LivingMeta — Anomalous Cognition

Comparative examination of ganzfeld and dream reports in free response ESP studies

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This thesis presents a comparative examination of ganzfeld and dream reports in free response ESP studies. The research investigates the differential effectiveness of altered consciousness states (ganzfeld sensory deprivation versus dream mentation) as contexts for eliciting psi responses. Using both qualitative report analysis and quantitative hit-rate measures, the study evaluates whether dream-based protocols yield comparable or superior ESP effects relative to the standard ganzfeld paradigm, with implications for understanding the psychological conditions optimal for anomalous cognition.

Constructing parapsychology : a discourse analysis of the accounts of experimental parapsychologists

Sat, 20 Jun 2026 22:18:47 GMT

This thesis is concerned with parapsychology as a field of experimental science. It is based on the discourse analysis of interviews with experimental parapsychologists, in which they provide accounts of their field, their own research practices and experimental outcomes. Drawing on literature from the fields of parapsychology and social studies of science, experimental parapsychologists are characterised as having an asymmetrical standing within science. Whilst they share with other experimental scientists (e.g. psychologists) many of their core assumptions and investigative methods, they differ significantly in how their phenomena, basic propositions and empirical expertise are actively disputed both outwith and within parapsychology. It is this asymmetrical standing, the disputed nature of the reality of their object and of the scientific justification of its existence that makes parapsychologists' accounts of their work particularly interesting to the exploration of discursive practices involved in the construction of what they do a doing science. Drawing both on literature relating to the "linguistic turn" in social studies of science, and on recent methodological developments in discourse analysis, this thesis puts forward that the analysis of parapsychologists' accounts provides a particularly rich insight into how scientific knowledge and practice are discursively accomplished. It thus focuses on how these parapsychologists produce meaningfully variable factual versions of what they do as 'doing science', and of their disputed object as a real phenomenon. The aims of the study were the following: a) to examine parapsychologists' own accounts of their field, research practices and experimental outcomes; b) to analyse how these accounts attend to normative versions of what 'counts' as science; and c) to analyse the discursive resources they use to achieve factual accounts of 'doing science'. The analysis of the data obtained from 20 interviews with experimental parapsychologists begins with the examination of how they constructed their field as a community, as a body of evidence, and as a field with a particular relationship to a standard view of science. The analysis was inspired by the thread of discourse analytic research which focuses on 'fact construction'. It shows how they orient to ideas of demarcation and constitute parapsychology as a field with characteristics that compromise the scientificity of their own knowledge and practice. It also shows how these parapsychologists attend to and manage the relationship between what they do and these compromising characteristics, by building them up as essential properties of the evidence for the phenomena (as essentially ambiguous), and even of psi itself (as essentially elusive). The construction of parapsychology as inherently problematic (i.e. a 'less than perfect' scientific field), allows these parapsychologists to constitute their research work as an almost heroic achievement. Regarding the participants' versions of their research practices, the analysis shows that they make these scientifically safe (e.g., by appealing to, and by presenting them as, in line with, ordinary versions of empirical research). The analysis further explores these parapsychologists' constructions of their practices as doing strict and extreme empiricism, with no assumptions, expectations, theoretical uderpinnings or objectives. Their appeal to the primacy of facts, the doing of methodology, neutrality and the dispensability of theory and models, constitute versions of scientific inquiry that are bearably in line with a version of science as 'doing strict empiricism'. The analysis argues that the variety and extremity of these formulations constitute the extent to which the empirical quality of their research is oriented to by them as something that is not taken for granted (and thus needs to be accounted for). Paradoxically, this same extremity rhetorically breaches normative accounts of doing science, through the intense problematization of theory or expectations of any sort. The final focus of the analysis is the exploration of these parapsychologists' constructions of the outcomes of their own research, specifically their categories of psi and of anomaly. The analysis shows that, though both of these concern the central object and claim of parapsychology, the participants present radically different categories of each, which are functionally meaningful in relation to their versions of doing science. Overall, the thesis argues that these parapsychologists constitute a paradoxical discursive position in relation to normative accounts of doing science. On the one hand, they actively appeal to the primacy of evidence and empiricism On the other hand, they construct a set of characteristics for their research object and evidence that compromise the rhetorical achievements of empiricism; also, the extremity of these accounts is such that this constructed empiricism is made into a remarkable rhetorically brittle account of scientific practice in parapsychology. Finally, the thesis discusses the implications of these arguments for parapsychology, namely, for the development of a reflexive and discursive thread of research within the field. It also examines the limitations of this approach and possible future research.

Is there replicable evidence for extrasensory perception (ESP)? Individual differences in ganzfeld ESP task performance

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Experimenter effects in ESP research

Sat, 20 Jun 2026 22:18:47 GMT

The experimenter effect is considered to be a central problem impeding the progress of research in parapsychology. A review of the literature suggests most if not all the findings of ESP research are experimenter dependent. The evidence for experimenter effects both in psychological and parapsychological research is presented; that in psychology is found to suffer front several methodological and statistical flaws, while that in parapsychology is found to be impressive but largely anecdotal and post-hoc. A critical appraisal is made of the 'interpersonal theory' of experimenter effects. Five possible factors or areas of interaction which may mediate the effect are designated. These are : experimenter expectancy, spontaneous subjective states, experimenter personality, rapport, and experimenter psi. Hie evidence for these mediating factors is presented in detail, along with the hypotheses formulated from it and the research done to evaluate the hypotheses. The research method involved a diverse program of pilot and follow up studies and encompassed the testing of a special high scoring subject by experimenters, group testing methods, questionnaire studies, and experimenter comparison in the use of a sensory input attenuation technique (the Ganzfeld). The results although equivocal in some areas gave little support for four of the factors being as critical as claimed. It was concluded that psychological factors traditionally regarded as conducive to ESP, are probably not necessary and sufficient factors for its occurrence. The fifth factor, that of experimenter psi-mediation, received some support from a study of 'successful' experimenters. The theoretical implications of this are discussed in full along with current process and field models of ESP and some specific suggestions are made for further research in this context.

