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Storm, Lance. "A parapsychological investigation of the theory of psychopraxia : experimental and theoretical researches into an alternative theory explaining normal and paranormal phenomena." Title page, contents and abstract only, 2001. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09PH/09phs885.pdf.
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Published articles by the author appended to thesis. Bibliography: p. 288-315. Describes a series of four experiments which were conducted to test the theory of psychopraxia. The thesis is an investigation of the theory from the perspective of paranormal phenomena only. It is argued that the theory of psychopraxia is important to the field of parapsychology because it offers (a) a philosophical critique on taken-for-granted assumptions about the nature of the paranormal, (b) relatively unambiguous terminology, and (c) a process-oriented approach to investigations of the paranormal by concentrating on conditions deemed necessary in bringing about paranormal effects. The thesis concludes that, in its current form, the psychopraxia model needs clarification of its most crucial concepts ("self", "pro-attitude" and "necessary conditions") before it can be regarded as a workable theory.
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Tranguch, Jeff. "From bigfoot in the backyard to ghosts in the attic predictors of paranormal belief /." Morgantown, W. Va. : [West Virginia University Libraries], 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10450/10978.
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Wolffram, Heather. "On the borders of science : psychical research and parapsychology in Germany, c.1870-1939 /." On the borders of science-- Read the abstract of the thesis, 2005. http://www.library.uq.edu.au/pdfserve.php?image=thesisabs/absthe18732.pdf.
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Lewis, Chad M. "Investigating students' beliefs in the paranormal." Online version, 2002. http://www.uwstout.edu/lib/thesis/2002/2002lewisc.pdf.
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Coelho, Claudia Carvalho De Matos Teixeira. "Constructing parapsychology : a discourse analysis of the accounts of experimental parapsychologists." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/9997.
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This thesis is concerned with parapsychology as a field of experimental science. It is based on the discourse analysis of interviews with experimental parapsychologists, in which they provide accounts of their field, their own research practices and experimental outcomes. Drawing on literature from the fields of parapsychology and social studies of science, experimental parapsychologists are characterised as having an asymmetrical standing within science. Whilst they share with other experimental scientists (e.g. psychologists) many of their core assumptions and investigative methods, they differ significantly in how their phenomena, basic propositions and empirical expertise are actively disputed both outwith and within parapsychology. It is this asymmetrical standing, the disputed nature of the reality of their object and of the scientific justification of its existence that makes parapsychologists' accounts of their work particularly interesting to the exploration of discursive practices involved in the construction of what they do a doing science. Drawing both on literature relating to the "linguistic turn" in social studies of science, and on recent methodological developments in discourse analysis, this thesis puts forward that the analysis of parapsychologists' accounts provides a particularly rich insight into how scientific knowledge and practice are discursively accomplished. It thus focuses on how these parapsychologists produce meaningfully variable factual versions of what they do as 'doing science', and of their disputed object as a real phenomenon. The aims of the study were the following: a) to examine parapsychologists' own accounts of their field, research practices and experimental outcomes; b) to analyse how these accounts attend to normative versions of what 'counts' as science; and c) to analyse the discursive resources they use to achieve factual accounts of 'doing science'. The analysis of the data obtained from 20 interviews with experimental parapsychologists begins with the examination of how they constructed their field as a community, as a body of evidence, and as a field with a particular relationship to a standard view of science. The analysis was inspired by the thread of discourse analytic research which focuses on 'fact construction'. It shows how they orient to ideas of demarcation and constitute parapsychology as a field with characteristics that compromise the scientificity of their own knowledge and practice. It also shows how these parapsychologists attend to and manage the relationship between what they do and these compromising characteristics, by building them up as essential properties of the evidence for the phenomena (as essentially ambiguous), and even of psi itself (as essentially elusive). The construction of parapsychology as inherently problematic (i.e. a 'less than perfect' scientific field), allows these parapsychologists to constitute their research work as an almost heroic achievement. Regarding the participants' versions of their research practices, the analysis shows that they make these scientifically safe (e.g., by appealing to, and by presenting them as, in line with, ordinary versions of empirical research). The analysis further explores these parapsychologists' constructions of their practices as doing strict and extreme empiricism, with no assumptions, expectations, theoretical uderpinnings or objectives. Their appeal to the primacy of facts, the doing of methodology, neutrality and the dispensability of theory and models, constitute versions of scientific inquiry that are bearably in line with a version of science as 'doing strict empiricism'. The analysis argues that the variety and extremity of these formulations constitute the extent to which the empirical quality of their research is oriented to by them as something that is not taken for granted (and thus needs to be accounted for). Paradoxically, this same extremity rhetorically breaches normative accounts of doing science, through the intense problematization of theory or expectations of any sort. The final focus of the analysis is the exploration of these parapsychologists' constructions of the outcomes of their own research, specifically their categories of psi and of anomaly. The analysis shows that, though both of these concern the central object and claim of parapsychology, the participants present radically different categories of each, which are functionally meaningful in relation to their versions of doing science. Overall, the thesis argues that these parapsychologists constitute a paradoxical discursive position in relation to normative accounts of doing science. On the one hand, they actively appeal to the primacy of evidence and empiricism On the other hand, they construct a set of characteristics for their research object and evidence that compromise the rhetorical achievements of empiricism; also, the extremity of these accounts is such that this constructed empiricism is made into a remarkable rhetorically brittle account of scientific practice in parapsychology. Finally, the thesis discusses the implications of these arguments for parapsychology, namely, for the development of a reflexive and discursive thread of research within the field. It also examines the limitations of this approach and possible future research.
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Zingrone, Nancy L. "From text to self : the interplay of criticism and response in the history of parapsychology." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/7722.
