rt Approved For Release 2003/09/10 : CIA- RDP96-00792R000700290002-8 186 The Journal of Parapsy thology a high concentration of Spiritists whose beliefs threaten the estab- lished Catholic dogmas. However, when he uses parapsychological evidence of certain phenomena as a scientific backup to establish facts, when this same evidence is still very controversial for many parapsychologists, his position is untenable. Nonetheless, his work has to be seen in the cultural and ideological packground from which he has worked (Alvarado, 1991). Another dimengion,of Brazilian psychical rese ich‘ is the work by researchers with Spiri t orientation. One exfmple is that con- ducted by the engineer nd. psychical researchg@r Hernani Guimar- aes Andrade, who in TOON founded the Brazffian Institute of Psy- chobiophysical Research’ ‘d RPP). The name fas’ chosen to make it clear that the Institute inteMJled to explore Ficlogical and physical as well as purely psychical ph¥pomena. Onf of the most significant things about this Institute is tha\it emergeg’ from within the Spiritist movement (Playfair, 1975). AndMade, a ppiritist himself, has con- ducted well-planned and detailed invg igations of reincarnation cases along the lines of Ian Stevenon'#f work. His poltergeist cases are particularly interesting—for ex& fle, the one published in a monograph entitled O Poltergeist de Ggigrulhos (1984). These cases in- volve very dramatic phenomena: ap f° s, damage to furniture and persons, apparitions of strange cregfurcy, and spontaneous fires. In evaluating and interpreting the cag@s, Angfrade leans toward the dis- carnate agencies hypothesis, somegtmes wip possible witchcraft com- ponents (Alvarado, 1984b; Andffade, 198%). Also, as Michel-Ange Amorim (1990) has remarked aJout Andradg’s interpretation of the cases: Andrade interprets the diffgfent types of occijrences present in this case [the Guarulhos’s case] # supportive of a Sp&itist world view in the Umbanda tradition. The banda tradition has ¥everal million adher- ents especially in the bigg@f cities. It combines Afrig§in, Catholic, Indian, and Spiritist elements ag{l may be characterized affja relatively extra- ecclesiastic of popular @tholicism with ancient Afro@Brazilian sects. (p. 199) According to Amoflm, not only does Andrade intl ! Epret his cases along the Spiritist ligf’s but he also accepts the centraNgeliefs of this religion, such as thf existence of all sorts of spirits, Ie Exus and Umulums. He alg believes that the sorcerer is able 6 practice magic within the™ferreiros (a place specialized in these procedures) to harass victimsy: according to Quimbanda laws (the black magic side of the Umbanda religion). Concerning Andrade’s interpretation of the aforementioned case of Guarulhos, Amorim (1990) also states: Parapsychology in the Ibero-American World 187 Thus, he rejects the usual attributions of RSPK outbreaks to a living agency. In defense of his position he points to the fact that a psycho- logical examination of Noémia [a participant in the case], the most prob- able RSPK agent, was conducted by two psychologists belonging to the IBPP team. He states, “Mrs. Noémia didn’t digplay any form of psychi- cal abnormality that could justify viewing heyfas belonging to the ‘psy- cases investigated by Andf&de and If associates seem to reflect the influence of the beliefs and eft Brazilian society (Hess, 1990). Andrade has also published Bf the first systematic treatises of parapsythology in Portugues&@gntitled Parapsicologia Experimental (1967). A basic introductory manual of the quantitative method recently established ECLIg ISY- Institul de Investigagdes Cientificas em Parapsicologia. This gf aursue a different approach, one separate from the J approaches associated with Spiritist or Catholic o, fentations typical 4 most Brazilian research centers. It received syfpport from the Univfrsity of Sao Francisco to organize its first cogference in pavapsycho'™% gy, held in 1990, which iversity Ws well as researchers @ip plans to conduct experimental rege Bnew journal, called Revista Brasileifa de Parapsicologia. According to Ks president, Wel- that arg beyond the scope of this paper because of limitations of spacesafid because of our initial goal of evaluating Brazilian para- psyghology from the perspective of its impact on the Ibero-Ameri- a sa Argentina For many years Argentina has been the top-ranking country in Ibero-America in terms of experimental parapsychological research. Approved For Release 2003/09/10 : CIA- RDP96-00792R000700290002-8
Lad Approved For Release 2003/09/10 : CIA-RDP96-00792R000700290002-8 188 The Journal of Parapsychology However, research has diminished in the last few years, partly be- cause of the recent deaths of two of the leading contributors, J. Ri- cardo Musso and Enrique Novillo Pauli. Early research began in Argentina about the same time the Duke University Laboratory was established in the United States. The 1930s witnessed one of the most important events in the history of Argentine parapsychology. In 1931, the first institute of psychology was established at the University of Buenos Aires. The institute in- cluded paranormal psychology as one of the areas to be investigated by the department. Parapsychology appeared to be joined to psy- chology from the beginning. The chairman of the psychology