We Did See This Coming: Response to, We Should Have Seen This Coming, by D. Sam Schwarzkopf

Tue, 13 Jan 2015 00:00:00 GMT

We appreciate the effort by Schwarzkopf to examine alternative explanations for predictive anticipatory activity (PAA) or presentiment (for first response, see: Schwarzkopf 2014a; for additional response, see: Schwarzkopf 2014b, for original article, see: Mossbridge et al. 2014). These commentaries are a laudable effort to promote collegial discussion of the controversial claim of presentiment, whereby physiological measures preceding unpredictable emotional events differ from physiological measures preceding calm or neutral events (Mossbridge et al., 2012; Mossbridge et al., 2014). What is called truth at any given time in science has achieved that status through a continuous process of measurement and interpretation based on the current knowledge at hand. Here we address six points in his original commentary (Schwarzkopf 2014a), though our responses are informed by the points he made in his his supplementary commentary (Schwarzkopf 2014b). We hope our responses will help Schwarzkopf and others understand our interpretation of these data.

The Repeated-Stimulus Confound in Electroencephalography

Fri, 01 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMT

In neural-decoding studies, recordings of participants' responses to stimuli are used to train models. In recent years, there has been an explosion of publications detailing applications of innovations from deep-learning research to neural-decoding studies. The data-hungry models used in these experiments have resulted in a demand for increasingly large datasets. Consequently, in some studies, the same stimuli are presented multiple times to each participant to increase the number of trials available for use in model training. However, when a decoding model is trained and subsequently evaluated on responses to the same stimuli, stimulus identity becomes a confounder for accuracy. We term this the repeated-stimulus confound. We identify a susceptible dataset, and 16 publications which report model performance based on evaluation procedures affected by the confound. We conducted experiments using models from the affected studies to investigate the likely extent to which results in the literature have been misreported. Our findings suggest that the decoding accuracies of these models were overestimated by between 4.46-7.42%. Our analysis also indicates that per 1% increase in accuracy under the confound, the magnitude of the overestimation increases by 0.26%. The confound not only results in optimistic estimates of decoding performance, but undermines the validity of several claims made within the affected publications. We conducted further experiments to investigate the implications of the confound in alternative contexts. We found that the same methodology used within the affected studies could also be used to justify an array of pseudoscientific claims, such as the existence of extrasensory perception.

Association Between Anomalous Experiences and Artistic Creativity and Spirituality

Sun, 01 Jan 1995 00:00:00 GMT

Responses on the two-page Life Experiences Questionnaire were collected from a convenience sample of 98 people and, using a modified form of the questionnaire, from another convenience sample of 114 people. Both samples confirmed the previously found positive correlation between psychic or paranormal experiences and rating artistic creativity as an important purpose of life. Likewise, both samples confirmed that spiritual interests, overall meaning in life, and reports of psychic experiences were all correlated with reports of transcendent/spiritual experiences. The data also confirmed that over 90% of the respondents with transcendent experiences considered them valuable. The majority of respondents reporting psychic experiences also rated them valuable. Very few respondents rated either type of experience as detrimental. The previously reported negative relationship between anomalous experiences and interest in obtaining wealth was not found in these data.

Registration of Actual and Intended Eye Gaze: Correlation with Spiritual Beliefs and Experiences

Fri, 01 Jan 1999 00:00:00 GMT

Previous research by Schwartz et al. (1995) documented that subjects could correctly guess, above chance, the presence of an experi- menter' s hand placed a few inches above one of their hands in the absence of visual and auditory information. Were subjects detecting the biophysical energy of the experimenter' s hands and/or the intention of the experi- menters? The present experiments employed a different interpersonal regis- tration paradigm and examined whether individual differences in detection accuracy were related to experiences with subtle interpersonal registration (interpersonal ESP and survival of consciousness experiences). In Experi- ment 3, 20 male and 20 female subjects received 32 trials of actual eye gazes and intended eye gazes. Subjects sat with their backs to the experimenters. The 2 ´ 2 design (head/back by actual/intended gaze) used a counterbalanced order. At the end of the experiment, subjects estimated their correct guesses and also rated their openness to spiritual beliefs and experiences. Percent correct detections for actual stares was 56% ( p < .003); percent correct detections for intended stares was 60% ( p < .001). There was no correlation between subjects' estimates of their performance and their actual perfor- mance. However, subjects' responses to the questions such as have you ever experienced ' ESP' between people such as connected with a loved one from a distance or having a predictive dream about someone? and have you ever experienced the presence of someone who has passed away? were each significantly corrected with their accuracy in detecting actual and intended eye gaze (r = .47, p < .002; r = .40, p < .01). These findings suggest that inter- personal sensitivity may be related to implicit registration of individuals in physical and energy systems. Since subtle auditory and other cues may have been involved in these studies, future studies should examine various sources of possible information and energy cues in this paradigm.

DISSOCIATION, ABSORPTION, FANTASY PRONENESS AND SENSATION-SEEKING IN PSYCHIC CLAIMANTS

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Building on evidence to suggest that strong believers in and experients of paranormal phenomena tend to be fantasy-prone individuals, we hypothesized that individuals who claimed paranormal/ anomalous abilities would also score higher on dissociation, absorption and sensation-seeking than individuals who did not claim paranormal/ anomalous experiences. One hundred and thirty-two participants were recruited by media advertisements and a mailing list. The participants completed questionnaires and interviews during two-hour workshops, organized free of charge at the Institute of Paranormal Psychology (IPP) in Buenos Aires. When comparing persons who claimed to be psychics and those who did not, the ‘psychic’ group (N = 40) had significantly higher scores on Dissociation, Absorption and Fantasy Proneness than did the ‘non-psychic’ group (N = 40). The hypotheses were supported in that the psychic group did have significantly higher scores on the Dissociation (t [78] = 21.12, p = 0.01, d = 0.65), Absorption (t [78] = 17.81, p < 0.001, d = 1.09) and Fantasy Proneness (t [78] = 12.77, p = 0.01, d = 0.72) scales than did the non-psychics. However, scores on the Sensation-Seeking scale were not significantly different; indeed, the non-psychic group scored slightly higher, contrary to prediction. We also found some gender differences, with male psychics having significantly higher mean scores than female psychics on measures of Dissociation and Fantasy Proneness, and suggestively higher scores on Absorption and Sensation-Seeking. We suggest that these variables are taken into account when recruiting and screening participants for future studies of ESP.

A Proposal and Challenge for Proponents and Skeptics of Psi

Mon, 22 Mar 2004 00:00:00 GMT

ABSTRACT: Pharmaceutical research provides a useful model for doing convinc-ing research in situations with intense, critical scrutiny of studies. The protocol for a “pivotal ” study that is used for decision-making is reviewed by the FDA before the study is begun. The protocol is expected to include a power analysis demonstrating that the study has at least a.8 probability of obtaining significant results with the anticipated effect size, and to specify the statistical analysis that will determine the success of the experiment, including correction for multiple analyses. FDA inspec-tors often perform audits of the sites where data are collected and/or processed to verify the raw data and experimental procedures. If parapsychological experiments are to provide convincing evidence, power analyses should be done at the planning stage. A committee of experienced parapsychologists, moderate skeptics, and a statistician could review and comment on protocols for proposed “pivotal ” studies in an effort to address methodological issues before rather than after the data are collected. The evidence that increasing sample size does not increase the probabil-ity of significant results in psi research may prevent the application of these meth-ods and raises questions about the experimental approach for psi research.

