I recently read two introductions to parapsychology, basically summaries of the research up to the time the books were written. First was Richard Broughton's Parapsychology: The Controversial Science (recommended by Laura on the spirit board thread), then Dean Radin's first book, The Conscious Universe: The Scientific Truth of Psychic Phenomena. Broughton's book was published in 1991 and Radin's 6 years later in 1997.
Broughton's book is a solid introduction to the field of parapsychology. He starts with a brief overview of the type of paranormal experiences that inspire the research - the everyday experiences of things like telepathy, crisis or deathbed apparitions, poltergeist phenomena, psychic dreams, intuitions, premonitions, shamanistic phenomena, psychic healing, psychic injury. He gives the basic classification scheme used by parapsychologists: ESP and PK (extra-sensory perception and psychokinesis), as well as the other phenomena like OBEs and NDEs (out-of-body and near-death experiences). He traces the history of the science from the study of saints and mesmerism (hypnosis), to spiritualism, which led to the formation of the Society of Psychical Research, then J.B. Rhine's lab tests up to the present (1991). He discusses the scientific controversy surrounding the science and responds to critics (e.g., 'it's all fraud,' 'it's impossible').
Part 2 is a systematic survey of the types of experiments conducted over the years and currently: ESP cards, dice PK, dream telepathy, ganzfeld studies, remote viewing, random number generators. It also summaries the positive results achieved at the time. Part 3 deals with the future of psi, including new research techniques like meta-analysis, possible applications, and implications. Overall it's very well written, clear, interesting, and even thought it's over 20 years old, still relevant I think (as long as it's supplemented with the latest research, like that summarized in Dean Radin's books).
Some interesting factoids that stood out for me: In Louisa Rhine's analysis of self-reported psi experiences, 60% were dream-related, 30% were waking impressions, and 10% were hallucinatory (i.e., visions). Psychic dreams are rarely realistic, usually symbolic in nature. But intuitions rarely involve imagery. Hallucinations are usually auditory in nature. Often, the information conveyed is trivial. PK, unlike ESP, hardly ever happens spontaneously (aside from poltergeist phenomena). Psi appears more strongly in dreams and states of mild sensory deprivation, perhaps suggesting the sensory experience dampens a subliminal process. Also, in a relaxed state (vagal stimulation, perhaps).
Factors facilitating psi: belief in psi (those who do not believe often to worse than chance), extraversion, practice of a mental discipline (like meditation), ENFPs (using Myers-Briggs). Combine all those together, and some subjects can have extremely high success rates (100% in some cases). Psi is often tied to emotions (bonded couples are better, spontaneous cases often involve close relationships, etc.). Also, psychologist Kenneth Batcheldor thought that the expectation of an 'imminent miracle' helped the phenomena. Possible hindrances: witness inhibition (the shock experienced after witnessing an event) and ownership resistance (fear that it is you causing the phenomenon). These ideas inspired the people who 'conjured Philip', an imaginary ghost during table tilting sessions in Toronto. As Broughton summarizes, "Believing that the phenomena are possible, expecting that something might happen right now, and not worrying about who is 'causing' it all, seem to be part of the recipe" (p. 155). (Perhaps this is why phenomena were so striking in the spiritualistic period - they believed the phenomena were all caused by spirits, not themselves.)
Russian PK star Nina Kulagina often lost up to 3 pounds per session, her blood sugar would be elevated, and her heart rate went up to 240 bpm. In a Chinese case of PK, allegedly there's a video (400 frames per second) of the teleportation of a pill passing through a sealed class. In one frame, it's seen passing through the glass. In other words, it took about 1/200 of a second to go from place to place, giving it the immediate appearance of just changing places. Micro-PK appears to have to do with changing the probabilities of events (i.e., information transfer). As Broughton asks, "Can one levitate tables with information?" Maybe. Strange forms of poltergeist activity: fires, water (in areas with no plumbing), rains of stones, excrement. Luck may be a form of everyday psi. In precognition studies, the effect drops off as the predicted event gets further in the future. (Perhaps the immediate future is more certain, the distant more open.) In sum, highly recommended.
