Extrasensory perception ( courtecy;- From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia )Jump to navigationJump to search For the book, see Extrasensory Perception (book). "Percipient" redirects here. For percipient witness, see Witness.
extrasensory perception
nounDefinition of extrasensory perception
: perception (as in telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition) that involves awareness of information about events external to the self not gained through the senses and not deducible from previous experience
— called also ESP
Extrasensory perception
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Extrasensory perception or ESP, also called sixth sense, includes claimed reception of information not gained through the recognized physical senses, but sensed with the mind. The term was adopted by Duke University psychologist J. B. Rhine to denote psychic abilities such as intuition, telepathy, psychometry, clairaudience, and clairvoyance, and their trans-temporal operation as precognition or retrocognition.[1]
Second sight is a form of extrasensory perception, the supposed power to perceive things that are not present to the senses, whereby a person perceives information, in the form of a vision, about future events before they happen (precognition), or about things or events at remote locations (remote viewing).[2][3] There is no scientific evidence that second sight exists. Reports of second sight are known only from anecdotal evidence given after the fact.[4]
History[edit]
In the 1930s, at Duke University in North Carolina, J. B. Rhine and his wife Louisa E. Rhineconducted investigation into extrasensory perception. While Louisa Rhine concentrated on collecting accounts of spontaneous cases, J. B. Rhine worked largely in the laboratory, carefully defining terms such as ESP and psi and designing experiments to test them. A simple set of cards was developed, originally called Zener cards[5] – now called ESP cards. They bear the symbols circle, square, wavy lines, cross, and star; there are five cards of each in a pack of 25.
In a telepathy experiment, the "sender" looks at a series of cards while the "receiver" guesses the symbols. To try to observe clairvoyance, the pack of cards is hidden from everyone while the receiver guesses. To try to observe precognition, the order of the cards is determined after the guesses are made. Later he used dice to test for psychokinesis.[6][7]
The parapsychology experiments at Duke evoked criticism from academics and others who challenged the concepts and evidence of ESP. A number of psychological departments attempted to repeat Rhine's experiments with failure. W. S. Cox (1936) from Princeton University with 132 subjects produced 25,064 trials in a playing card ESP experiment. Cox concluded "There is no evidence of extrasensory perception either in the 'average man' or of the group investigated or in any particular individual of that group. The discrepancy between these results and those obtained by Rhine is due either to uncontrollable factors in experimental procedure or to the difference in the subjects."[8] Four other psychological departments failed to replicate Rhine's results.[9]
In 1938, the psychologist Joseph Jastrow wrote that much of the evidence for extrasensory perception collected by Rhine and other parapsychologists was anecdotal, biased, dubious and the result of "faulty observation and familiar human frailties".[10] Rhine's experiments were discredited due to the discovery that sensory leakage or cheating could account for all his results such as the subject being able to read the symbols from the back of the cards and being able to see and hear the experimenter to note subtle clues.[11][12][13][14]
In the 1960s parapsychologists became increasingly interested in the cognitive components of ESP, the subjective experience involved in making ESP responses, and the role of ESP in psychological life. This called for experimental procedures that were not limited to Rhine's favored forced-choice methodology. Such procedures have included dream telepathy experiments, and the ganzfeld experiments (a mild sensory deprivation procedure).[15][16][17]
Second sight may have originally been so called because normal vision was regarded as coming first, while supernormal vision is a secondary thing, confined to certain individuals.[18] An da shealladh or "the two sights", meaning "the sight of the seer", is the way Gaelsrefer to "second sight", the involuntary ability of seeing the future or distant events. There are many Gaelic words for the various aspects of second sight, but an da shealladh is the one mostly recognized by non-Gaelic speakers, even though, strictly speaking, it does not really mean second sight, but rather "two sights".[a]
Skepticism[edit]
