MISCHO, JOHANNES. ARE PSYCHIC PHENOMENA WHEN TREATED ACCORDING TO QUANTITATIVE AND STATISTICAL MODELS A 'ROULETTE' FOR 'SUPERNATURAL

• Document Type: CREST
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• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP96-00792R000700660006-3
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GERMAN LANGUAGE
Psychologie, 1975, 17(1), 41-49. 1 ref
A 34-year old schizophrenic is described. Under the
impact of incestuous ideas she imagines her father being
re-born in her own son; she also reports a number of al-
legedly psychokinetic phenomena which partly appeared
ZEITSCHRIFT FUR PARAPSYCHOLOGIE UND spontaneously, partly in connection with performances by
GRENZGEBIETE DER PSYCIIOLOGIE Uri Geller on television. This case description forms the
Note: The first abstract below was inadvertently omitted
from Vol. 4(1), which covered Vol. 15 of this journal. - Ed.
01910. Hammers, Alwin J., and Rosin, Ulrich. Parapsy-
chology as judged by German theologians. Zeitschrift
fur Parapsychologie and Grenzgebiete der Psychologie,
1973, 15(1), 15-35.
Selected results of a survey of a representative ran-
dom sample of Catholic and Protestant theologians of the
Federal Republic of Germany are reported which was
taken in March, 1972. So far as the general attitude
towards parapsychology is concerned, the questions about
the value and scientific character of parapsychology and
about the factuality of its phenomena were answered on
the average very positively. The representatives of a
general "occult believing" or "anti-occult believing" at-
titude are only -indicated sporadically. All in all, the
theologians prove to be the professional group most prob-
ably best informed on the field of parapsychology. Accord-
ing to the theologians, the main importance of parapsy-
chology lies in the field of anthropology. In spite of the
affinity of parapsychical phenomena to the religious ex-
perience, the former is given its own meaning independent
of the religious sphere. This affinity should be the reason,
however, for a positive attitude of the theologians towards
parapsychology. The expectation that parapsychical phe-
nomena are readily drawn on as a support for the the-
' ological system is not confirmed. A clear skepticism of the
theologians in regard to parapsychology only then appears
when they suspect that parapsychology will break into
their own field. There are definite differences between
the theologians of the two confessions in the answers
given to the questions. Although more Protestant the-
ologians answered the questionnaire and also have a bet-
ter knowledge of the literature at their disposal, their
positive statements on parapsychology and its phenomena
are generally somewhat more reserved than those of the
Catholic theologians. - DA
01911. Mischo, Johannes. Are psychic phenomena when
treated according to quantitative and statistical models
a "roulette" for "supernatural" consequences? Pt. Ii: A
critical examination of call sequences. Zeitschrift fir
Parapsychologie and Grenzgebiete der Psychologie,
1975, 17(1), 1-28. 13 refs; 19 tables
In this article the objections to the quantitative and
statistical model of ESP experiments are summarized as
follows: (1) in ESP card-guessing experiments subjects are
not able to produce random call sequences, (2) it has
not been shown that target sequences are stochastic se-
quences, (3) dependence on calls and target sequences
leads to pseudosignificant results due to its bordering on
hit sequences and is thus wrongly interpreted as a para-
psychic phenomenon.
Extensive empirical material for calls (closed decks,
open decks, experiments with random number generators)
is analyzed. Even in RNG experiments subjects are not
able to produce stochastic sequences. According to these
results the first thesis is fully verified. - DA
01912. Bjarsch, Hubert. Case history relating to pr-
oblems of paranormal faculties in schizophrenia.
Zeitschrift fur Parapsychologie and Grenzgebiete der
basis for a discussion of special factors of uncertainty
which are concomitants of schizophrenia and that have to
be taken into consideration, if necessary, when judging
reports on allegedly paranormal occurrences.
After the author had finished this paper the schizo-
phrenic committed suicide. - DA/G.H.
01913. Lucadou, Walter von, and Kornwachs, Klaus.
Fundamentals of a theory of paranormal phenomena.
Zeitschrift ftir Parapsychologie and Grenzgebiete der
Psychologie, 1975, 17(2/3), 73-87. 32 refs
In this article a basis for a new understanding of psi
phenomena is outlined. It is centered in the fundamental
discussion of how complex systems can be described in
terms of positivism. By these considerations the authors
are led to demand a macroscopic function of probability,
phi, by means of which psi phenomena can be explained
as being dependent on physical and psychological condi-
tions. Although a concept of a function of probability
cannot be fully understood within the categories of classi-
cal ontology it is shown tq be able to make possible a
formal and thus quantifiable theory of parapsychology. Al-
though, moreover, psychological effects cannot be reduced
to physical descriptions the concept of a psi function
enables us to establish a relation and connection between
psychological and physical data. This is illustrated by an
analysis of psychokinetic phenomena. The theory discussed
here is not a physical theory in the traditional sense but
is based on a concept of physics that is able to take
psychological variables into account. - DA
01914. Brand, Illo. The spectrum of UFO sightings.
Zeitschrift fftr Parapsychologie and Grenzgebiete der
Psychologie, 1975, 17(2/3), 89-124. 2 figs; 78 refs
The author demonstrates that the prejudices prohi-
biting scientific research on UFO phenomena are based
on sociopsychological reasons. Most reports come from
laypersons, are of anecdotal character, and do not reach
scientific journals. The UFO problem, on the other hand,
fulfills the requirements claimed by a science-theoretical
view. The personality structure of the UFO witnesses is
different from that of the witnesses of paranormal
phenomena. A paranoia that could be induced by the
UFO theme is not observed (in contradiction to the
opinion of the press). Resistance of scientists to UFO re-
search is based on the difficulty encountered in the acqui-
sition of reliable data, in the premature declaration of
public opinion that UFOs are extraterrestrial space ships,
in the allegedly reduced reliability connected with the
engagement in obscure observations and observers, and in
the shortage of getting well-founded information. The aim
of the examination by E. Condon and his co-workers in
1969 was to trace back all the UFO observations to
natural phenomena, frauds, or illusions and hallucinations.
In the spectrum of UFO sightings, in which the author
had put the sizes of the objects versus the physical reac-
tion on the environment in a diagram, the Condon-UFO
cases reveal the smallest degrees of significance and are
cancelled out by definition from "physical UFO phenome-
na." Only when the distribution of frequencies of sight-
ings in a spectrum based on 50,000 computerized data is
known can it be decided without any doubt whether the
UFO phenomenon is primarily a physical or a parapsy-
chological phenomenon. - DA
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