MindPapers: 8.10b. Parapsychology and Consciousness

Atkinson, Anthony P.; Baker, I. S.; Blackmore, Susan J.; Braud, William; Burns, Jean E.; Carpenter, R. H. S.; Clarke, Christopher J. S.; Ellis, Ralph D.; Fontana, David; French, Christopher C.; Radin, D.; Schlitz, M.; Schmidt, Stefan & Velmans, Max (2005). Open Peer commentary on 'the sense of being stared at' parts 1 &. Journal of Consciousness Studies 12 (6):50-116. (Google | Edit)

Augustine, Keith (2007). Does paranormal perception occur in near-death experiences? Journal of Near Death Studies 25 (4):203-236. (Google | Edit)

Augustine, Keith (2007). Near-death experiences with hallucinatory features. Journal of Near Death Studies 26 (1):3-31. (Google | Edit)

Augustine, Keith (2007). Psychophysiological and cultural correlates undermining a survivalist interpretation of near-death experiences. Journal of Near Death Studies 26 (2):89-125. (Google | Edit)

Beloff, John (1980). Could there be a physical explanation for psi? Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 50:263-272. (Cited by 5 | Google | Edit)

Beloff, John (1989). Dualism: A parapsychological perspective. In J. Smythies & John Beloff (eds.), The Case for Dualism. Virginia University Press. (Cited by 3 | Google | Edit)

Beloff, John (1976). Mind-body interactionism in light of the parapsychological evidence. Theoria to Theory 10 (May):125-37. (Google | Edit)

Beloff, John (1990). Parapsychology and radical dualism. In The Relentless Question. McFarland & Company. (Cited by 7 | Google | Edit)

Beloff, John (1987). Parapsychology and the mind-body problem. Inquiry 30 (September):215-25. (Cited by 5 | Google | Edit)

Beloff, John (1973). The subliminal and the extrasensory. Parapsychology Review 4:23-27. (Cited by 3 | Google | Edit)

Bem, D. J. & Honorton, C. (1994). Does psi exist? Replicable evidence for an anomalous process of information transfer. Psychological Bulletin 115:4-18. (Cited by 144 | Google | Edit)

Betty, L. Stafford (2004). Mind, paranormal experience, and the inadequacy of materialism. International Philosophical Quarterly 44 (3):373-392. (Google | Edit)

Bierman, Dick (2003). Does consciousness collapse the wave-packet? Mind and Matter 1 (1):45-57. (Cited by 9 | Google | More links | Edit)

Abstract: The 'subjective reduction' interpretation of measurement in quantum physics proposes that the collapse of the wave-packet, associated with measurement, is due to the consciousness of human observers. A refined conceptual replication of an earlier experiment, designed and carried out to test this interpretation in the 1970s, is reported. Two improvements are introduced. First, the delay between pre-observation and final observation of the same quantum event is increased from a few microseconds in the original experiment to one second in this replication. Second, rather than using the final observers' verbal response as the dependent variable, his early brain responses as measured by EEG are used. These early responses cover a period during which an observer is not yet conscious of an observed event. Our results support the 'subjective reduction' hypothesis insofar as significant differences in the brain responses of the final observer are found, depending on whether or not the pre-observer has been looking at the quantum event . Alternative 'normal' explanations are discussed and rejected. It is concluded that the present results do justify further research along these lines

Bierman, Dick (1998). Do psi phenomena suggest radical dualism? In Stuart R. Hameroff, Alfred W. Kaszniak & A. C. Scott (eds.), Toward a Science of Consciousness II. MIT Press. (Cited by 6 | Google | Edit)

Bierman, Dick (2001). On the nature of anamalous phenomena: Another reality between the world of subjective consciousness and the objective world of physics? In P. Van Loocke (ed.), The Physical Nature of Consciousness. John Benjamins. (Google | Edit)

Blackmore, Susan (1992). Psychic experiences: Psychic illusions. Skeptical Inquirer 16:367-376. (Cited by 9 | Google | Edit)

