Approved For Release 2000/08/08
: CIA-RDP96-00789R002200450001-8
Approved For Release 2000/08/08
: CIA-RDP96-00789R002200450001 -8
Approved For Release 2000/08/08
: CIA-RDP96-00789R002200450001-8
I .
INTRODUCTION
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
19th
fi
I^
d
?
f StUdy known as ParaPsychology grew directly out of
Pf7?hlCal research"
into reported psychic phenomena such as
?®i®
P^
hy fnd c J-airvoyance.
The field had its earliest roots
in various
i
?
t
?
* W
f
d® range 0f suPernatural
,
occult,
and mystical topics
chxng far back into human cultural history.
However,
the field did not
thrr!j£f?
a
i
iZe
? ?“ ?n
!r6na
° f or8anized scholarly research until
1882,
with
he establishment in London of the Society for Psychical Research
(SPR)
.
a
U.S.
counterpart,
the American Society for Psychical Research
(ASPR)
was
founded in 1885.
Both societies still exist today.
,,
i,i
Fr0m the beginninS-
the field represented by these organizations has been
highly controyersie!.
Although
it has occasionally attracted and engaged
well-known scientists
it has generally encountered substantial resiftfnce and
^
i
^
iS“ J
r°m the scientific
"establishment"
on the basis of its aims and
T°
iC
f
d® triment
-
Parapsychology has had difficulty in freeing
itself of association,
in the minds of those outside
the
field,
with extreme
a
nce^?
bStanti
^
te
S
claims
’
conmercial ventures of questionable validity,
and
are^of^inquiryh
°f quasi ' scientific
"research" carried out in its general
NATURE OF RESEARCH
Throughout this century a considerable body of parapsychology research
has been conducted in a manner that attempts deliberately C fo^w scientJfic
research
?7
'
^
esearcb approaches most often derive from and resemble
a«n^H
h
psychology,
although a few programs based on engineering and
applied science have recently appeared.
A seminal example of academic
WaS
the WOrk of
^^e and LoSisa Line at Duke
University
beginning
in the
1920s.
The Rhines established many of the basic
Journal n^P
Protoc ° 1
f
of “odern parapsychology.
In 1937,
they founded The
today
PWPSY^ology
,
which
is perhaps
the leading journal
in the field
The general focus of parapsychological research
is on "psychic
°r
T
hiC
?
iS defined as
"processes of information and/or
p
exchange which involve animate consciousness
in a manner not currently
explicable
in terms of known science. "2
The field can be divided into several
major categories and subcategories,
as shown in Table
1.
Most
(but not all)
'dll
parapsychol°sical research in laboratory settings
involves categories
I
D
Por a deteiied examination of the development of parapsychology,
see:
Jahn,
S'
G -
& ?-
T
J
T
‘
?^nne
-
Kargins of Realty:
The Role of ConsMousness
in
the
£uysical World,
New York:
Harcourt,
Brace,
Jovanovich,
1987.
2 Jahn,
R.G.
The persistent paradox of psychic phenomena: An engineering
perspective.
Proceedings
of the
IEEE
.
1982,
70(2):
136-170
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Approved For Release 2000/08/08
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RECENT CONTROVERSY
a
?
n P 57 * Profes sional organization in the field,
the Parapsychological
Association
(PA),
was
formed.
(Unlike
the
SPR,
membership
in the PA requires
formal recognition of professional status by the Association's Council.)
It
was accepted as an affiliate by the American Association for the Advancement
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TABLE
CATEGORIES OF PSYCHIC PHENOMENA
I.
Extrasensory Perception
(ESP)
A.
Telepathy
B.
Clairvoyance
C.
Precognition/Retrocognition
D. Animal ESP
II.
Psychokinesis
(PK)
A.
Physical Systems
(equipment,
etc.)
B.
Biological Systems
III
. Survival
A. Reincarnation
B. Apparitions
C. Mediumship
IV.
Out- of-Body Experiences
(OBE)
SOURCE:
Jahn,
R.G.
The persistent paradox of psychic
phenomena: An engineering perspective.
Proceedings of the
IEEE .
1982,
Zfi(2)
:
136-170.
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