PARAPSYCHOLOGY IN THE IBERO-AMERICAN WORLD, ARGENTINA

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186 The Journal of Pardo If6 d For Release 2003/09/10 CIA-RDP96-00792R000700 logy in the Ibero-American World
a high concentration of Spiritists whose beliefs threaten the estab-
lished Catholic dogmas. However, when he uses parapsychological
evidence of certain phenomena as a scientific backup to establish
facts, when this same evidence is still very controversial for many
parapsychologists, his position is untenable. Nonetheless, his work
has to be seen in the cultural and ideological background from
which he has w(gked (Alvarado, 1991).
Another dim
researchers with
ion of Brazilian psychical rese
ducted by the engi
des Andrade, who in
chobiophysical Research
clear that the Institute in
as well as purely psychical
things about this Institute is t
movement (Playfair, 1975). A
ducted well-planned and detail
it emerge
cases along the lines of Ian Steve
are particularly interesting-for e
monograph entitled 0 Poltergeist de
volve very dramatic phenomena: a
persons, apparitions of strange cre
evaluating and interpreting the ca
carnate agencies hypothesis, som
ponents (Alvarado, 1984b; An
Amorim (1990) has remarked
cases:
Andrade interprets the di#
case [the Guarulhos's case]
ents especially in the big
and Spiritist elements
ecclesiastic of popular
199)
and psychical research
PP). The name
ded to explore,
ossible witchcraft com-
Also, as Michel-Ange
interpretation of the
ent types of occur
supportive of a Spiri
banda tradition has se
cities. It combines Africa
d may be characterized as
ces present in this
al million adher-
atholic, Indian,
elatively extra-
ilian sects. (p.
According to A 'im, not only does Andrade inter t his cases
along the Spiritist but he also accepts the central be s of this
religion, such as t< existence of all sorts of spirits, like us and
Umulums. He a believes that the sorcerer is able to ractice
magic within th." erreiros (a place specialized in these pro ures)
to harass victiti ccording to Quimbanda laws (the black magic side
of the Umba ~d religion).
Conce ng Andrade's interpretation of the aforementioned case
of Guarulhos, Amorim (1990) also states:
is the work by
le is that con-
3ernani Guimar-
n Institute of Psy-
s chosen to make it
biological and physical
of the most significant
rom within the Spiritist
piritist himself, has con-
gations of reincarnation
work. His poltergeist cases
le, the one published in a
4hos (1984). These cases in-
damage to furniture and
and spontaneous fires. In
Thus, he rejects the usual attributions of RSPK outbreaks to a living
agency. In defense of his position he points to the fact that a psycho-
logical examination of Noemia [a participant in the case], the most prob-
able RSPK agent, was conducted by two psychologists belonging to the
IBPP team. He states, "Mrs. Noemia didn't display any form of psychi-
cal abnormality that could justify viewing her as belonging to the `psy-
chokinetic agent of a poltergeist' category in conformit with the theo-
retical atterns suggested by the current hypothesis " .. He adds that
his mac K tests ... of her capacities were also ative. (p. 199)
It is impo t, however, to point out t to some extent the
cases investigate Andrade and his as ates seem to reflect the
influence of the be s and culture of zilian society (Hess, 1990).
Andrade has also p 'shed one of first systematic treatises of
parapsychology in Po guese en ' d Parapsicologia Experimental
(1967). A basic introdu ry ma al of the quantitative method
used in parapsychology, it clu a detailed description of the sta-
tistical model used in expe s with ESP cards.