Parapsychology is the study of paranormal psychic phenomena, including ESP. Parapsychology has been criticized for continuing investigation despite being unable to provide convincing evidence for the existence of any psychic phenomena after more than a century of research.[20] The scientific community rejects ESP due to the absence of an evidence base, the lack of a theory which would explain ESP and the lack of positive experimental results; it considers ESP to be pseudoscience.[21][22][23][24][25]
The scientific consensus does not view extrasensory perception as a real phenomenon.[26][27][28][29][30][31][32] Skeptics have pointed out that there is no viable theory to explain the mechanism behind ESP, and that there are historical cases in which flaws have been discovered in the experimental design of parapsychological studies.[33]
There are many criticisms pertaining to experiments involving extrasensory perception, particularly surrounding methodological flaws. These flaws are not unique to a single experimental design, and are effective in discrediting much of the positive research surrounding ESP. Many of the flaws seen in the Zener cards experiment are present in the Ganzfeld experiment as well. First is the stacking effect, an error that occurs in ESP research. Trial-by-trial feedback given in studies using a “closed” ESP target sequence (e.g., a deck of cards) violates the condition of independence used for most standard statistical tests. Multiple responses for a single target cannot be evaluated using statistical tests that assume independence of responses. This increases likelihood of card counting and in turn, increases the chances for the subject to guess correctly without using ESP. Another methodological flaw involves cues through sensory leakage. For example, when the subject receives a visual cue. This could be the reflection of a Zener card in the holder’s glasses. In this case, the subject is able to guess the card correctly because they can see it in the reflection, not because of ESP. Finally, poor randomization of target stimuli could be happening. Poor shuffling methods can make the orders of the cards easier to predict, or the cards could’ve been marked and manipulated, again, making it easier to predict which cards come next.[34] The results of a meta-analysis found that when these errors were corrected and accounted for, there was still no significant effect of ESP. Many of the studies only appeared to have significant occurrence of ESP, when in fact, this result was due to the many methodological errors in the research.
Dermo-optical perception[edit]
In the early 20th century, Joaquin María Argamasilla, known as the "Spaniard with X-ray Eyes", claimed to be able to read handwriting or numbers on dice through closed metal boxes. Argamasilla managed to fool Gustav Geley and Charles Richet into believing he had genuine psychic powers.[35] In 1924 he was exposed by Harry Houdini as a fraud. Argamasilla peeked through his simple blindfold and lifted up the edge of the box so he could look inside it without others noticing.[36]
Science writer Martin Gardner has written that the ignorance of blindfold deception methods has been widespread in investigations into objects at remote locations from persons who claim to possess second sight. Gardner documented various conjuring techniques psychics such as Rosa Kuleshova, Lina Anderson and Nina Kulagina have used to peek from their blindfolds to deceive investigators into believing they used second sight.[37]
See also[edit]
- Clairvoyance
- Extrasensory Perception (book)
- List of topics characterized as pseudoscience
- List of psychic abilities
- Outline of parapsychology
- Remote Viewing
- Telepathy
- Inner eye
Notes[edit]
- ^ "The term da-shealladh (pronounced "dah-haloo"), often translated as "second sight", literally means "two sights". It refers to the ability to see apparitions of both the living and the dead. The taibshear (pronounced "tysher") is the seer who specializes in observing the energy double (taibhs). A dream or vision is a bruadar ("broo-e-tar"). The bruadaraiche ("broo-e-taracher") is more than a dreamer in the common sense; he or she is the kind of dreamer who can see into the past or the future."[1
What Is ESP? Exploring 6 Types Of Extrasensory Perception
Natasha Wanderly
In one way or another, it’s likely that you’ve heard of the term “sixth sense.” Whether through the spooky 90s thriller with Bruce Willis, the psychic at your local county fair, or your new-agey aunt.
Although this topic is highly debated in the scientific community, it is oftentimes referred to as “ESP” or extrasensory perception.
What is ESP? Extra sensory literally means “outside the senses” — the 5 senses of sight, touch, hearing, smell, and taste.
ESP is the ability to receive and process informationindependent of our five senses. Hence, why this phenomenon is often coined a “sixth” sense.
Some sciences say that this information is received through the mind, alone. Yet, other sciences argue that it’s perhaps not the mindthat transmits this extrasensory perception, but perhaps the gut, the heart, or something even more mysterious.