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The thesis examines the history of criticism and response in scientific parapsychology by bringing together the tools of history, rhetoric of science, and discursive psychology to examine texts generated in the heat of controversy. Previous analyses of the controversy at hand have been conducted by historians and sociologists of science, focusing on the professionalisation of the discipline, its philosophical and religious underpinnings, efforts of individual actors in the history of the community, and on the social forces which constrict and restrict both the internal substantive progress of the field and its external relations with the wider scientific community. The present study narrows the problem domain from the English-language literature ---- an extensive database of over 1500 books and articles ---- to the following: (1) a brief history of the development of the field in the U. K. and the U. S. that includes a survey of previous reviews of the controversy; (2) a specific controversy that extended over a 10-year period in the mid-twentieth century; and (3) a solicited debate on parapsychology with two target articles, 48 commentaries, and 3 responses published in Behavioral and Brain Sciences. The thesis is comprised of eight chapters. In Chapter 1, the goals and methods of the thesis are described, previous considerations of controversy and closure in science studies are reviewed, the notion of closure is discussed, and the thesis content is described. In Chapter 2, a brief history of the field is provided which emphasises the broad structure and content of the field rather than specific methodology, results, or theory. In Chapter 3, previous reviews of the controversy are examined to provide a sense of the controversy terrain and to examine the extent to which what Gilbert and Mulkay (1984) have called ‘‘contingent’’ and ‘‘empiricist’’ repertoires have been used in criticisms and response. In Chapter 4, case studies on parapsychology that appeared in the science studies literature are reviewed. Rhetoric of science is introduced as a domain from which analytic tools for the present research are drawn. In Chapter 5, a case study tests the hypothesis that differences in style and structure in the two volumes that bracket the most important controversy in the history of American experimental parapsychology may have contributed to the scope and persistence of the controversy. The controversy extended from 1934 to 1944, beginning with the publication of the monograph Extra-sensory Perception (Rhine, 1934) and ending with the publication of Extrasensory Perception After Sixty Years (Pratt, Rhine, Smith, Stuart & Greenwood, 1940). In Chapter 6, I justify a turn towards the methodology of discourse analysis by reviewing both the antecedents of modern discursive psychology, and methods that are currently in use. I also review Mulkay’s (1985) The Word and The World as a prelude to the case study in the next chapter. In Chapter 7, a subset of the methods available in discourse analysis, particularly the concepts of formulation, category entitlement and footing are used to analyse a target article, 48 commentaries and two responses to the commentaries that center on James Alcock’s contentions that parapsychology is the search for the soul and that dualism as a philosophical position is incommensurate with science. I show how Alcock’s use of the contingent repertoire in characterising science practise in parapsychology undermines his authority as a scientific interlocutor, and obscures, to some extent, the substantive message he intended his target article to carry. Chapter 8 concludes the thesis by restating the findings of the three methods used, examining the limited use of the methods in this thesis and outlining what a more extended study with the same and/or related materials would look like, while describing other potentially fruitful research that might be done. How these methods should and may contribute to science practise in parapsychology is also discussed with a particular emphasis on the multidisciplinary nature of the discipline and the need for a more complete reflexivity.
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PeÌrez, Navarro J. M. "Develping a 'recipe' for success in free-response Ganzfeld ESP experimental research." Thesis, Coventry University, 2003. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.289245.
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Nattress, Emma. "Psychic phenomena: meditation, perception actuality: an Australian study." Thesis, Nattress, Emma (2007) Psychic phenomena: meditation, perception actuality: an Australian study. Masters by Research thesis, Murdoch University, 2007. https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/222/.
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This thesis presents the findings of an investigation into contemporary psychic phenomena as reported by Australian students. It asks the question: 'do people experience psychic phenomena?'
The study is an empirical one of reported psychic phenomena. It uses a questionnaire which involves the matching of perceptions of specific psychic phenomena, rather than an examination of psychic phenomena as such. The questionnaire is based on a medical diagnostic model. Its findings are benchmarked against a previous study and compared with other empirical studies.
A comparison of the study's findings with those of more directly religious investigations undertaken overseas in countries with a longer monotheistic religious history than Australia:
* provides insight into the Australian attitude, generally recognised as being secular, towards psychic and or spiritual experiences;
* indicates that meditation is not necessarily a prerequisite for experience of psychic and or spiritual phenomena; and
* argues that commonalities between specific experiences, reported not only within the Australian secular survey but also as reported in the predominantly religious overseas studies, demonstrate that the scientific requirement of repeatability has been met, thus providing ground to believe in the actuality of the reported experiences.
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Nattress, Emma. "Psychic phenomena : meditation, perception actuality : an Australian study /." Nattress, Emma (2007) Psychic phenomena: meditation, perception actuality: an Australian study. Masters by Research thesis, Murdoch University, 2007. http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/222/.
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This thesis presents the findings of an investigation into contemporary psychic phenomena as reported by Australian students. It asks the question: 'do people experience psychic phenomena?'
The study is an empirical one of reported psychic phenomena. It uses a questionnaire which involves the matching of perceptions of specific psychic phenomena, rather than an examination of psychic phenomena as such. The questionnaire is based on a medical diagnostic model. Its findings are benchmarked against a previous study and compared with other empirical studies.
A comparison of the study's findings with those of more directly religious investigations undertaken overseas in countries with a longer monotheistic religious history than Australia:
* provides insight into the Australian attitude, generally recognised as being secular, towards psychic and or spiritual experiences;
* indicates that meditation is not necessarily a prerequisite for experience of psychic and or spiritual phenomena; and
* argues that commonalities between specific experiences, reported not only within the Australian secular survey but also as reported in the predominantly religious overseas studies, demonstrate that the scientific requirement of repeatability has been met, thus providing ground to believe in the actuality of the reported experiences.
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Gissurarson, Loftur Reimar. "Psychokinetic attempts on a random event based microcomputer test using imagery strategies." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 1989. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/26540.
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Morgan, Konrad. "Individual differences in user performance on command line and direct manipulation computer interfaces." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 1989. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/19159.
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Banta, Mark. "Beliefs in and experiences with sasquatch and corresponding coping strategies /." Read thesis online, 2008. http://library.uco.edu/UCOthesis/BantaMC2008.pdf.
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Cook, Emily Frazer William. "The intellectual background and potential significance of F.W.H Myers work in psychology and parapsychology." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 1993. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.505920.
