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:
The Journal of Parapsychology
of parapsychology, some may see
little value in monitoring publi-
cations and research in these countries, perhaps because they doubt
that the material produced by such researchers would be of suffi-
cient quality to make an important contribution to the field (Alva-
rado, 1989a).
I
\
This
lack
of atten»n
to
informatfon
about
Ibero-American
parapsychology presenAa
serious prpblem
for
English-speaking
parapsychologists, who o*en receive invitations to attend parapsy-
chological conferences in Ime of these countries where there are
groups whose commitment^ academic parapsychology is doubtful
and whose only purpose in e»
ize local efforts, which are somfl
ogy, spiritism, ufology, and so
chology in these communities a
of
specific groups who
idenif
David Hess (1990) has poinya
ian parapsychology:
i
Big their invitations
is to legitim-
fes a dubious mix of parapsychol-
, A better knowledge of parapsy-
d facilitate evaluation of the goals
themselves
as
parapsychologists,
tlhe following concerning Brazil-
[Since] anything “intern*ional” or “fmst world” in Brazil means addi-
tional status, the participation of PA Jirapsychologists at Brazilian con-
ferences that represent ane group couM mean legitimating either Cath-
olic or Spiritist parapsychology at the ilcpense of the other group,
(p.
HO)
/
I
Although it is tidre that such groups Ixist, it is important to men-
tion
that there an
also serious group* and researchers who
for
many years haveparried out importantlwork—work that deserves
recognition even/though the language Hirrier has hindered
its re-
ception in the international parapsychLlogical arena. Efforts to
bridge this lacy of attention and to increa|e cooperation with Ibero-
American researchers will not only help tBose in the English-speak-
ing countrieafo better understand culturaNJifferences and national
styles in research practice, but also help the researchers in the Ibero-
American wwld to improve the quality of their work. Therefore,
I
have selected the following countries for a general survey of the re-
search that has been conducted in parts of Ibero-America: Argen-
tina, Brazil, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Spain.
Spain
There has never been a serious attempt to organize the history
of psychical research in Spain, and information
is scarce on early
attempts to study psychic phenomena seriously.
It was not until the
1920s
that the Sociedad Espanola de/^jfH4^6cM^FI5feie§®fe'2®fi03/09/10
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Parapsychology in the Ibero-American World
177
created under the presidency of the Count of Gimeno, member of
the Royal Academy of Sciences and Medicine. The Society pub-
lished a journal called Revista de Estudios Metapsiquicos (Femlndez
Briones,
1981b). The research
orientation of the
Society was
to
study spontaneous cases and psychics, such as the famous Joaquin
Argamasilla
(expert
in dermo-opucal
perception)
whose
abilities
Houdini attempted to expose (Houdini, 1924).
Most of the work of this
society, however, was
lost after the
Spanish Civil War during a period of isolation in which only a few
researchers kept the torch burning. Familiar names from this period
are Stinchez Herrero, the Marquiz of Santa Clara, J. Palmas, and M.
Otero y Acevedo, researchers whose independent efforts contrib-
uted to « new generation of investigators such as Ramos Perera Mo-
lina, Francisco Gavilan Fontanet, and Luis Ferntindez Briones. This
latter group, at the beginning of the 1970s, founded the first well-
organized society to investigate psychic phenomena in Spain.
It was
called the Sociedad Espanola de Parapsicologfa (Fernandez Briones,
1981b). From
its inception, this Society, under the direction of Ra-
mos Perera Molina, had as
its main goal to promote the scientific
study of parapsychology. To achieve this goal, the Society combined
the efforts of experts in experimental design, illusionism, psychol-
ogy, medicine, and other fields of science and in 1976 established a
research center (De Vicente, 1983).
,
To carry out its research projects, the Society has been divided
into several research committees that specialize in different areas
embracing
field
studies
as
well
as experimental
projects. Among
these committees are those concerned with the development of the-
oretical models to enhance ESP, Kirlian photography, experimental
research, OBEs, and the medical aspects of psi. More recently, a
new committee was established
2 to investigate anomalous phenom-
ena along the lines of the Society for Scientific Exploration.
Members of the Society have carried out original research pro-
jects in experimental parapsychology as well as research on sponta-
neous cases. They have also critically evaluated miracle claims made
by the Catholic church in Spain, such
as the liquefaction of the
blood of Saint Pantaledn (Jordan Pena, 1983).