Whatever this extrasensory perception is, it seems to not be bound to limits of time and space. And, it seems to take on several different shapes and forms — from manipulating physical objects, to knowing the thoughts of others, to seeing into the future.
In this article, we will dive deeper into each of these 6 different types of ESP.
However, if you are interested in learning more about these extrasensory powers and how to hone them, check out our all-inclusive guide on intuition.
6 Types of ESP (Extrasensory Perception)
1. Telepathy
Have you ever become so close to someone that it seems like you can tell what they are thinking? Or, have you ever repetitively said the same exact sentences at the same time as another person?
Although you may not be a full-on telepath, if you’ve experienced this strange phenomenon, then you have a good idea of what telepathy is.
Telepathy is the ability to know another person’s thoughts.
A telepath is able to communicate with another person by using only their mind — no other sensory input.
Out of all the different types of extrasensory perception, telepathy is the most researched and the most popular.
2. Precognition
Precognition is the ability to see into the future.
Generally, people who possess the gift of precognition can perceive information about events, people, locations, and scenarios before they actually occur.
Precognition comes from 2 Latin words:
- Pre, meaning “prior to”
- Cognito, meaning “getting to know.”
3. Retrocognition
Retrocognition is the opposite of precognition — it’s the ability to see into the past; oftentimes, the distant past. People with this type of extrasensory perception can recognize people, places, and events of the past that they had nothing to do with.
Many people associate this type of ESP with the strange phenomena of déjà vu.
Retrocognitive people can often describe, in strikingly accurate detail, what specific events in the past were like. And, although science is still wary about the topic, people with these abilities are sometimes used in investigative cases.
Like the word “precognition,” retrocognition comes from two Latin words:
- Retro, meaning “backward” (retrogress)
- Cognito, meaning “getting to know.”
4. Psychokinesis (or Telekinesis)
Undoubtedly, you are familiar with this type of ESP from some of your favorite superhero movies.
If you are imagining a superhero tightening up their face and moving their arms around dramatically to violently gravitate objects toward their villain, you are spot on about psychokinesis… Well, sort of.
Alas, real psychokinesis is much less theatrical.
Psychokinesis, or telekinesis, is the ability of one’s mind to have a direct effect on another object without the use of any physical energy.
Coined by Henry Holt, the word “psychokinesis” comes from two Greek words:
- Psyche, meaning “mind”
- Kinesis, meaning “movement” or “motion”
The word “telekinesis” translates similarly to mean “distant movement.” Many people use these two words interchangeably.
5. Clairvoyance
Clairvoyance refers to the ability to see information about an object, person, scenario, location, or event in the past, present, or future, using only extrasensory means.
This type of extrasensory perception is generally strongest during practiced meditation, but can also happen unintentionally.
The term “clairvoyant” is comprised of two French words:
- Clair, meaning “clear”
- Voyant, meaning “seeing”
As well, there are other variations of this type of ESP, each focuses on a different sense:
- Clairsentience refers to the ability to feel the sensations and emotions of another person, without any external stimulation. This is often paired with paranormal-type activity (like feeling the coldness of a ghost).
- Clairaudience refers to the ability to receive auditory information through psychic and sixth sense hearing.
- Clairalience refers to a psychic’s ability to pick up on external impressions through the sense of smell.
- Clairgustance is similar to those above; this type of ESP refers to the ability to receive outside information and psychic impressions from the sense of taste (without putting anything in one’s mouth).
6. Mediumship
Mediumship is a form of extrasensory perception that gives most people the “heebie jeebies.”
Essentially, it’s the ability to communicate with the dead by channeling their spirits.
This ability is utilized in a number of different ways (depending on the intentions of the person) and combines several different types of ESP, like clairvoyance and clairaudience.
Have you ever experienced any of these types of ESP? Share your experience with us in a comment below!
Natasha Wanderly
What Is Extrasensory Perception? (The 9 Major Types Explained)
Extrasensory perception, also referred to as the sixth sense, is the ability to perceive information without using the five physical senses. There are several types of ESP known to exist such as precognition, clairvoyance, telepathy, and clairaudience.
