Parapsychology FAQ

8/14/2019 Parapsychology FAQ

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Parapsychology FAQ

TWM

Parapsychology FAQ

Compiled by Dean Radin, PhDof UNLV's Cognitive Research Division

Parapsychology FAQ - A helpful guide to parapsychology and the facts regarding thatfield.

Editor's Note:While the Amazing Randi and other sceptics maintain that there is no concreteevidence to prove the existence of any paranormal phenomena, groups such as the CRD areconducting respectable experiments and producing statistically significant results. What do thesceptics have to say abot this!That most of these results are not reproducable is a powerfulweapon in the hands of the sceptics. Or is this ust an indication of our seeming inability to isolate theconditions that produce parapsychological phenomena! This "A# should help you understand thefacts as they stand today and serve as a lesson in clear thin$ing for anyone.

Last pdate" #pril $%, &(Table of Contents

1. Who compiled this )#*!

2. Who is the intended adience!

o +echnical note" #dience

3. What is parapsychology!

4. What is not parapsychology!

5. What do parapsychologists stdy!

o +echnical note" asic terms

6. Why is parapsychology interesting!

o +echnical note" -mplications

7. What are some practical applications of psi!

8. What are the ma.or research approaches!

9.What are the ma.or psi e/periments today!

o P0 on random nmber generators

o P0 on living systems

o 12P in the gan3feld

o Remote vie4ing
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o +echnical note" 5ethodology

10. What are common criticisms and responses abot parapsychology!

o Criticism &

o Criticism $

o Criticism 6

11. Why is parapsychology chronically controversial!

12. What is the state7of7the7evidence for psi!

13. What is the state7of7the7theory for psi!

14. Where can - get more information!

15. *estions abot poplar phenomena

o #re ghosts real!

o #re poltergeists real!

o -f psi is real, ho4 come casinos ma8e so mch money!

o -s channeling real!

o #re large7scale P0 effects, li8e levitation, real!

16. What is the history of parapsychology!

17.#re there any psi research e/periments accessible over the Web!

18. Where are the active psi research facilities!

19. 5a.or contribtors to this )#*

1 !" C"#P$%&D T!$' FAQ(+his )#* 4as compiled by an ad7hoc grop of scientists and scholars interested in parapsychology,the stdy of 4hat is poplarly called 9psychic9 phenomena: +he disciplines represented in this gropinclde physics, psychology, philosophy, statistics, mathematics, compter science, chemistry,anthropology, and history: +he ma.or contribtors and their affiliations are listed at the end of thisdocment:+he ma.ority of this grop are members of the Parapsychological #ssociation ;P#: While this )#* is not an official pblication of the P#, thecontribtors do inclde several past7 Presidents of the P#, inclding the crrent ;&=< President, andpast and present members of the oard of Directors of the P#: +he athors' actal laboratory andfield research e/perience 4ith parapsychology is estimated at over ?@@ years:+he grop aimed for consenss on each )#* item, bt as in many intellectal prsits, especially inyong, mltidisciplinary domains, there 4ere some sharp disagreements: -n spite of thesedisagreements, the athors believe that becase of brgeoning pblic interest in parapsychology, therelative lac8 of reliable information, and the many myths and distortions associated 4ith this field, it
http://twm.co.nz/FAQpara2.htm#9.5http://twm.co.nz/FAQpara2.htm#10http://twm.co.nz/FAQpara2.htm#10.1http://twm.co.nz/FAQpara2.htm#10.2http://twm.co.nz/FAQpara2.htm#10.3http://twm.co.nz/FAQpara3.htm#11http://twm.co.nz/FAQpara3.htm#12http://twm.co.nz/FAQpara3.htm#13http://twm.co.nz/FAQpara3.htm#14http://twm.co.nz/FAQpara3.htm#15http://twm.co.nz/FAQpara3.htm#15.1http://twm.co.nz/FAQpara3.htm#15.2http://twm.co.nz/FAQpara3.htm#15.3http://twm.co.nz/FAQpara3.htm#15.4http://twm.co.nz/FAQpara3.htm#15.5http://twm.co.nz/FAQpara3.htm#16http://twm.co.nz/FAQpara3.htm#17http://twm.co.nz/FAQpara3.htm#18http://twm.co.nz/FAQpara3.htm#19http://world.std.com/~parapsyc/http://twm.co.nz/FAQpara2.htm#9.5http://twm.co.nz/FAQpara2.htm#10http://twm.co.nz/FAQpara2.htm#10.1http://twm.co.nz/FAQpara2.htm#10.2http://twm.co.nz/FAQpara2.htm#10.3http://twm.co.nz/FAQpara3.htm#11http://twm.co.nz/FAQpara3.htm#12http://twm.co.nz/FAQpara3.htm#13http://twm.co.nz/FAQpara3.htm#14http://twm.co.nz/FAQpara3.htm#15http://twm.co.nz/FAQpara3.htm#15.1http://twm.co.nz/FAQpara3.htm#15.2http://twm.co.nz/FAQpara3.htm#15.3http://twm.co.nz/FAQpara3.htm#15.4http://twm.co.nz/FAQpara3.htm#15.5http://twm.co.nz/FAQpara3.htm#16http://twm.co.nz/FAQpara3.htm#17http://twm.co.nz/FAQpara3.htm#18http://twm.co.nz/FAQpara3.htm#19http://world.std.com/~parapsyc/