There are other groups t Brazil who are interested in a more
scientific approach to psych' esearch. One of these groups is the
recently established ECLI Y- tituto de Investigacoes Gientificas
em Parapsicologia. This cup at s to pursue a different approach,
one separate from the ore tra 'onal approaches associated with
Spiritist or Catholic entations t ical of most Brazilian research
centers. It received pport from th University of Sao Francisco to
organize its first c ference in para chology, held in 1990, which
i
included partici nts from the Uni sity as well as researchers
from Argenti , Brazil, and Mexico. e group plans to conduct
experimental search that will be repor in its new journal, called
Revista Bras' 'ra de Parapsicologia. Accor g to its president, Wel-
lington Z gari, it will include abstracts English as well as in
Spanish. he journal will also include tran tions from major ex-
perime al and theoretical articles publish in the English-lan-
guage urnals.
T re are also other groups involved in paraychology in Brazil
that are beyond the scope of this paper because of limitations of
space and because of our initial goal of evaluating Brazilian para-
psychology from the perspective of its impact on the Ibero-Ameri-
can countries.
Argentina
For many years Argentina has been the top-ranking country in
Ibero-America in terms of experimental parapsychological research.
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188 The Journal of Parapsychology Parapsychology in the Ibero-American World 189
However, research has diminished in the last few years, partly be- lished a journal called Revista Medica de Metapsiquica summarizing
cause of the recent deaths of two of the leading contributors, J. Ri- the research of the society. Included among the articles published
cardo Musso and Enrique Novillo Pauli. in the journal was a study of the use of dowsers by the government
Early research began in Argentina about the same time the Duke to find water in towns where the lack of water had become a hard-
University Laboratory was established in the United States. The ship for its inhabitants. During this period, the work of Canavesio
1930s witnessed one of the most important events in the history of was important because of his connection to the government, a con-
Argentine parapsychology. In 1931, the first institute of psychology nection that helped to legitimize parapsychological studies in Argen-
was established at the University of Buenos Aires. The institute in- tina (Musso, 1973).
cluded paranormal psychology as one of the areas to be investigated The creation of the Instituto de Psicopatologia Aplicada in 1948
by the department. Parapsychology appeared to be joined to psy- by the Secretary of Public Health was another important develop-
chology from the beginning. The chairman of the psychology de- ment. The aim of the government was to establish tight control over
partment, Enrique Mouchet, was interested in clairvoyance research the Spiritist activities in Argentina, which were considered to be a
and had come to the conclusion that it was necessary to include social evil. More specifically, the aim was to control the exploitation
paranormal psychology in the syllabus of courses offered by the de- of people engaged in nonscientific practices such as healing, and so
partment (Musso, 1973). on.
However, Argentinian researchers have had to struggle with the The Institute created a subsidiary, the Comity de Investigaciones
traditional spiritualistic methodology that characterized the study of Metapsiquicas, which was assigned to conduct experimental research
psychical research in this country in the past. The research being with gifted subjects, specifically during mediumistic sessions. The
conducted in the young Duke Parapsychology Laboratory had a ma- Committee intended to explore the medical and legal implications
jor impact on the new generation of Argentinian researchers. The of Spiritist practices, as well as to determine whether genuine para-
move toward a more quantitative approach to the study of scientific psychological phenomena were exhibited during these sessions by
parapsychology was pioneered by a young engineer by the name of the gifted subjects. The Committee was also interested in uncover-
Josa Fernandez, who was teaching physics at the University of Bue- ing negative factors that might induce mental illness, such as neu-
nos Aires. Although Fernandez belonged to a Spiritualist group rosis, in the participants. More specifically, it seems that the real ob-
called ATMAN, he had been in search of an adequate methodology jective of the Committee was to determine whether the promoters
to investigate the psychic phenomena manifested by mediums and of these mediumistic sessions were practicing medicine illegally
clairvoyants. He hoped to be able to apply statistical principles to the (Parra, 1989).