Is Scientific Investigation of Postmortem Survival an Anachronism?: The Demise of the Survival Hypothesis

Sat, 01 Jun 2002 00:00:00 GMT

The survival hypothesis, or the notion of postmortem survival, has been a key domain of parapsychological research since the inception of the Society for Psychical Research in the late nineteenth century. Parapsychologists nevertheless have made no definitive progress toward the verification of the survival hypothesis, and the continued centrality of this issue to parapsychology is a major impediment to the acceptance of the field as a scientific enterprise. A redefinition of parapsychology and the relegation of the survival hypothesis to minor status are advocated.

An interpretative phenomenological analysis of out-of-body experiences in two cases of novice meditators

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The Out-of-Body Experience (OBE) is an anomalous experience that has been found to occur under a variety of circumstances. This paper will take as its focus the in-depth examination of the lived experience of having an OBE as described by two novice meditators. A qualitative approach was adopted using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Two female participants who had OBEs whilst meditating took part in face-to-face, semi-structured interviews. Three interrelated themes emerged from the findings. Analysis highlighted the potential for the OBE to function as an adaptive form of behaviour in relation to how participants endeavoured to discharge existing need-related conflicts. Also emergent was the transactive nature of the out-of-body environments themselves, which were seen as meaningful places that facilitated participants’ embodied, goal-oriented behaviours. Accordingly, participants took pragmatic views about their OBEs, seeing them more as tools or skills that can be utilized as an extension of their selves. Also emphasized was the role of absorption in the production of both the participants’ meditative and out-of-body states.

Toward a Science of Consciousness

Tue, 26 Mar 1996 00:00:00 GMT

Scientists and philosophers are focusing more intensely than ever on the nature of our human experience, resulting in a newly coalescing field of Consciousness Studies that has become a worldwide and highly interdisciplinary phenomenon. Toward a Science of Consciousness marks the first major gathering—a landmark event—devoted entirely to unlocking the mysteries of consciousness. It explores the whole spectrum of approaches from philosophy of mind and dream research, to neuropsychology, pharmacology, and molecular dynamics, to neural networks, phenomenological accounts, and even the physics of reality. The aim is to lay a sound scientific foundation for future research while also reaching consensus on many scattered areas of inquiry. Following an overview, fifty-five chapters are divided into ten sections: philosophy, cognitive science, medicine/pathology, neurology, neural networks, subneural biology, quantum theory, non-locality in space and time, hierarchical organization, and phenomenology. In addition to the editors, who are, respectively, an anesthesiologist, a psychologist, and an applied mathematician, contributors include such luminaries as David Chalmers, Michael Conrad, Avshalom Elitzur, Owen Flanagan, David Galin, John Kihlstrom, Christof Koch, Benjamin Libet, Roger Penrose, Karl Pribram, Gary Schwartz, Petra Stoerig, John Taylor, Andrew Weil, Fred Wolf, and many others. Bradford Books imprint

Measuring Intuition

Wed, 06 Apr 2016 00:00:00 GMT

The long-held popular notion of intuition has garnered much attention both academically and popularly. Although most people agree that there is such a phenomenon as intuition, involving emotionally charged, rapid, unconscious processes, little compelling evidence supports this notion. Here, we introduce a technique in which subliminal emotional information is presented to subjects while they make fully conscious sensory decisions. Our behavioral and physiological data, along with evidence-accumulator models, show that nonconscious emotional information can boost accuracy and confidence in a concurrent emotion-free decision task, while also speeding up response times. Moreover, these effects were contingent on the specific predictive arrangement of the nonconscious emotional valence and motion direction in the decisional stimulus. A model that simultaneously accumulates evidence from both physiological skin conductance and conscious decisional information provides an accurate description of the data. These findings support the notion that nonconscious emotions can bias concurrent nonemotional behavior-a process of intuition.

FURTHER FACETS OF INDRIDI INDRIDASON'S MEDIUMSHIP, INCLUDING 'TRANSCENDENTAL' MUSIC, DIRECT SPEECH, XENOGLOSSY AND LIGHT PHENOMENA

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The Experimental Society kept a protocol of most seances with Indridi Indridason in the form of Minute Books. They had been lost for over half a century when two of them were rediscovered recently, along with additional pages. This paper describes some phenomena that were not dealt with in the 1989 SPR Proceedings by Gissurarson and Haraldsson, or that can be described more fully after examination of the Minute Books. An earlier paper (Haraldsson, 2011) dealt with one particular case in Indridason’s mediumship, namely the description of the fire in Copenhagen and the identity of the trance-personality Emil Jensen. The present paper reveals in greater detail how the seances were conducted and deals with the main trancepersonalities of Indridason’s mediumship, and the phenomena with which each of them was particularly involved. Particular attention is paid to reports of ‘transcendental’ music, foreign direct communicators, including voices of two professional singers (one male and one female) who sang loudly at the same time, and cases of xenoglossy and direct speech. This paper also reports on checks carried out into claimed memories, the reported ‘disappearance’ of the medium’s left arm, light phenomena, the appearance of Emil Jensen in a pillar of light, and the appearance of a monster-like animal. Contemporary criticism of Indridason’s mediumship is reviewed and conclusions drawn as to the relevance of his remarkable phenomena to the question of survival.