Abstract: Why do so many people believe in psychic phenomena? Because they have psychic experiences. And why do they have psychic experiences? Because such experiences are an inevitable consequence of the way we think. I suggest that, like visual illusions, they are the price we pay for a generally very effective relationship with a massively complex world

Blackmore, Susan (1998). Why psi tells us nothing about consciousness. In S. Hameroff, A. Kaszniak & A. Scott (eds.), Toward a Science of Consciousness. MIT Press. (Google | Edit)

Abstract: Also published in 1998 in S.R.Hameroff, A.W.Kaszniak and .C.Scott (Eds) _Toward a Science of_ _Consciousness II._ MIT Press. 701-707. Note that there were problems with the editing of this volume and there are some misprints. This version is correct

Blackmore, Susan J. (1991). Psi in science. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 57:404-11. (Google | Edit)

Blackmore, Susan J. (2001). What can the paranormal teach us about consciousness ? Skeptical Inquirer 25 (2):22-27. (Cited by 6 | Google | Edit)

Abstract: Consciousness is a hot topic. Relegated to the fringes of science for most of the twentieth century, the question of consciousness only crept back to legitimacy with the collapse of behaviourism in the 1960s and 1970s, and only recently became an acceptable term for psychologists to use. Now many neuroscientists talk enthusiastically about the nature of consciousness, there are societies and regular conferences, and some say that consciousness is the greatest challenge for twenty-first century science. Although confusion abounds, there is at least some agreement that at the heart of the problem lies the question of subjectivity - or what it’s like for _me_. As philosopher Thomas Nagel (1974) put it when he asked his famous question "What is it like to be a bat?" - if there is something it is like _for the bat_ then we can say that the bat is conscious. This is what we mean by consciousness - consciousness is private and subjective and this is why it is so difficult to understand

Blackmore, Susan J. (1998). Why psi tells us nothing about consciousness. In Stuart R. Hameroff, Alfred W. Kaszniak & A. C. Scott (eds.), Toward a Science of Consciousness II. MIT Press. (Google | Edit)

Braud, W. G. (1994). The role of mind in the physical world: A psychologist's view. European Journal of Parapsychology 10:66-77. (Cited by 4 | Google | Edit)

Braude, Stephen E. (1979). ESP and Psychokineses: A Philosophical Examination. Temple University Press. (Google | Edit)

Braude, Stephen E. (ed.) (1986). The Limits of Influence: Psychokinesis and the Philosophy of Science. Routledge and Kegan Paul. (Cited by 26 | Google | Edit)

Burns, Jean E. (1986). Consciousness and psi. PSI Research 5:166-205. (Google | Edit)

Burns, Jean E. (1993). Current hypotheses about the nature of the mind-brain relationship and their relationship to findings in parapsychology. In K. Ramakrishna Rao (ed.), Cultivating Consciousness. Praeger. (Google | Edit)

Burns, Jean E. (2002). Quantum fluctuations and the action of the mind. Noetic Journal 3 (4):312-317. (Cited by 2 | Google | Edit)

Burns, Jean E. (2006). The Arrow of Time and the Action of the Mind at the Molecular Level. In Daniel P. Sheehan (ed.), Frontiers of Time. American Inst. Of Physics. (Google | More links | Edit)

Burns, Jean E. (1993). Time, consciousness, and psi. In B. Kane, J. Millay & D. H. Brown (eds.), Silver Threads: 25 Years of Parapsychology Research. Praeger. (Google | Edit)

Burns, Jean E. (2003). What is beyond the edge of the known world? Journal of Consciousness Studies 10 (6-7):7-28. (Cited by 4 | Google | More links | Edit)

Clarke, Christopher J. S. (2005). The sense of being stared at: Its relevance to the physics of consciousness. Journal of Consciousness Studies 12 (6):78-82. (Google | Edit)