Here are the major types of ESP in a nutshell:
- Precognition – The ability to see into the future.
- Retrocognition – The ability to see into the distant past.
- Clairvoyance – The ability to see events without being physically present.
- Mediumship – The ability to communicate with spiritual world and talk to the deceased.
- Clairsentience – The ability to feel the emotions of others.
- Clairaudience – The ability to receive messages and information through “psychic hearing”.
- Telepathy – The ability to read the minds of others and know what they’re thinking.
- Clairalience – The ability to get psychic impressions from the sense of smell.
- Clairgustance – The paranormal ability to taste a substance without putting it in mouth.
Table of Contents [show]
The 9 Types of ESP Explained
Precognition
Precognition refers to the ability to see the future. Though the scientific community generally rejects precognition because of the lack of demonstration, many scientific explanations are available to explain it. Experiments conducted by the Parapsychology Laboratory at Duke University show the human mind has a habit along with the ability to subconsciously predict an outcome of events by judging current circumstances. Such predictions, if they later become true, are then related to precognition. Nostradamus is one of the most famous people known for his predictions, as he has reportedly predicted several events throughout history that occurred long after his death.
Related Content:
Retrocognition
Retrocognition refers to the ability to see in the distant past. It can be as simple as recognizing a place, or a person, or somehow knowing what happened in a certain situation one had nothing to do with at the time it took place. When someone experiences déjà vu, it could be a simple instance of retrocognition. Someone who has retrocognition abilities could possibly to you in the present about what it was like to be a passenger on the Titanic when it sank in 1912.
Telepathy
Telepathy refers to the ability to read and other persons thoughts. Telepathy allows a person to communicate with one or more people using their mind and no other sensory input. If you’ve ever become so close to someone you can tell what they’re thinking, you may not be a telepath, but you can understand the idea behind this particular type of ESP.
Clairvoyance
Clairvoyance refers to the ability to see objects or events that are happening to someone else. Similar to telepathy, clairvoyance refers to the ability to gain knowledge about a person, event, or thing without sensory input. Though typically thought to be strongest during meditation, many psychics can get information about the past, present, and future in a variety of environments.
Related Content:
Clairaudience
Clairaudience refers the ability to hear objects or events that are happening to someone else, without any other additional sensory information. Like clairvoyance, clairaudience is thought to be strongest during meditation, however many clairaudients can obtain information in a variety of environments.
Related Content:
Clairsentience
Clairsentience refers to the ability to perceive a feeling throughout the whole body, without any stimulation related to the feeling or information. Some people with this ability may also be considered clairempaths as they can physically tune into other peoples, places, or animals’ emotional experiences. This is considered a type of telepathy that allows emotions to be felt. This comes from one’s ability to tune into the vibration and feel the aura.
Mediumship
Mediumship refers to the ability to communicate with the dead by channeling their spirits. Most mediums use a variety of types of ESP, including clairvoyance and clairaudience to obtain their information.
Related Content:
Clairalience
A secondary form of ESP, clairalience refers to the ability to smell. While all humans have the ability to smell, this type of ESP refers to aromas that are not detected by everyone else. It is thought that these aromas are projected by spirits.
Clairgustance
Another secondary form of ESP, clairgustance refers to the ability to taste. While all humans have the ability to taste, this type of ESP refers to the ability to taste without putting anything in the mouth. It is thought that those who have this ability can perceive the essence of a particular substance from the spiritual realms through taste.
What To Do If You Suspect You have Extrasensory Perception?
It is thought that everyone has the ability to use ESP in some shape or form because we can all pick up on various energies that exist. For many of us, however, we are unaware of how to develop those psychic powers. There are are many ways to develop and improve your psychic abilities, but you must be willing to practice, and believe it can be done. Testing is available for many of the most common ESP abilities, if you suspect your abilities go beyond predicting the next song on the radio.
In the meantime, you can reach out to psychics online to help you discover more about your past, present, or your future. Though psychics will not simply tell you what’s going to happen in your future, they can provide the guidance you need to get you to place where you will be happy in the future.