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4as important to pt some basic information on the World Wide Web sooner rather than later:+o sbmit Aestions to the )#*, send email toDean Radin;dradinBnevada:ed


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5any scientists vie4 parapsychology 4ith great sspicion becase the term has come to beassociated 4ith a hge variety of mysterios phenomena, fringe topics, and psedoscience:Parapsychology is also often lin8ed, again inappropriately, 4ith a broad range of 9psychic9entertainers, magicians, and so7called 9paranormal investigators:9 -n addition, some self7proclaimed9psychic practitioners9 call themselves parapsychologists, bt that is not 4hat 4e do, as this )#* 4illhelp to clarify: !AT D" PARAP'C!"%"/$'T' 'T+D(5any feel that the strangest, and most interesting, aspect ofparapsychological phenomenais thattheydo not appear to be limited by the 2no3n boundaries of space or time. -n addition,theyblur the sharp distinction usually made bet3een mind and matter.-n poplar sage, the basicparapsychological phenomena are categori3ed as follo4s"

Telepathy " Direct mind7to7mind commnication:

%recognition" #lso called premonition: Ebtaining information abot ftre events, 4here the

information cold not be inferred throgh normal means: 5any people report dreams thatappear to be precognitive:

&lairvoyance" 2ometimes called remote viewingFobtaining information abot events at

remote locations, beyond the reach of the normal senses:

'(%" 1/tra7sensory perceptionF a general term for obtaining information abot events beyond

the reach of the normal senses: +his term sbsmes telepathy, clairvoyance, andprecognition:

%sycho$inesis " #lso called P0F direct mental interaction 4ith physical ob.ects, animate or

inanimate:

)io*%+ " Direct mental interactions 4ith living systems:

-' " Near death e/perienceF an e/perience reported by those 4ho 4ere revived from nearly

dying: Eften refers to a core e/perience that incldes feelings of peace, E1, seeing lightsand other phenomena:

O)' " Et7of7body e/perienceF the e/perience of feeling separated from the body, often

accompanied by visal perceptions as thogh from above the body:

Reincarnation" Reports, typically from children, of apparent recollections of previos lives:

aunting" Recrrent phenomena reported to occr in particlar locations that inclde

apparitions, sonds, movement of ob.ects, and other effects:

%oltergeist" Large7scale P0 phenomena often attribted to spirits, bt 4hich are no4 thoght

to be de to a living person, freAently an adolescent:

%si" # netral term for parapsychological phenomena: Psi, psychic, and psychical are

synonyms:

.1 T&C!*$CA% *"T&, 4A'$C T&R#'+he above terms are representative of common sage, bt parapsychologists sally define psiphenomena in more netral or operational terms: +his is becase labels often carry strong btnstated connotations that can lead to misinterpretations:)or e/ample, telepathyis commonly thoght of as mind7reading: o4ever, in practice, and certainlyin laboratory research, e/periences of telepathy rarely involve perception of actal thoghts, and thee/perience itself often does not logically reAire commnication bet4een t4o minds, bt can also be9e/plained9 as clairvoyance or precognition: 0eep in mind that the names and concepts sed todescribe psi actally say more abot the sitations in 4hich the phenomena are observed, than abot
http://twm.co.nz/FAQpara2.htm#9.3http://twm.co.nz/FAQpara2.htm#9.4http://twm.co.nz/FAQpara2.htm#9.4http://twm.co.nz/nature1.htmhttp://twm.co.nz/FAQpara2.htm#9.2http://twm.co.nz/Alt_Cosmol.html#Deathhttp://twm.co.nz/Alt_Cosmol.html#Deathhttp://twm.co.nz/Alt_Cosmol.html#Deathhttp://twm.co.nz/Alt_Cosmol.html#OOBEshttp://twm.co.nz/Alt_Cosmol.html#Reincarnationhttp://twm.co.nz/Alt_Cosmol.html#Past-Lifehttp://twm.co.nz/Alt_Cosmol.html#Past-Lifehttp://twm.co.nz/FAQpara2.htm#9.3http://twm.co.nz/FAQpara2.htm#9.4http://twm.co.nz/nature1.htmhttp://twm.co.nz/FAQpara2.htm#9.2http://twm.co.nz/Alt_Cosmol.html#Deathhttp://twm.co.nz/Alt_Cosmol.html#OOBEshttp://twm.co.nz/Alt_Cosmol.html#Reincarnationhttp://twm.co.nz/Alt_Cosmol.html#Past-Life


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any fndamental properties of the phenomena themselves: +hat t4o events are classified the samedoes not mean they are actally the same:-n addition, in scientific practice many of the basic terms sed above are accompanied by Aalifierssch as 9apparent,9 9ptative,9 and 9ostensible:9 +his is becase many claims spposedly involvingpsi may not be de to psi, bt to normal psychological or misinterpreted physical reasons:5 ! $' PARAP'C!"%"/ $*T&R&'T$*/(Parapsychology is interesting mainly becase of the implications: +o list a fe4 e/amples, psiphenomena sggest ;a< that 4hat science 8no4s abot the natre of niverse is incompleteF ;b< thatthe presmed capabilities and limitations of hman potential have been nderestimatedF ;c< thatfndamental assmptions and philosophical beliefs abot the separation of mind and body may beincorrectF and ;d< that religios assmptions abot the divine natre of 9miracles9 may have beenmista8en:

#s an aside, 4e shold note that many scientific parapsychologists today, inclding most of theathors of this )#*, ta8e an empirical, data7oriented approach to psi phenomena, and specificallyavoid discssing speclative implications that are not spported by data: o4ever, some researchersregard the crrent findings of parapsychology as having a 4ide variety of important implications,inclding implications abot the spirital natre of hman8ind: +hs, in deference to the broadreadership e/pected of this docment, 4e present in the follo4ing Technical Note some of thepossible implications of psi, ac8no4ledging that this section is, of corse, speclative:5.1 T&C!*$CA% *"T&, $#P%$CAT$"*'-n general,physiciststend to be interested in parapsychology becase of the implication that 4e havea gross misnderstanding abot space and time and the transmission of energy and information:)iologistsare interested becase psi implies the e/istence of additional, ne/plained methods ofsensing the 4orld: %sychologistsare interested for 4hat psi implies abot the natre of perceptionand memory: %hilosophersare interested becase psi phenomena specifically address many age7oldphilosophical problems, inclding the role of the mind in the physical 4orld, and the natre of theob.ective vs: the sb.ective:Theologiansand the general publictend to be interested becase personal psi e/periences are oftenaccompanied by feelings of profond, ineffable meaning: #s a reslt, psi is thoght by some to have9spirital9 implications:)romthe materialistic perspective, 4hich is one of the fondations of the scientific 4orldvie4,hmanconsciosness is nothing bt an emergent prodct of the fnctioning of rain, ody, and Nervos2ystem ;N2