responses given by the mediums. Fernandez presented the results In 1949 Jose Fernandez founded the Sociedad Argentina de
of these experiments in 1941 to a meeting of the Sociedad Cientifica Parapsicologia. Fernandez, who was already known for his quanti-
Argentina. Fernandez's efforts to introduce quantitative methodol- tative approach to psychic phenomena, continued to promote the
ogy in Argentina had a major impact on the approaches that other statistical approach used by the Duke researchers. This approach
young researchers were to follow in establishing scientific parapsy- was reflected in the Society's main objective, which was to study and
chology there. investigate parapsychological phenomena with emphasis on the de-
Another development during this period was the creation of the velopment of statistical methods. By then Fernandez had received
Asociaci6n Argentina Mrsdica de Metapsiquica in 1946 by a group from Rhine a copy of Extra-Sensory Perception After Sixty Years (Pratt,
of physicians headed by Orlando Canavesio. The aim of this society Rhine, Smith, Stuart, & Greenwood, 1940). The book had a major
was to evaluate the medical and legal status of parapsychology sci- impact on Fernandez, who applied Rhine's mathematical models to
entifically and to promote its development in scientific circles as well his own research. Fernandez also circulated the book among his
as to determine its proper classification, that is, to decide whether friends (Musso, 1973).
the discipline belonged to psychology or physiology, or whether it The Society conducted the first serious experiments on clairvoy-
could be considered to be a new branch of science. ance in Argentina using ESP cards and statistical procedures. The
Canavesio himself wrote his doctoral thesis on a, study of ele}}c~~- study, with gifted subjects, obtained significant results. Fernandez
troencephalographic records of giftedAspbleovedT}}For }~e1e se2D03/09/10: CIA-RDP96-0 92r o 060 *m4'-? these experiments in a pamphlet entitled
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190 The Journal of Parapsychology Parapsychology in the Ibero-American World 191
Psicologia Experimental. The Society also conducted other experi-
ments such as the one with the well-known clairvoyant Conrado Cas-
tiglione. The study used the empty-chair technique similar to that
used with Ludwig Khan and with Gerard Croiset (Musso, 1973).
The first Instituto Argentino de Parapsicologia was established
in 1953. It brought together several men who represented the most
critical approach of the time, men such as Jose Fernandez, Orlando
Canavesio, J. Ricardo Musso, and Naum Kreiman. The Institute was
organized to include a main scientific research department, along
with several sections, such as the medical-biological section and a
physics and mathematics section. The principles of the Institute re-
flected the critical approach their members followed in conducting
their research. One of these was to subject every hypothesis to sci-
entific examination, so that only those that would withstand the
most stringent tests would remain. In addition to the creation of the
Institute, this period of the 1950s was also characterized by a grow-
ing interest in publishing books on parapsychology. One of the first
systematic treatises on parapsychology in Spanish written by J. Ri-
cardo Musso (1954) was called En los Limites de la Psicologia: Desde el
Espiritismo hasta la Parapsicologia [On the Limits of Psychology: From
Spiritualism to Parapsychology]. Other developments included a pa-
per by Musso in 1957, which was published in a journal put out by
the ministry of education of the province of Buenos Aires. It was
the first time a paper on parapsychology had been published in a
government review. In addition, parapsychology was incorporated
as a course in five different universities. In 1960, Ricardo Musso was
awarded a professorship at Rosario University to teach parapsychol-
ogy, and, for the first time in any country, a course in parapsycho-
logy was made a requirement for a doctoral degree in psychology
(Rueda, 1989).
In 1962 the Institute conducted studies confirming the sheep-
goat effect, using primary-school children as subjects. The results
were published in the Journal of Parapsychology (Musso, 1965). Other
important experiments included "An ESP Drawing Experiment with
a High Scoring Subject," also published in the journal of Parapsychol-
ogy (Musso & Granero, 1973). Moreover, Musso and his wife and
colleague, Mirta Granero, conducted an international experiment
on long-distance ESP called the "Antarctic Experiment." Although
the results were not statistically significant they were important be-
cause the experiment involved subjects from twenty different coun-
tries (Musso, 1973, p. 168).