Extra-sensory perception - a controversial debate
Eric Robinson, winner in the postgraduate category of our student writer competition, weighs up the evidence
A huge number of people believe in some form of extra-sensory perception (ESP) and claim to have witnessed evidence of it first hand. But are they naive and misguided? And is it right to ignore such seemingly preposterous claims? Or is there scientific evidence that supports these proposed ESP experiences? A wide body of research may suggest such claims are not as preposterous as we’d probably expect.
Extra-sensory perception (ESP) is a term often scoffed at in psychology and wider science: an alleged ‘paranormal’ or supernatural phenomenon that many believe is best suited to science fiction films. Yet, to the surprise of many academics, a significant body of scientific evidence exists which may suggest otherwise.
ESP has been defined as ‘anomalous processes of information or energy transfer, processes such as telepathy… that are currently unexplained in terms of known physical or biological mechanisms’ (Bem & Honorton, 1994, p.4). Although unexplained by current scientific thought, surveys continually indicate that belief in ESP is extremely common (Moore, 2005) and many individuals are adamant that they have experienced ESP at first hand (Greeley, 1987). Additionally, psychologists and sociologists have collected thousands of retrospective case reports of alleged ESP phenomena (Irwin & Watt, 2007).
However, our knowledge of the human mind raises considerable doubts over the accuracy of such anecdotal evidence. Extensive research has shown us that memory can be unreliable, and that cognitive biases result in events regularly and easily being misinterpreted (Henkel & Mather, 2007; Kahneman et al., 1993). Furthermore, the laws of probability mean that weird coincidences that may well appear ‘ESP-like’ can’t help but happen. For example, thinking of a friend you have not spoken to for sometime and then receiving a telephone call from that very person may be seem too much of a coincidence, best explained by some form of ESP. Alternatively it may just be pure coincidence; how many times is a distant friend thought of and they don’t call? If we also consider fraud and mistakenness, anecdotes are reduced to something only vaguely resembling scientific evidence.
Yet the assumption that belief in ESP is related to lower IQ and poorer reasoning skills has been shown to be inaccurate (Roe, 1999). Indeed, education level has even been shown to be positively correlated with belief in ESP (Rice, 2003). Those that believe in the possibility of ESP are also in good company; William James, Carl Jung and Nobel Prize winner Charles Riche to name but a few great minds.
Although many feel antipathy towards proposed paranormal and occultist suggestions such as ESP, Freud wrote that ‘This disinclination must ultimately be overcome. What we are dealing with is a question of fact’ (1940/2003, p.29). Parapsychology scientifically investigates the possibility of ESP, and has collected a large body of evidence which some suggest support such a remarkable claim (Bem & Honorton, 1994; Sherwood & Roe, 2003). The most common experimental design that has been used to examine the ‘ESP hypothesis’ is the ganzfeld procedure.
The ganzfeld experiment
A typical ganzfeld experiment involves two participants. Participant 1, known as ‘the receiver’ is seated in a comfortable chair in an acoustically isolated room. Translucent ping-pong ball halves are taped over their eyes, and a red floodlight shone over them while white noise is played through headphones. These measures are taken to reduce external noise and place participants in a comfortable ‘dreamy state of awareness’. The reasoning behind such procedures is that anecdotal reports of ESP often occur during altered states of consciousness. Participant 2, otherwise known as ‘the sender’, is located in a different room. A computer randomly selects a stimulus or ‘target’ (typically a photograph or video) from a large pool. It is the sender’s job to concentrate on the target and attempt to mentally send it to the receiver. During this time the receiver provides a continuous verbal report of any imagery or thoughts. After the session the receiver is presented with four stimuli (one is the target and the other three serve as decoys) and asked to select which of the four was most similar to their mentation.
By chance we would expect participants to select the target stimuli (otherwise known as a ‘hit’) on 25 per cent of trials.