Radin's book covers similar ground, but is more up to date (albeit, only by 6 years) and focuses more on experimental procedures and Radin's speciality: meta-analysis. Basically, meta-analysis treats a whole bunch of experiments as one big experiment. So if one study only had 10 subjects, those 10 data points can be added to the pool, giving a better picture of the actual effects being measured. At the time of writing, here are a few statistics Radin shares: dream telepathy (450 sessions, chance: 50%, result: ~62%, odds: 75,000,000:1), ganzfeld (2,549 sessions, chance: 25%, result: 33%, odds: 1,000,000,000,000,000:1), ESP cards (907,000 trials, chance: 20%, result: 20.6%), all clairvoyance tests combined (chance: 50%, result: 53%), dice rolling (2.6 million dice throws, chance/control: 50.02%, result: 51.2%, odds: 1,000,000,000:1), RNG tests (832 studies, chance: 50%, result: 51%, odds: 1,000,000,000,000:1), distant mental interaction on human electrodermal activity (400 sessions, chance: 50%, result: 53%, odds: 1,400,000:1), 'feeling of being stared at' (chance: 50%, results: 63%, odds: 3,800,000:1). The confidence intervals fall outside of chance, an the results can't be ascribed to faulty methodology or the 'file-drawer effect' (i.e., unpublished negative results). In other words, there is a definite effect being measured here.
Also interesting are the 'field consciousness' studies, using RNGs during events involving large numbers of people focusing on the same thing (e.g., the Academy awards), and his 'pis in the casino' tests, both showing positive results. Interesting facts: George Estabrooks (mind control guy) did telepathy experiments. Pair-bonded male/female pairings get best results. Men get better PK results than women. Group PK may influence the weather. Psi improves when geomagnetic field fluctuations decrease. This ties in with the lunar cycle. New moon, medium GMF, medium spike in telepathy scores. Full moon, low GMF, high spike in telepathy scores. (Four of six jackpots in one casino occurred within one day of the full moon.)
In addition to the research summaries, I think Radin's "Field Guide to Skepticism" is a highlight. He discusses skeptical tactics (accusations of triviality, prejudice, valid and invalid criticisms, distortions), motivations, and the psychological effects we need to keep in mind (like effects of prior convictions, cognitive dissonance, expectancy effects, judgment errors, confirmation bias, representativeness heuristics, hindsight bias, suppression, reaction formation, repression, identification and introjection, dissociation, projection).
While I appreciate the amount of information in the book, Broughton's book was much more of a pleasure to read. Radin's is best for the data and the sections on psychology and metaphysics, but overall, I think Broughton has written a better introduction to the topic. Still, Conscious Universe (and Radin's more recent books) is probably worth your time if you want to get up to speed on the research.
Broughton's book is a solid introduction to the field of parapsychology. He starts with a brief overview of the type of paranormal experiences that inspire the research - the everyday experiences of things like telepathy, crisis or deathbed apparitions, poltergeist phenomena, psychic dreams, intuitions, premonitions, shamanistic phenomena, psychic healing, psychic injury. He gives the basic classification scheme used by parapsychologists: ESP and PK (extra-sensory perception and psychokinesis), as well as the other phenomena like OBEs and NDEs (out-of-body and near-death experiences). He traces the history of the science from the study of saints and mesmerism (hypnosis), to spiritualism, which led to the formation of the Society of Psychical Research, then J.B. Rhine's lab tests up to the present (1991). He discusses the scientific controversy surrounding the science and responds to critics (e.g., 'it's all fraud,' 'it's impossible').
Part 2 is a systematic survey of the types of experiments conducted over the years and currently: ESP cards, dice PK, dream telepathy, ganzfeld studies, remote viewing, random number generators. It also summaries the positive results achieved at the time. Part 3 deals with the future of psi, including new research techniques like meta-analysis, possible applications, and implications. Overall it's very well written, clear, interesting, and even thought it's over 20 years old, still relevant I think (as long as it's supplemented with the latest research, like that summarized in Dean Radin's books).
Some interesting factoids that stood out for me: In Louisa Rhine's analysis of self-reported psi experiences, 60% were dream-related, 30% were waking impressions, and 10% were hallucinatory (i.e., visions). Psychic dreams are rarely realistic, usually symbolic in nature. But intuitions rarely involve imagery. Hallucinations are usually auditory in nature. Often, the information conveyed is trivial. PK, unlike ESP, hardly ever happens spontaneously (aside from poltergeist phenomena). Psi appears more strongly in dreams and states of mild sensory deprivation, perhaps suggesting the sensory experience dampens a subliminal process. Also, in a relaxed state (vagal stimulation, perhaps).