Dean, Geoffrey O. & Kelly, Ivan W. (2003). Is astrology relevant to consciousness and psi? Journal of Consciousness Studies. Special Issue 10 (6):175-198. (Cited by 2 | Google | More links | Edit)

Dilley, Frank B. (1989). Mind-brain interaction and psi. Southern Journal of Philosophy 26:469-80. (Google | Edit)

Dilley, Frank B. (1990). Telepathy and mind-brain dualism. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 56:129-37. (Cited by 2 | Google | Edit)

Dybvig, Magne (1987). On the philosophy of psi. Inquiry 30 (September):253-275. (Google | Edit)

Edge, Hoyt L. (1989). Psi, self, and the new mentalism. In L. Henkel & John R. Palmer (eds.), Research in Parapsychology 1989. Scarecrow Press. (Google | Edit)

Ehm, Werner (2005). Meta-analysis O mind-matter experiments: A statistical modeling perspective. Mind and Matter 3 (1):85-132. (Google | More links | Edit)

Abstract: Are there relationships between consciousness and the material world? Empirical evidence for such a connection was reported in several meta-analyses of mind-matter experiments designed to address this question. In this paper we consider such meta-analyses from a statistical modeling perspective, emphasizing strategies to validate the models and the associated statistical procedures. In particular, we explicitly model increased data variability and selection mechanisms, which permits us to estimate 'selection profiles ' and to reassess the experimental effect in view of potential other effects. An application to the data pool considered in the influential meta-analysis of Radin and Nelson (1989) yields indications for the presence of random and selection effects Adjustment for possible selection is found to render the,without such an adjustment significant, experimental effect non-significant. Somewhat different conclusions apply to a subset of the data deserving separate consideration. The actual origin of the data features that are described as experimental, random, or selection effects within the proposed model cannot be clarified y our approach and remains open

Eisenbud, J. (1975). The mind-matter interface. Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research 69:115-26. (Google | Edit)

Goswami, Amit (1986). The quantum theory of consciousness and psi. PSI Research 5:145-65. (Google | Edit)

Griffin, David Ray (1994). Dualism, materialism, idealism, and psi: A reply to John Palmer. Journal of the American Society of Psychical Research 88:23-39. (Google | Edit)

Griffin, David Ray (1993). Parapsychology and philosophy: A Whiteheadian postmodern perspective. Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research 87:217-88. (Cited by 4 | Google | Edit)

Grof, Stanislav (2000). Psychology of the Future: Lessons From Modern Consciousness Research. State University of New York Press. (Cited by 50 | Google | More links | Edit)

Heath, Pamela R. (2000). The PK zone: A phenomenological study. Journal of Parapsychology 64:53-72. (Cited by 4 | Google | Edit)

Honorton, C. (1985). Meta-analysis of psi ganzfeld research: A response to Hyman. Journal of Parapsychology 1:51-91. (Cited by 44 | Google | Edit)

Hubbard, Timothy L. (1996). Consciousness and cognition beyond the body: Functionalist cognitive science and the possibility of out-of-body experiences and reincarnation. Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research 90:202-20. (Google | Edit)

Hyman, Ray & Honorton, C. (1986). A joint communique: The psi ganzfeld controversy. Journal of Parapsychology 50:351-64. (Cited by 38 | Google | Edit)

Hyman, Ray (1994). Anomaly or artifact? Comments on Bem and honorto. Psychological Bulletin 115:19-24. (Google | Edit)

Hyman, Ray (1985). The ganzfeld psi experiment: A critical appraisal. Journal of Parapsychology 49:3-49. (Cited by 3 | Google | Edit)

Jahn, Robert G. & Dunne, Brenda J. (2001). A modular model of mind/matter manifestations. Journal of Scientific Exploration 15 (3):299-329. (Google | Edit)

Jahn, Robert G. (ms). Change the rules! (Google | Edit)

Jahn, Robert G. & Dunne, Brenda J. (1987). Margins of Reality: The Role of Consciousness in the Physical World. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. (Cited by 138 | Google | More links | Edit)