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2tdies of direct mental interaction 4ith living systems sggest that traditional mental healingtechniAes, sch as prayer, may be based on genine psi7mediated effects: -n the ftre it may bepossible to develop enhanced methods of healing based on these phenomena:Psi may be involved in 5rphy's La4" 9-f anything can go 4rong, it 4ill:9 +hat is, modern machinesbased pon sensitive electronic circits, sch as copiers and compters, may at times directly interact4ith hman intention, and as a reslt, ine/plicably fail at inopportne times: Ef corse, the conversemay also be tre: +hat is, the possibility e/ists to repair, or tocontrol sensitive machinessolely bymental means: 2ch technologies 4old significantly benefit handicapped persons:Ether potential applications inclde improved methods of ma$ing decisions, of locating missing

persons or valuables, and of describing events at locations we cannot go tobecase of distance,time, or accessibility: +his incldes the possibility of psi7based historiansand forecasters:ighly developed psi abilities may benefitpsychotherapyand other forms of counseling: Psi may besed to provide a statistical edge in the financialmar8ets and in locating archeological treasres:Ho to ne/t page

Parapsychology FAQPart )

Compiled by UNLV'sCognitive Research Division

Parapsychology )#* 7 # helpfl gide to parapsychology and the factsregarding that field:

7 !AT AR& T!& #A8"R R&'&ARC! APPR"AC!&'(

#s in any mltidisciplinary domain, there are many 4ays of condcting research: +he five mainmethods sed in parapsychology are"

;&< 'cholarly research, inclding discssion of philosophical isses and historical srveys: ;$$*/ ''T'+his has also been called bio?P=@and more recently some researchers refer to it as Direct 5ental-nteractions 4ith Living 2ystems ;D5-L2


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+he gan3feld techniAe indicates that information can be e/changed mentally after the receiver isplaced in an altered state of consciosness ;the gan3feld


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2ometimes field research is not concerned 4ith 4hether the e/periences people report 4ere reallypsi phenomena, bt instead as8s Aestions li8e, 9hat do people reportabot e/periences theythin8 4ere psi!9, 9o4 does having these e/periences affect their lives!9, and 9Do people'spsychological or cltral characteristics inflence ho4 li8ely they are to interpret e/periences aspsi!9 +his is straightfor4ard anthropological, sociological, or psychological research and does notreAire the same 8ind of strict attention to eliminating conventional e/planations: +he vale of fieldresearch methods is that they investigate the e/periences that people actally report: +hese incldee/periences sch as precognitive dreams, ot7of7body e/periences, telepathic impressions, aras,memories of previos lives, hantings and poltergeists and apparitions: Research on these issesreslts in information abot incidence, phenomenology, demographic and psychological correlatesof the e/periences:

While field or spontaneos case research is less technical, and often more e/citing to read, it is4ise to a:oid umping to conclusionsabot the natre of psi from individal cases: 2ch stdiese/amine ho4 people report or thin8 abot their e/periences, not 4hat those e/periences actallyare: o4ever, becase spontaneos case stdies concentrate on the 9ra4 e/perience,9 they offer avalable vie4 of psi that is often missing in controlled laboratory e/periments: Case stdies providea chance to discover the personal meanings and the psychodynamics nderlying the e/periences,4hich in trn may provide important hints as to possible mechanisms of psi:

#n important goal of laboratory researchis to determine the degree to 4hich e/periencesreported in field and spontaneos7case research can be verified sing crrent scientific methods: -fthey prove to be verifiable in the lab, the ma.or intent of the lab 4or8 sally shifts from 9proof7oriented9 research to 9process7oriented,9 in 4hich the goal is to discover the psychological,physiological, and physical mechanisms of each phenomenon:

