Parapsychology :: science

Parapsychology Derived from the term 'paranormal', parapsychology is the science that lies beside or beyond psychology; the field of psychology which studies those unique experiences and unknown capabilities of the human mind that suggest consciousness is capable of interacting with the physical world in ways not yet recognized by science, but not beyond science's ability to investigate. Two types of parapsychological phenomena have been described. The first and less common is pyschokinesis (PK) which is the direct influence of the human mind on the environment. In rare cases, this may involve obvious movement of objects, however most contemporary research studies PK influences on atomic or electronic processes. More commonly known is the second type of parapsychological phenomena, called extrasensory perception (ESP), which is the ability to acquire information without using the known senses. In cases when another person is involved, then it may be considered telepathy, or mind-to-mind communication. This is often common in twins, as many instance have been reported in which one twin can sense the other's thoughts or pain. When it is knowledge of just a distant place or event, then the term clairvoyance is often used. It is mainly this type of ESP which leads people to feel strongly about the existence of past lives, due to experience of deja-vous. In practice, it is often difficult to distinguish among types of ESP, thus investigators generally refer to all instances as ESP. When the information seems to be of some future event, it is called precognition. This category of ESP is also what makes fortune tellers so popular, as they claim to be able to see your future. Real life experiences that appear to involve ESP are commonly termed psychic experiences. Taken together, all of these phenomena are often called psi phenomena. Scientific interest in the subject is of relatively recent origin, beginning in 1927 when the Duke University Parapsychology Laboratory was set up under Dr. J. B. Rhine, an important figure in the advancement of parapsychology, particularly ESP. Dr. J. B. Rhine and his wife, Dr. Louisa E. Rhine, came to Duke University in 1927 to pursue studies of psychic phenomena with Professor William McDougall, chairman of the new Psychology Department. Within a few years, Dr. Rhine was conducting the groundbreaking research that demonstrated certain people had the ability to acquire information without the use of the known senses. He introduced the term extrasensory perception describe this ability and adopted the word parapsychology to distinguish his experimental approach from earlier methods of psychical research.