Jahn, Robert G. & Dunne, Brenda J. (2004). Sensors, filters, and the source of reality. Journal of Scientific Exploration 19 (4):547-570. (Cited by 7 | Google | More links | Edit)

Jahn, Robert G. & Dunne, Brenda J. (2005). The PEAR proposition. Journal of Scientific Exploration 19 (2):195–245. (Cited by 13 | Google | More links | Edit)

Jeffers, S. (2003). Physics and claims for anomalous effects related to consciousness. Journal of Consciousness Studies 10 (6):135-152. (Cited by 6 | Google | Edit)

King, Peter (2003). Parapsychology without the 'para' (or the psychology). Think 3. (Google | Edit)

Abstract: possible, your investigation is unlikely ever to get off the ground), there’s no such excuse for philosophers. The philosopher should be unrestricted by fashions in thought, including the unquestioning acceptance of whatever scientific theories are currently dominant. The fact is, however, that in this field and in the philosophy of mind, many

Kreitler, H. & Kreitler, S. (1973). Subliminal perception and extrasensory perception. Journal of Parapsychology 37:163-88. (Cited by 4 | Google | Edit)

Krippner, Stanley & George, L. (1986). Psi phenomena as related to altered states of consciousness. In Benjamin B. Wolman & M. Ullman (eds.), Handbook of States of Consciousness. Van Nostrand Reinhold. (Cited by 6 | Google | Edit)

Mattuck, R. (1982). A crude model of the mind-matter interaction using Bohm-Bub hidden variables. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 51:238-245. (Google | Edit)

Nash, C. B. (1995). A panpsychic theory of mind and matter. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 60:171-73. (Google | Edit)

Nash, C. B. (1976). Psi and the mind-body problem. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 48:267-70. (Google | Edit)

Poynton, J. C. (1994). Making sense of psi: Whitehead's multilevel ontology. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 59:401-12. (Cited by 2 | Google | Edit)

Price, E. A. (1981). A "three worlds" perspective to the mind-brain relationship in parapsychology. Parapsychological Journal of South Africa 2:38-49. (Google | Edit)

Rao, K. Ramakrishna (1991). Consciousness research and psi. Journal of Parapsychology 55:1-43. (Google | Edit)

Rao, K. Ramakrishna & Palmer, John R. (1987). The anomaly called psi: Recent research and criticism. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 10:539-51. (Cited by 15 | Google | Edit)

Rauscher, E. A. (1983). Multidimensional properties of consciousness and some laws of reality. PSI Research 2:53-66. (Google | Edit)

Richards, D. G. (1996). Psi and the spectrum of consciousness. Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research 90:251-67. (Cited by 2 | Google | Edit)

Roberts, Fred S. (1995). Is physically-based consciousness a reality? Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 60:398-400. (Google | Edit)

Roberts, Fred S. (1991). Some apparently non-cerebral aspects of consciousness. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 58:31-38. (Google | Edit)

Rogosin, H. (1938). Telepathy, psychical research, and modern psychology. Philosophy of Science 5 (4):472-483. (Google | More links | Edit)

Roney-Dougal, S. M. (1986). Subliminal and psi perception: A review of the literature. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 53:405-34. (Cited by 2 | Google | Edit)

Sheldrake, Rupert (2005). The sense of being stared at -- part 1: Is it real or illusory? Journal of Consciousness Studies 12 (6):10-31. (Google | Edit)

Abstract: Most people have had the experience of turning round feeling that someone is looking at them from behind, and finding that this is the case. Most people have also had the converse experience. They can sometimes make people turn around by staring at them. In surveys in Europe and North America, between 70% and 97% of the people questioned said they had had personal experiences of these kinds (Braud et al., 1990; Sheldrake, 1994; Cottrell et al., 1996)

Smythies, J. M. (1960). Three classical theories of mind. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 40:385-397. (Google | Edit)

