we CIA-RDP96-00792R000700290003-7 Approved For Release 2000/08/11 190 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 Psicologia: Desde el Esptritismo 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 1966 when the then current Argentinian government was over- 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 qr the subject, a new quarterly publication was founded. The C s de Parapsicologia, perhaps the most important publication in the story of Argentinian experimental parapsychology, took the respongpility of disseminating a high level of academic parapsychology. H@aded by Naum Kreiman, it has been the most professional organ @F sci- entific parapsychology in Argentina to the present time. S Owing to the military takeover of the government that@limi- nated most of the parapsychology courses offered at the staQ¥ uni- versities, parapsychology did not enjoy the same status at the H$gin- ning of the 1970s as it had during the period of university expansion of the 1960s. Some new developments during this ggriod kept the torch lit, however. Among the most important ones vees the creation of the Instituto de Parapsicologia in 1970. It is heaffd by Naum Kreiman, a bio-statistician and a co-founder of the Ingytuto Argentino de Parapsicologia in the 1950s. Kreiman has played key role in the development of the quantitative approach to the<ftudy of parapsychology for the last 30 years. From 1964 to the p(sent he has conducted numerous original experiments as well as-repli- cations of some of the most important experiments conducfed in foreign countries. With the help of his wife and collaboratorgdora Ivnisky, and Ladislao Marquez, he has conducted numerous &per- iments that have been published in the Cuadernos. Among thé are exploratory testing with ESP cards (Kreiman & Ivnisky, 19644> ESP using photographs as targets (Kreiman, 1965); the sheep-goat*afect in ESP (Kreiman, 1972); the effect of feedback on ESP (Kreingan & Ivnisky, 1973); ESP and memory (Kreiman, 1975); memor{p and precognition (Kreiman, 1978); psi and volition (Kreiman & Iv@isky, 1980); brain laterality and ESP (Kreiman, 1981); precognit®&n of human actions (Ivnisky & Kreiman, 1981); and remote vigwing (Kreiman, 1983). LL Institute members such as Dora Ivnisky have done ext@sive work in keeping the Argentinian parapsychological commungy in- formed of activities around the world by translating numero ex- periments and theoretical papers from languages other than Qpan- ish from the Journal of Parapsychology and elsewhere. The diggent 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- ation of an Institute of Parapsychology at the Catholic University of
CIA-RDP96-00792R000700290003-7 roved For Release 2000/08/11 192 The Journal of Parapsychology Cérdoba 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 Paulf 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 Paulf 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: Psi 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 Paulf 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 oe A 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- lations of some of the most important research published in English. 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 ofMPara- psychology) and edited mainly by Alejandro Parra. Judged $% its content, the journal seems to be a worthwhile addition to theScur- rent efforts to keep the Argentinian audience well inform on professional parapsychology. However, some of the experimefis of the researchers in this group have not been well received by Gther Argentinian researchers, who consider the experiments to be flawed (Kreiman, 1990; see also Alvarado, 1990). LAPAS has also sta fied a Spanish-language parapsychology information center. The Cemger is building a computer data bank from which Spanish-speaking $hra- psychologists may obtain information about a bibliography ontpara- psychology similar to the Parapsychology International Abstracts Bub. lished by Rhea White (Villanueva, 1990). o In addition to these recent developments, CSICOP has mae its way to Argentina. A former member of Naum Kreiman’s resegrch group, Ladislao Marquez, has created an Argentinian version Billed Centro Argentino Para la Investigacién y Refutacién de la Psegdo- ciencia (CAIRP). The most important aims of CAIRP are t@)de- nounce fraud and to promote a critical scientific assessment of-the claims made by pseudoscientists. The board of directors, head&q by Ladislao Marquez, also includes foreign members, Martin Gargiper, for instance. Oo The prospects for Argentinian parapsychology in the $390s seem less favorable than those of the booming period of prefous years. The present difficulties in the Argentinian economy haf? in- creased for researchers, making it difficult for them to obtain fgands to support their research and publications. S In a recent survey conducted on the present status of pargpsy- chology in Argentina, Naum Kreiman reported that researcl@has decreased substantially over the last five years. Most of the rgent research reports have come from Kreiman’s Institute of Pamtapsy- chology. Educational activities in the field are almost nil excepp for a course being offered at a small university called John F. KenGedy University (Kreiman & Ivnisky, 1989). o In a letter published in the Journal of Parapsychology, Jorge Wlla- nueva (1990) pointed out some of the major problems that Agen: 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 research. Some of these problems, Villanueva suggests, may be di-