de- partment, Enrique Mouchet, was interested in clairvoyance research and had come to the conclusion that it was necessary to include paranormal psychology in the syllabus of courses offered by the de- partment (Musso, 1973). However, Argentinian researchers have had to struggle with the traditional spiritualistic methodology that characterized the study of psychical research in this country in the past. The research being conducted in the young Duke Parapsychology Laboratory had a ma- jor impact on the new generation of Argentinian researchers. The move toward a more quantitative approach to the study of scientific parapsychology was pioneered by a young engineer by the name of José Fernandez, who was teaching physics at the University of Bue- nos Aires. Although Fernandez belonged to a Spiritualist group called ATMAN, he had been in search of an adequate methodology to investigate the psychic phenomena manifested by mediums and clairvoyants. He hoped to be able to apply statistical principles to the responses given by the mediums. Fernandez presented the results of these experiments in 1941 to a meeting of the Sociedad Cientifica Argentina. Fernandez’s efforts to introduce quantitative methodol- ogy in Argentina had a major impact on the approaches that other young researchers were to follow in establishing scientific parapsy- chology there. Another development during this period was the creation of the Asociaci6én Argentina Médica de Metapsiquica in 1946 by a group of physicians headed by Orlando Canavesio. The aim of this society was to evaluate the medical and legal status of parapsychology sci- entifically and to promote its development in scientific circles as well as to determine its proper classification, that is, to decide whether the discipline belonged to psychology or physiology, or whether it could be considered to be a new branch of science. Canavesio himself wrote his doctoral thesis on a study of elec- Parapsychology in the Ibero-American World 189 lished a journal called Revista Médica de Metapsiquica summarizing the research of the society. Included among the articles published in the journal was a study of the use of dowsers by the government to find water in towns where the lack of water had become a hard- ship for its inhabitants. During this period, the work of Canavesio was important because of his connection to the government, a con- nection that helped to legitimize parapsychological studies in Argen- tina (Musso, 1973). The creation of the Instituto de Psicopatologia Aplicada in 1948 by the Secretary of Public Health was another important develop- ment. The aim of the government was to establish tight control over the Spiritist activities in Argentina, which were considered to be a social evil. More specifically, the aim was to control the exploitation of people engaged in nonscientific practices such as healing, and so on. The Institute created a subsidiary, the Comité de Investigaciones Metapsiquicas, which was assigned to conduct experimental research with gifted subjects, specifically during mediumistic sessions. The Committee intended to explore the medical and legal implications of Spiritist practices, as well as to determine whether genuine para- psychological phenomena were exhibited during these sessions by the gifted subjects. The Committee was also interested in uncover- ing negative factors that might induce mental illness, such as neu- rosis, in the participants. More specifically, it seems that the real ob- jective of the Committee was to determine whether the promoters of these mediumistic sessions were practicing medicine illegally (Parra, 1989). In 1949 José Fernandez founded the Sociedad Argentina de Parapsicologia. Fernandez, who was already known for his quanti- tative approach to psychic phenomena, continued to promote the statistical approach used by the Duke researchers. This approach was reflected in the Society’s main objective, which was to study and investigate parapsychological phenomena with emphasis on the de- velopment of statistical methods. By then Fernandez had received from Rhine a copy of Extra-Sensory Perception After Sixty Years (Pratt, Rhine, Smith, Stuart, & Greenwood, 1940). The book had a major impact on Fernandez, who applied Rhine’s mathematical models to his own research. Fernandez also circulated the book among his friends (Musso, 1973). The Society conducted the first serious experiments on clairvoy- ance in Argentina using ESP cards and statistical procedures. The study, with gifted subjects, obtained significant results. Fernandez troencephalographic records of gifted Appjastvedl hor Releaspt003/09/10 : CIA-RDP96-0pR32R660E029000 28 these experiments in a pamphlet entitled
