Parapsychology: Where have you been?

In the library, thousands of books on parapsychology line the shelves, including J.B. Rhine's early scholarly text, "Extrasensory Perception." The library also keeps back issues of the Rhine's Journal of Parapsychology, a peer-reviewed publication that the Rhine group has been putting out since 1937.

Elsewhere in the building are electronically shielded isolation rooms designed to block light and sound. Kruth's current project involves an effort to scientifically measure the energy emitted by yogic practitioners, holistic healers or martial artists -- those who claim to be able to focus energies through their hands or other parts of their body.


Kruth said he has tested dozens of volunteers in the isolation labs, with interesting results. When subjects focused their intent during experiments, their emission of biophotons -- the ultraviolet light emitted by all living things -- would change drastically. Emitted biophotons would spike from a dozen or so per second (as measured through a directed aperture) to hundreds, or thousands. His results were published in the most recent issue of the Journal of Parapsychology, in the study "Electromagnetic Emission From Humans During Focused Intent."

"This is a physical manifestation of the energy that people have been talking about, that scientists have denied." Kruth said. "The skeptics who say we have an evidence problem -- they're not reading the evidence."

Shermer said that researchers in the field of parapsychology regularly publish studies that claim significant results. "But when other researchers try to replicate those studies, they can't get them to replicate," Shermer said. "The effects disappear when you tighten the controls or you use different statistical methods."

Nevertheless, parapsychology researchers are still active at several public and private institutions in the United States and Europe, especially the U.K. and France. The Koestler Parapsychology Unit at the University of Edinburgh offers classes and conducts research on the possible existence of psychic ability and the social and historical relevance of parapsychology.

In the United States, Christine Simmonds-Moore, assistant professor at University of West Georgia, teaches undergraduate classes on parapsychology. Simmonds-Moore delivered the presentation on synesthesia at the recent Rhine event. Synesthesia is a neurological condition in which the senses get crossed up -- people perceive sound as color, or images as textures.


Simmonds-Moore's research involves testing whether synesthetes, with their unique perceptive faculties, may be more receptive to ESP tests. It's precisely the sort of phenomenon that blurs the perceived distinctions between traditional science and parapsychology, she said. "It's about unusual connections between things that are not usually connected together."

At the conclusion of the evening's presentations, Kruth led a brief discussion on the troublesome aspects of the term "parapsychology." When Rhine adopted the term in the 1930s, it was an attempt to get away from the even more problematic phrase "psychical research." The presenters and a few fellow researchers in the audience said that, despite the enduring controversy, they still identify as parapsychologists. After all, parapsychology simply means "alongside psychology."

Kruth turned to address the rest of the audience. "There you go," he said. "Anyone who tells you you can't be a parapsychologist, and make a career of it, we have several examples in this room."

http://news.discovery.com/human/psychology/whatever-happened-to-parasychology-1306241.htm
BY GLENN MCDONALD

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