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Parapsychology, or psychical research, continues to be viewed by many scientists and laypeople as a pursuit characterized by occult beliefs and pseudoscientific approaches, despite the longstanding efforts of its leaders to operate within the framework of modern scientific methods. This thesis represents an attempt, by examining the 19th-century origins of psychical research, both to understand more fully the reasons for the continued rejection of parapsychology as science and also to define the aim of parapsychology and its potential role in or contribution to modern science in general and psychology in particular. Modern science progressed by rejecting the concept of mental, or "spiritual", causality as a vestige of super-naturalistic, teleological thinking. Scientific psychology was built on the foundation of this rejection of mental causality as an inherently unscientific notion, and as a result psychologists abandoned the field's most basic theoretical problems. Psychical research developed explicitly as an attempt to keep alive, and to develop empirical approaches to, fundamental questions about the nature of mind and its relationship to physical processes, at a time when most psychologists were abandoning such questions as metaphysical or religious problems outside the scope of scientific inquiry. Part I attempts to demonstrate that scientific psychology had its roots in the assumption that mind is a secondary phenomenon derived from matter. In particular, it examines ideas about the relationship of mind and matter in the writings of 11 scientists who were influential in the development of scientific psychology during its formative period, the last half of the 19th century. The essential failure of such scientists to address empirically the problem of the relationship between mental and physical phenomena only further entrenched, and did nothing to resolve, the rift between mind and matter that had led to the rejection of dualism by modern scientists. Part II examines the aims and purposes of 19thcentury psychical research, as represented by its primary spokesman, Frederic W. H. Myers. In contrast to most other scientists, Myers believed that empirical research on the mind-matter problem is not only possible but is the primary task of and challenge to scientific psychology. Chapters in Part II examine the basic purposes and principles behind Myers's work, the theoretical framework and model of mind that he proposed for psychology, and the phenomena and empirical studies that he thought would be most useful in attacking psychology's basic problems. Scientists and others who reject parapsychology do so because they believe that parapsychology represents a reversion to super-naturalistic thinking and would thus undermine the foundations of modern science. Parapsychology, however, undermines not science but the longstanding assumption behind modern science and scientific psychology that mental causality is a supernatural, not scientific, concept. In attempting to examine the assumption that matter is the primary, and mind a secondary, derivative, characteristic of nature, parapsychology reminds scientists that science is most fundamentally a method and not a particular set of assumptions. Myers's primary belief was that that method could be used to push our understanding of mind-matter relations beyond both dualism and materialism toward some new, more comprehensive conception.
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Anderson, Mary-Jane Charlotte. "Nonintentional behavioural responses to psi : hidden targets and hidden observers." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/7992.
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Psi is the phenomenon of apparently responding to or receiving information by means other than the recognised senses. Psi information may influence human behaviour, without the individual intending this or even being aware of it. This thesis seeks to investigate nonintentional behavioural responses to psi. We present five empirical studies that investigated nonintentional behavioural responses to psi information. In each study, the psi information was hidden from participants, in that the participants neither had sensory access to it, nor did they know that it existed. Two different combinations of psi information and a behavioural response were examined. The first was the influence of hidden psi information on psychological task performance. The second was the influence of covert, remote observation by hidden observers on the social facilitation effect. In all the studies, the effects of individual differences in participants’ personalities were also considered. In Experiment 1 we investigated whether hidden targets influenced participants’ judgements of the lengths of lines. There was no overall psi effect, but we found a replication of a response bias effect and a significant correlation between psi and participants’ extraversion. In Experiment 2 we investigated whether hidden targets influenced participants’ speed on a maths task. There was no overall psi effect and no correlations between personality and psi scores. We reviewed previous research literature on social facilitation from the novel angle of investigating whether being watched can, in and of itself, lead to the social facilitation effect. Experiments 3, 4, and 5 developed the paradigm of testing for a social facilitation effect from remote observation, investigating whether remote observation leads to the same behavioural changes as knowingly being observed by a physically present person. We compared participants’ performance on psychological tasks under different observation conditions: alone, remotely observed by a hidden observer, and observed by a physically present observer. The expected social facilitation effect was not found in these experiments, leading to a series of improvements to the sampling, methodology, and tasks over the course of these experiments. As the social facilitation effect from a physically present observer was not reliably replicated, these experiments were not conclusive tests of whether there is a social facilitation effect from remote observation. However, there was an indication in Experiment 3 that remote observation does not exert a significant behavioural effect. Considered together, our studies explored novel approaches to examining nonintentional behavioural responses to psi. The significant correlation between participants’ extraversion and psi is, to our knowledge, the first time this effect has been found in a nonintentional psi experiment. This, and the replication of the response bias effect, represent important advances in parapsychology. Our experiments are also the first to test the assumption, inherent in many research designs, that covert observation does not affect participants’ behaviour. Overall, our findings did not support the psi hypothesis.
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Roberts, B. L. H. "A quantitative examination of ostensibly extrasensory experiences occurring spontaneously and in laboratory conditions." Thesis, Coventry University, 2013. http://curve.coventry.ac.uk/open/items/32c604e4-7885-45ae-b7f4-4b2293654689/1.
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Parapsychological research, including the examination of the anomalous process termed ‘psi’, is highly controversial, with the existence of psi not accepted by mainstream science. The aim of this thesis was to study one aspect of psi, extrasensory perception (ESP), to examine whether evidence for ESP could be obtained or whether ostensibly extrasensory experiences can be attributed to purely psychological processes. Three studies are reported. The first obtained reports of spontaneous cases of ostensible ESP from 94 participants, using an online survey. Participants described their experience and responded to a series of questions regarding the aftermath of their experience and their reasoning for a paranormal interpretation. Results demonstrated several patterns that replicated earlier findings, including the predominance of female percipients, serious events, and close relationships between the percipient and target person. Negative emotions were common, including shock and confusion, particularly at the point of ostensible confirmation of the experience; the most common long-term response was an increase in paranormal belief, although some participants were relatively unaffected. Approximately two-thirds of participants had considered viable normal explanations for their experience, including coincidence and expectation of likely outcomes. Paranormal explanations were commonly attributed to the lack of a viable normal explanation, the striking coincidence between the experience and event, or the unusual nature of the experience. Many cases were weak evidentially; findings overall suggest that many ostensibly extrasensory experiences may have non-psi explanations. Two subsequent studies examined ESP in laboratory conditions, using the ganzfeld paradigm. Based on findings from spontaneous case research and previous laboratory studies, it was examined whether success was related to the emotional bond between pairs of participants, or to their sexes. The first study employed 30 pairs of participants, each taking part once as sender and once as receiver. Picture postcards were used as targets, and an emotional connectedness scale was used to assess pairing closeness. Direct hits and binary hits were above mean chance expectation (MCE); both were non-significant, although binary hitting was only marginally so. Results were suggestive of improved performance for closer pairings and mixed-sex pairings, but were non-significant. The second study was a partial replication, with 40 pairs of participants and using video clips as targets. EEG recordings were taken from the frontal midline (Fz) site of both participants. Approximately half of senders experienced stroboscopic stimulation at 6Hz throughout the trial in an attempt to drive theta rhythms associated with a hypnagogic state, mirroring the state expected in receivers due to ganzfeld stimulation. Direct hits were at MCE, while binary hits were non-significantly above MCE; binary hitting across the two studies was significant. There was no effect of pairing closeness or sexes on success, and hitting was not associated with any EEG features or with strobe usage. Overall, laboratory findings appeared promising in terms of significant binary hitting but continued a trend of inconsistency within and between ganzfeld ESP studies. This inconsistency, together with the many weakly evidential spontaneous cases collected, point more strongly to a psychological interpretation of ostensibly extrasensory experiences, rather than the elusive psi.