Sprigge, Timothy L. S. (2003). What might parapsychology contribute to our view of the world. Think 5. (Google | Edit)

Stokes, Douglas M. (1993). Mind, matter, and death: Cognitive neuroscience and the problem of survival. Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research 87:41-84. (Cited by 1 | Google | Edit)

Stokes, Douglas M. (1982). On the relationship between mind and brain. Parapsychology Review 13:22-27. (Google | Edit)

Stokes, Douglas M. (1997). The Nature of Mind: Parapsychology and the Role of Consciousness in the Physical World. McFarland and Co. (Cited by 4 | Google | More links | Edit)

Stokes, Douglas M. (2002). The persistence of consciousness: Guest editorial. Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research 96 (1):5-14. (Google | Edit)

Storm, Lance & Thalbourne, Michael A. (2006). The Survival of Human Consciousness: Essays on the Possibility of Life After Death. McFarland. (Google | Edit)

Tart, Charles T. (online). Consciousness: A psychological, transpersonal, and parapsychological approach. (Google | Edit)

Tiller, W.; Kohane, M. & Dibble, W. (2000). Can an aspect of consciousness be imprinted into an electronic device? Integrative Physiological and Behavioral Science 35 (2):142-163. (Cited by 1 | Google | Edit)

Tong, Frank (2003). Out-of-body experiences: From penfield to present. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 7 (3):104-106. (Cited by 7 | Google | More links | Edit)

Towell, Tony (2001). Unconscious awareness. In Ron Roberts & David Groome (eds.), Parapsychology: The Science of Unusual Experience. Arnold. (Google | Edit)

Varvoglis, M. (1996). Nonlocality on a human scale: Psi and consciousness research. In Stuart R. Hameroff, Alfred W. Kaszniak & A. C. Scott (eds.), Toward a Science of Consciousness. MIT Press. (Google | Edit)

Wade, Jenny (1998). Physically transcendent awareness: A comparison of the phenomenology of consciousness before birth and after death. Journal of Near-Death Studies 16:249-275. (Cited by 2 | Google | More links | Edit)

Walach, Harald & Schmidt, Stefan (2005). Repairing Plato's life boat with ockham's razor: The important function of research in anomalies for consciousness studies. Journal of Consciousness Studies 12 (2):52-70. (Google | Edit)

Abstract: Scientific progress is achieved not only by continuous accumulation of knowledge but also by paradigm shifts. These shifts are often necessitated by anomalous findings that cannot be incorporated in accepted models. Two important methodological principles regulate this process and complement each other: Ockham's Razor as the principle of parsimony and Plato's Life Boat as the principle of the necessity to 'save the appearances' and thus incorporate conflicting phenomenological data into theories. We review empirical data which are in conflict with some presuppositions of accepted mainstream science: Clinical and experimental effects of prayer and healing intention, data from telepathy, psychokinesis experiments and precognition, and anecdotal reports of macro-psychokinesis. Taken together, the now well documented possibility of these events suggests that such phenomena are anomalies that challenge some widely held beliefs in mainstream science. On the other hand, scientists often fear that by accepting the reality of these phenomena they also have to subscribe to world-models invoking ontological dualism or idealism. We suggest accepting the phenomena as real, but without questionable ontologies commonly associated with them. We outline how this might work

Walker, E. H. (1984). A review of criticisms of the quantum-mechanical theory of psi phenomena. Journal of Parapsychology 48:277-32. (Cited by 6 | Google | Edit)

Walker, E. H. (1975). Foundations of Paraphysical and Parapsychological Phenomena. In L. Oteri (ed.), Quantum Physics and Parapsychology. Parapsychology Foundation. (Cited by 26 | Google | Edit)

Wilson, Stuart (2002). Psi, perception without awareness and false recognition. Journal of Parapsychology 66 (3):271-289. (Cited by 1 | Google | More links | Edit)

Woodworth, H. (1942). Report of investigations into an obscure function of the subconscious mind. Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research 36:185-230. (Google | Edit)

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