbourne, 1982, pp. 62-63) since both sides of the dichotomy are instances of action. The present thesis is an investigation of the theory from the perspective of paranormal phenomena only. In Chapters 5 and 6, an experiment is described that uses an ancient Chinese form of divination known as the I Ching. The I Ching experiment was conducted to test the psychopractic hypothesis that the ESP-PK dichotomy can be unworkable in practice because either (a) an anomalous mental process (suggesting ESP), or (b) an anomalous physical process (suggesting PK), or both (a) and (b) might be involved in the I Ching process. Evidence was found that the I Ching may involve a paranormal component, but this process could not be explained exclusively as either ESP or PK. According to the theory of psychopraxia, the ostensibly paranormal anomaly identified in the I Ching process is described as exosomatic psychopraxia (i.e., the psychopractic function working outside the mind/body complex). In Chapter 7 a forced-choice card-identifying experiment was conducted to test a basic proposition of the theory of psychopraxia known as the 'pro attitude', which is an orientation of the self towards a specific and preferred outcome or goal. Participants had to locate 5 aces of spades in 5 'hands' of cards, while avoiding the aces of clubs. A significant negative relationship was found between spade hitting and club hitting, suggesting that 'compliant' pro attitudes and 'noncompliant' pro attitudes are incompatible. Post hoc evidence was also found that participants do not necessarily comply with the experimental protocol due to attitudes and dispositions that conflict with the protocol. In Chapter 8, another forced-choice experiment was run on computer to test the concept of the pro attitude from a different perspective. Post hoc evidence was found that the pro attitude of 'converted' skeptics (i.e., skeptics who became believers) changed when an experimental treatment conducive to a change of pro attitude was introduced. There was also evidence that the pro attitude of 'entrenched' skeptics (i.e., skeptics who remained skeptics) did not change even when an experimental treatment ostensibly conducive to a change of pro attitude was introduced. The latter result suggests that the pro attitude may remain fixed over time. In Chapter 9 a free-response study was conducted to test vision-impaired participants against sighted participants. The theory of psychopraxia argues that compensation for an adverse condition (such as blindness) may take the form of paranormal functioning. Evidence of paranormal effects was found, but no evidence was found that the vision-impaired had an advantage over sighted participants. In support of the compensation hypothesis, however, there was suggestive evidence that the totally blind performed better than all other participants combined. The so-called 'necessary condition' is another basic proposition of the theory of psychopraxia. In all the above four experiments, evidence was found, in the relevant experiments, that certain conditions were necessary and sufficient in bringing about paranormal effects in the respective experimental situations: (1) High scoring on four personality factors as measured on Cattell's 16PF: Factor F (Liveliness), Factor H (Social Boldness), Factor EX (Extraversion), Factor IN (Independence); (2) Low scoring on Factor Q4 (Tension); (3) Extreme scores on the Transliminality Scale (a measure of the tendency to experience psychological material coming into, and going out of consciousness); (4) Belief in paranormal processes; (5) Low scores on attitude towards horseracing; and (6) Relaxation. Two other conditions were introduced in Chapter 10: (i) perceived simplicity of the apparatus and experimental procedure, and (ii) ease of the paranormal task. These two conditions and six 'states of mind' (i.e., 'freshness', 'sobriety', 'attentiveness', 'confidence', 'fitness,' and 'energy level') were hypothesized as being conditions conducive to paranormal effects. In Chapter 11, suggestive evidence was found that simplicity of the experimental apparatus and procedure had a positive effect on paranormal performance. Two 'states of mind' ('freshness' and 'confidence') were found to correlate significantly with paranormal outcomes, but only in the I Ching experiment. These conditions were also found to be necessary and sufficient in bringing about hexagram hitting. In Chapter 12, the theory of psychopraxia was argued as being important to the field of parapsychology because it offered (a) a philosophical critique on taken-for-granted assumptions about the nature of the paranormal, (b) relatively unambiguous terminology, and (c) a process-oriented approach to investigations of the paranormal by concentrating on conditions deemed necessary in bringing about paranormal effects. In its current form, the psychopraxia model needs clarification of its most crucial concepts ('self', 'pro attitude', and 'necessary conditions') before it can be regarded as a workable theory.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Psychology, 2001.