The Effects of Religiosity and Structural Strain on Reported Paranormal Experiences

Fri, 01 Sep 1995 00:00:00 GMT

Bien que le phenomene des experiences paranormales soit bien documente, le debat continue autour de l'influence des forces socio-culturelles. A partir d'une enquete de 1984, l'A. analyse l'orientation religieuse, l'attitude et la contrainte structurelle dans les experiences telepathiques ou de voyance. Les resultats indiquent que la priere frequente est associee a des experiences plus frequentes de telepathie et que la gene financiere est associee a la voyance. Il faut donc conclure a l'influence des forces socio-culturelles sur le paranormal

Judgment of Coincidences: Mine versus Yours

Sun, 01 Jan 1989 00:00:00 GMT

Etude du biais egocentrique dans les jugements de coincidences entre des evenements ecrits par le sujet lui-meme par rapport a des coincidences ecrites par d'autres

"Out -of-body experiences," dreams, and REM sleep

Fri, 01 Jan 1999 00:00:00 GMT

An out-of-body experience (OBE) is characterized by the sensation of leaving the physical body and functioning independently of it. Such sensations also occur during some lucid dreams. Some authors aver that OBEs and lucid dreams are completely different phenomena. The present investigation tested an explanatory model of OBEs as a form of dreaming similar in nature to lucid dreaming. Study 1 consisted of scored content analysis on 107 lucid dream (LD) reports verified by eye movement signals during REM sleep. Ten LD reports (9.3%) from 5 of the 14 subjects qualified as OBEs. LDs initiated from brief REM awakenings were significantly more likely (4.4 times, p<.02) to be judged as OBEs than LDs initiated during uninterrupted REM sleep. Study 2 was a survey of 604 subjects assessing the frequency of reported OBEs and dream phenomena. Frequent OBE reporting was related to frequent reporting of dreams and dream-related events; frequency of OBE reporting was significantly lower than lucid dream reporting, and similar to that found in the laboratory in Study 1. These studies support the close association of OBEs and lucid dreaming. REM sleep and states favorable to OBEs share the feature of high CNS arousal under sleep or sleeplike conditions. Such states are conducive to the generation of somatosensory hallucinations interpretable as the experience of rising “out-of-body.” The discussion highlights the importance of semantic interpretations of such experiences, and presents a three-part model for analyzing “metachoric” experiences such as lucid dreams and OBEs. Further discussion considers the role of cortical activation in the generation of OBEs and lucid dreams. The conclusion argues that all states of consciousness, sleeping or waking, derive from the same basic brain functions, which act to model the world based on perceptual maps. OBEs, dreams, and the reality experienced in the waking state are all mental constructions, and further efforts in consciousness research may benefit from avoiding an arbitrary distinction between sleeping, dreaming and waking states.

Hypnotically Induced Out-of-Body Experience

Thu, 01 Oct 2015 00:00:00 GMT

The possibility to induce real out-of-body experiences (OBEs) using hypnotic inductions, with the opportunity to interview participants during their experience, permits to investigate in depth the characteristics of different aspects of this particular state of consciousness from a first-person point of view. In this article, six selected participants report the description of another “body” we named “subtle body,” identified as an intermediate entity between the physical body (Pb) and their “Self” or “I-identity” that was named “psychic body,” and their relationships and characteristics. The “subtle body” was described as a sort of white silvered cloud surrounding the Pb, with a particular enlargement of its hands and feet that could move quickly like flying from one place to another even if less easily than the “psychic body,” and a vague sense of attrition was perceived when passing through walls. Similar to the “psychic body,” the “subtle” one too could move forward and backward in time even if they did not seem perceiving the sense of time. The “subtle body” was referred to be connected with the physical one by a sort of white brilliant link sometimes described like a silvered string more or less visible, whereas no visible links were identified between the “subtle body” and the “psychic” one. These reports were compared with similar descriptions deriving from the Vedanta philosophy and Theosophical tradition.

Beratung und Hilfe für Menschen mit außergewöhnlichen Erfahrungen

Tue, 01 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

The results of numerous surveys show that Exceptional Experiences (EE) belong to a human body of knowledge which is historically as well as trans-culturally common. They are frequent within the normal population . Although people with these experiences may develop irritations and alienations requiring treatment in consequence, the medical and psychosocial health care system hardly offers any competent help. In our study data were collected to better understand the clientele, their needs and the reported phenomena. In addition, data show the specific need for care in that area. Starting from N = 858 cases which were taken care of within the years of 1996 and 2000, sociodemographic data and mental health problems of this specific clientele are described. Moreover typical patterns of EE which were found by factor analysis are presented. Based on these patterns different EE-specific types of clients can be distinguished.

Creative, paranormal, and delusional thought: a consequence of right hemisphere semantic activation?

Thu, 01 Oct 1998 00:00:00 GMT

OBJECTIVE: There is a rapidly growing body of evidence for an association between schizophrenic syndromes and the absence of a clear pattern of hemispheric dominance for language. Independent work with healthy subjects suggests that one feature of right hemispheric (RH) linguistic processing is a coarse as opposed to a focused semantic activation. We provide a comprehensive review of the literature to these hitherto unrelated fields of research and present an experiment assessing functional hemispheric asymmetries for language processing in healthy volunteers, differing in the susceptibility to schizophrenia-like experiences and thoughts. BACKGROUND: Forty right-handed men were administered a lateralized tachistoscopic lexical decision task. They also completed the Magical Ideation (MI) scale, which examines a variety of paranormal experiences and beliefs. RESULTS: Although the 20 subjects with MI scores below the median displayed the expected right visual field/left hemisphere (RVF/LH) superiority in lexical decision accuracy, the 20 high scorers were equally proficient in both visual fields. Compared to the low scorers, they made significantly more correct decisions in the left visual field/right hemisphere (LVF/RH). CONCLUSIONS: These results corroborate previous findings of a reduced LH language dominance for subjects scoring high on scales measuring proneness to schizophrenic behavior and thought ("schizotypy"). We propose that this dominance failure, which is commonly observed in patients with acute signs of psychosis, facilitates the emergence of paranormal and delusional ideas by way of RH associative processing characteristics, that is, coarse rather than focused semantic activation. As unfocused semantic processing is also characteristic of creative thinking, the use of the RH semantic system may constitute a selective evolutionary advantage allowing the genes predisposing to schizophrenia to proliferate despite the obvious disadvantages of this devastating disease.

Believing in the purpose of events—why does it occur, and is it supernatural?