Approved For Release 2003/09/10 : Cl 190 The Journal of Parapsychology Psicologia Experimental. The Society also conducted other experi- ments such as the one with the well-known clairvoyant Conrado Cas- tiglione. The study used the empty-chair technique similar to that used with Ludwig Khan and with Gerard Croiset (Musso, 1973). The first Instituto Argentino de Parapsicologia was established in 1953. It brought together several men who represented the most critical approach of the time, men such as José Fernandez, Orlando Canavesio, J. Ricardo Musso, and Naum Kreiman. The Institute was organized to include a main scientific research department, along with several sections, such as the medical-biological section and a physics and mathematics section. The principles of the Institute re- flected the critical approach their members followed in conducting their research. One of these was to subject every hypothesis to sci- entific examination, so that only those that would withstand the most stringent tests would remain. In addition to the creation of the Institute, this period of the 1950s was also characterized by a grow- ing interest in publishing books on parapsychology. One of the first systematic treatises on parapsychology in Spanish written by J. Ri- cardo Musso (1954) was called En los Limites de la Psicotogia: Desde el Espiritismo hasta la Parapsicologia [On the Limits of Psychology: From Spiritualism to Parapsychology]. Other developments included a pa- per by Musso in 1957, which was published in a journal put out by the ministry of education of the province of Buenos Aires. It was the first time a paper on parapsychology had been published in a government review. In addition, parapsychology was incorporated as a course in five different universities. In 1960, Ricardo Musso was awarded a professorship at Rosario University to teach parapsychol- ogy, and, for the first time in any country, a course in parapsycho- logy was made a requirement for a doctoral degree in psychology (Rueda, 1989). In 1962 the Institute conducted studies confirming the sheep- goat effect, using primary-school children as subjects. The results were published in the Journal of Parapsychology (Musso, 1965). Other important experiments included “An ESP Drawing Experiment with a High Scoring Subject,” also published in the Journal of Parapsychol- ogy (Musso & Granero, 1973). Moreover, Musso and his wife and colleague, Mirta Granero, conducted an international experiment on long-distance ESP called the “Antarctic Experiment.” Although the results were not statistically significant they were important be- cause the experiment involved subjects from twenty different coun- tries (Musso, 1973, p. 168). The expansion period of parapsychology was interrupted in A-RDP96-00792R000700290002-8 Parapsychology in the Ibero-American World. 191 thrown by a military coup; most state universities were forced to eliminate the study from their curricula. In spite of the prevailing negative conditions standing in the way of university status for the subject, a new quarterly publication was founded. The Cuadernos de Parapsicologia, perhaps the most important publication in the history of Argentinian experimental parapsychology, took the responsibility of disseminating a high level of academic parapsychology. Headed by Naum Kreiman, it has been the most professional organ of sci- entific parapsychology in Argentina to the present time. Owing to the military takeover of the government that elimi- nated most of the parapsychology courses offered at the state uni- versities, parapsychology did not enjoy the same status at the begin- ning of the 1970s as it had during the period of university expansion of the 1960s. Some new developments during this period kept the torch lit, however. Among the most important ones was the creation of the Instituto de Parapsicologia in 1970. It is headed by Naum Kreiman, a bio-statistician and a co-founder of the Instituto Argentino de Parapsicologia in the 1950s. Kreiman has played a key role in the development of the quantitative approach to the study of parapsychology for the last 30 years. From 1964 to the present he has conducted numerous original experiments as well as repli- cations of some of the most important experiments conducted in foreign countries. With the help of his wife and collaborator, Dora Ivnisky, and Ladislao Marquez, he has conducted numerous exper- iments that have been published in the Cuadernos. Among them are exploratory testing with ESP cards (Kreiman & Ivnisky, 1964); ESP using photographs as targets (Kreiman, 1965); the sheep-goat effect in ESP (Kreiman, 1972); the effect of feedback on ESP (Kreiman & Ivnisky, 1973); ESP and memory (Kreiman, 1975); memory and precognition (Kreiman, 1978); psi and volition (Kreiman & Ivnisky, 1980); brain laterality and ESP (Kreiman, 1981); precognition of human actions (Ivnisky & Kreiman, 1981); and remote viewing (Kreiman, 1983). Institute members such as Dora Ivnisky have done extensive work in keeping the Argentinian parapsychological community in- formed of activities around the world by translating numerous ex- periments and theoretical papers from languages other than Span- ish from the Journal of Parapsychology and elsewhere. The diligent experimental work done by Kreiman since the 1950s and continuing to the present time makes him one of the most important laboratory researchers in Argentinian and Ibero-American parapsychology. Another important development during this period was the cre- 1966 when the then current Argengipiap S2UFUP RUId8e 4683/09/10 : CIA-RDP96-00 USRGSG OUSIDE BF araPsY holeBy at the Catholic University of
