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Parapsychology (from the '') is the study of Paranormal psychological phenomena, such as Extra-sensory Perception , Psychokinesis , and Survival Of Consciousness after death. Parapsychologists call these processes '' Psi '', a term non-suggestive of what causes the phenomena or experiences.Thouless, R. H. (1942). "Experiments on paranormal guessing". ''British Journal of Psychology'', ''33'', 15-27. Parapsychological research involves a variety of Qualitative and Quantitative methodologies 1, and takes place at a small number of universities and privately funded laboratories, notably in the United States and the United Kingdom . The research has been published in mainstream journals including '' Psychological Bulletin '', '' Foundations Of Physics '', and the ''British Journal of Psychology'', as well as specialist publications such as the '' Journal Of Parapsychology ''. Experiments conducted by parapsychologists have included the use of Random Number Generators to test for psychokinesis, mild sensory-deprivation Ganzfeld experiments to test for Extra-sensory Perception , and research trials conducted under contract to the United States government to investigate Remote Viewing . Parapsychologists have generated a number of Meta-analytical studies based on this research, which combine the data from previous experiments into one large data set. These statistical analyses have attracted much attention and debate. Parapsychology is a Fringe Science because it involves research that does not fit within Standard Theoretical Models accepted by Mainstream Science . Scientists such as psychologists Ray Hyman and James A. Alcock, among others, are critical of the methodology and results of parapsychology. Skeptical researchers suggest that methodological flaws best explain apparently successful experimental results, as opposed to the anomalistic explanations offered by many parapsychologists. Critical analysts argue that parapsychology crosses the line into Pseudoscience . To date, no evidence has been accepted by the mainstream Scientific Community as irrefutably supporting paranormal phenomena. HISTORY The term ''parapsychology'' was coined in or before 1889 by psychologist Max Dessoir . It was adopted by J.B. Rhine in the 1930s as a replacement for the term ''psychical research'', to indicate a significant shift toward laboratory methodologies applied to the study of psychical phenomena.2 Early psychical research The Society For Psychical Research (SPR) was founded in London in 1882. The SPR was the first systematic effort to organize scientists and scholars for a critical and sustained investigation of paranormal phenomena. The early membership of the SPR included philosophers, scholars, scientists, educators and politicians, such as Henry Sidgwick , Arthur Balfour , William Crookes , and Charles Richet .3 The SPR classified its subjects of study into several areas: Telepathy , Hypnotism , Reichenbach's phenomena, Apparitions , Haunts , and the physical aspects of Spiritualism such as table-tilting and the appearance of matter from unknown sources, otherwise known as Materialization . One of the first collaborative efforts of the SPR was its ''Census of Hallucinations'', which researched Apparitional Experiences and Hallucinations In The Sane . The census was the Society's first attempt at a statistical evaluation of paranormal phenomena, and the resulting publication in 1886, ''Phantasms of the Living'' is still widely referenced in parapsychological literature today. The SPR became the model for similar societies in other European countries and the United States during the late 19th century. Largely due to the support of psychologist William James , the American Society For Psychical Research (ASPR) opened its doors in New York City in 1885.4 Today, the SPR and ASPR continue the investigation of Psi Phenomena . The SPR's purpose, as stated in every issue of its ''Journal'' is "to examine without prejudice or prepossession and in a scientific spirit those faculties of man, real or supposed, which appear to be inexplicable on any generally recognized hypothesis."5 Rhine era In 1911, Stanford University became the first academic institution in the United States to study Extra-sensory Perception (ESP) and Psychokinesis (PK) in a laboratory setting. The effort was headed by psychologist John Edgar Coover. In 1930, Duke University became the second major U.S. academic institution to engage in the critical study of ESP and psychokinesis in the laboratory. Under the guidance of psychologist William McDougall , and with the help of others in the department, including psychologists Karl Zener , Joseph B. Rhine and Louisa E. Rhine, laboratory ESP experiments began, using volunteer subjects from the undergraduate student body. As opposed to the approaches of psychical research, which generally sought Qualitative Evidence for paranormal phenomena, the experiments at Duke University proffered a Quantitative , Statistical approach using Cards and dice. As a consequence of the ESP experiments at Duke, standard laboratory procedures for the testing of ESP developed and came to be adopted by interested researchers throughout the world. The publication of J.B. Rhine's book, ''New Frontiers of the Mind'' (1937), brought the laboratory's findings to the general public. In his book, Rhine popularized the word "parapsychology," which psychologist Max Dessoir had coined over forty years earlier, to describe the research conducted at Duke. Rhine also founded an autonomous Parapsychology Laboratory within Duke, and started the '' Journal Of Parapsychology '', which he co-edited with McDougall. The parapsychology experiments at Duke evoked much criticism from academic psychologists who challenged the concepts and evidence of ESP. Rhine and his colleagues attempted to address these criticisms through new experiments, articles and books, and summarized the state of the criticism along with their responses in the book ''Extra-Sensory Perception After Sixty Years''. The administration of Duke grew less sympathetic to parapsychology, and after Rhine's retirement in 1965, parapsychological links with the university were broken. Rhine later established the Foundation for Research on the Nature of Man (FRNM) and the Institute for Parapsychology as a successor to the Duke laboratory. In 1995, the centenary of Rhine's birth, the FRNM was renamed the Rhine Research Center. Today, the Rhine Research Center is a parapsychology research unit, stating that it "aims to improve the human condition by creating a scientific understanding of those abilities and sensitivities that appear to transcend the ordinary limits of space and time."6 Establishment of the Parapsychological Association The Parapsychological Association (PA) was created in Durham, North Carolina , on June 19th , 1957 . Its formation was proposed by J. B. Rhine at a workshop on parapsychology, which was held at the Parapsychology Laboratory of Duke University . Rhine proposed that the group form itself into the nucleus of an international professional society in parapsychology. The aim of the organization, as stated in its Constitution became "to advance parapsychology as a science, to disseminate knowledge of the field, and to integrate the findings with those of other branches of science".7 |
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