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2001,
Vol. 1(1), pp. 2-8
Parapsychology
as a Career
HARVEY
IRWIN
ABSTRACT:
Many young people become fascinated by the subject matter of
parapsychology and are moved to consider the prospect of becoming a
professional parapsychologist. This article offers some considered
observations in relation to such an aspiration.
2001,
Vol. 1(1), pp. 9-29
Mrs.
Piper Revisited
PHILIP
COLE
ABSTRACT:
This paper looks at the pioneers of psychical research, with special
reference to Leonora Piper of Boston, who seems undeniably to have had
some sort of paranormal faculty. The author believes that the failure of
her phenomena to arouse the interest of the broader academic community is
a mystery in itself, and one well worth investigating.
2001,
Vol. 1(1), pp. 30-55
Paranormal
Aspects of the UFO Phenomenon: 1975-1999
KEITH
BASTERFIELD
ABSTRACT:
A comprehensive examination of the UFO literature in the period 1975 to
1999 was undertaken to review research into, and comments about, the
possible association between UFOs and the paranormal.
2001,
Vol. 1(1), pp. 56-60
Broken
Relationships and Claims of Psychic Phenomena
MICHAEL
A. THALBOURNE
ABSTRACT:
The usual definition of a broken relationship is one where the person is
bereaved, separated or divorced. It has been found in at least six studies
that persons coming from broken relationships are more likely to believe
in and allege experience of the paranormal. It is suggested that we have
here a parallel with those studies which show that childhood trauma is
related to adult paranormal belief, and that the common factor is the
occurrence of some kind of trauma, albeit at different stages of the
person’s life. Such trauma is likely to evoke paranormal belief and
experience (real or imagined) as a kind of defence mechanism.
2001,
Vol. 1(1), pp. 61-71
Psychic
Detection: The Use of Psi in Criminal Investigation
HARVEY J.
IRWIN
ABSTRACT:
This paper surveys the putative phenomenon of psychic detection, that is,
the use of psi abilities in criminal investigation. Police attitudes to
psychic insights into the solution to a crime, theories of the possible
bases of successful psychic detection, and controlled scientific
investigation of the efficacy of psychic detection are addressed. Although
the empirical literature is not encouraging for the validity of the
phenomenon, a constructive suggestion is made for further research.
2001,
Vol. 1(1), pp. 72-85
The
Paranormal and its Place in Human Relationships: Some Hypotheses
MICHAEL
A. THALBOURNE
ABSTRACT:
Part 1. There exists a minority of individuals who report that they have
never, in their lifetimes, formed an extremely close personal and
emotional relationship with another human being. Psychological research
indicates that, compared with persons who report that they have at some
time entered into such a relationship, these “non-close-relaters” tend
to be more shy, more lacking in trust, more introverted and more lacking
in social skills. In addition, non-close-relaters are less likely to
believe in ESP or to report personal experience of paranormal phenomena;
that is, they are more often than not intellectual and experiential
“goats”. This paper explores a number of possible explanations-normal
and paranormal-for this attitudinal difference: it is suggested that while
ordinary psychological processes do play a rôle, the difference can best
be understood if one additionally postulates the bidirectional operation
of the paranormal: in particular, it is proposed that certain
“extraverted” personality types will manifest hitting, in order to
further the development of desired relationships; while certain
“introverted” personality types will miss, with the effect of reducing
intimacy in their dealings with other people. If it is assumed that
instances of “negative ESP” in everyday life usually fail to be
recognized as constituting ESP, then this would account for the
non-close-relater’s failure to report paranormal experiences. Part 2
explores possible instances of significant missing in everyday life. It is
concluded that invocation of the paranormal hypothesis will enrich our
understanding of the mechanisms on interpersonal interaction.
2001,
Vol. 1(2), pp. 103-116
Shamanism
and Alien Abductions: A Comparative Study
SIMON
HARVEY-WILSON
ABSTRACT:
Some UFO researchers (ufologists) claim that being abducted by aliens can
be compared with shamanic initiation experiences in traditional societies
in that both types of experience may be similarly transformative, leading
to a more spiritual or animistic world-view, a deep concern for the
environment and the development of paranormal abilities such as healing.
This qualitative study was designed to test the validity of such claims by
investigating whether the experiences and subsequent world-view of eleven
alien abductees (eight women and three men) from a Western Australian
abduction support group were similar to those of the typical shaman. To do
this, material gathered from in-depth interviews with the abductees was
compared with the anthropological literature on shamanism, especially
shamanic initiation experiences, from various parts of the world.
2001,
Vol. 1(2), pp. 117-126
Examining
the Evidence for Psi in the Context of Scientific Revolution
HANNAH
JENKINS
ABSTRACT:
This paper is concerned with the representation of psi in current
philosophy texts. It undertakes an analysis of the current status of
evidence for psi according to a Kuhnian scientific revolution. This is
based on an analysis of the nature of the dispute between those who
maintain that psi does not exist (the dominant one expressed in most
modern philosophy texts), and those who believe that science will
eventually be able to cope with the anomalous phenomena associated with
psi effects. An appeal is made for a more even-handed representation in
future philosophy texts using this interpretation to help ameliorate the
representation of psi phenomena.
2001,
Vol. 1(2), pp. 127-132
A
Layperson’s Guide to the Theory of Psychopraxia
MICHAEL
A. THALBOURNE
ABSTRACT:
In this brief article, the author argues that use of the terms “ESP”
and “PK” often leads to ambiguities as to which of the ostensibly two
processes is occurring. A particularly clear case of this is the
“telepathy” situation, where ESP (of various types) or PK or both
could be involved. It is argued that the paranormal process is not dual
but unitary in nature; the author calls this single process
“psychopraxia” (“the self accomplishing ends”), and discusses it
in the context of a new theory of the paranormal.
2001,
Vol. 1(2), pp. 133-170
Technical
Paper No. 1
Paranormal
Effects Using Sighted and Vision-Impaired Participants in a Quasi-Ganzfeld
Task
LANCE
STORM & MICHAEL A. THALBOURNE
ABSTRACT:
An experiment on exosomatic psychopraxia was conducted in which 42 wholly
or partially blind participants were matched for age and sex with 42
sighted participants. The experimental task was to describe, paranormally,
a randomly selected drawing concealed in aluminium foil and a manila
envelope. Every second participant was assigned to a relaxation treatment
(audio tape). Following their attempted description of the target,
participants were required to rank-order 4 drawings (1 the target, and 3
the decoys). For the whole sample, based on the rankings by participants
(but not those of an independent judge), the sum-of-ranks statistic was
significantly positive (z = -2.98, p = .002, two-tailed), as it was also
for the sighted participants (z = -2.41, p = .016, two-tailed), whereas
results for the vision-impaired were not significant. The relaxation tape
appeared not to induce relaxation, at least as indicated by the heart rate
measure, but the ‘relaxed’ groups (the whole sample, and the sighted
group, but not the vision-impaired group) scored marginally better than
the respective non-relaxed groups. Belief in ESP did not affect scores in
the expected direction. We refer to the significant and marginally
significant effects as evidence of exosomatic psychopraxia (the latter
effects indicating that relaxation might have been conducive to
psychopraxia). However, a specific mode of psychopraxia¾compensation¾was
not found in the vision-impaired group.
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