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Abstract What is the cognitive basis for the common belief that random events have a purpose, and are these beliefs a form of supernatural thinking, as Bering has suggested? Two questionnaire studies with Finnish volunteer participants ( N = 2650, 1830 females, mean age 26) used structural equation modelling (SEM) to test the hypotheses that beliefs in the purpose of events are part of the same phenomenon as paranormal beliefs and that confusions of core knowledge of the psychological, biological and physical domains predict both sets of beliefs. In Study 1, participants were not given a definition of purpose, and in Study 2, purpose was explicitly defined as entailing planning by a supernatural agent. The results from both studies supported the predictions. The results indicate that construing events in terms of purpose is not a universal tendency but an individual cognitive bias that can be accounted for by false analogies from intuitive psychology, biology and physics. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Correlation of the Gradient of Shannon Entropy and Anomalous Cognition: Toward an AC Sensory System

Sat, 01 Jan 2000 00:00:00 GMT

Abstract—In this study, we hoped to replicate earlier findings that have demonstrated strong evidence for anomalous cognition (AC), as well as a significant correlation between the quality of the AC with the gradient of Shannon entropy, but not with the entropy itself. We created a new target pool and a more sensitive analytical system compared with those of earlier studies. We then invited five experienced receivers (i.e., experiment participants) to contribute 15 trials each. In addition to the usual rank-order analysis, two other methods were used to assess the quality of the AC. The first of these was a 0 to 7 rating scale that has been used in the earlier studies. The second, a figure of merit, was based on a fuzzy-set encoding of the targets and responses. The primary hypotheses were (a) that a significant correlation would be seen between the figure of merit quality assessment and the gradient of Shannon entropy for the associated target and (b) that the correlation using the rating assessment would be consistent with earlier findings. A secondary hypothesis was that the figure of merit quality would not correlate with the entropy of the associated target. All hypotheses were confirmed. Our results are part of the growing evidence that AC is mediated through a sensory channel.

Sándor Ferenczi and the problem of telepathy

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Sándor Ferenczi, the great representative of the Budapest School of Psychoanalysis, had a lifelong interest in psychical phenomena. Although his ideas on the psychoanalytical understanding of spiritualistic phenomena and telepathy were not developed theories, they had a strong influence on some representatives of psychoanalysis, and thus underlay the psychoanalytic interpretation of telepathy. Ferenczi’s ideas on telepathy were interwoven with his most important technical and theoretical innovations. Thus Ferenczi’s thoughts on telepathy say a lot about his psychoanalytical thinking and attitudes, and illuminate the significance of his greatest innovations in the context of psychical research.

Testing a Language-Using Parrot for Telepathy

Wed, 01 Jan 2003 00:00:00 GMT

in a seemingly telepathic manner. We set up a series of trials to test whether this apparent telepathic ability would be expressed in formal tests in which Aimée and the parrot were in different rooms, on different floors, under conditions in which the parrot could receive no sensory information from Aimée or from anyone else. During these trials Aimée and the parrot were both videotaped continuously. At the beginning of each trial, Aimée opened a numbered sealed envelope containing a photograph, and then looked at it for two minutes. These photographs corresponded to a prespecified list of key words in N'kisi's vocabulary, and were selected and randomized in advance by a third party. We conducted a total of 149 two-minute trials. The recordings of N'kisi during these trials were transcribed blind by three independent transcribers. Their transcripts were generally in good agreement. Using a majority scoring method, in which at least two of the three transcribers were in agreement, N'kisi said one or more of the key words in 71 trials. He scored 23 hits: the key words he said corresponded to the target pictures. In a Randomized Permutation Analysis (RPA), there were as many or more hits than N'kisi actually scored in only 5 out of 20,000 random permutations, giving a p value of 5/20,000 or 0.00025. In a Bootstrap Resampling Analysis (BRA), only 4 out of 20,000 permutations equalled or exceeded N'kisi's actual score (p = 0.0002). Both by the RPA and BRA the mean number of hits expected by chance was 12, with a standard deviation of 3. N'kisi repeated key words more when they were hits than when they were misses. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that N'kisi was reacting telepathically to Aimée's mental activity.

Predicting the Unpredictable: 75 Years of Experimental Evidence

Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT

From time immemorial, people have reported foreknowledge of future events. To determine whether such experiences are best understood via conventional explanations, or whether a retrocausal phenomenon might be involved in some instances, researchers have conducted hundreds of controlled laboratory experiments over the past 75 years. These studies fall into four general classes, and each class has generated repeatable evidence consistent with retrocausation. The statistical results for a class of forced‐choice studies is associated with odds against chance of about 1024; for a class of free‐response studies, odds about 1020; for psychophysiological‐based studies, odds about 1017; and for implicit decision studies, odds about 1010. Effect sizes observed in the latter three classes are nearly identical, indicating replication of similar underlying effects. These effects are also in close agreement with the average effect size across 25,000 conventional social psychology experiments conducted over the last century, suggesting that retrocausal phenomena may not be especially unique, at least not in terms of the magnitude of effect. Bayesian analyses of the most recent classes of experiments confirm that the evidence is strongly in favor of a genuine effect, with Bayes Factors ranging from 13,669 to 1 for implicit decision experiments, to 2.9×1013 to 1 for psychophysiological designs. For the two most recent classes of studies examining retrocausal effects via unconscious physiological or behavioral measures, 85 of 101 studies (84%) reported by 25 different laboratories from the United States, Italy, Spain, Holland, Austria, Sweden, England, Scotland, Iran, Japan, and Australia, have produced results in the direction predicted by a retrocausal effect (odds against chance = 1.3×1012, via a sign test). Assessment of the methodologies used in these studies has not identified plausible conventional alternatives for the observed outcomes, suggesting the existence of a genuine retrocausal phenomenon.

Paranormal Belief and Attributional Style

Thu, 01 Jun 2000 00:00:00 GMT

52 college students completed Tobacyk's 1988 Revised Paranormal Belief Scale and Peterson, Semmel, von Baeyer, Abramson, Metalsky, and Seligman's 1982 Attributional Style Questionnaire. Analysis showed significantly higher depressive attributional styles among high scorers on paranormal phenomena than low scorers.

Time-Normalized Yield: A Natural Unit for Effect Size in Anomalies Experiments

Sun, 01 Jan 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Abstract—?1 Comparing the yields in different anomalies experiments is important for both theoretical and practical purposes, but it is problematic because the effects may be measured on differing scales. The units in which experiments are posed vary across digital and analog measures recorded in a wide range of uniquely defined trials, runs, and series. Even apparently fundamental units such as bit rates may lead to disparate calculated effect sizes and potentially misleading inter-experiment comparisons. This paper seeks to identify a study unit that can render the results from various types of anomalies experiments on a common scale. Across several databases generated in the consistent environment of the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research (PEAR) laboratory, yield per unit of time is the most promising of several measures considered. The number of hours during which participants attempt to produce anomalous effects can be consistently defined, and the time-normalized yield Y(h) Z /hours is demonstrably similar across a number of human/machine experiments, with a magnitude of about 0.2. On both practical and heuristic grounds, this constitutes a prima facie case for regarding the time-normalized yield as a natural metric for anomalous effects of consciousness. Application to a broad range of experiments, including examples from other laboratories, confirms the viability and utility of a time-based yield calculation. A v2 test across 12 local and remote databases from PEAR’s human/machine experiments indicates strong homogeneity. Inclusion of the remote perception database, which has a significantly larger yield at Y(h) 0.6, immediately renders the distribution of effect sizes heterogeneous. These and other appli-cations return reasonable and instructive results that recommend the simple, time-normalized yield as a natural unit for cross-experiment comparisons per-mitting an integrated view of anomalies research results.

