RESEARCH IN PARAPSYCHOLOGY 1978

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RESEARCH IN
PARAPSYCHOLOGY
1978
Abstracts an_` Papers from the
'Twenty-first Anm l Convention of the
~~ Association, 1978
Parapsycholo
WILLL M G. ROLL
Editor
The Scare crow Press, Inc.
Metuchen. N.I. & London
1979
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.etcI s
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Part 1: Symposia
CURRENT DIRECTIONS
IN EUROPEAN PARAPSYCIIOLOGY*
GREAT BRITAIN (John Beloff, University of Edinburgh)
This paper will be concerned mainly with the organization,
status and funding of parapsychological research in Great Britain
rather than with its content. For it is these aspects, I believe,
whicir vary most from one country to another whereas the topics and
problems which interest researchers today are more or less uni-
versal.`
Although the United States still clearly leads the world both in
the quantity and quality of published work and as a source of the
ideas which dominate parapsychological thinking, the situation in
Great Britain is of special interest if only because the British were,
by common consent, the pioneers in this field. From the start,
parapsychology (or "psychical research" as most people in Britain
still prefer to call it) has been closely associated in this country
with the Society for. Psychical Research of London. The Journal of
the Society and its volumes of Proceedings remain the ant y o icial
organs of British parapsychology and -virtually all those who are ac-
tive in the field are members of the Society. As an institution, it
has, regrettably, declined in prestige since its great days before
the First World War when its leading investigators included d and d galaxy
co-
gifted
of illustrious names and when a number of unusually
operative mediums were in full flood. Various causes may be ad-
duced for this decline, not least the rise of the Duke Laboratory and
the shift of interest towards laboratory experimentation.
During the 1970s, the SPR, like so many learned societies
in Britain, has suffered from the effects of the inflation and econom-
ic recession which hit this country with special severity. How.ever,
by dint of drastic economies and by raising subscriptions, it sur-
vived the crisis and the membership has remained steady at just
over the one thousand mark. The research fund of the SPR, to-
gether with the Perrott-Warrick fund, a legacy bequeathed to Trinity
College Cambridge, represent the main sources in Britain for the
funding of parapsychological research. Occasional grants are made
by wealthy private individuals but English millionaires have not shown
the same readiness to subsidize parapsychology as their American
counterparts. As for official government agencies, such as our So-
cial Science Research Council, so far as I know none has ever given
Chairperson: Martin Johnson, University of Utrecht.
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2 Research in Parapsychology 1978
any money for parapsychological research. Perhaps the most sig-
nificant change that has taken place in the funding of research in this
country is that most of such money as is currently available is being
devoted to supporting students who have been accepted at a university
to work on a parapsychological project for their Ph. D. or other high-
er degree. A small vanguard of such students are at present in-
stalled at Edinburgh, at Cambridge, at Surrey, at the City University
of London and perhaps elsewhere and the practice seems to be spread-
ing. The obvious advantages which such students enjoy is that they
have access to all the research facilities which a university depart-
ment can provide and they are In a position to devote their full time
to research.
There can be no doubt whatever that the demand exists on the
side of the student body. Rarely a week goes by without my receiv-
ing inquiries about the possibility of doing postgraduate work in para-
psychology in my department. The limitations are in finding the
necessary financial support for such applicants and in finding academ-
ic staff who are willing and qualified to supervise the work of these
students. I think I may say that, thanks to my personal interest in
promoting research at the university, Edinburgh now leads the coun-
try in this respect but even we do not have the accommodations or
facilities to accept more than about five such postgraduate students
at any one time. Two so far have gained their Ph.D. 's. Unfortun -
ately, even those who have the will and the ability to gain a Ph. D.
for a parapsychological thesis are faced with the lack of further op-
portunities for research at the postdoctoral level. (Two of my ex-
students, I am glad to say, have found a temporary refuge in Martin
Johnson's hospitable laboratory in Utrecht but more such openings
are desperately needed. )
WEST GERMANY (Hans Bender and Elmar R. Gruber, Institut fur
Grenzgebiete der Psychologie, Freiburg)
The German scene is characterized by an obvious discrepancy
between institutional parapsychology on the one side and the over-
growing public interest in psi on the other side. Freiburg continues
to be the center of institutionalized parapsychology. The chair for
Psychology and Border Areas of Psychology which was conferred on.
