Advances In Parapsychological Research Extrasensory Perception

Montague Ullman The second volume of this series includes essays on methods and issues in ESP research (Morris), research findings in ESP (Palmer), and theories of psi (Rao). It thus complements the areas covered in Volume 1, the two volumes taken together providing the reader with a sound grounding in the progress and achievements of parapsychological research from its inception to the present day. What is immediately striking is the rapid increase in the amount and variety of experimental reports appearing in the last decade and the increasing number of centers in which research is being carried out. Work in parapsychology is moving toward a broader disciplinary base, the use of more imaginative technology, greater academic support, and more activity on an international scale. These are promising signs of a rapprochement between parapsychological research and the mainstream of science. Robert O. Becker, in his preface to Volume 1, holds out the hope that parapsychology will lead the way to a new view of the biological or ganism, one going beyond mechanism to "a new vision of the human being and his place in the universe" (Becker, 1977). Heavy as this respon sibility may be, a careful reading of the present volume should persuade the reader that a new view is very much in order.

If extrasensory perception is a common human ability, why can't we all score high on ESP tests? This book answers the question by describing psychological determinants of success and failure in extrasensory perception. Some of the most signifi cant points raised in the editor's enlightening introduction are developed in greater detail in the nine essays that follow, all of them important statements giving a clear picture of research into ESP and the debate that surrounds it. Each essay is followed by a comment relating the essay to the field as a whole. In essays on the debate about ESP, an attack (by C. E. M. Hansel) is followed by a rebuttal (by J. B. Rhine and J. G. Pratt), offering the reader insight into the peculiar tension surrounding the ESP controversy. The book also includes a balanced overview of problems in the field by J. C. Crumbaugh, and six other essays on the psychological factors that influence research on ESP. Controversy over ESP is of special interest also because the questions critics raise relate closely to problems within psychology itself. In addition, the essays reflect a quality common to much research: the excitement of uncovering results that advance our knowledge. This book is intended for supplementary course use. Because of the fundamental problems it addresses, it also offers richly rewarding reading for all teaching and practicing psychologists as well as for the interested generalist. A substantial number of research reports are cited throughout, so that any reader seeking further information will find the cited references invaluable.

This is a new release of the original 1934 edition.