Beliefs in paranormal phenomena and locus of control: A field study.

Thu, 01 Oct 1981 00:00:00 GMT

Beliefs in paranormal phenomena and their relationship to locus of control were investigated for four groups that varied in terms of their involvement with paranormal practices. Subjects completed a questionnaire designed to assess degree of involvement and beliefs in paranormal phenomena, locus of control, sociopolitical attitudes, and demographic characteristics. It was predicted and found that (a) paranormal beliefs increased as involvement increased; (b) internality increased as involvement increased; and (c) involvement and locus of control interacted so that with high and moderate involvement, paranormal beliefs were associated with an internal locus of control, whereas with low involvement, there was a slight tendency for paranormal beliefs to be related to an external locus of control. Analyses of the paranormal beliefs questionnaire and the relationship between paranormal beliefs and sociopolitical attitudes, demographics, and locus of control scores are also reported. Re-evaluation of previous studies of personality dimensions associated with esoteric belief systems that have relied solely on low-involveme nt (student) samples is suggested.

End-of-Life Dreams and Visions: A Longitudinal Study of Hospice Patients' Experiences

Sat, 11 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMT

BACKGROUND: End-of-life dreams and visions (ELDVs) have been well documented throughout history and across cultures. The impact of pre-death experiences on dying individuals and their loved ones can be profoundly meaningful. OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to quantify the frequency of dreams/visions experienced by patients nearing the end of life, examine the content and subjective significance of the dreams/visions, and explore the relationship of these factors to time/proximity to death. METHODS: This mixed-methods study surveyed patients in a hospice inpatient unit using a semi-structured interview. Sixty-six patients admitted to a hospice inpatient unit between January 2011 and July 2012 provided informed consent and participated in the study. The semi-structured interviews contained closed and open-ended questions regarding the content, frequency, and comfort/distress of dreams/visions. RESULTS: Fifty-nine participants comprised the final sample. Most participants reported experiencing at least one dream/vision. Almost half of the dreams/visions occurred while asleep, and nearly all patients indicated that they felt real. The most common dreams/visions included deceased friends/relatives and living friends/relatives. Dreams/visions featuring the deceased (friends, relatives, and animals/pets) were significantly more comforting than those of the living, living and deceased combined, and other people and experiences. As participants approached death, comforting dreams/visions of the deceased became more prevalent. CONCLUSIONS: ELDVs are commonly experienced phenomena during the dying process, characterized by a consistent sense of realism and marked emotional significance. These dreams/visions may be a profound source of potential meaning and comfort for the dying, and therefore warrant clinical attention and further research.

A meta-analysis with nothing to hide: Reply to Hyman (2010).

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

In our article (Storm, Tressoldi, & Di Risio, 2010), we claimed that the ganzfeld experimental design has proved to be consistent and reliable. However, Hyman (2010) argues that the overall evidence for psi is, in fact, contradictory and elusive. We present a case for psi research that undermines Hyman's argument. First, we give examples from parapsychologists who do not outrightly dismiss psi, despite appearances, but actually support it. Second, we claim that Hyman does not tell the full story about the ganzfeld meta-analytic findings and thus presents a one-sided account. Third, we argue that our meta-analysis has followed standard procedures, that we have not broken any rules but have found a communications anomaly, often referred to as psi. Though we may be in agreement that the evidence is largely statistical, the evidence suggests that concealed targets are actually identified rather than guessed. We argue that further research is necessary.

Experimental Simulation of a Haunt Experience and Elicitation of Paroxysmal Electroencephalographic Activity by Transcerebral Complex Magnetic Fields: Induction of a Synthetic “Ghost”?

Sat, 01 Apr 2000 00:00:00 GMT

To test the hypothesis that experiences of apparitional phenomena with accompanying fear can be simulated within the laboratory, a 45-yr.-old journalist and professional musician who had experienced a classic haunt four years previously was exposed to 1 microTesla, complex, transcerebral magnetic fields. Within 10 min. after exposure to a frequency-modulated pattern applied over the right hemisphere, the man reported "rushes of fear" that culminated in the experience of an apparition. Concurrent electroencephalographic measurements showed conspicuous 1-sec.-to-2-sec. paroxysmal complex spikes (15 Hz) that accompanied the reports of fear. A second magnetic field pattern, applied bilaterally through the brain, was associated with pleasant experiences. The subject concluded that the synthetic experience of the apparition was very similar to the one experienced in the natural setting. The results of this experiment suggest that controlled simulation of these pervasive phenomena within the laboratory is possible and that this experimental protocol may help discern the physical stimuli that evoke their occurrence in nature.

Using Neuroimaging to Resolve the Psi Debate

Thu, 20 Dec 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Abstract 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.

Effect size estimation for one-sample multiple-choice-type data: Design, analysis, and meta-analysis.

Sun, 01 Jan 1989 00:00:00 GMT

This article proposes a standard, easy-to-interpret effect size estimate for one-sample research. The proportion index (*•) shows the hit rate on a scale on which .50 is always the null value regardless of the number of equally likely choices. The index r is useful in the design of one-sample research because it can guide the best choice of number of response alternatives. Significance tests and confidence limits are readily computed. For meta-analyses of one-sample studies, tests of heterogeneity of a set of TS and contrasts among them are described.

Recommendations for Increasing Replicability in Psychology

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Replicability of findings is at the heart of any empirical science. The aim of this article is to move the current replicability debate in psychology towards concrete recommendations for improvement. We focus on research practices but also offer guidelines for reviewers, editors, journal management, teachers, granting institutions, and university promotion committees, highlighting some of the emerging and existing practical solutions that can facilitate implementation of these recommendations. The challenges for improving replicability in psychological science are systemic. Improvement can occur only if changes are made at many levels of practice, evaluation, and reward. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Lucid Dreaming Verified by Volitional Communication during Rem Sleep

Mon, 01 Jun 1981 00:00:00 GMT

SUMMARY: The occurrence of lucid dreaming (dreaming while being conscious that one is dreaming) has been verified for 5 selected subjects who signaled that they knew they were dreaming while continuing to dream during unequivocal REM sleep. The signals consisted of particular dream actions having observable concomitants and were performed in accordance with pre-sleep agreement. The ability of proficient lucid dreamers to signal in this manner makes possible a new approach to dream research--such subjects, while lucid, could carry out diverse dream experiments marking the exact time of particular dream events, allowing derivation of of precise psychophysiological correlations and methodical testing of hypotheses.