The expansion period of parapsychology was interrupted in
thrown by a military coup; most state universities were forced to
eliminate the study from their curricula. In spite of the prevailing
negative conditions standing in the way of university status for the
subject, a new quarterly publication was founded. The Cuadernos de
Parapsicologia, perhaps the most important publication in the history
of Argentinian experimental parapsychology, took the responsibility
of disseminating a high level of academic parapsychology. Headed
by Naum Kreiman, it has been the most professional organ of sci-
entific parapsychology in Argentina to the present time.
Owing to the military takeover of the government that elimi-
nated most of the parapsychology courses offered at the state uni-
versities, parapsychology did not enjoy the same status at the begin-
ning of the 1970s as it had during the period of university
expansion of the 1960s. Some new developments during this period
kept the torch lit, however. Among the most important ones was the
creation of the Instituto de Parapsicologia in 1970. It is headed by
Naum Kreiman, a bio-statistician and a co-founder of the Instituto
Argentino de Parapsicologia in the 1950s. Kreiman has played a key
role in the development of the quantitative approach to the study
of parapsychology for the last 30 years. From 1964 to the present
he has conducted numerous original experiments as well as repli-
cations of some of the most important experiments conducted in
foreign countries. With the help of his wife and collaborator, Dora
Ivnisky, and Ladislao Marquez, he has conducted numerous exper-
iments that have been published in the Cuadernos. Among them are
exploratory testing with ESP cards (Kreiman & Ivnisky, 1964); ESP
using photographs as targets (Kreiman, 1965); the sheep-goat effect
in ESP (Kreiman, 1972); the effect of feedback on ESP (Kreiman &
Ivnisky, 1973); ESP and memory (Kreiman, 1975); memory and
precognition (Kreiman, 1978); psi and volition (Kreiman & Ivnisky,
1980); brain laterality and ESP (Kreiman, 1981); precognition of
human actions (Ivnisky & Kreiman, 1981); and remote viewing
(Kreiman, 1983).
Institute members such as Dora Ivnisky have done extensive
work in keeping the Argentinian parapsychological community in-
formed of activities around the world by translating numerous ex-
periments and theoretical papers from languages other than Span-
ish from the Journal of Parapsychology and elsewhere. The diligent
experimental work done by Kreiman since the 1950s and continuing
to the present time makes him one of the most important laboratory
researchers in Argentinian and Ibero-American parapsychology.
Another important development during this period was the cre-
1966 when the then current Argentinian government was over- f II t f arapsychology at the Catholic University of
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The Journal of Parapsychology Parapsychology in the Ibero-American World 193
C6rdoba by the Catholic priest Enrique Novillo Pauli. One of the
principal activities of the Institute was to teach courses on parapsy-
chology in the school of psychology at the University. The staff of
the Institute also provided consultation and orientation to bishops,
priests, and families about phenomena such as poltergeists and
bleeding religious images. Unfortunately this institute recently
closed down after the death of Father Novillo.
Prior to the creation of the Institute, Novillo Pauli had been at
the Foundation for Research on the Nature of Man in North Car-
olina where he conducted some PK research with seeds as targets
under the auspices of the Organization of American States. Novillo
Pauli presented the results of his experiments at the annual conven-
tion of the Parapsychological Association in 1972 (Novillo Pauli,
1973). During the period of his stay at the FRNM, he also prepared
a book on parapsychology entitled Los Fen6menos Parapsicol6gicos: Psi
en el Laboratorio (1975), which included reports of his PK studies.
The studies were also reported in the Spanish-language parapsycho-
logical journals Cuadernos de Parapsicologia (1974) and Psi Comunica-
ci6n (1976).