Bender in 1953 has been occupied since 1975 by J. Mischo. In
agreement with Mischo, Bender continues to lecture at the University.
Through Mischo's initiative, progress has been made insofar as para-
psychology is officially recognized as a voluntary additional subject
in new regulations for diploma examinations for students of psychol-
ogy. Every term the program promises one lecture and one accom-
panying training course. A close collaboration still exists between
the chair and the Institute for Border Areas of Psychology and Men-
tal Hygiene directed by Bender. This independent Institute, the fi-
nancial backer of which is the Fanny Moser Foundation, has a gov-
ernment paid librarian for its 10, 000 volumes, supported by the
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation).
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Symposium--European Parapsychology
Besides the Freiburg center, a Parapsychological Research
Group directed by W. Kugel has been integrated into the Berlin.
nient of Informatics at the Technical University West r well as
Financial support is scarce for the Freiburg chair each.
f,,f- the institute and does not allow more than two assistants for eac eac
Those associated with the chair are only partly engaged ro in parap
extend s
cliology. Research funds are so limited thhfta scinned arrs foundation.
it, y-
(qtly be performed with the
gements, donors for highly sophisticate
and long-term tax-free d
psi research are rare.
and The Freiburg Institute would certainly prefer to work in splen-
did scientific isolation, but the contrary is the case; it has to cope
rowing public interest in psi and its antagonists. By
igagement in mental health, it is deeply involved
,~?ith the ever- g
its tradition and its er It
contradictory, trends in the public "occult wave.
in various often conttradi ives a more and more ambiguous
in fact, this "occult explosionPa apsychological "working groups" are
outlook for parapsychology. initiative and emphasizing
emerging everywhere, sponsored by lay
subjects which can roughly be denoted as "supernatural beliefs, It such
as astral projection, contact with beings from other planets) Pein-
carnation, hypnotically-induced regressions, Pyramid s spiritism. It h ob-
pine wonder healers, astrology, and above all, p
vious that this responds to the deep-rooted needs and interests of-
many people, with hidden religious hopes as the background. In
1976, the so-called Deutsche Gesellschaft fttr Parapsychologie (Ger-
was founded in Hamburg. The So-
in its our is jour)nal Allgemeine Zeitschrift Or Para-
ciety presents for itself in Parapsychology)
,arapsyc as the represents-
psychologie (General Journal for P hology
rive association for information, research and assistance in problems
of life and faith. It has expanded into a network of local groups all
sm.
of animosity militant sRiri i
which
over the country. The attitude of this Society is
:;obey scientific research becomes a targe titute. Mass media,
sceptical trend, confound parapsychology in a
specially directed against the Freiburg with these movements and so do the fanatical disbelievers, who continllsi on ganize intolerance witch tchhunts
n
ai:ainst parapsychology with methods of inq the of
te of the Paranormal, A
ef exceeds that of Claims of
tce for the Scientific ies of the Freiburg institute have
considerable amount of the energ rovid-
reasonable attitudes and in p
to be spent in correcting these un of psi,
11,4, the public with balanced information on the present state
of senn nature.
research and its impact on our understanding end to
An extensive free-of-charge counseling service in regard
personal problems with occultism occupies nearly half of the time of
our psychoanalytically-trained collaborator, Dr. Jochen Haas. Wide-
spread such conferences a st and a l members the most varied
of institutions the Institute's
or is conducted by y countries.
shif in Germany and surrounding
A special target of the anti-psi witch hunters are poltergeist
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Research In Parapsychology 1978
cases for the investigation of which the Freiburg Institute is well
known. After having tried in vain to reduce the Rosenheim case to
influences of defective X-ray equipment, Dr. Schafer, director of
the Criminal Police in Bremen, recently published in the German
and international press the "confession" of Heiner, the focal person
in the Bremen/Freiburg case (1965-1966) on which J. Mischo, U.