1 !AT AR& C"##"* CR$T$C$'#' A*D R&'P"*'&' A4"+T PARAP'C!"%"/(

Constrctive criticism is essential in science and is 4elcomed by the ma.ority of active psiresearchers: 2trong s8epticism is e/pected, and many parapsychologists are far more s8epticalabot psi than most 9otside9 scientists reali3e:

o4ever, it is not generally appreciated that some of the more vocal criticisms abot psi areactally 9psedo7criticisms:9 +hat is, the more barbed, belligerent criticisms occasionally asserted

by some s8eptics are often issed from sch strongly held, pre.dicial positions that the criticismsare not offered as constrctive sggestions, bt as athoritarian proofs of the impossibility of psi:

-t is commonly spposed by non7scientists that s8eptical debates over the merits of psi researchfollo4 the standards of scholarly discssions: Unfortnately, this is not al4ays the case:Disparaging rhetoric and ad hominem attac8s arise too often in debates abot psi: +he socialscience of parapsychology, and the 4ay that science treats anomalies in general, is a fascinatingtopic that star8ly illminates the very hman side of ho4 science really 4or8s: # more completedescription of this topic is beyond the scope of this )#*:

1.1 CR$T$C$'# 1

Criticism" #pparently sccessfl e/perimental reslts are actally de to sloppy procedres, poorlytrained researchers, methodological fla4s, selective reporting, and statistics problems: +here istherefore not a shred of scientific evidence for psi phenomena:

Response" +hese isses have been addressed in detail by meta7analytic revie4s of thee/perimental literatre : +he reslts nambigosly demonstrate that sccessfl e/perimentscannot be e/plained a4ay by these criticisms: -n fact, research by arvard University specialists inscientific methods sho4ed that the best e/perimental psi research today is not only condctedaccording to proper scientific standards, bt sally adheres to more rigoros protocols than arefond in contemporary research in both the social and physical sciences: -n addition, over the yearsthere have been a nmber of very effective rebttals of criticisms of individal stdies, and 4ithin


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the past decade, e/perimental procedres have been developed that address virtally allmethodological criticisms, even the possibility of frad and collsion, by inclding s8eptics in thee/perimental procedres:

1.) CR$T$C$'# )

Criticism" Psi phenomena violate basic limiting principles of science, and are therefore impossible:

Response" +4enty years ago, this criticism 4as a fairly common retort to claims of psi phenomena:+oday, 4ith advancements in many scientific disciplines, the scientific 4orldvie4 is rapidlychanging, and the basic limiting principles are constantly being redefined: -n addition, thesbstantial empirical database in parapsychology no4 presents anomalies that simply 4on't 9goa4ay,9 ths this criticism is no longer persasive and is slo4ly disappearing: Hiven the rate ofchange in science today, assigning psi to the realm of the impossible no4 seems imprdent at best,foolish at 4orst:

1.- CR$T$C$'# -

Criticism" Parapsychology does not have a 9repeatable9 e/periment:

Response" When many people tal8 abot a repeatable psi e/periment, they sally have in mindan e/periment li8e those condcted in elementary physics classes to demonstrate the accelerationof gravity, or simple chemical reactions: -n sch e/periments, 4here there are relatively fe4, 4ell78no4n and 4ell7controllable variables, the e/periments can be performed by practically anyone,anytime, and they 4ill 4or8: t insisting on this level of repeatability is inappropriate forparapsychology, or for that matter, for most social or behavioral science e/periments: Psie/periments sally involve many variables, some of 4hich are poorly nderstood and difficlt orimpossible to directly control: Under these circmstances, scientists se statistical argments todemonstrate 9repeatability9 instead of the common, bt restrictive vie4 that 9-f it's real, - shold beable to do it 4henever - 4ant:9

Under the assmption that there is no sch thing as psi, 4e 4old e/pect that abot =J of 4ell7condcted psi e/periments 4old be declared 9sccessfl9 ;i:e:, statistically significant< by prechance: t sppose that in a series of &@@ actal psi e/periments 4e consistently observed that $@