A series of four experiments were conducted to test Thalbourne's theory of psychopraxia (Thalbourne, 2000a). The thesis begins with an introduction to the field of parapsychology in the form of an argument against extreme skepticism (Chapter 1). It argues that skeptics have failed to produce cogent arguments to undermine the hypothesis that so-called paranormal phenomena exist. A review of the parapsychological meta-analyses (Chapters 2 and 3) provides supporting evidence of the hypothesis that paranormal effects do exist. By argument and by experimentation, the study of anomalous phenomena is deemed justifiable, thus, establishing a rationale for investigation of paranormal phenomena, with particular focus on the theory of psychopraxia. Chapter 4 introduces the theory of psychopraxia - the term 'psychopraxia' is derived from two Greek words: psyche, which means 'soul' or 'mind' or 'self', and praxia, from which we get our word 'practice' (derived from prattein, meaning 'to accomplish' or 'bring about'). The theory of psychopraxia is an attempt to unify both normal and paranormal psychology, and motor action and cognition, so that the conceptual distinction between (i) ESP and PK, and (ii) normal information-acquisition and normal motor control might be 'eliminated' (Thalbourne, 1982, pp. 62-63) since both sides of the dichotomy are instances of action. The present thesis is an investigation of the theory from the perspective of paranormal phenomena only. In Chapters 5 and 6, an experiment is described that uses an ancient Chinese form of divination known as the I Ching. The I Ching experiment was conducted to test the psychopractic hypothesis that the ESP-PK dichotomy can be unworkable in practice because either (a) an anomalous mental process (suggesting ESP), or (b) an anomalous physical process (suggesting PK), or both (a) and (b) might be involved in the I Ching process. Evidence was found that the I Ching may involve a paranormal component, but this process could not be explained exclusively as either ESP or PK. According to the theory of psychopraxia, the ostensibly paranormal anomaly identified in the I Ching process is described as exosomatic psychopraxia (i.e., the psychopractic function working outside the mind/body complex). In Chapter 7 a forced-choice card-identifying experiment was conducted to test a basic proposition of the theory of psychopraxia known as the 'pro attitude', which is an orientation of the self towards a specific and preferred outcome or goal. Participants had to locate 5 aces of spades in 5 'hands' of cards, while avoiding the aces of clubs. A significant negative relationship was found between spade hitting and club hitting, suggesting that 'compliant' pro attitudes and 'noncompliant' pro attitudes are incompatible. Post hoc evidence was also found that participants do not necessarily comply with the experimental protocol due to attitudes and dispositions that conflict with the protocol. In Chapter 8, another forced-choice experiment was run on computer to test the concept of the pro attitude from a different perspective. Post hoc evidence was found that the pro attitude of 'converted' skeptics (i.e., skeptics who became believers) changed when an experimental treatment conducive to a change of pro attitude was introduced. There was also evidence that the pro attitude of 'entrenched' skeptics (i.e., skeptics who remained skeptics) did not change even when an experimental treatment ostensibly conducive to a change of pro attitude was introduced. The latter result suggests that the pro attitude may remain fixed over time. In Chapter 9 a free-response study was conducted to test vision-impaired participants against sighted participants. The theory of psychopraxia argues that compensation for an adverse condition (such as blindness) may take the form of paranormal functioning. Evidence of paranormal effects was found, but no evidence was found that the vision-impaired had an advantage over sighted participants. In support of the compensation hypothesis, however, there was suggestive evidence that the totally blind performed better than all other participants combined. The so-called 'necessary condition' is another basic proposition of the theory of psychopraxia. In all the above four experiments, evidence was found, in the relevant experiments, that certain conditions were necessary and sufficient in bringing about paranormal effects in the respective experimental situations: (1) High scoring on four personality factors as measured on Cattell's 16PF: Factor F (Liveliness), Factor H (Social Boldness), Factor EX (Extraversion), Factor IN (Independence); (2) Low scoring on Factor Q4 (Tension); (3) Extreme scores on the Transliminality Scale (a measure of the tendency to experience psychological material coming into, and going out of consciousness); (4) Belief in