Timm and G. Vilhjalmson reported at the 11th Convention of the PA
in' Freiburg in 1968. Dr. Schafer succeeded in inducing the now
27-year-old "Bremen boy" to "confess" that he fooled Bender and
his collaborators and to "explain" in detail his alleged tricks. It
was pure fantasy, what the pseudologue Heiner was shown saying in
a television film. The institute could refute his statements point by
point on the basis of original documents, confirmation by the wit-
nesses-and experimental checks of the alleged tricks.
We have been engaged once more in investigating a case of
recurrent,. spontaneous psychokinesis. Water splashes have appeared--
even in locked rooms--in connection with a 12-year-old girl in a
place in the Black Forest near the Swiss frontier. Gruber cooper-
ated with electronic engineers to check the phenomena and exclude
trickery. In collaboration with the University chair, a thorough
psychodiagnostic analysis of the group situation and the individuals
involved was made and presented as an M. A. thesis.
The main accent of research work in the Freiburg Institute
is on psychokinesis. Physicists Klaus Kornwachs and Walter von
Lucadou, in collaboration with Eberhard Bauer, continue to develop
their theoretical work on quantum theory and theory building in
parapsychology. Bauer also generously devotes much time to editing
the Zeitschrift Mr Parapsychologie and Grenzgebiete der Psychologie.
The experimental work with the Berne designer, Silvio M. ,
started by Bender and R. Vandrey in an exploratory phase, was
continued by the physicists to check special hypotheses in collabora-
tion with B. Walti (Berne), whose records were recently published
in the Zeitschrift. Kornwachs began a detailed analysis of single
shots obtained on film and videotape of PK moving and deforming of
objects. A long-term program worked out by von Lucadou currently
awaits financial support to get underway.
Another dominant aspect of the institute's research is pre-
cognition. The "observation in expectancy" of the dreams of Mrs.
Christine Mylius, which proved partly to be precognitive, has been
continued. Gruber enlarged this very significant research program
by a new series provided by another person, Mrs. Hella Nagel,
which will be evaluated independently. An outstanding case of polit-
ical prophecy--two letters written in August 1914 by a Bavarian
soldier to his family which contain exact prophecies of World War I,
Hitler's fascism, and World War II--was thoroughly investigated by
Bender who first reported on his documentation of the authenticity
of the letters at the second Conference of the Society for Psychical
Research in Cambridge, March 1978.
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Symposium- -European Parapsychology 5
The Freiburg Institute has close relations with French para-
psychology and collaborated with Prof. de Argumosa (Madrid), in
the establishment of Spanish parapsychology.
In France parapsychological research is particularly con-
cerned with psychokinesis. The effects produced by Jean-Pierre
Girard are investigated; new random generators have been built by
Yves Lignon of the Faculty of Sciences of Toulouse-le-Mirail and by
the engineer, Pierre Janin.
I have engaged in research on dermo-optical perception.
This is awareness of non-visual impressions produced by colored
stimuli or graphic forms placed close to the subject's palm. The
subject is not permitted to look at the stimuli and no guessing or
visualization are involved. The first investigation of this phenom-
enon was developed in France, in 1920, by Jules Romaine.
The best explanation of dermo-optical perception is a
physical one. It was first developed in the U.S.S.R. by B.
Constantinov, then in the U. S. A. by W. L. Makous. C. B. Nash
demonstrated statistically that dermo-optical perception is different
from ESP. According to this hypothesis, infra-red emitted by the
colors and by the hands produce differential impressions and reac-
tions. Systematic investigation of this phenomenon is now being
carried out in the U.S.S.R. by A. S. Novomeysky, and in France
by me, with the support of the Parapsychology Foundation.
Concerning the methods used I shall deal here only with the
measurement of unconscious dermo-optical sensitivity reactions.
The procedure, termed passive, is used by Novomeysky for the
th.ermoscopic method. It not only permits objective heat measure-
ments of dermo-optical reactions but demonstrates the sensitivity of
the hand to colors placed under metallic screens. It demonstrates
also that in general reactions produced by colors vary according to
lighting conditions: daylight, electric light, dusk or darkness.