4ere sccessfl: +his is e/tremely nli8ely to occr by chance, sggesting that psi 4as present insome of those stdies: o4ever, it also means that in any particlar e/periment, there is an (@Jprobability of 9failre:9 +hs, if a critic set ot to repeat a psi e/periment to see if the phenomenon4as 9real,9 and the e/periment failed, it 4old obviosly be incorrect to claim on the basis of thatsingle e/periment that psi is not real becase it is not repeatable:

# 4idely accepted method of assessing repeatability in e/periments is called meta7analysis: +hisAantitative techniAe is heavily sed in the social, behavioral and medical sciences to integrateresearch reslts of nmeros independent e/periments: 2tarting arond &(=, meta7analyses havebeen condcted on nmeros types of psi e/periments: -n many of these analyses, reslts indicatethat the otcomes 4ere not de to chance, or methodological fla4s, or selective reporting practices,or any other plasible 9normal9 e/planations: What remains is psi, and in several e/perimentalrealms, it has clearly been replicated by independent investigators:

Ho to ne/t page

Parapsychology FAQPart -

Compiled by UNLV'sCognitive Research Division

Parapsychology )#* 7 # helpfl gide to parapsychology and the factsregarding that field:
http://twm.co.nz/FAQpara3.htmhttp://hrcweb.lv-hrc.nevada.edu/cogno/index3.htmlhttp://twm.co.nz/FAQpara3.htmhttp://hrcweb.lv-hrc.nevada.edu/cogno/index3.html


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11 ! $' PARAP'C!"%"/ C!R"*$CA%% C"*TR">&R'$A%(

Parapsychology remains controversial today, even 4ith sbstantial, persasive, and scientificallypalatable reslts, for three main reasons"

First, the media and mch of the pblic often confse parapsychology 4ith sensational, nscientificbeliefs and stories abot 9the paranormal:9 +his 4idespread confusionhas led many scientists to

simply dismiss the field as being n4orthy of serios stdy, and ths they thin8 it is not 4orth theirtime to e/amine the e/isting evidence:

-n addition, understanding the natre of the e/isting evidence in parapsychology isfar from easy.While the meta7analytic reslts are both sbstantial and persasive, meta7analysis reAiresspeciali3ed 8no4ledge to nderstand that form of evidence: )or people 4ho are not familiar 4ithstatistics, or don't trst it ;4hich is sally a sign of misnderstanding


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facilities!;&=< -f psi e/ists, then perhaps - cannot 4all myself off so easily from the pain and sffering in the4orld:

Above list courtesy of 0effrey 1ishlove, -irector of the 2ntuition etwor$, 2nstitute of oetic(ciences.

1) !AT $' T!& 'TAT&?"F?T!&?&>$D&*C& F"R P'$(

+o be precise, 4hen 4e say that 9G e/ists,9 4e mean that the presently available, cmlativestatistical databasefor e/periments stdying G,providesstrong, scientifically credible evidence forrepeatable, anomalous, 3*li$e effects.

With this in mind, &'P exists@ precognition exists@ telepathy exists@ and P= exists: 12P isstatistically robst, meaning it can be reliably demonstrated throgh repeated trials, bt it tends tobe 4ea8 4hen simple geometric symbols are sed as targets: Photographic or video targets oftenprodce effects many times larger, and there is some evidence that 12P on natral locations ;asopposed to photos of them


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Parapsychological #ssociation

2cientific and 5edical Net4or8

2ociety for 2cientific 1/ploration

2PR ;2ociety for Psychical Research, London, U0$TAT$"*@ R&A%(+hroghot history there have been many reports of spectaclar events, sch as individalslevitating, holy people materiali3ing ob.ects ot of thin air, and people 4ho are able to move, bendor brea8 ob.ects 4ithot toching them: Unfortnately, in most cases individals 4ho ma8e schclaims hope to capitali3e on their 9abilities:9 ecase the potential for frad is high, and it isrelatively easy to create convincing effects that closely mimic paranormal ones ;4ith con.ringtechniAes