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Luke, David P. "The psychology and parapsychology of the belief in luck and its relation to the belief in PSI and PSI performance." Thesis, University of Northampton, 2007. http://nectar.northampton.ac.uk/2844/.
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Self-reports have described luck as an important factor in people’s lives, and there is a sizable body of psychological research conducted around the belief in luck, primarily as an intangible external element and a companion of gamblers. This thesis reviews the major part of this research, offering a critical analysis and identifying a region of research into luck that warrants further investigation. That is, if psychic events, collectively termed ‘psi’ are possible then such events may just appear to be lucky. Several parapsychological studies have investigated this relationship between luck and psi but have failed to discern if this relationship is real, perhaps because of the lack of explicit definition of luck or the measurement of what it is that the participants believe it to be. To address this issue existing luck belief measures were reviewed but it was clearly necessary to construct a new comprehensive measure based on thorough bottom-up test construction principles. A series of semi-structured interviews about luck were reanalysed qualitatively, the themes of which were used in the generation of items for a questionnaire. Through a series of factor-analyses a final 40-item, 4-factor Questionnaire of Beliefs about Luck (QBL) was produced, with factors labelled Luck, Chance, Providence and Fortune, to which was added a 1-item measure of Perceived Personal Luckiness (PPL). The new measure was found to be robust and internally reliable and correlated with paranormal belief supporting several predictions and thereby demonstrating sound construct validity. The literature on psi and luck indicated that luck might best be understood by Stanford’s (1974a) model of ‘psi-mediated instrumental response’ (PMIR) and a PMIR-type study was planned which incorporated the new QBL. A non-intentional precognition experiment with 100 participants utilised erotic-images as psi incentives and found good evidence of psi with this design. Furthermore, the QBL Luck subscale was found to be a significant predictor variable of psi score, indicating that the measure has good predictive validity, and PPL, belief in psi, and erotic reactivity also correlated with psi scores. There was also a near gender-effect. The findings were discussed in light of previous results and were interpreted in relation to the psychological theories outlined in the literature review, finding support for the notion of self-serving biases, and offering fresh insights into the illusion of control. A model was put forward for the relationship of luck and psi. It was concluded that the QBL was a comprehensive, reliable, valid and useful tool in the investigation of luck
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Hadlaczky, Gergö. "Precognitive Habituation : An attempt to replicate previous results." Thesis, Stockholm University, Department of Psychology, 2006. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-1017.
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This study was an attempt to replicate the positive results of a precognitive habituation (PH) experiment devised by Bem (2003). The procedure is based on the subliminal mere exposure (SME) design. In an SME procedure subjects are exposed to image-pairs in a preference task, after being exposed to one of those images (the target) subliminally. The target is preferred significantly more often due to the mere exposure effect. In the PH procedure the preference task precedes the exposure and images are of negative and erotic valence. It was hypothesized that due to exposure (in the future), subject preference will increase for negative and decrease for the erotic target images, especially for subjects classified erotically or negatively reactive (Bem, 2003). Also, that an overall (negative and erotic) effect would be shown. The results were not significantly above chance expectation for any of the hypotheses (50.0%; 47.2%, p = .149; 50.8%, p = .279).
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Brusewitz, Göran. "The effect of remote emotion on receiver skin conductance:a failure to confirm." Thesis, Stockholm University, Department of Psychology, 2008. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-8243.
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This study is an attempt to conceptually replicate a study by Ramakers, Stevens and Morris (2005) using a measure of electrodermal activity skin conductance (EDA) to evaluate the possibility of telepathy occurring between biologically and/or emotionally related senders and receivers. Ten negatively valenced and highly arousing target pictures were mixed with 10 blank control pictures in 10 blocks, with one of each kind in each block. The order of presentation of the target and control pictures within the block was determined randomly by a computer program. The series of 20 pictures were shown for the sender on a computer screen. Relaxation for the receiver was facilitated by soft music. It was hypothesized that there would be significantly more variance in the receiver EDA when the sender was exposed to negative arousing pictures, than to blank pictures. The results failed to show a significant difference in EDA variance between negative arousing and blank pictures, and did thus not support the telepathy hypothesis. It was recommended that future replications allocate more time for relaxation for the receiver.
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Drennan, Sophie Louise. "Individual lability, perceived stress, participant/researcher interaction, goal-intention and PK-RNG effects." Thesis, University of Northampton, 2015. http://nectar.northampton.ac.uk/8833/.
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The research within this thesis has been concerned with the concept of individual lability and how this may impact the occurrence of psychokinetic (PK) effects. Although frequently used as a descriptor within the fields of psychology, parapsychology has attempted to explore individual lability as a construct in its own right. Defined as an 'ease of change', within parapsychological research individual lability has been afforded the ability to either act as a contributing or mediating factor in the production of PK effects. To that effect, a major concern for this thesis was to operationalize the construct of individual lability via the development of a psychometric measure - an initial Lability Scale and then a further Revised Lability Scale. In order to make sense of the theoretical assumptions about individual lability this thesis explores the background of the production of PK effects in both real-world and experimental environments. It identifies shared individual elements in the reports of PK effects relating to heightened arousal, neurological activity, personality traits, emotional states and creativity that may help to identify multiple dimensions of individual lability. Drawing on the perspectives of lability models which emphasize an interaction between differing lability levels of random systems as a predictor of PK effects, it is suggested that successful outcomes are more likely between high levels of one system and low levels of another system. For the purposes of the three empirical studies a Random Number Generator (RNG) with different levels of Table, Pseudo and Live were employed to explore this interaction. An initial online survey consisting of measures of creative, neurological, state and Openness to Experience enabled the creation of the 71-item, 5 factor Lability Scale (LS) using factor analysis. Factors were defined as: Intuitive Cognition, Conceptual Cognition, Ego-Orientated Cognition, Emotional Interpretation and Analytical Cognition. The LS had good internal reliability and did not correlate with additional measures of anomalous experience and PK experiences, thus demonstrating face-value validity. The LS was subsequently employed in a series of three PK-RNG experiments exploring the lability interaction which incorporated a standardised design of a computerised I Ching task measured using the Q-sort method and separate group samples (N = 50). Study One included the impact of perceived stress, Study Two included the impact of the participant/research interaction, Study Three included the impact of goal-orientated striving. The primary hypothesis that levels of individual lability (Low, Medium, High) would significantly interact with Q-sort ratings of RNG system lability was not supported for all three experiments. In addition, the impact of the additional variables was non-significant. However, significant correlations were found between all of the LS factors apart from Analytical Cognition. It was also observed that there was a significant difference between lability levels between genders, with males on average having lower lability levels. In addition, a final analysis combining the individual and RNG lability data from all three studies was conducted, although there was also no significant interaction effect found between levels of individual and RNG lability. However, following the consistent lack of response from the Analytical Cognition factor it was deemed necessary to psychometrically refine the Lability Scale further. Therefore, a second factor analysis was conducted on the combined experimental data (N = 147) and the 32-item, 3 factor Revised Lability Scale was developed. Three identified factors were defined as: Creative Expression, Emotional Interpretation and Spiritual Interpretation. It was noted that the factor structure was somewhat reversed to that of the initial LS but the majority of items remained consistent. However, analysis showed that there was no interaction found between levels of individual lability and RNG lability. There were significant relationships between Creative Expression and Table RNG and Pseudo RNG lability levels. In addition, consistent difference between the genders in relation to the three factors were found with large effect sizes, with males having significantly lower levels overall. The final Discussion questioned the lack of significant findings for the lability PK-RNG interaction in relation to the complexity of the methodology and the multiple variables introduced in the empirical studies.
