Parapsychology

Many people have experienced such unusual phenomena as dreams that later seem to correspond with unforeseeable events, thinking of a long-lost friend just before he or she unexpectedly calls, or the ability to “feel” the presence of deceased loved ones. What many do not realize is that these types of experiences have been researched for more than a century by eminent scientists, including Nobel laureates. Most of these researchers have concluded that some of these phenomena do occur, although we are far from explaining them to everyone’s satisfaction. This book is the first in almost 40 years to provide a comprehensive scientific overview of research in the field of parapsychology, explaining what we know and don’t know about so-called psi phenomena, such as “telepathy,” “precognition” or “psychokinesis.” Contributors evaluate the evidence for these phenomena, accounting for factors such as selective memory, wish fulfillment and incorrect methods or analyses, in some cases offering psychological, physical and biological theories.
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Etzel Cardeña holds the endowed Thorsen Chair of Psychology and is director of the Center for Research on Consciousness and Anomalous Psychology (CERCAP) at the University of Lund in Sweden. A fellow of the American Psychological Association and the Association for Psychological Science, he has more than 300 publications to his name.

John Palmer is the Director of Research at the Rhine Research Center and Editor of the Journal of Parapsychology. He has more than 150 publications to his name. He lives in Durham, North Carolina.

David Marcusson-Clavertz is a member of CERCAP and has published research on mind wandering, alterations in consciousness, and parapsychological phenomena in Consciousness and Cognition and Journal of Parapsychology, among other peer-review journals. He lives in Munich, Germany.

Edited by Etzel Cardeña, John Palmer and David Marcusson-Clavertz

Format: softcover (8.5 x 11)
Pages: 424
Bibliographic Info: notes, bibliographies, index
Copyright Date: 2015
pISBN: 978-0-7864-7916-0
eISBN: 978-1-4766-2105-0
Imprint: McFarland

Preface: Reintroducing Parapsychology (Etzel Cardeña, David ­Marcusson-Clavertz and John Palmer)  1

Part One—Basic Concepts
1. An Overview of Modern Developments in Parapsychology (Nancy L. Zingrone, Carlos S. Alvarado and Gerd H. Hövelmann)  13
2. Parapsychology in Context: The Big Picture (Edward F. Kelly)  30
3. The Case Against Psi (Douglas M. Stokes)  42

Part Two—Research Methods and Statistical Approaches
4. Experimental Methods in Anomalous Cognition and Anomalous Perturbation Research (John Palmer)  49
5. Research Methods with Spontaneous Case Studies (Emily Williams Kelly and Jim B. Tucker)  63
6. Macro-Psychokinesis: Methodological Concerns (Graham Watkins)  77
7. Statistical Guidelines for Empirical Studies (Patrizio E. Tressoldi and Jessica Utts)  83

Part Three—Psychology and Psi
8. Psychological Concepts of Psi Function: A Review and Constructive Critique (Rex G. Stanford)  94
9. States, Traits, Cognitive Variables and Psi (Etzel Cardeña and David ­Marcusson-Clavertz)  110
10. Ariadne’s Thread: Meditation and Psi (Serena M. ­Roney-Dougal)  125

Part Four—Biology and Psi
11. Psi and Biology: An Evolutionary Perspective (Richard S. Broughton)  139
12. Drugs and Psi Phenomena (David Luke)  149

Part Five—Physics and Psi
13. Quantum Theory and Parapsychology (Brian Millar)  165
14. Physical Correlates of Psi (Adrian Ryan)  181

Part Six—Psi Phenomena: Anomalous Cognition, Perturbation and Force
15. Explicit Anomalous Cognition: A Review of the Best Evidence in Ganzfeld, Forced Choice, Remote Viewing and Dream Studies (Johann Baptista, Max Derakhshani and Patrizio E. Tressoldi)  192
16. Implicit Anomalous Cognition (John Palmer)  215
17. Psi and Psychophysiology (Dean Radin and Alan Pierce)  230
18. Experimental Research on Distant Intention Phenomena (Stefan Schmidt)  244
19. Macro-Psychokinesis (Stephen E. Braude)  258
20. Micro-Psychokinesis (Mario Varvoglis and Peter A. Bancel)  266
21. Implicit Physical Psi: The Global Consciousness Project (Roger D. Nelson)  282
22. Experimenter Effects in Parapsychology Research (John Palmer and Brian Millar)  293

Part Seven—Psi Phenomena: Research on Survival
23. Mental Mediumship (Julie Beischel and Nancy L. Zingrone)  301
24. Reincarnation: Field Studies and Theoretical Issues Today (Antonia Mills and Jim B. Tucker)  314
25. Ghosts and Poltergeists: An Eternal Enigma (Michaeleen Maher)  327
26. Electronic Voice Phenomena (Mark R. Leary and Tom Butler)  341

Part Eight—Practical Applications
27. Psi in Everyday Life: Nonhuman and Human (Rupert Sheldrake)  350
28. Exceptional Experiences (ExE) in Clinical Psychology (Martina Belz and Wolfgang Fach)  364
29. Applied Psi (Paul H. Smith and Garret Moddel)  380

Part Nine—To Sum It Up
30. On the Usefulness of Parapsychology for Science at Large (Gerd H. Hövelmann)  389
31. On Negative Capability and Parapsychology: Personal Reflections (Etzel Cardeña)  399

About the Contributors  405
Index  407

• Winner—Parapsychological Association Book Award
• “A high-level book…an excellent, comprehensive scholarly-level source of information about a long-contested area of research in psychology and related disciplines”—PsycCritiques
• “Indispensable”—Magonia
• “For those who are brave and confident enough to go to the tough places in science and psychology, with an open mind, this book is just your ticket…an instant classic in this enigmatic and diverse area of study, a ‘must buy’ addition to one’s personal, university, and institutional libraries, and a great gift for a few selected colleagues…offers readers a grand vision of ppsych that is contagiously positive. It is an indispensable guide and first class work!”—Journal of Scientific Exploration
• “The evidence is impressive…substantial”—The Los Angeles Review of Books
• “The volume will stand as a landmark for many years to come, and the editors are to be congratulated on bringing it together a real tour de force”—Network Review
• “An excellent summary of the latest advances in parapsychological research that updates developments in the decades of the nineties and the last fifteen years of this century…the work has been awarded the First Prize for the best book of parapsychology”—Instituto de Psicología Paranormal
• “Presents a comprehensive guide to the last few decades of endeavor in parapsychology…numerous valuable chapters…the editors have brought together a wonderful collection of writers from a variety of traditions in order to bring up to date our understanding of what parapsychology is, what it has achieved, and what challenges it still faces…a considerable achievement…[will serve] as a go-to-text”—Journal of the Society for Psychical Research
• “An excellent, comprehensive scholarly-level source of information”—Daryl J. Bem, PsycCRITIQUES
• “An indispensable guide and first class work”—Charles T. Tart, Journal of Scientific Exploration
• “For those who are brave and confident enough to go to the tough places in science and psychology, with an open mind, this book is just your ticket…an instant classic in this enigmatic and diverse area of study, a ‘must-buy’ addition to one’s personal, university, and institutional libraries…offers a grand vision of psych that is contagiously positive”—Jerry Solfvin, Journal of Scientific Exploration.