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psi research: -n &6=, Rhine created the first academically7based, independent parapsychologylaboratory at D8e University: is best78no4n research involved 12P testing sing special cardsand P0 tests sing dice: -n &>=, Rhine retired from D8e and moved his lab off7camps: +oday,Rhine's legacy, the Rhine Research Center's -nstitte for Parapsychology actively condcts psiresearch 4ith Richard )roughtonat the helm:&>@s-nterest in parapsychology e/ploded in the &>@s, reslting in the establishment of the follo4ingprograms" William 4. Rollfonded the Psychical Research )ondation in North Carolina, U2#: Rollis best 8no4n for his stdies on poltergeist and hanting phenomena: Roll is crrently active in psiresearch in Heorgia:2an (tevensonbegan a Division of Parapsychology as part of the Department of Psychiatry of theUniversity of Virginia 5edical 2chool: 2tevenson emphasi3ed research on spontaneos cases,inclding precognitive dreams and telepathic impressions, and is best 8no4n for pioneering 4or8 insrvival7related phenomena, primary reincarnation7 type cases in children from contries li8e -ndia,rma and +hailand: +he Division is no4 called the Division of Personality 2tdies, and 2tevensonis actively engaged in research:+arlis Osisbecame the Chester Carlson Research )ello4 at the #merican 2ociety for PsychicalResearch, in Ne4 Kor8 City: Esis condcted research on E1s, srvey research on beliefs andattitdes, case stdies of apparitions, and is perhaps best 8no4n for his original 4or8 on deathbedvisions: Esis is no4 retired:

Parapsychological research began in the Psychology Department at the University of 1dinbrgh by0ohn )eloff: -n &(= the 0oestler Chair of Parapsychology 4as established in the department, froma beAest from the athor, #rthr 0oestler, and his 4ife, Cynthia: Prof: Robert 5. 1orrisis the firstholder of this chair: 5orris, his research team and postgradate stdents are actively prsing anapproach to parapsychology that emphasi3es the nderstanding and facilitation of psi interactions:)or more information, see 0oestler Parapsychology Unit:

# ma.or research program 4as established by 1ontague /llmanand (tanley +rippnerat the5aimonides ospital in roo8lyn, Ne4 Kor8, U2#: +his team, 4hich later inclded Charlesonorton, is best 8no4n for their 4or8 in dream telepathy: #s the 5aimonides program 4onddo4n in &%, &harles onortonopened a ne4 lab, called the Psychophysical ResearchLaboratories, in Princeton, Ne4 Iersey, U2#: onorton's lab, 4hich contined operating ntil &(,4as best 8no4n for research on telepathy in the gan3feld, micro7P0 tests, and meta7analytic 4or8:0rippner is crrently engaged in active research at the 2aybroo8 -nstitte, 2an )rancisco, C#:

onorton tragically died in &6 4hile prsing a PhD in parapsychology at the University of1dinbrgh:Charles +art, a professor of psychology best 8no4n for his pioneering 4or8 on altered states ofconsciosness, taght and condcted parapsychological research at the University of California,Davis: e is retired from the University no4, and condcts teaching and research at, among otherplaces, the -nstitte of +ranspersonal Psychology, in Palo #lto, C#:&%@s-n &%$, a ma.or psi research effort began at the California thin87tan8, 2R- -nternational, in 5enloPar8, California, U2# ;formerly called 2tanford Research -nstitte


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&@s-n late &6, Dean Radin established theConsciosness Research Division, a psi researchprogram 4ithin the arry Reid Center for 1nvironmental 2tdies at the University of Nevada, LasVegas: +he lab condcts basic and applied research on psi effects:-n &=, Richard Wiseman began a psi research program began at the Department of Psychology,University of ertfordshire, U0, and (usan )lac$morebegan a similar program at the Departmentof Psychology, the University of West 1ngland, in ristol, U0:16 AR& T!&R& A* P'$ R&'&ARC! &


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