Mental Health, Belief Deficit Compensation, and Paranormal Beliefs

Tue, 01 Sep 1987 00:00:00 GMT

The present study examined the relationship between religious and nonreligious paranormal beliefs and mental health, as well as the possibility that nonreligious subjects compensate for a lack of identification with traditional religion by increased nonreligious paranormal beliefs. Subjects were 80 undergraduates categorized as religious or nonreligious on the basis of scores on the Traditional Religion subscale of the Paranormal Belief Scale. Religious subjects had significantly higher total paranormal belief scores than nonreligious subjects. Those adopting religious paranormal beliefs were actually somewhat more likely to adopt other nonreligious paranormal beliefs. The failure of nonreligious subjects to compensate fully for this traditional religious belief deficit was reflected in their mental health ratings on the Langer's Mental Health Scale (Langer, 1962). Paranormal beliefs were found to be negatively correlated with reported symptoms of psychopathology, supporting the formulation that paranormal beliefs may serve to ensure psychic integrity by acting as "self-serving cognitive biases."

On Psychical Research

Sat, 01 Mar 1975 00:00:00 GMT

Journal Article On Psychical Research Get access Gardner Murphy Gardner Murphy 1Gardner Murphy is Professor of Psychology at George Washington University, Washington, D.C. He is author of Historical Introduction to Modern Psychology, The Challenge of Psychical Research: A Primer of Parapsychology, Personality: A Biosocial Approach to Origins and Structure, and other works on the history and theory of psychology Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of Communication, Volume 25, Issue 1, March 1975, Pages 98–102, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.1975.tb00559.x Published: 07 February 2006

Temporal Lobe Epileptic Signs and Correlative Behaviors Displayed by Normal Populations

Wed, 01 Apr 1987 00:00:00 GMT

With regard to epileptic signs and correlative behaviors, one hypothesis is that the experiences and nonconvulsive behaviors of patients with electrical foci within the temporal lobe are also displayed, but with less intensity, by normal people. If this is correct, then there should be quantitative relationships between the numbers of major complex partial epileptic signs (CPES) and the occurrence of other frequent clinical experiences and behaviors. An inventory to answer this question was developed. Over a 3-year period, 414 (6 groups) university students were administered an inventory that included themes of CPES as well as control and information items. Strong correlations were consistently found between CPES scores and reports of paranormal (mystical, with religious overtones) experiences and "a sense of presence." Results from three personality (CPI, MMPI, and IPAT anxiety) inventories clearly demonstrated similar profiles. In addition to being more anxious, people who displayed higher CPES scores were more suspicious, aloof, stereotyped in their behavior, ruminative (overthinking), intellectually inefficient, and overly judgmental. CPES scores were significantly (p less than .001) correlated with the schizophrenia and mania subscales of the MMPI. The results suggest that functional hyperconnectionism of cortical-limbic systems within the brain may be more prevalent in the normal population than previously suspected.

Intuition, Telepathy, and Interspecies Communication: A Multidisciplinary Perspective

Mon, 21 Feb 2011 00:00:00 GMT

For over one hundred years parapsychological and intuition research has supported the existence of cognitive “knowing” beyond the physical senses. Additional quantum physics research over the past decades has indicated a quantum field at the sub‐ atomic level of connectedness that Schrodinger described as “entanglement.” Electrophysiological evidence of intuition has shown that the heart’s and the whole body’s perceptions are constantly receiving, processing, and decoding intuitive information. Perhaps the heart, or the heart’s electromagnetic field, may be a source of intuition. Telepathic interspecies communication may be facilitated by utilizing specific meditation techniques to quiet the mind, slow the brain waves, and shift consciousness to a level outside of time and space.

Mental States Follow Quantum Mechanics During Perception and Cognition of Ambiguous Figures

Sun, 01 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Processes undergoing quantum mechanics exhibit quantum interference effects. In this case, quantum probabilities result to be different from classical ones because they contain an additional so-called quantum interference term. We use ambiguous figures to analyse if during perception-cognition by human subjects we can observe violation of the classical probability field and the presence of quantum interference. The experiments, conducted on a group of 256 subjects, evidence that we indeed have such a quantum effect. Therefore, mental states, during perception and cognition of ambiguous figures, appear to follow quantum mechanics.

Les hallucinations télépathiques dans la psychologie française naissante : étude d'un inconscient oublié

Sat, 01 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Résumé Les recherches récentes sur le processus d’autonomisation de la psychologie à la fin du xix e siècle ont pu montrer comment des objets qui nous paraissent aujourd’hui illégitimes ont participé à une institutionnalisation des savoirs et de la discipline. Parmi ces objets, nous aimerions en aborder un, les hallucinations télépathiques, car il constituait alors un domaine de partage et d’échange entre les sciences dites psychiques et la psychologie naissante mais aussi la psychiatrie. Nous tenterons de montrer en quoi les hallucinations télépathiques ont constitué un objet-frontière au sein des sciences humaines et de l’esprit, objet de partage éphémère pour un ajustement des discours et une affirmation des conceptualisations. Son rejet, sa marginalisation, sa psychiatrisation bientôt, furent les signes d’un autre partage, ségrégatif celui-là, entre ce qui devenait légitime et illégitime dans ces sciences, non sans avoir laissé un reste qui prit nom de métapsychique.

Testing vs. Believing Hypotheses: Magical Ideation in the Judgement of Contingencies

Sat, 01 Nov 1997 00:00:00 GMT

This paper examines the idea that an important dimension of human cognition is the amount of objective evidence required for perception of meaningful patterns. At the clinical extreme of this dimension are patients with hallucinations and delusions who experience perception with no external evidence and see connections between objectively unrelated events. Also, normal individuals exhibit considerable variation along this continuum. The theory proposed here predicts that normal subjects with low evidential criteria will be more likely to accept causal explanations, not only for everyday ''paranormal'' coincidences, but also for random contingencies in a laboratory experiment. This prediction was confirmed when 40 students completed a differential reinforcement of low rates (DRL) task designed to induce superstitious behaviour and were then questioned about their hypotheses concerning the contingencies for successful performance. Participants scoring high on the Magical Ideation scale (indicating greater belief in paranormal phenomena) tested fewer hypotheses during the task, and they ended up believing in more hypotheses regarding illusory contingencies than did their low-scoring peers. We proposed that a continuum of hypothesis-testing behaviour underlies the schizotypy continuum, with ''positive'' schizotypal traits reflecting a Type I error bias and ''negative'' traits a Type II error bias. Differential activation patterns within frontal-limbic networks are tentatively suggested as a physiological correlate of the behavioural continuum.