A typical ganzfeld experiment involves two participants. Participant 1, known as ‘the receiver’ is seated in a comfortable chair in an acoustically isolated room. Translucent ping-pong ball halves are taped over their eyes, and a red floodlight shone over them while white noise is played through headphones. These measures are taken to reduce external noise and place participants in a comfortable ‘dreamy state of awareness’. The reasoning behind such procedures is that anecdotal reports of ESP often occur during altered states of consciousness. Participant 2, otherwise known as ‘the sender’, is located in a different room. A computer randomly selects a stimulus or ‘target’ (typically a photograph or video) from a large pool. It is the sender’s job to concentrate on the target and attempt to mentally send it to the receiver. During this time the receiver provides a continuous verbal report of any imagery or thoughts. After the session the receiver is presented with four stimuli (one is the target and the other three serve as decoys) and asked to select which of the four was most similar to their mentation.
By chance we would expect participants to select the target stimuli (otherwise known as a ‘hit’) on 25 per cent of trials.
Early ganzfeld experiments produced highly significant results, well above what chance would predict for performance. Meta-analyses by parapsychologist Charles Honorton and sceptic Ray Hyman, examining 28 studies taking place between 1974 and 1981, reported a hit rate of 35 per cent (Honorton, 1985). Although the 10 per cent deviation may seem small, over so many trials this is a robust finding that is extremely unlikely to be explained by chance deviation. The studies also yielded an impressive effect size (0.5 is normally considered a medium-sized effect in the social sciences) of 0.63 (Bem & Honorton, 1994).
Furthermore, the effect was replicated by numerous researchers (Honorton, 1985). However, concern was raised over a number of possible methodological flaws surrounding the experiments, including cues through sensory leakage and poor randomisation of target stimuli (Hyman, 1985). Interestingly, a separate US National Research Council report by esteemed social psychologist Robert Rosenthal also accepted these flaws, but suggested that they were highly unlikely to explain the remarkably consistent effect (Harris & Rosenthal, 1988).
Nevertheless, accepting such a controversial hypothesis based on evidence coming from methodologically flawed experiments is poor science. Based on the previous problems of early experiments, a new form of ganzfeld protocol was developed; ‘the auto-ganzfeld’, whereby randomisation and selection of stimuli were completely computerised and procedural rigour tightened.
The auto-ganzfeld procedure
In 1994, Psychology Bulletin published an article by Cornell’s Daryl Bem and the late Charles Honorton analysing all auto-ganzfeld studies. Up to then, 354 auto-ganzfeld sessions had taken place during 11 studies. Again, results appeared to be in support of the ESP hypothesis. Reminiscent of the earlier ganzfeld studies, a significant hit rate of 32 per cent was observed. In search of better understanding of the effect taking place, the authors also examined internal effects and suggested that degree of extroversion and belief in the possibility of ESP predicted performance (see Bem & Honorton, 1994).
In 1994, Psychology Bulletin published an article by Cornell’s Daryl Bem and the late Charles Honorton analysing all auto-ganzfeld studies. Up to then, 354 auto-ganzfeld sessions had taken place during 11 studies. Again, results appeared to be in support of the ESP hypothesis. Reminiscent of the earlier ganzfeld studies, a significant hit rate of 32 per cent was observed. In search of better understanding of the effect taking place, the authors also examined internal effects and suggested that degree of extroversion and belief in the possibility of ESP predicted performance (see Bem & Honorton, 1994).
Such findings inevitably encouraged researchers to continue ganzfeld experiments. In 1999 Milton and Wiseman conducted their own meta-analysis of all auto-ganzfeld studies in the published literature. Surveying 30 studies, the authors’ analysis found no significant effect (Milton & Wiseman, 1999).
Nonetheless, there have been objections to the conclusions drawn from the analysis. The quality of the experiments analysed has been called into question. During this period many studies were ‘process-orientated’ and altered various aspects of the standard ganzfeld procedure, potentially removing conditions that may have facilitated ESP (Irwin & Watt, 2007). Nevertheless, over the 30 studies that explicitly investigated the existence of ESP, no evidence in support of the hypothesis was found. Additionally, the previous significant effects of individual differences in performance were not replicated.