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Castellanos, Karen A. "Variables related to belief in paranormal phenomena." Honors in the Major Thesis, University of Central Florida, 2003. http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ETH/id/312.
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This item is only available in print in the UCF Libraries. If this is your Honors Thesis, you can help us make it available online for use by researchers around the world by following the instructions on the distribution consent form at http://library.ucf.edu/Systems/DigitalInitiatives/DigitalCollections/InternetDistributionConsentAgreementForm.pdf You may also contact the project coordinator, Kerri Bottorff, at kerri.bottorff@ucf.edu for more information.Bachelors
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Hitchman, Glenn A. "Testing the psi mediated instrumental response theory using an implicit psi task." Thesis, University of Northampton, 2012. http://nectar.northampton.ac.uk/8859/.
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Millar, Ewen Cameron. "The social construction of near-death experiences." Thesis, University of Stirling, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/1893/26825.
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In this thesis I argue that the category Near-Death Experience (NDE) emerged in the late-twentieth century, and is structured by the discourses of 'Medicine' and 'Science', and the wider discursive factors of the 'Spiritual Marketplace'. Within NDE literature, the experiences of people coming out of their bodies in Operating Theatres, and then travelling to other realms, are considered to have parallels in the accounts of mystics, shamans, and religious visionaries of other cultures and other times. Against this, I argue that the category of the NDE does not "articulate the same field of discourse" (Foucault, 1969:24-25) as these other religious accounts. NDE researchers sift through these accounts in search of a common thread, but miss the wider social fabric of the religious narratives they seek to excavate, as well as the discursive location that structures their own research. In order to reposition this debate within its own history of ideas, I argue that the category "NDE" is itself dependent on the Operating Theatre for its emergence and initial appeal, and it is the Operating Theatre that makes the discourse of NDEs possible. Within the last 120 years, there have been many attempts to intersect science with anomalous experiences on the fringes of human consciousness: Psychical Research categorised deathbed visions in a wider schemata that was interested in how the fringes of the subconscious mind might yield evidence of another reality; contemporary Parapsychology looked at third-person accounts of deathbed visions recounted to Nurses and Doctors across the globe. Neither of these iscourses had the crossover into the wider 'public sphere' that Raymond Moody's book Life After Life (1975) did, a book that recounts first-person accounts of normal people, caught in extreme medical emergencies, who come out of their bodies, witness the medical teams' attempt to resuscitate them, visit a heavenly realm, and return to tell people about it. What is unique about the NDE is not the vision of a world after death, but the context in which this vision occurs. In Chapter 2 I explore that context by arguing that Psychical Researchers' investigation of mediums, apparitions, and deathbed visions sought to prove that posthumous existence of the Other (that is, one's relatives or friends who had passed on to the other side), and indirectly the Self. (Conversely, NDE research, seeks to prove the existence of the Self, and indirectly, the Other.) In Chapter 3 I examine how Medicine and the Modern Hospice Movement shaped the conditions of emergence of the category 'NDE'. The removal of 'death' from the public sphere into the private sphere of the West meant that death became something exotic. The idea that death was a defeat for modern medicine lead to the emergence of the modern Hospice movement, which opened up a space for the visions of those close to death to be recounted in the public sphere. The recounting of such experiences encapsulates a narrative that includes the Surgeon's intervention, the technology used in the Operating Theatre, and of the everyday man or woman talking about their visions, all of which gives these experiences a cultural currency that sets them apart from other religious and/or New Age accounts. In chapter 4 I recognise that, for these experiences to have an appeal, they must have a market to appeal to. Thus, I examine the 'Spiritual Marketplace', and argue that the NDE researchers fundamentally misread the appeal of their life after death accounts. NDE researchers felt that they had uncovered publicly verifiable evidence for life after death, which they expected to shake the foundations of Western society. Instead, these accounts were read as a curio in the privacy of the spiritual consumer's home, an interesting account that suggested death might not be the end of existence, but little else. When their vision of a spiritual revolution failed to materialise, the founders of the NDE movement fell into a bitter war about the precise signification of the category NDE, thus giving an indication of the fundamental indeterminacy of the category. In chapter 5 I explore how NDE research intersects with the discourse of "Science". I therefore examine the construction of science, the function of science, and the limits of science in NDE literature. I begin by examining how the narratives of science permeate NDE literature, and how all sides implicitly reinforce a binary of Science/Religion that emphasises the former as objective and neutral, and the latter as irrational belief. I then argue that, ultimately, NDEs happen at the very limits of human experience in a realm far outside of what can be answered by direct scientific observation; the debate tells us more about the different metaphysical presumptions present than it does about whether or not science can answer the question 'is there life after death?" In chapter 6 I argue that, in the discourse surrounding NDEs, death and mysticism become entwined as the 'exotic other'. I therefore examine how the categories 'death' and 'mysticism' are themselves both bound up in a particular web of signification. The NDE secures its own identity against an understanding of death born in clinical medicine and, latterly, Freudian psychoanalysis: death becomes a point, after which there is an unknown. Similarly, the NDE inherits an understanding of Mysticism that can be traced back to William James. Nevertheless, the understanding of 'death' throughout history is not fixed but fluid, depending on a myriad of cultural and social discourses. Similarly, the modern psychological definition of 'mysticism' as an ineffable, subjective experience is extremely narrow in comparison to the accounts of mystics in the Middle Ages. When the understanding of these two categories changes, the emphasis upon securing 'evidence' for life after death evaporates. This point is missed in contemporary NDE research that assumes that its own desire to find evidence of life after death is reflective of a universal need for humans to believe in religion: whilst NDE researchers believe that they have finally uncovered a window on to another world, I have argued that this is, in fact, a mirror of their own particular predilections and desires.