Can Experiences Near Death Furnish Evidence of Life after Death?

Thu, 01 Jun 2000 00:00:00 GMT

Most people who have a near-death experience (NDE) say that the experience convinced them that they will survive death. People who have not had such an experience, however, may not share this conviction. Although all features of NDEs, when looked at alone, might be explained in ways other than survival, there are three features in particular that we believe suggest the possibility of survival, especially when they all occur in the same experience. These features are: enhanced mental processes at a time when physiological functioning is seriously impaired; the experience of being out of the body and viewing events going on around it as from a position above; and the awareness of remote events not accessible to the person's ordinary senses. We briefly report one such case, and we also briefly describe two additional such cases in which the remote events apparently seen were verified by other persons.

CONSCIOUSNESS AND ANOMALOUS PHYSICAL PHENOMENA

Sun, 01 Jan 1995 00:00:00 GMT

Several million experimental trials investigating the ability of human operators to affect the output of various random physical devices have demonstrated small but statistically significant shifts of the distribution means that correlate with operator intention, exhibit repeatable idiosyncratic individual variations, and display consistent patterns of gender dependence, series position development, and internal distribution structure. These effects also appear to be statistically independent of distance and time. In a complementary program of remote perception studies, experimental protocols and analytical scoring methods have been developed to demonstrate and quantify information acquired by individuals about distant geographical locations without the use of normal sensory channels. A wave-mechanical approach to modeling consciousness/environment interactions, based on a metaphorical application of quantum concepts and formalisms, has proven useful in predicting and interpreting the ...

Dreaming and the brain: Toward a cognitive neuroscience of conscious states

Fri, 01 Dec 2000 00:00:00 GMT

Sleep researchers in different disciplines disagree about how fully dreaming can be explained in terms of brain physiology. Debate has focused on whether REM sleep dreaming is qualitatively different from nonREM (NREM) sleep and waking. A review of psychophysiological studies shows clear quantitative differences between REM and NREM mentation and between REM and waking mentation. Recent neuroimaging and neurophysiological studies also differentiate REM, NREM, and waking in features with phenomenological implications. Both evidence and theory suggest that there are isomorphisms between the phenomenology and the physiology of dreams. We present a three-dimensional model with specific examples from normally and abnormally changing conscious states.

SPIRITUALISM AND A MID-VICTORIAN CRISIS OF EVIDENCE

Mon, 29 Nov 2004 00:00:00 GMT

Historians writing on Victorian spiritualism have said little about the reported phenomena of the séance room, despite such events having been the primary reason given by spiritualists for their beliefs. Rather, such beliefs have been seen as a response to the so-called ‘crisis of faith’, and their expression as part of a broader scientific and cultural discourse. Yet the debate about séance phenomena was significantly problematic for the Victorians, in particular the reported phenomena associated with the best-known Victorian medium, Daniel Dunglas Home. In the attempt to provide a natural explanation for Home's phenomena, two groups of experts were appealed to – stage conjurors and scientists – yet it seems clear that the former were unable to explain the phenomena, while scientists who tested Home concluded his phenomena were real. The overwhelming rejection of supernatural agency, and the nature of the response from orthodox science, suggests that such reported phenomena were less the result of a crisis of faith than the cause of a crisis of evidence, the implications of which were deemed scientific rather than religious.

Belief in the Paranormal and Religious Belief among American College Students

Sat, 01 Feb 1992 00:00:00 GMT

A survey of beliefs about the paranormal was completed by 267 university students. Protestants were more likely to believe in the Devil, possession by the Devil, and witches, but less likely to believe in reincarnation or haunted houses. Catholics were more likely to believe in astrology. Students whose religion was important to them were less likely to believe in the Devil, possession by the Devil, astrology, extrasensory perception, or reincarnation.

A Preliminary Experimental Verification On the Possibility of Bell Inequality Violation in Mental States

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

For the first time we perform an experiment to test the possibility of Bell's inequality violation in mental states, during perception-cognition in humans. We study under a theoretical and experimental framework, a Bell-type test for human perception-cognition of ambiguous figures. It is performed a detailed analysis which demonstrates that, although we have not yet been able to violate Bell's inequality in the present performed experiment, there are strong theoretical arguments supporting our expectation to violate it by a simple articulation of the same experiment. In this framework we introduce for the first time what we retain to represent quantum cognitive observables. We consider that our analysis provides a solid ground for further investigations on quantum behaviour of cognitive systems. Therefore we reaffirm that quantum mechanics is a Giano Bifronte theory (two-faced Giano, a mythological God of the past), looking from one hand to physical reality and from the other hand to the sphere of mental reality and cognitive dynamics.

Biofield Perception: A Series of Pilot Studies with Cultured Human Cells

Tue, 01 Jun 2004 00:00:00 GMT

BACKGROUND: Energy medicine (EM) practitioners often claim to be able to perceive an energetic field associated with the body and to be able to use this skill to diagnose illness and guide treatment strategies. If a biofield associated with cells growing in culture is perceptible to EM practitioners, such an in vitro model would be a useful resource for investigating biofield perception that would provide some unique advantages over clinical models. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether EM practitioners can perceive the presence of cultured human cells without visual cues. DESIGN: Three randomized double-blinded pilot studies were used to evaluate the ability of participants to distinguish a flask containing cancer cells growing in culture medium from a flask containing either culture medium or sterile water. Each study consisted of six independent experiments: three with EM practitioners and three with non-practitioners. The number of independent trials for each experiment was estimated by statistical power analyses of the design. Practitioners' feedback from the first two studies was used to revise the protocol for the subsequent studies, with the intent to eliminate potential problems in making this distinction. Labeled flasks ("cells" and "no-cells") were added to serve as references for comparison in the second study and the number of experimental trials was reduced in the third study. SUBJECTS: Eight experienced EM practitioners and nine non-practitioners (laboratory personnel with no EM training). SETTING: A basic science laboratory and office at an academic medical center. OUTCOME MEASURES: In the first 2 studies, we determined the number of correct determinations in a series of 34 trials. In the third study, we determined the number of correct determinations in a series of 10 trials. RESULTS: All participants performed at the level expected by chance. CONCLUSION: While preliminary and inconclusive, these pilot studies found no evidence that EM practitioners can perceive a biofield associated with cancer cells growing in culture.