194 The Journal of Parapsychology minished by increasing communication and ‘collaboration with for- eign parapsychologists. Early psychical research in Pyerto Rico was strongly influenced by the nineteenth-century Spjritualist movement that had also spread to other countries. Mediumistic séances in which raps and communication, with the spiriys were common drew attention mostly from people with a religious interest. It was perhaps,this influence that led Agapito Morales to publish qin 1904 a more ckitical amination of these phenomena. In his ipnotismo, Magnetismo, Espiritismo y Suges- © itoterapia; Morales contended that all those occurrences could take @ Place without assumingythe action of spirit agencies. He interpreted © possession as being aytosuggestion and attributed paranormal phe- nomena to our own psychic faculties. He considered that all of the oy experiments made yhtil today demonstrate that there is an invisible eq force in our being hat is Capable, for instance, of playing a guitar, © lifting a table, or ljfting our gwn bodies. According to him this force ..is under our control. He alsd believed that mediumistic communi- — cation could be/explained by means of telepathy between the me- op dium and the sitter. \ © Another major influence in the formation of a more empirical Sand critical approach to parapsychology was the work of Francisco © Ponte, a dentist who became president of the Puerto Rican Feder- ation of Spjritists. Ponte visited Européin 1912 to familiarize him- w self with tHe work of several Spiritualistic.centers, as well as psychi- G cal resear¢h centers. He had had the opportunity to participate in @ mediumigtic séances in Italy with famous mediums such as Lucia O& Sordi afd Eusapia Palladino. During these \séances he witnessed R000700290003-7 0 DP > same phenomena with local mediums. He reporte Q ings on materializations of body parts during séances to Walter @-Franklin Prince, then Research Officer of the ASPR. Ponte’s work <{ was important because of the critical and empirical approach he brought to his research on séance phenomena (Alvarado, 1979a). © This section on Puerto Rican parapsychology partly summarizes information contained in an article by Alvarado (1979a). Parapsychology in the Ibero-American World 195 The theoretical ideas of Ralph U. Sierra are also interesting. Sierra, who was interested in the psychology of ESP, believed that to develop telepathy it was necessary to develop first an internal state of tranquility so that the electrical activity of the brain did'fiot interfere with the telepathic process (Sierra, 1966). 3 Some of the most important developments, however, took yfigce during the last two centuries. At the educational level, it is imger- tant to note the work of Celinda Madera who, during the 1&4 )s, offered @ series of courses and lectures at different campuses of@he University of Puerto Rico. Madera’s courses focused on the hurgtan- istic and thanspersonal aspects of psi. She herself had received t&n- ing at Duke University’s Parapsychology Laboratory (Alvaro, 1979a). > In 1974, estor A. Rodriguez EsCudero, a lawyer, publishBy a series of essays about parapsycholggy and Spiritualism in his bok Los Caminos de Dios. He discussed A great variety of paranormal ¢hhe- nomena. His min objective w26 to show that parapsychology - onstrates the spikitual aspect 6f man (Rodriguez Escudero, 1978). Another development ip 1977 was the creation of the InstRato de Investigaciones Psicofigicas at the University of Puerto Rico, Miay- agiiez campus. Fourlded/to conduct investigations in parapsychdldgy and related areas, theAnstitute carried out studies of various param- eters of Kirlian phojSgraphy and of the effects of hypnosis on ESP. However, these research investigations were never made avaibgble for publication. Buring this period Alfonso Martinez Taboas began to publish a nesletter Explgrando lo Paranormal, a semipopular @g- azine later edited by Carlos (Alvarado starting in 1976. q Martinez Taboas and Carls Alvarado wrote articles on paragsy- chology iy’ Spanish for the Spakish journal Pst Comunicactén; ey also published in other journals. Their articles covered a wide rapge of topigs. Among these, Alvarado wyote on experimental studied of OBEs/(1976), historical precedents df the so-called psychic difov- eries/behind the Iron Curtain (1978) the use of historical kngwl- edgé (1979b), and on J. B. Rhine (1980). Martinez Taboas publithed a review of the problem of repeatability in parapsychology (189), critiques of psychological and physiological concepts of polterPeist research (1977, 1980, 1984; Martinez Taboas & Alvarado, 1981), and a discussion of the concept of parsimony applied to parggsy- chology (1983). <x The work of Martinez Taboas and Alvarado has been very im- portant in the effort to bridge the language barrier between the Spanish researcher and the non-Spanish-speaking researcher. This