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Goulart, Fernanda Loureiro 1985. "Entre a ciência e a não-ciência : um estudo de caso sobre a parapsicologia e a psicologia anomalística na academia brasileira." [s.n.], 2014. http://repositorio.unicamp.br/jspui/handle/REPOSIP/286601.
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Orientador: Léa Maria Leme Strini VelhoTese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Geociências
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Resumo: Esta tese se propõe a discutir a demarcação científica por meio do estudo de um grupo acadêmico específico, O Inter Psi ¿ Laboratório de Psicologia Anomalística e Processos Psicossociais, localizado no Departamento de Psicologia Social e do Trabalho do Instituto de Psicologia da Universidade de São Paulo. O grupo, ativo na parapsicologia há mais de duas décadas, tem defendido uma nova subdisciplina da psicologia, a psicologia anomalística. Informado pelos estudos sociais da ciência e da tecnologia, particularmente por conceitos vindos da teoria ator-rede, e com base em um estudo de observação participativa junto ao Inter Psi, o texto identifica as estratégias do grupo para construir a legitimidade científica dessa nova área, que incluem a criação de uma epistemologia, a definição das características e limites do grupo, a diferenciação em relação à parapsicologia tradicional brasileira e uma série de ações que buscam o aumento da institucionalização da área. Como conclusões, tem-se que a psicologia anomalística se caracteriza como uma estratégia específica de normalização do estudo do paranormal, mas é muito simplista classifica-la como uma mera repaginação da parapsicologia. A mudança de nome permite um espaço para negociar as fronteiras de diversas áreas, como a parapsicologia, a psicologia social, a psicologia da religião e a nova psicologia anomalística. Ainda, conclui-se que a psicologia anomalística se fortalece ao evidenciar lacunas nos conhecimentos psicológico e parapsicológico atuais. Partindo de uma visão das fronteiras da ciência como constantemente negociadas, esta história do Inter Psi descreve a demarcação científica como questão prática e performativa, apontando que para tornar-se ciência é necessário assegurar um nicho acadêmico, não o contrário. Por fim, a tese argumenta que o caso é de interesse para a política de ciência, tecnologia e inovação ao destacar o fato de que cientistas, gestores e analistas têm responsabilidade a respeito da demarcação científica. Defende-se que uma concepção ainda existente da ciência como neutra dificulta uma política mais consciente da importância de seu papel
Abstract: The purpose of this thesis is to discuss scientific demarcation through the study of a specific academic group, Inter Psi ¿ Laboratório de Psicologia Anomalística e Processos Psicossociais (Inter Psi ¿ Laboratory of Anomalistic Psychology and Psychosocial Processes), situated in the Department of Social and Labour Psychology at the Institute of Psychology of the University of São Paulo. The group, which has been active in the area of parapsychology for over two decades, has defended a new psychological sub discipline: anomalistic psychology. Informed by the social studies of science and technology, particularly by concepts of actor-network theory, and based on a participant observation study with Inter Psi, this text identifies the strategies undertaken by the group in order to build the scientific legitimacy of this new area, which include the creation of an epistemology, the definition of characteristics and scope of the group, the differentiation in relation to traditional Brazilian parapsychology and a number of actions seeking a deeper institutionalisation of the area. As conclusions, it is to note that anomalistic psychology is characterised as a specific strategy for the normalisation of studies on the paranormal, but it is much too simplistic to define it as a mere renaming of parapsychology. The change of terms allows for the renewed negotiation of different knowledge fields, such as parapsychology, social psychology, psychology of religion and the new anomalistic psychology. Moreover, it is concluded that anomalistic psychology claims become stronger when proponents stress gaps in the current psychological and parapsychological knowledge. Stemming from a perspective that sees the borders of science as constantly negotiated and redrawn, this story of Inter Psi describes scientific demarcation as a practical and performative matter, indicating that, in order to be science, there¿s a need for a group or an area to secure an academic niche, not the other way around. Finally, the thesis advances the idea that this case study is of interest to science, technology and innovation policy as it stresses the fact that scientists, managers, advisers and analysts are responsible, to a degree, for scientific demarcation. It argues that there is a still prevalent concept of science as neutral that hampers the possibility of policy that is more conscious of its relevant role
Doutorado
Politica Cientifica e Tecnologica
Doutora em Política Científica e Tecnológica
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Cooper, Callum E. "Spontaneous post-death experiences and the cognition of hope : an examination of bereavement and recovery." Thesis, University of Northampton, 2017. http://nectar.northampton.ac.uk/9723/.
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Although psychical research identified through structured research the commonality of anomalous experiences for the bereaved from as early as the 1880s, it wasn’t until the 1970s with the publication of a medical doctorate on such phenomena that medical communities and social science began to recognise them too. Beyond this point, research became more popular on the subject. Extensive research conducted on post-death experiences (aka, Post-Death Contacts – ADCs) since the 1970s, has largely focused on what impact they have on the bereaved, rather than the ontology of the phenomena themselves. All such studies have found these experiences to be therapeutic for the bereaved, and a natural aid to recovery. However, no research findings to this point have been presented on what cognitive mechanisms create the therapeutic gains experienced, as a direct result of the spontaneous anomalous experiences. This thesis set out to investigate what makes such experience therapeutic, and aid the process of recovery from grief. From a critical review of the previous literature, it was noted that several of the extensive studies, and related popular literature, identified hope to a consistent reported outcome of such experiences. However, no existing studies appeared to have investigated its presence and process in this context. Therefore, a mixed method study design was developed to investigate the impact of such experiences further and the role of hope within them. A questionnaire approach of validated scales found levels of hope to be significantly higher in groups of the bereaved who do report post-death experience than those who don’t. The bereaved who do not report such experiences appear to encounter a significant drop in hope. Content and thematic analyses were conducted on written feedback of experiences collected from the questionnaires; this highlighted the variety of experiences and their commonality. It also highlighted significant shifts in ‘states of mind’ from negative to positive emotions, from the point of loss, to following the first anomalous encounter. Continued bonds with the deceased were also expressed, as well as previously noted therapeutic gains and themes of hope. In-depth interviews were conducted as the final study of this thesis, with an interpretative phenomenological analysis applied to the data. New findings are presented on the personal changes that take place within post-death events. Experients defined hope and how they saw it acting within their lives and experiences as a support system to feelings of loss, which fell in line with previous positive psychology theories on hope. Several key points are concluded. Firstly, the findings of this thesis have practical applications to clinical practice surrounding palliative care and applied positive psychology, regarding the importance of anomalous experiences encountered by the bereaved. Secondly, the thesis and its findings demonstrate the multi-disciplinary approaches which can be taken to parapsychological issues, in this case combining positive psychology, thanatology and healthcare. And finally, the thesis highlights the usefulness of the mixed method approaches, to provide ‘sweeping maps’ of any given phenomena under investigation, particularly in cases where the previous research findings are limited or are yet to be explored.