paranormal processes; (5) Low scores on attitude towards horseracing; and (6) Relaxation. Two other conditions were introduced in Chapter 10: (i) perceived simplicity of the apparatus and experimental procedure, and (ii) ease of the paranormal task. These two conditions and six 'states of mind' (i.e., 'freshness', 'sobriety', 'attentiveness', 'confidence', 'fitness,' and 'energy level') were hypothesized as being conditions conducive to paranormal effects. In Chapter 11, suggestive evidence was found that simplicity of the experimental apparatus and procedure had a positive effect on paranormal performance. Two 'states of mind' ('freshness' and 'confidence') were found to correlate significantly with paranormal outcomes, but only in the I Ching experiment. These conditions were also found to be necessary and sufficient in bringing about hexagram hitting. In Chapter 12, the theory of psychopraxia was argued as being important to the field of parapsychology because it offered (a) a philosophical critique on taken-for-granted assumptions about the nature of the paranormal, (b) relatively unambiguous terminology, and (c) a process-oriented approach to investigations of the paranormal by concentrating on conditions deemed necessary in bringing about paranormal effects. In its current form, the psychopraxia model needs clarification of its most crucial concepts ('self', 'pro attitude', and 'necessary conditions') before it can be regarded as a workable theory.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Psychology, 2001.

This chapter considers Bill Wilson's personal spiritual journey, focusing on the personal views that he downplayed for the sake of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). Personally, Wilson did not view his sudden experience as the great event that transformed his life simply because it released him from his alcoholic cravings (the AA perspective), but also as an opening to another reality that convinced him of certain spiritual facts and initiated a lifelong process of psychospiritual investigation that included spiritualism, parapsychology, Catholicism, mysticism, and LSD. Whereas AA embodied a tacit perennialism in its structure and organization that could be overridden by various theological perspectives, Wilson was an explicit perennialist with Catholic proclivities who viewed his own unusual experiences—spiritualist, mystical, and drug-induced—as different ways of entering into the unseen Reality.

Of the nine arguments against the validity of the imitation game that Alan Turing anticipated and refuted in advance in his ‘Computing machinery and intelligence’, the most peculiar is probably the last, ‘The argument from extra-sensory perception’. So out of step is this argument with the rest of the paper that most writers on Turing (myself included) have tended to ignore it or gloss over it, while some editions omit it altogether.1 An investigation into the research into parapsychology that had been done in the years leading up to Turing’s breakthrough paper, however, provides some context for the argument’s inclusion, as well as some surprising insights into Turing’s mind. Argument 9 (of the nine arguments against the validity of the imitation game) begins with a statement that to many of us today will seem remarkable. Turing writes:… I assume that the reader is familiar with the idea of extra-sensory perception and the meaning of the four items of it, viz. telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, and psycho-kinesis. These disturbing phenomena seem to deny all our usual scientific ideas. How we should like to discredit them! Unfortunately the statistical evidence, at least for telepathy, is overwhelming…. To what ‘statistical evidence’ is Turing referring? In all likelihood it is the results of some experiments carried out in the early 1940s by S. G. Soal (1899–1975), a lecturer in mathematics at Queen Mary College, University of London, and a member of the London-based Society for Psychical Research (SPR). To give some background, the SPR had been founded in 1882 by Henry Sidgwick, Edmund Gurney, and F. W. H. Myers—all graduates of Trinity College, Cambridge—for the express purpose of investigating ‘that large body of debatable phenomena designated by such terms as mesmeric, psychical and spiritualistic . . . in the same spirit of exact and unimpassioned enquiry which has enabled science to solve so many problems, once no less obscure nor less hotly debated’. Although the membership of the SPR included numerous academics and scientists—most notably William James, Sir William Crookes, and Lord Rayleigh, a Nobel laureate in physics—it had no academic affiliation. Indeed, in the view of their detractors, the ‘psychists’, as they were known, occupied the same fringe as the mediums and mind-readers whose claims it sought to verify—or disclaim.