In spite of the marked decline since the 1970s, an important re-
cent development is the organization of a parapsychology confer-
ence in Argentina in 1987, the Primer Encuentro de Parapsicologia,
It was sponsored by the University of Salvador of Buenos Aires and
held under the direction of Enrique Novillo Pauli. Some of the top-
ics discussed at the conference were mental healing studies, altered
states of consciousness in relation to psi performance, and quantum
mechanics (Alvarado, 1989b). Soon afterward, Argentina suffered
the loss of two of its most important pioneers, J. Ricardo Musso,
president of the Instituto Argentino de Parapsicologia (which he di-
rected until his death in 1989) and, in the same year, Enrique Novi-
llo Pauli. Consequently, the activities of Musso's institute declined,
and the institute at the University of El Salvador headed by Enrique
Novillo Pauli closed down. Since then, the Institute'of Parapsychol-
ogy headed by Kreiman has remained as the most important source
of professional parapsychology in Argentina.
During the 1980s, parapsychology in Argentina was character-
ized by a marked decline in experimental activities. Most of the
work during this period was conducted by members of the Institute
of Parapsychology under Kreiman, who, as in previous years, main-
tained a constant interest in reporting original experiments, includ-
ing replications of foreign experimental works. They also continued
to publish regularly their quarterly journal, which contained trans-
lations of some of the most important research published in English.
Recently, a new parapsychology journal, the Revista Argentina de
Psicologia Paranormal, has appeared. It is published by an indepen-
dent group of parapsychologists called LAPAS (Laboratory of Para-
psychology) and edited mainly by Alejandro Parra. Judged by its
content, the journal seems to be a worthwhile addition to the cur-
rent efforts to keep the Argentinian audience well informed on
professional parapsychology. However, some of the experiments of
the researchers in this group have not been well received by other
Argentinian researchers, who consider the experiments to be flawed
(Kreiman, 1990; see also Alvarado, 1990). LAPAS has also started a
Spanish-language parapsychology information center. The Center is
building a computer data bank from which Spanish-speaking para-
psycholo,gists may obtain information about a bibliography on para-
psychology similar to the Parapsychology International Abstracts pub-
lished by Rhea White (Villanueva, 1990).
In addition to these recent developments, CSICOP has made its
way to Argentina. A former member of Naum Kreiman's research
group, Ladislao Marquez, has created an Argentinian version called
Centro Argentino Para la Investigaci6n y Refutaci6n de la Pseudo-
ciencia (CAIRP). The most important aims of CAIRP are to de-
nounce fraud and to promote a critical scientific assessment of the
claims made by pseudoscientists. The board of directors, headed by
Ladislao Marquez, also includes foreign members, Martin Gardner,
for instance.
The prospects for Argentinian parapsychology in the 1990s
seem less favorable than those of the booming period of previous
years. The present difficulties in the Argentinian economy have in-
creased for researchers, making it difficult for them to obtain funds
to support their research and publications.
In a recent survey conducted on the present status of parapsy-
chology in Argentina, Naum Kreiman reported that research has
decreased substantially over the last five years. Most of the recent
research reports have come from Kreiman's Institute of Parapsy-
chology. Educational activities in the field are almost nil except for
a course being offered at a small university called: John F. Kennedy
University (Kreiman & Ivnisky, 1989).
In a letter published in the Journal of Parapsychology, Jorge Villa-
nueva (1990) pointed out some of the major problems that Argen-
tinian researchers face at the present time. Among them are lack of
support from public and private institutions, lack of serious books
in Spanish to provide responsible information on the subject, and
lack of proper technology and other means to conduct sophisticated
research. Some of these problems, Villanueva suggests, may be di-
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The
i
,
minished by increasing communication and collaboration with for-
eign parapsychologists.
The theoretical ideas of Ralph 'U. Sierra are also interesting.
Sierra, who was interested in the psychology of ESP, believed that
to develop telepathy it was necessary to develop first an internal
state of tranquility so that the electrical activity of the brain did not
interfere with the telepathic process (Sierra, 1966).
Some of the most important developments, however, took place
during the last two centuries. At the educational level, it is impor-
tant to note the work of Celinda Madera who, during the 1970s,
Early psychical research in Pi(erto Rico was strongly influenced
by the nineteenth-century Sp'ritualist movement that had also
spread to other countries. M iumistic seances in which raps and
communication with the spiri were common drew attention mostly
from people wA~ a religiou interest.