Factors facilitating psi: belief in psi (those who do not believe often to worse than chance), extraversion, practice of a mental discipline (like meditation), ENFPs (using Myers-Briggs). Combine all those together, and some subjects can have extremely high success rates (100% in some cases). Psi is often tied to emotions (bonded couples are better, spontaneous cases often involve close relationships, etc.). Also, psychologist Kenneth Batcheldor thought that the expectation of an 'imminent miracle' helped the phenomena. Possible hindrances: witness inhibition (the shock experienced after witnessing an event) and ownership resistance (fear that it is you causing the phenomenon). These ideas inspired the people who 'conjured Philip', an imaginary ghost during table tilting sessions in Toronto. As Broughton summarizes, "Believing that the phenomena are possible, expecting that something might happen right now, and not worrying about who is 'causing' it all, seem to be part of the recipe" (p. 155). (Perhaps this is why phenomena were so striking in the spiritualistic period - they believed the phenomena were all caused by spirits, not themselves.)
Russian PK star Nina Kulagina often lost up to 3 pounds per session, her blood sugar would be elevated, and her heart rate went up to 240 bpm. In a Chinese case of PK, allegedly there's a video (400 frames per second) of the teleportation of a pill passing through a sealed class. In one frame, it's seen passing through the glass. In other words, it took about 1/200 of a second to go from place to place, giving it the immediate appearance of just changing places. Micro-PK appears to have to do with changing the probabilities of events (i.e., information transfer). As Broughton asks, "Can one levitate tables with information?" Maybe. Strange forms of poltergeist activity: fires, water (in areas with no plumbing), rains of stones, excrement. Luck may be a form of everyday psi. In precognition studies, the effect drops off as the predicted event gets further in the future. (Perhaps the immediate future is more certain, the distant more open.) In sum, highly recommended.
Radin's book covers similar ground, but is more up to date (albeit, only by 6 years) and focuses more on experimental procedures and Radin's speciality: meta-analysis. Basically, meta-analysis treats a whole bunch of experiments as one big experiment. So if one study only had 10 subjects, those 10 data points can be added to the pool, giving a better picture of the actual effects being measured. At the time of writing, here are a few statistics Radin shares: dream telepathy (450 sessions, chance: 50%, result: ~62%, odds: 75,000,000:1), ganzfeld (2,549 sessions, chance: 25%, result: 33%, odds: 1,000,000,000,000,000:1), ESP cards (907,000 trials, chance: 20%, result: 20.6%), all clairvoyance tests combined (chance: 50%, result: 53%), dice rolling (2.6 million dice throws, chance/control: 50.02%, result: 51.2%, odds: 1,000,000,000:1), RNG tests (832 studies, chance: 50%, result: 51%, odds: 1,000,000,000,000:1), distant mental interaction on human electrodermal activity (400 sessions, chance: 50%, result: 53%, odds: 1,400,000:1), 'feeling of being stared at' (chance: 50%, results: 63%, odds: 3,800,000:1). The confidence intervals fall outside of chance, an the results can't be ascribed to faulty methodology or the 'file-drawer effect' (i.e., unpublished negative results). In other words, there is a definite effect being measured here.
Also interesting are the 'field consciousness' studies, using RNGs during events involving large numbers of people focusing on the same thing (e.g., the Academy awards), and his 'pis in the casino' tests, both showing positive results. Interesting facts: George Estabrooks (mind control guy) did telepathy experiments. Pair-bonded male/female pairings get best results. Men get better PK results than women. Group PK may influence the weather. Psi improves when geomagnetic field fluctuations decrease. This ties in with the lunar cycle. New moon, medium GMF, medium spike in telepathy scores. Full moon, low GMF, high spike in telepathy scores. (Four of six jackpots in one casino occurred within one day of the full moon.)
In addition to the research summaries, I think Radin's "Field Guide to Skepticism" is a highlight. He discusses skeptical tactics (accusations of triviality, prejudice, valid and invalid criticisms, distortions), motivations, and the psychological effects we need to keep in mind (like effects of prior convictions, cognitive dissonance, expectancy effects, judgment errors, confirmation bias, representativeness heuristics, hindsight bias, suppression, reaction formation, repression, identification and introjection, dissociation, projection).
While I appreciate the amount of information in the book, Broughton's book was much more of a pleasure to read. Radin's is best for the data and the sections on psychology and metaphysics, but overall, I think Broughton has written a better introduction to the topic. Still, Conscious Universe (and Radin's more recent books) is probably worth your time if you want to get up to speed on the research.
