Psychic power Psychic powers , also known by the acronym ESP for Extra - Sensory Perceptions ( TV : " Planet of the Spiders " ) , were made possible by the conscious or unconscious manipulation of psychic energy . History . Originally related to magic and still understood as such in many cultures , psychic abilities survived the Time Lord s ' imposition of the laws of physics on the universe by being sufficiently grounded in science . ( PROSE : " So Vile a Sin " ) The Tenth Doctor described psychic abilities as simply , " the ability to see strands of future time . " ( PROSE : " The Weeping " ) In the 1890s , Dr Ernst conducted experiments on natural psychic abilities in humans . Among his test subjects were three women who each had small mental powers on their own , but possessed powerful psychic abilities together . This group , which Jenny Flint dubbed the " Danger Thinkers " went on a rampage through London with their newfound abilities before being stopped by the Paternoster Gang . ( PROSE : " The Insidious Ideas of the Danger Thinkers " ) The Soviet Union began research into psychic powers before World War II in the hope of creating a psychic bomb designed to provoke extreme emotions in people . This ambition had been achieved by 1965 . The United States of America also researched psychic powers in the 1960s . ( AUDIO : " Peshka " ) By the 2090s , psychic assassin s existed . Benedict Summerfield II was one of these assassins . ( PROSE : " Dead Romance " ) Causes of psychic ability . Natural racial abilities . Some species were innately psychically active - in some cases it was very unusual for an individual of a given species not to manifest psi - powers . These powers could be of any type - for instance , the Arcateenian s appeared to be innately telepathic . ( TV : " Greeks Bearing Gifts " ) A Krynoid and Harrison Chase developed a psychic attachment , with Harrison being indoctrinated with the others thoughts . ( TV : " The Seeds of Doom " ) The Doctor and Susan Foreman both displayed telepathic abilities , but most Time Lord s did not . Several other Time Lords " did " show psychic abilities and the Doctor said at least twice that Time Lords were telepathic . Innate psychic ability in human s was rare , but not unknown : according to the Third Doctor , they were just dormant in most members of " Homo sapiens " . ( TV : " Planet of the Spiders " ) Most humans had at least some latent psychic potential . Significant individuals ( such as William Shakespeare ) , showed enough latent psychic ability to see psychic paper as blank . ( TV : " The Shakespeare Code " ) This ability may have been due to an extra synaptic engram in the brain , which was seen in individuals with mild telepathic abilities such as Tim Latimer . Torchwood 1 personnel were given basic psychic training , also giving them this ability . ( TV : " Army of Ghosts " ) Mutation due to external factors . In species that were not normally psi - active , powers could nevertheless still appear given the right stimuli . Human s living near a time rift developed psychic abilities , ( TV : " The Unquiet Dead " , " The Fires of Pompeii " ) which might vanish if the rift were sealed . ( TV : " The Fires of Pompeii " ) Prolonged exposure to a Metebelis crystal might also result in psychic powers . Due to living on the lip of a wormhole for centuries , human colonists on Agelaos developed psychic abilities . ( PROSE : " The Weeping " ) Artificial psychic phenomena . Psychic energy was normally only produced by living minds , which made it ( and the powers utilising it ) difficult to study or replicate using conventional technological means . However , a number of devices were constructed to facilitate or mimic natural psychic powers . TARDIS es generated a psychic field and incorporated telepathic circuits to facilitate both short - and long - range communications . ( TV : " Frontier in Space " ) The IRIS Machine artificially boosted the telepathic potential of human test subjects . ( TV : " Planet of the Spiders " ) The Arcateenian s used telepathy pendant s for long - range communication . ( TV : " Greeks Bearing Gifts " ) The Coronet of Rassilon gave the wearer the power of mind control , even over multiple subjects simultaneously . ( TV : " The Five Doctors " ) In his later incarnations , the Doctor routinely carried psychic paper to save time in establishing his credentials . ( TV : " The End of the World " , " The Long Game " and others ) This ploy was also used by Captain Jack Harkness . ( TV : " The Empty Child " ) Psychic credit card s were used by the Doctor to hold money . ( PROSE : " Only Human " )