It was perhap this infl nce that led Agapito Morales to publish
in 1904 a more ~'tical amination of these phenomena. In his
booklet Breve Tra de ipnotismo, Magnetismo, Espiritismo y Suges-
toterapia, Morales con e ded that all those occurrences could take
place without assumin the action of spirit agencies. He interpreted
possession as being a uggestion and attributed paranormal phe-
nomena to our own syc is faculties. He considered that all of the
experiments made til t ay demonstrate that there is an invisible
force in our being its c. pable, for instance, of playing a guitar,
lifting a table, or 1' Ling our wn bodies. According to him this force
is under our co rol. He als believed that mediumistic communi-
cation could be explained by means of telepathy between the me-
dium and the tter. ,~
Another jor influence in thee formation of a more empirical
and critical a proach to parapsych~o4ogy was the work of Francisco
Ponte, a de tist who became president of the Puerto Rican Feder-
ation of Sp' itists. Ponte visited Europe;in 1912 to familiarize him-
self with t e work of several Spiritualistic\centers, as well as psychi-
cal resear h centers. He had had the opportunity to participate in
mediumi tic seances in Italy with famous ediums such as Lucia
Sordi a d Eusapia Palladino. During these canes he witnessed
manife tations of apparent telekinesis and terializations (Alva-
rado, 987; Ponte, 1914).
Later Ponte returned to Puerto Rico and trie to reproduce the
same phenomena with local mediums. He reporte me of his find-
ings on materializations of body parts during seances to Walter
Franklin Prince, then Research Officer of the ASPR. Ponte's work
was important because of the critical and empirical approach he
brought to his research on seance phenomena (Alvarado, 1979a).
10 This section on Puerto Rican parapsychology partly summarizes information
contained in an article by Alvarado (1979a).
series of courses and lectures at different campuses of the
offered
of Puerto Rico. Madera's courses focused on the human-
Universit
anspersonal aspects of psi. She erself had received train-
istic and t
e University's Parapsycholo y La oratory vara o,
ing at Du b (Al d
1979a).
In 1914, estor A. Rodriguez E cudero, a lawyer, published a
series of essa about parapsychol gy and Spiritualism in his book
Los Caminos de ios. He discussed great variety of paranormal phe-
nomena. His m in objective w to show that parapsychology dem-
onstrates the spi 'tual aspect f man (Rodriguez Escudero, 1974).
Another deve pment i 1977 was the creation of the Instituto
de Investigaciones sicofi cas at the University of Puerto Rico, May-
aguez campus. Fou e to conduct investigations in parapsychology
and related areas, th nstitute carried out studies of various param-
eters of Kirlian pho raphy and of the effects of hypnosis on ESP.
However, these r ear investigations were never made available
for publication. uring is period Alfonso Martinez Taboas began
to publish a ne sletter Exp rando to Paranormal, a semipopular mag-
azine later e ted by Carlos lvarado starting in 1976.
Martine Taboas and Carl Alvarado wrote articles on parapsy-
chology i Spanish for the Spa ish journal Psi Comunicacion; they
also pub shed in other journals. eir articles covered a wide range
of topi s. Among these, Alvarado ote on experimental studies of
OBEs (1976), historical precedents f the so-called psychic discov-
erie behind the Iron Curtain (1978 the use of historical knowl-
ed (1979b), and on J. B. Rhine (198 . Martinez Taboas published
a review of the problem of repeatability in parapsychology (1979),
critiques of psychological and physiological concepts of poltergeist
research (1977, 1980, 1984; Martinez Taboas & Alvarado, 1981),
and a discussion of the concept of parsimony applied to parapsy-
chology (1983).
The work of Martinez Taboas and Alvarado has been very im-
portant in the effort to bridge the language barrier between the
Spanish researcher and the non-Spanish-speaking researcher. This
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