Due to such criticisms another meta-analysis followed in 2001. Finding an additional 10 later studies, Bem and Palmer (2001) analysed 40 studies overall. The average hit rate was 30.1 per cent; a significant effect had returned. Furthermore, the proposal that studies tampering with the previously successful standard ganzfeld procedure may have been responsible for non-significant findings gained some support. Studies conforming to the conventional procedure yielded significant results, whereas those that altered the methodology tended to produce chance scoring (Bem & Palmer, 2001). Yet, the effect size was much smaller than those reported in earlier experiments, suggesting that if an effect was taking place, it was only faint.
A future for ESP?
Although it is not overwhelming evidence, experiments may suggest that a small effect is taking place. However, the small number of papers providing evidence in reputable psychological journals do not appear to have changed opinion or attracted much more scientific attention towards ESP.
Although it is not overwhelming evidence, experiments may suggest that a small effect is taking place. However, the small number of papers providing evidence in reputable psychological journals do not appear to have changed opinion or attracted much more scientific attention towards ESP.
Shermer (2003) suggests the major reasons are that (a) the effect is extremely difficult to replicate and (b) parapsychology lacks a unified and valid theory to explain such an anomaly. But how important are these? Science is primarily based on observation followed by explanation through theory. Some parapsychologists suggest the size of the field may explain why a substantial ‘breakthrough’ has yet to be made. Schouten (1993) calculated that in the last 111 years, the total amount of human and financial resources dedicated to parapsychology is the equivalent to the resources available to sustain all psychological research for a mere two months in the US. An alternative view may be: if such an ability or phenomenon exists, then surely 111 years of academic study should have provided enough evidence for opinion to be swayed?
Nevertheless, parapsychologists have reported a number of findings that they suggest may explain the phenomena. Among a number of findings, analysis suggests that believers in ESP (possibly due to motivational effects) tend to outperform sceptics (Lawrence, 1993) and participant mood may also be related to experimental performance (Carpenter, 2001). Yet, as with most significant findings in this field, the sizes of these effects are very small.
Nevertheless, parapsychologists have reported a number of findings that they suggest may explain the phenomena. Among a number of findings, analysis suggests that believers in ESP (possibly due to motivational effects) tend to outperform sceptics (Lawrence, 1993) and participant mood may also be related to experimental performance (Carpenter, 2001). Yet, as with most significant findings in this field, the sizes of these effects are very small.
When considering the possibility of ESP, Freud was correct in reminding us that ‘the easiest explanation is not always right one: the truth is often not terribly simple’ (1940/2003, p.34). It is of importance to remember that our thoughts on physics, biology and psychology have been way off the mark before and continue to evolve. Hypotheses (backed by scientific evidence) that make the mainstream academic feel a little uncomfortable, whether later accepted or rejected, are what push understanding forward – not scientific dogma.
BOX: Weird coincidences in the laboratory?
The following extract from a paper by Westerlund et al. (2004) reporting ganzfeld experiments at the University of Edinburgh, shows strong similarities between the video the ‘sender’ was watching and the receiver’s thoughts at the time.
The following extract from a paper by Westerlund et al. (2004) reporting ganzfeld experiments at the University of Edinburgh, shows strong similarities between the video the ‘sender’ was watching and the receiver’s thoughts at the time.
‘On this tape, the target video clip is shown and at the same time the mentation of the receiver can be heard. One of the most remarkable excerpts shows a man who is running through a forest; it seems that he is being hunted (at the same time, the receiver says: “Trees. People running. Fleeing…”). Suddenly, the man falls down in a deep muddy pool (at the same time, the receiver says: “Falling. Muddy…”). The camera zooms in on the man’s face (at the same time, the receiver says: “Blond hair. 70´s hairstyle. Curly-ish. White face…”. All the utterances appear to describe exactly what is being shown on the film. The next thing that happens in the clip is that the man can no longer keep his head above the surface, so he disappears into the mud (at the same time, the receiver says: “Dead man in the water”)
- Eric Robinson is in the Ingestive Behaviour Group at the University of Birmingham, and the Psychology of Paranormal Phenomena Research Group at the University of Derby
exr888@bham.ac.uk
exr888@bham.ac.uk
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