. Approved For Release 2003/09/10 : CIA-RDP96-00792R000700290002-8 192 The Journal of Parapsychology Cordoba by the Catholic priest Enrique Novillo Pauli. One of the principal activities of the Institute was to teach courses on parapsy- chology in the school of psychology at the University. The staff of the Institute also provided consultation and orientation to bishops, priests, and families about phenomena such as poltergeists and bleeding religious images. Unfortunately this institute recently closed down after the death of Father Novillo. Prior to the creation of the Institute, Novillo Pauli had been at the Foundation for Research on the Nature of Man in North Car- olina where he conducted some PK research with seeds as targets under the auspices of the Organization of American States. Novillo Pauli presented the results of his experiments at the annual conven- tion of the Parapsychological Association in 1972 (Novillo Pauli, 1973). During the period of his stay at the FRNM, he also prepared a book on parapsychology entitled Los Fenémenos Parapsicolégicos: Pst en el Laboratorio (1975), which included reports of his PK studies. The studies were also reported in the Spanish-language parapsycho- logical journals Cuadernos de Parapsicologia (1974) and Psi Comunica- cién (1976). In spite of the marked decline since the 1970s, an important re- cent development is the organization of a parapsychology confer- ence in Argentina in 1987, the Primer Encuentro de Parapsicologia. It was sponsored by the University of Salvador of Buenos Aires and held under the direction of Enrique Novillo Pauli. Some of the top- ics discussed at the conference were mental healing studies, altered states of consciousness in relation to psi performance, and quantum mechanics (Alvarado, 1989b). Soon afterward, Argentina suffered the loss of two of its most important pioneers, J. Ricardo Musso, president of the Instituto Argentino de Parapsicologia (which he di- rected until his death in 1989) and, in the same year, Enrique Novi- llo Pauli. Consequently, the activities of Musso’s institute declined, and the institute at the University of El Salvador headed by Enrique Novillo Pauli closed down. Since then, the Institute of Parapsychol- ogy headed by Kreiman has remained as the most important source of professional parapsychology in Argentina. During the 1980s, parapsychology in Argentina was character- ized by a marked decline in experimental activities. Most of the work during this period was conducted by members of the Institute of Parapsychology under Kreiman, who, as in previous years, main- tained a constant interest in reporting original experiments, includ- ing replications of foreign experimental works. They also continued to publish regularly their quarterly journal, which contained trans- Parapsychology in the Ibero-American World 193 Recently, a new parapsychology journal, the Revista Argentina de Psicologia Paranormal, has appeared. It is published by an indepen- dent group of parapsychologists called LAPAS (Laboratory of Para- psychology) and edited mainly by Alejandro Parra. Judged by its content, the journal seems to be a worthwhile addition to the cur- rent efforts to keep the Argentinian audience well informed on professional parapsychology. However, some of the experiments of the researchers in this group have not been well received by other Argentinian researchers, who consider the experiments to be flawed (Kreiman, 1990; see also Alvarado, 1990). LAPAS has also started a Spanish-language parapsychology information center. The Center is building a computer data bank from which Spanish-speaking para- psychologists may obtain information about a bibliography on para- psychology similar to the Parapsychology International Abstracts pub- lished by Rhea White (Villanueva, 1990). In addition to these recent developments, CSICOP has made its way to Argentina. A former member of Naum Kreiman’s research group, Ladislao Marquez, has created an Argentinian version called Gentro Argentino Para la Investigacién y Refutacion de la Pseudo- ciencia (CAIRP). The most important aims of CAIRP are to de- nounce fraud and to promote a critical scientific assessment of the claims made by pseudoscientists. The board of directors, headed by Ladislao Marquez, also includes foreign members, Martin Gardner, for instance. The prospects for Argentinian parapsychology in the 1990s seem less favorable than those of the booming period of previous years. The present difficulties in the Argentinian economy have in- creased for researchers, making it difficult for them to obtain funds to support their research and publications. In a recent survey conducted on the present status of parapsy- chology in Argentina, Naum Kreiman reported that research has decreased substantially over the last five years. Most of the recent research reports have come from Kreiman’s Institute of Parapsy- chology. Educational activities in the field are almost nil except for a course being offered at a small university called John F. Kennedy University (Kreiman & Ivnisky, 1989). In a letter published in the Journal of Parapsychology, Jorge Villa- nueva (1990) pointed out some of the major problems that Argen- tinian researchers face at the present time. Among them are lack of support from public and private institutions, lack of serious books in Spanish to provide responsible information on the subject, and lack of proper technology and other means to conduct sophisticated 700290002-8 lations of some of the most important rgegarch published in. Englishysiqor1g - cia-RDP96-OGPISHOOOTBESOUOH ES Prem Villanueva suggests, may be de