One of the most interesting investigations has been conducted by
members of the research committee headed by Francisco Gavilan
Fontanet (1976). In this study, the committee investigated identical
2 The goal of the committee
is to investigate UFOs, cryptozoology, religious ap-
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twin
girls presumed to have been born with psi abilities. The case
had received extensive coverage by the media in Spam. According
to the reports of the case, one of the twin girls had suffered a burn
on her hand while ironing. Her
sister, separated from her at the
time the burning occurred (16 kms away), developed a similar burn
on the same hand. The Society sent a team of researchers to carry
out a careful investigation of the case. They conducted a series ol
experiments to determine the possible existence of psi communica-
tion between the sisters. One of the experiments consisted of sepa-
rating the two girls into two different buildings and stimulating one
of them (the sender) with different sensorial inputs (like perfume)
while observing physiological reactions, such as pupillary and patel-
lar reflexes, in the other twin (the receiver). Psychological profiles
of the twins were also obtained from projective
tests. The sessions
with the two girls were simultaneously filmed to document the stim-
uli as well as the perceptual pattern of the reactions. The results
showed simultaneous reactions of the twins’ reaction time and visual
and olfactory responses.
In 1978 the members of the Society conducted another impor-
tant study, an international survey of the motivational
factors of
parapsychological researchers. Headed by Gavil&n Fontanet (1978),
the main objective of the study was to find out what motivates para-
psychologists to investigate psychic phenomena.
They surveyed 201 parapsychologists from 18 countries around
the world. Among the parapsychologists were J. B. Rhine, S. Krippner,
and C Tart Three hundred questionnaires, each having 23 questions,
were prepared in five different languages
3 and were mailed to re-
searchers throughout the world. Among the
interesting
findings
were that 61% of the respondents were psychologists, psychiatrists,
and medical doctors, 45% considered themselves agnostics, 24% got
involved in parapsychology while looking for a philosophical answer
to the question of the nature of man, 31% got involved for scientific
reasons, 51% believed in a transcendent intelligence, 50% believed
in some type of survival after death (of these 10% believed in rein-
carnation), and 71% rejected astrology.
Another research objective of the Society was the search for a
theoretical model to enhance psi abilities. For this purpose the So-
ciety created the Committee for the Development of ESP headed
by Luis Fernandez Briones. The Committee’s purpose was to outline
5 The languages were English, French, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese.
* a group that conducts experimental and theoretical research about ESP.
a methodological model for the practical development of ESP. Once
the model and the techniques were developed, the Society hoped it
would be possible to train subjects to obtain positive results over an
extended period of time (Fernandez Briones, 1976), thus confront-
ing the
replicability problem
that characterizes most
psi research.
Although the Committee has not been successful as yet, the results
obtained
so
far are encouraging. Fernandez Briones summarized
the findings in his book entitled Desarrollo de la Percepcion Exlrasen-
sorial [The Development of Extrasensory Perception] (1983). Among
the techniques used by the Committee to attain
this goal are the
inducement of altered states of consciousness and the application of
learning theory principles to ESP performance, such as those pro-
posed by Charles Tart (1966). Although the results have only been
suggestive, Fernandez Briones was hopeful enough
to emphasize
the need for more research to test the proposed models sufficiently.
Other research conducted by members of the Society includes
investigations of poltergeist cases (Jordan Pena, 1980)
, conceptual
papers related to the ability of some fish, such as the electric eel and
the sturgeon of the
Nile,
to obtain information about their sur-
roundings
through
electrical communication,
which
the
authors
speculated might be a primitive language of telepathy (Bardasano
Rubio Sc Arano Bermejo,
1980a); examination of the migration of
carrier pigeons and other animals to develop a model for ESP (Bar-
dasano Rubio & Arano Bermejo, 1980b); and studies of the socio-
logical and anthropological aspects of psychic surgery (Jimenez Vi-
sedo,
1984). Moreover, other members of the Society have:
speculated on the pineal gland as a possible somatic organ for ESP
reception (Bardasano Rubio et
al.,
1981); examined neurophysiol-
ogy and
its importance for parapsychological research (Jimenez Vi-
sedo,
1985); considered the psychophysiological correlates of hyp-
nosis and its implications for parapsychology (Gonzalez Ordi, 1985);
investigated perception of the laying-on of hands by a sensorially
isolated subject
(Prat
et
al.,
1988); proposed three-dimensional
models of RSPK studies, that is, the cases are studied within a para-
psychological, psychological, and psychosociological context (De Cas-
tro, Gonz&Iez Ordi, & Berrocal Muela, 1984); and offered theoreti-
cal models to explain firewalking (Perera, 1989).
In the educational area, even though efforts have been made to
include parapsychology in the curriculum of universities in Spain,
5 Torddn Pena published a book
called
Casas Encantadas,
Poltergeists [Haunted
Houses, Poltergeists] (1982), in which he presented an overview of cases and theories
of hauntings. For a review of this book, see Alvarado (1985).
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