The other procedures are termed active. In 1971 I started
to use a method adapted from the dynamometric method, developed
by the French physiologist, Ch. F&re. The muscular reaction pro-
duced by the subject while holding a piece of colored paper in one
hand is recorded by a dynamometer held in the other. It is
significant that statistical analyses show. the pressures induced by
red to be greater than those induced by green. However, in
electric light the subjects holding the green squeeze the dynamometer
harder than do those holding colors at the end of the spectrum, blue
and red. These dynamometric curves confirm that we are not
dealing with ESP but with a physical phenomenon.
We now come to the regrouping method devised by Novomey-
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6 Research in Parapsychology 1978
sky. It consists of having children regroup squares and rectangles
of cardboard on aluminum sheets under which either black or yellow
papers have been randomly placed. The average speed of regroup-
ing, by daylight, is slower with black than with yellow paper. These
different effects of black and yellow vary according to the "degree
of blackness," in the physical sense of the term, and appear to con-
fi'rm the thermodynamic hypothesis suggested by the thermoscopic
and the dynamometric methods.
The thermal exchanges are obvious in the results of my
recent tests with liquid crystal sheets. If the sheets are placed
over contrasting colors, or over black and white graphic forms,
even under thin aluminum sheets, they register differences.
Now we come to the method of writing and reading texts in
Braille. I used this method to discover whether blind subjects
write or read Braille at different speeds depending upon the color
of the papers they punch or read with their hands. It appears that
differences in speed not only were due to differences in the colors
of the papers used but also were influenced by different types of
lighting. For instance, writing speed decreased, in daylight, from
green to red; reading speed accelerated maximally, in electric
light, on red paper and was slowest on yellow.
Pedagogically the importance of these methods, both in
schools and in the rehabilitation of the blind, is obvious.
Some parapsychological aspects are open to question since
the domain of dermo-optical perception has been broadened to in-
clude the study of stimuli under opaque screens. It appears that
some experiments in clairvoyance of guessing hidden stimuli are
simply based on dermo-optical exchange reactions between stimuli
and subject. Thus, according to the French tradition originated by
C. Richet, Nobel prize winner in physiology, phenomena which were
first scoffed at have been found to be susceptible to explanations
based on the laws of physics and physiology.
SCANDINAVIA (Rolf Ejvegaard, Swedish Society for Psychical
Research)
Interest in parapsychological research has existed for quite
some time in Scandinavia. The Danish Society for Psychical
Research (DSPR) was founded in 1905; the Norwegian Society (NSPR),
in 1917 and the Swedish (SSPR), in 1947. During the first decade
of this century, parapsychology experienced difficult times with
constant attacks from almost everyone. Better times were enjoyed
during and immediately after World War I. Unfortunately, this en-
couraging interest gradually waned and difficulties arose anew during
the thirties.
World War II did not, as many had thought, stir up new
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-,;h). uni--European Parapsychology 7
in parapsychology. Not until the end of the forties and
Use fifties did interest begin slowly to grow again. The
,,;,went from the fifties continued on into the sixties, a
.ri hing period for parapsychology. The seventies culminated
~;ttf a boom in interest in the occult. Whether it has been for
t.r;trr or for worse for parapsychology is a question that cannot
yrt be answered.
` Scientists of all categories during the sixties appeared to
t.atic a rough idea of what parapsychology was, but one is more
htt;,nt to make this statement about scientists of today. Persons
t:;v ,l~ ecl with astrology, biorhythm, flying saucers and so on often
c.,lt themselves parapsychologists. As far as I am concerned,
r.: ?st of these people are in no way connected with parapsychology.
Ti:i, societies for psychical research in Scandinavia have tried to
.::thstand this stream of occultism but they have not been equally
r.ucce:,sful. Until recently all three societies had restricted metn-
ix?rship policies and a scientific outlook was a requirement for mem-
1b?rship. The number of members in each society had always been
around 100.
In 1973 the DSPR could not resist outer pressure any longer.
An alliance was formed with an occult magazine and the membership
was immediately increased by tenfold to 1,000. The NSPR and the
SS!'R are still closed, with memberships of slightly more than 100
each.
