Parapsychology: The Science of Unusual Experience [Book Review]

201 Pages·2001·11.29 MB·English

by  Michael A Thalbourne Affiliation: Editor, Australian Journal of Parapsychology, and Associate Professor, Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit, Department of Psychology, University of Adelaide, Adelaide South Australia 5005, email: [email protected], [email protected]

Parapsychology
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Parapsychology
The science of unusual experience
RON ROBERTS
Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre, Institute of
Psychiatry, London
and
DAVID GROOME
Department of Psychology, University of Westminster, London
A member of the Hodder Headline Group
LONDON
Distributed in the United States of America by
Oxford University Press Inc., New York
First published in Great Britain in 2001 by
Arnold, a member of the Hodder Headline Group,
338 Euston Road, London NW1 3BH
http://www.arnoldpublishers.com
Distributed in the United States of America by
Oxford University Press Inc.,
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© 2001 Arnold
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or
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are issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency: 90 Tottenham Court Road,
London WIT 4LP.
The advice and information in this book are believed to be true and
accurate at the date of going to press, but neither the author[s] nor the publisher
can accept any legal responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress
ISBN 0340 76169 5 (hb)
ISBN 0340 76168 7 (pb)
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 0
Typeset in 1 Ipt Times by Saxon Graphics Ltd, Derby
Printed and bound in Malta.
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For Antje and Merry (RR)
For Glenys, Alexander, Robin and Jenny (DG)
It is not the spoon that bends,
only yourself.
(quoted from The Matrix)
Contents
Lists of tables, figures and boxes ix
List of contributors x
Preface xi
Acknowledgements xi
Preamble 1
Part 1 Myth and method
1 Science and experience 7
Ron Roberts
2 Probability and coincidence 19
Anthony E. Esgate and David Groome
3 The placebo efect 35
Christopher C. French
Part II Beliefs
4 The psychology of psychic fraud 51
Richard Wiseman
5 Astrology 60
David Groome
viii Contents
Part III Unusual experiences
6 Unconscious awarenes 7
Tony Towell
7 Dreams 86
Antje Mueller and Ron Roberts
8 Alien abductions 102
Christopher C. French
9 Meditation 17
Stephen Benton
10 Paranormal cognition 130
Caroline Watt
11 Near-death experiences 141
Chris A. Roe
12 Gateways to the mind: society and the paranormal 156
Ron Roberts
Glosary 163
References 167
Index 185
Tables, figures and boxes
Tables
5.1 The 12 sun signs and their asociated birth dates 62
5.2 Characteristics asociated with the 12 sun signs 63
5.3 Sun signs predicted by astrologers as being appropriate for
10 ocupations 69
7.1 Stages in REM dream development 94
7.2 Pooled results from eight ESP dream studies 99
Figures
1.1 Science as an iterative cycle 12
1.2 The science of experience 15
5.1 Frequency of sun signs 68
7.1 Electrophysiological characteristics of REM sleep 87
Boxes
3.1 Should conventional medicine make more use of the
placebo efect? 37
4.1 The Cotingley fairies 54
4.2 The psychology of the seance 56
7.1 Belief in paranormal dreams 97
7.2 A typical telepathic dream experiment 98
8.1 Exercise 102
8.2 False memories in other contexts 111
9.1 Correlates of transcendental meditation (TM) 127
10.1 The ganzfeld debate 134
11.1 Are people who have NDEs realy 'dead' ? 143
11.2 Key features of the near-death experience 144