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Cunha, Welthon Rodrigues. "TRANSE MEDIÚNICO, ENTRE A CIÊNCIA E A RELIGIÃO: UMA ANÁLISE SOBRE AS RELAÇÕES ENTRE O ESPIRITISMO E A PARAPSICOLOGIA." Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Goiás, 2013. http://localhost:8080/tede/handle/tede/755.
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Previous issue date: 2013-02-18This paper makes an analysis of psychic phenomena within the Spiritualist religion Kardecist. Mediumship is addressed as a symbolic system, which is articulated in a religious field itself, the psychic field and on which transit other forms of religiosity, such as Umbanda and Candomblé. Mediumship is regarded as a symbolic system complex and multifaceted, from four dimensions, namely the social level, the social group or micro, the individual and the paranormal. The paper focuses its analysis on the paranormal dimension, establishing a process of legitimation of science by spiritualism, mediated by science or parascience of parapsychology, which is appropriate and re-signified by intellectuals and researchers Brazilian spiritists, to the point of forming a field paranormal Brazilian where it is possible to establish a dialogue between science and religion spiritualist. The author of five chapters trace the entire route of the historical and ideological religiosity Spiritualist Kardecist and parapsychology, as well as what he calls the Brazilian paranormal field. Indicates the existence of a Brazilian spiritism, with religious connotations and different from the original French, which has a more scientific connotation. In the last chapter conducts a description and analysis of how the speech supposedly scientific parapsychology and science spiritualist and psychic interprets the phenomenon which the social function that interpretation plays for unification and institutionalization of spiritualism as a religion systematized.
O presente trabalho realiza uma análise do fenômeno mediúnico, dentro da religiosidade espírita kardecista. A mediunidade é abordada enquanto um sistema simbólico, que se articula dentro de um campo religioso próprio, o campo mediúnico e sobre o qual transitam outras formas de religiosidade, como a umbanda e o candomblé. A mediunidade é considerada como um sistema simbólico complexo e multifacetado, a partir de quatro dimensões, a saber, a dimensão social ampla, a social grupal ou micro, a individual e a paranormal. O trabalho centra a sua análise na dimensão paranormal, que estabelece um processo de legitimação do espiritismo pela ciência, mediatizada pela ciência ou paraciência da parapsicologia, que é apropriada e ressignificada por intelectuais e pesquisadores espíritas brasileiros, ao ponto de formar um campo paranormal brasileiro, onde é possível o estabelecimento de um diálogo entre ciência e religião espírita. O autor em cinco capítulos traça todo o itinerário histórico e ideológico da religiosidade espírita kardecista e da parapsicologia, bem como do que ele denomina de campo paranormal brasileiro. Aponta a existência de um espiritismo brasileiro, com conotação religiosa e diferente do original francês, que tem uma conotação mais científica. No último capítulo realiza uma descrição e análise de como o discurso pretensamente científico da parapsicologia e da ciência espírita interpreta o fenômeno mediúnico e qual a função social que esta interpretação desempenha para a institucionalização e unificação do espiritismo enquanto religião sistematizada.
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Holt, Nicola J. "Creativity, altered states of consciousness and anomalous cognition : the role of epistemological flexibility in the creative process." Thesis, University of Northampton, 2007. http://nectar.northampton.ac.uk/2847/.
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In this PhD research a question is posed that concerns ‘varieties of creativity’ that have infrequently been explored empirically, although often described anecdotally. This question being: is, and if so, how, is creativity related to altered states of consciousness (ASCs) and parapsychological experiences? This thesis systematically explores the relationship between multiple dimensions of creativity and: personality traits characterised by an openness to intrapersonal experience and a fluid cognitive-style; specific altered states of consciousness and anomalous experiences (such as mystical experiences and subjective paranormal experiences); and anomalous cognition. The common thread is conceived as an examination of the extent to which creativity might involve ‘epistemological flexibility’ — that is, involves shifts into, and between, different ‘ways of knowing’. As such, a major part of this thesis was the psychometric development of a new self-report instrument, the Creative Cognition Inventory, which measures the reported use of different epistemological resources (such as intuition, dreams and rational logic) in the creative process. Creativity is defined in terms of a process, participated in at the person-level, which leads to a novel and adaptive product or performance. Drawing upon models of the creative process and person, it is suggested that a biphasic process is common to most theories of creativity, and that individuals with particular traits have been hypothesised to engage in this with more facility. Models that have explored cognitive, affective and perceptual ‘looseness’ as facilitating novelty are examined. As altered states of consciousness involve subjective shifts in these same dimensions, it is proposed that creativity and ASCs may be experientially related, either directly, or in terms of an overarching trait, such as ‘boundary-thinness’ or ‘transliminality’, which propitiates both. A multi-dimensional approach was taken to creativity measurement, accepting its complexity as a componential construct that might consist of multiple creativities. In Study One, the benefits of a multidimensional approach to creativity measurement were evident, refuting earlier work that had used only cognitive estimates of creativity and found no relationship with either boundary-thinness or transliminality. These constructs are experiential-traits that assess ones degree of intrapersonal openness, cognitive fluidity and sensitivity, and are associated with a proclivity to have unusual experiences. In Study One, they were found to be significantly correlated with both domain general measures of creativity (creative personality) and domain specific measures (emotional creativity and involvement in the arts). The sample for Study One consisted of 65 psychology undergraduates (49 females; 16 males). A second study assessed the degree to which different dimensions of creativity were related to different experiences of consciousness. 211 participants were recruited from the general population through opportunity sampling (108 females; 101 males). The sample included professional artists (n = 36) and scientists (n = 27). Competing models of a relationship between creativity and ASC-proclivity were assessed: cognitive expansion; affective openness; and motivational impetus. This study provided numerous insights into the experiences of consciousness that might be related to varieties of creativity. The key findings were that emotional creativity was most robustly associated with ASCs; artistic creative-personality was associated with ‘positive’ ASCs, including those along an oneiric continuum (e.g. hypnagogia and hallucinations), and those along an affective expansion continuum (e.g. dissociation and positive mystical experiences). Further, original and flexible cognition appeared to be associated with states along an oneiric continuum. Thus, Study Two found support for the affective and cognitive models, yet within different ranges of experience. This ‘model’ helps to clarify, by using heterogeneous, rather than homogenous constructs of ‘unusual experiences’, specific processes by which ASCs and creativity may be related and as such deserves further exploration. The final piece of research developed a novel protocol for recording impressions thought by participants to involve extrasensory perception (ESP) and associated states of consciousness in daily life, using experience- sampling methodology. As success in ESP experiments has consistently been reported amongst visual artists, the above models were used to explore what aspects of the creativity complex might be associated with ESP-performance. As only emotional creativity related to the reporting of parapsychological experiences in Study Two, the affective openness model was expected to predict ESP-performance. Further, a carefully matched control group (n = 15) was used against which to compare success of artists (n = 15). Artists did not demonstrate a superior ESP effect in this study, although they did perform at a level commensurate with previous research. The affective openness hypothesis for ESP performance was rejected. Rather, it was questioned whether previous studies had not adequately matched controls or that the ‘take-home’ methodology, perhaps increasing relaxation and control for the participants, increased performance levels for the non-artists
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Louw, Denise Elizabeth Laurence. "A literary study of paranormal experience in Tennyson's poetry." Thesis, Rhodes University, 1991. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002292.