Because of a lack of resources, very little scientific work
l:xs been carried out in Scandinavia. The societies have mainly had
to lollow the research abroad and report back to members and
others interested. Guest speakers to the societies have on many
occasions been from abroad. Noted among them are William Roll,
Montague Ullman, and Stanley Krippner. Krippner spoke to the
Sit in early 1978. The tenth volume of the proceedings of the
sl'Et, containing a study of precognition, was published in 1978.
So far I have talked predominately of the scientific societies
and it was not just by coincidence I did so. It is basically within
these societies and through them that interest in parapsychology has
tyi?en channeled. Universities and other institutions have offered, few
p:)ssibilities for studying parapsychology.
For quite some time the University of Lund was the only
Institution of higher learning in Sweden that sponsored work in para-
psychology. We have also during the seventies received research \
papers presented at the graduate schools of administration and
-cial work of Orebro and Stockholm. In all these universities it
has been the psychology departments that have opened the doors to
parapsychology.
By and large I have stressed that parapsychology in Sweden
aad in all Scandinavia is extremely limited. Only a radical change
in available economic resources will alter this situation.
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8 Research in Parapsychology 1978
ICELAND (Erlendur Haraldsson, University of Iceland)
At the present time, as I see it, there is no particular
"European type" of parapsychology. Research methods used in
Europe and topics or problems studied are more or less the same
as in the United States. In Iceland some psychical research was
conducted early this century and then there came a long period of
iiq activity. My first major project after I started research at the
University of Iceland some five years ago was a national sample
survey of psychic experiences and attitudes toward the paranormal
which I reported on at the PA convention in 1976. This was an
extensive national survey in which over 900 persons (80 per cent
of the sample) returned their questionnaires. I have compared our
results with surveys done in other countries and found that the
frequency of reported psychic experiences differs considerably among
countries.
In,,Iceland 64 per cent'claimed a psychic experience of some
kind. In 1957 only 11 per cent did so in Denmark and only 19 per
cent in Germany. Only a few surveys have been conducted in
Europe but so far all show a much lower frequency of reported
psychic phenomena than we found in Iceland. In the United States,
on the other hand, we also have a high percentage of reported
psychic phenomena as shown in the national survey of Greeley and
McCready and also in the Palmer and Dennis community survey in
Charlottesville, where at least half the sample claimed a psychic
experience. The Icelanders and the Americans have thus a similar
frequency of reported psychic phenomena which is much higher than
percentages so far reported by continental Europeans. Some of the
attitudes show similar national differences. Belief in survival is
shared by the great majority in Iceland and the United States, but
is considerably lower in Europe; at least in northern Europe.
Parapsychological research may not differ much from one country
to another but reported psychic experiences do and also some
attitudes of interest to parapsychologists.
After studying this survey material I have wondered if we
should begin talking about sheep and goat nations, and if this has
perhaps something to do with possibly different rates of significant
and non-significant results of experiments conducted in various
countries.
Since the original survey, I have with some of my students
conducted three follow-up surveys. First of these was an interview
survey of respondents reporting experiences with deceased persons
(apparitions of the dead); a surprising 31 per cent of our original
respondents reported such experiences. In this follow-up study we
wanted to test some hypotheses regarding the nature of these ex-
periences, such as Gardner Murphy's dissociation theory of appari-
tional experiences, the effect of grief on them and also if some
crisis apparitions were to be found among these reported cases.
More or less simultaneously we have worked on two further follow-
up surveys, again with personal interviews based on detailed ques-
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Symposium--European Parapsychology 9
tionnaires. These have been on mental healing and out-of-body ex-
periences. The data are in from both these surveys and we are
now working on the evaluation.
Apart from these field studies we have conducted a few ex-
periments on dream recall, dream content, the sheep-goat variable
and personality variables, all in relation to ESP pei;formance. Last
year we replicated successfully Martin Johnson's finding of the
rather close relationship between ESP scores and scores on the
Defense Mechanism Test (DMT). This relationship has shown a
remarkable degree of replicability so far. For this experiment,
and one more ESP-DMT experiment not yet evaluated, Martin
Johnson was kind enough to come and work with us in Iceland.
Facilities and funding for research in Iceland have been
liberal and I have no complaints in that direction. For the last
few years I have been able to have a full-time research assistant..
at least six months of the year.
