Defining Parapsychology

Lecture 1 Parapsychology Kevin Silber

Learning Objectives

At the end of this session you will: know what will be covered in this module understand how you will be assessed appreciate the difficulty in defining parapsychology understand the definition to be used in this module in so far as that includes or excludes phenomena from consideration within the module be introduced to a number of key terms in parapsychology

Approaching the module

We aim to cover the topic of parapsychology from a number of different perspectives Our view of the topic will be critical and evaluative This is not the same as negative or dismissive Your input to the debates and discussions is crucial to the modules success

What is in the module?

This week we lay the foundations of what we consider to be the limits of parapsychology for the purposes of this module For the next 4 weeks we will deal with the issues that surround the topic.

What difference does your philosophical viewpoint make? How has parapsychology been viewed throughout history? What are the forms of evidence that are available for scrutiny? What are the methodological requirements of parapsychological research?

What is in the module?

In week 6 we will have a practical session no more about that until the time comes Weeks 7 to 10 cover 4 major areas of parapsychological interest and research

ESP Precognition PK Altered experiences Ghosts and hauntings

The Assessment

There is one piece of assessed work 2000 word theoretical critique of a media report

Find a media report of a parapsychological event Provide a critique of the evidence being reported Relate this evidence to other pieces of evidence in the literature

The Assessment
There will be opportunities during the module to practice your skills at these requirements and to receive feedback on your progress These opportunities will be delivered during seminars and via a supporting Blackboard website and the Q drive.

Defining the term

There is no universal definition of parapsychology The para part of the term could imply

non-mainstream / on the fringes of, only loosely connected to not really / pretend beside / beyond

Defining Parapsychology
On the next slide are a number of phenomena Write each down and record whether or not you would include it in your own definition of a parapsychological phenomenon. Which fit the label paranormal without being examples of parapsychology?

List of possible phenomena

Poltergeists Apparitions

Hypnosis
Alien abduction Out of body experience Witchcraft

Black Magic
Clairvoyance Dj vu Dowsing

Astrology
Fortune telling Faith healing Palmistry

Hallucinations
Metal bending Possession Reincarnation

The occult
Superstition Tarot reading

Speaking in tongues (glossolalia)

Veridical dreams Visions

A definition

Perhaps a parapsychological event can be defined as and interaction between an organism and its environment that is not mediated by an identifiable, observable physical agent. To the purest, it can be sensory (ExtraSensory Perception) or motor (PsychoKinesis). Other inclusions, such as alien abduction might not fit neatly into this duality.

Parapsychological Events
A parapsychological event is often described as having a weird, uncanny, unnatural or unreal quality. During this module you may well want to question any definitions you come across

Key Terms

Essential to your understanding of the material we cover is an understanding of some of the main terms and concepts referred to within parapsychology. Many have both an academic and a lay meaning and you need to ensure that it is the academic one you adopt in the context of this module. The following explanations are taken from the Koestler Parapsychology Unit in Edinburgh (http://moebius.psy.ed.ac.uk).

Key Terms

Paranormal (literally 'beyond normal')

Term used to denote any phenomenon which appears to be inexplicable by current scientific theories.
The study of apparent new means of communication, or interaction, between organisms and their environment (commonly referred to as psi, or psychic ability), beyond those presently understood by the scientific community.

Parapsychology (literally 'beyond psychology')

Key Terms

Psi

A general term, introduced by T.H Thouless and B.P. Wiesner (see SPR Proceedings 47(166): 1-19) which refers to the factor(s) responsible for parapsychological phenomena. Originally derived from the use of the greek letter psi to denote the unknown quantity in an equation.
Popular term used to denote a person who regularly uses, or who appears to be especially gifted with, psi abilities. Also refers to general phenomena related to the mind.

Psychic (from Greek 'psyche')

Key Terms

Extrasensory Perception (ESP)

A general term used for all forms of psi where the process of information acquisition appears to be analogous to the conventional sensory processes of sight, sound, taste, touch and hearing. A subset of ESP covering apparent information transmission as though it were the result of visual perception. The perception can appear externally - either replacing the normal visual scene (as in visions) or being incorporated into it (as could be the case with apparitions) - or internally, in the form of mental imagery and intuition. It is also used more generally to mean paranormal acquisition of any information directly from a physical source and not from the mind of another person (cf. telepathy). The apparent ability to communicate information from one mind to another. This information may be 'received' in the same form as that from the visual, auditory, olfactory, tactile, gustatory or even kinaesthetic senses. It is distinguished from clairsentience in that the information is assumed to have originated from the mind of another person, rather than the target object itself.

Clairvoyance (literally 'clear-seeing')

Telepathy (literally 'distant perception/feeling')

Key Terms

Precognition

The apparent foreknowledge of as yet undetermined (i.e. unpredictable based on knowledge of the present which available through conventional sensory channels) future events. Another term for psychokinesis. Sometimes used to denote effects which occur at a distance.
The apparent ability to influence the environment seemingly by intention or other mental activity alone. Parapsychologists usually distinguish between the extremely small effects of micro-PK and larger effects of macro-PK.

Telekinesis (literally 'distant-movement')

Psychokinesis (PK) (literally 'mind-movement')

Key Terms

Random Event Generator (REG)

A system used to produce unpredictable events for parapsychological (and other) experiments. The system can either be pseudo-random (which approximates a random system but is actually based on a deterministic algorithm) or true-random, where the system is theoretically completely unpredictable. The random/rand/rnd function in many computer languages is a pseudo-random algorithm. The electronic noise found in circuits is an example of a true random system.

Key Terms

Remote Viewing (RV)

A term for cases of ESP, most commonly in laboratory studies, wherein a person attempts to describe a remote location. In some cases there will be a target person at this location (described as an 'agent' or 'beacon'); in others, the location will be identified purely by an abstract or coded ID.
General name given to the information which it is hoped the receiver/percipient will gain access to through psi. For example, the target in a Ganzfeld ESP study would be the video clip which the sender is watching.

Target

Key Terms
There are, of course, other terms that are important. Note that some of the key terms have only subtle distinctions and some are legitimately interchangeable. In time, these terms will become second nature to you.

Some Websites to Look at

http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/t v/microsites/M/mindcontrol/video/ http://www.scientificexploration.org/jse/a bstracts.php http://www.mdani.demon.co.uk/para/para psy.htm

Summary

The module will cover a number of selected topics in parapsychology. Some of these will be about issues and some will be about evidence. It is hard to give a precise definition of the term parapsychology but we have tried here to outline the limits as far as this module is concerned. We have introduced a number of key terms that you should start to familiarise yourselves with.