THE NETHERLANDS (Martin Johnson, University of Utrecht)
Parapsychology has a long history in the Netherlands. The
first laboratory for the scientific study of the paranormal was
established in Amsterdam in 1907. With some justification it can
be said that one of the cradles of experimental parapsychology was
at the University of Groningen where pioneering work was carried
out by Heymans and Brugmans. The Dutch SPR played an im-
portant role in furthering interest in parapsychology and initiating
research.
In the early fifties, Utrecht became the natural center for
parapsychological research. In 1953, W. H. C. Tenhaeff was
nominated "special" professor of parapsychology at the State Uni-
versity of Utrecht, a chair financed by the Dutch SPR, and in.
the same year the first International Annual Conference for Para-
psychological Studies was held in Utrecht, sponsored by the newly-
founded Parapsychology Foundation. Tenhaeff has become interna-A.
tionally recognized for his pioneering work with "paragnosts" and
on the home front for his active stimulation of public interest in
the field.
In 1966 the Psychological Laboratory of the Faculty of,
Social Sciences appointed a staff member, Sybo A. Schouten, to
promote experimental investigations of paranormal phenomena.
In 1974, the Parapsychology Laboratory was established in
connection with the inception of the first "regular" chair in para-
psychology in Europe. ("Regular" implies that the chair is
appointed as well as paid for by the government.) In addition, in
April 1978, a continuation of Tenhaeff's chair was secured: the
Society appointed H. van Praag, who was approved by the board of
the University of Utrecht as a "special professor" of parapsychology.
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10 Research in Parapsychology 1978
His appointment is for a limited period of time and present finan-
cial limitations dictate that the post is a part-time one.
The task of the Parapsychology Laboratory is to carry out
research and to provide a variety of educational programs for Dutch
students. Priority is given to experimental work and long-term
planning of research projects. The development of sophisticated
experimental facilities is considered a "must. "
The following research programs are in progress: (1) DMT
studies, in which the relationship between subliminal processes and
ESP is studied; cooperation with E. Haraldsson in Iceland has been
established; (2) psychophysiological work, especially centered around
the CNV (a surface negative brain wave) in relation to ESP per-
formance; (3) animal research: the effect of drugs such as librium
and amphetamines have been studied in anpsi tests; (4) studies
with "paragnosts": studies of alleged "paragnosts" are carried out
as a Ph. D. thesis topic, the main aim being to analyze what takes
place in a session in which a "paragnost" receives a client and
describes the characteristics, behavior or situation either of the
client or of a third person in which the client is interested (the
study has social and psychological as well as parapsychological
aspects); (5) investigations of the so-called "divergence problem":
several members of the Laboratory are taking an interest in the
so-called "divergence problem"--studies have been carried out and
are under way as well.
Twice a year the Laboratory publishes the European Journal
of Parapsychology (EJP). A hallmark of the EJP is the attempt to
avoid selective reporting. The Laboratory also publishes Research
Letters at irregular intervals in which articles that do not fulfill
one or more of the requirements of the EJP appear.
Serious research work is also carried out outside Utrecht.
In Amsterdam, research is done by the Amsterdamse Parapsycho-
logische Studiekring and by SCEPP (Studiecentrum voor Experimentele
Parapsychologie), which cooperates closely with the Utrecht Labora-
tory in certain areas. The main emphasis has been on healers,
workshops on hypnosis, psychophysiology, and problems related to
observational theory. Leading research workers are D. Bierman
and J. Houtkooper. In Eindhoven, investigations have been reported
by H. Breederveld and by J. Jacobs. Their privately-run center
is the Institute for Fundamental Studies. PK experiments with
dice, in which H. Breederveld usually performs as his own subject,
have been reported. Furthermore, studies on a possible influence
of birth order on ESP ability have been carried out, as well as
studies on ESP in relation to success on a special type of lottery
("Lotto -games").
A proposal has been made to issue an annual project catalog
(including listing of useful hardware as well as software) that could
be helpful to other research centers, especially in Europe. The
Idea has also been advanced to form a European regional branch of
the Parapsychological Association.
Approved For Release 2001/03/07 : CIA-RDP96-00788R002000130012-4