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My thesis is that many of Tennyson's apparently paranormal experiences are explicable in terms of temporal lobe epilepsy; and that a study of the occurrence, in the work of art, of phenomena associated with these experiences, may be useful in elucidating the workings of the aesthetic imagination. A body of knowledge relevant to paranormal experience in Tennyson's life and work, assembled from both literary and biographical sources, is applied to a Subjective Paranormal Experience Questionnaire, compiled by Professor V.M. Neppe, in order to establish the range of the poet's apparently "psychic" experiences. The information is then analysed in terms of the symptomatology of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), and the problems of differential diagnosis are considered. It is shown, by means of close and comparative analyses of a number of poems, that recurring clusters of images in Tennyson's poetry may have their genesis in TLE. These images are investigated in terms of modern research into altered states of consciousness. They are found to be consistent with a "model" of the three stages of trance experience constructed by Professor A.D. Lewis-Williams to account for shamanistic rock art in the San, Coso and Upper Paleolithic contexts. My study of the relevant phenomena in the work of a nineteenth century English poet would seem to offer cross-cultural verification of the applicability of the model to a range of altered-state contexts. This study goes on to investigate some of the psychological processes which may influence the way in which pathology is manifested in the poetry of Alfred Tennyson. But, throughout the investigation, the possible effects of literary precursors and of other art forms are acknowledged. The subjective paranormal phenomena in Tennyson's poems are compared not only with some modern neuropsychiatric cases, but also with those of several nineteenth-century writers who seem to have had similar experiences . These include Dostoevsky and Edward Lear, who are known to have been epileptics, and Edgar Allan Poe. Similarity between some aspects of Tennyson's work and that of various Romantic poets, notably Shelley, is stressed; and it is tentatively suggested that it might be possible to extrapolate from my findings in this study to a more general theory of the "Romantic" imagination.
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Stevens, John. "A Flower with Many Petals: Contemporary Implications of C.G. Jung and Jane Roberts." Honors in the Major Thesis, University of Central Florida, 2004. http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ETH/id/728.
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This item is only available in print in the UCF Libraries. If this is your Honors Thesis, you can help us make it available online for use by researchers around the world by following the instructions on the distribution consent form at http://library.ucfB.S.
Bachelors
Arts and Sciences
Liberal Studies
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Evrard, Renaud. "L'exception qui infirme la règle ? : étude de quelques cas réputés psychotiques chez l'adolescent et l'adulte comme frayage vers une clinique différencielle à partir de l'hypothèse des expériences exceptionnelles." Rouen, 2012. http://www.theses.fr/2012ROUEL006.
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Rigoll, Fabian [Verfasser], and H. [Akademischer Betreuer] Schmeck. "Nutzerorientiertes Energiedatenmanagement / Fabian Rigoll ; Betreuer: H. Schmeck." Karlsruhe : KIT-Bibliothek, 2017. http://d-nb.info/1129258858/34.
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Heiduk, Matthias [Verfasser], and Thomas [Akademischer Betreuer] Zotz. "Offene Geheimnisse – hermetische Texte und verborgenes Wissen in der mittelalterlichen Rezeption von Augustinus bis Albertus Magnus." Freiburg : Universität, 2008. http://d-nb.info/1123466424/34.
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Fiedler, Norman [Verfasser], and Joachim F. [Akademischer Betreuer] Quack. "Sprüche gegen Seth - Bemerkungen zu drei späten Tempelritualen / Norman Fiedler ; Betreuer: Joachim F. Quack." Heidelberg : Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg, 2012. http://d-nb.info/1179785975/34.
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Schmid, Jennifer Regina [Verfasser], and Ralf [Akademischer Betreuer] Jox. "Die Kraft der Gedanken : eine explorative Studie zum Einsatz von Gehirn-Computer-Schnittstellen bei gesunden Nutzern / Jennifer Regina Schmid ; Betreuer: Ralf Jox." München : Universitätsbibliothek der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 2019. http://d-nb.info/1202713157/34.
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Anton, Andreas [Verfasser], and Michael [Akademischer Betreuer] Schetsche. "Das Paranormale im Sozialismus : : zum Umgang mit heterodoxen Wissensbeständen, Erfahrungen und Praktiken in der DDR." Freiburg : Universität, 2017. http://d-nb.info/1148929541/34.
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Zechiel, Miriam [Verfasser], and Ursula [Akademischer Betreuer] Lieberts-Grün. "„[M]it den eigenen Zungen geschaffen“ / Miriam Zechiel ; Betreuer: Ursula Lieberts-Grün." Mannheim : Universitätsbibliothek Mannheim, 2018. http://d-nb.info/1162058013/34.
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Oldenburg, Leonie von [Verfasser], and Günter [Akademischer Betreuer] Kehrer. "Moderne Esoterik am Beispiel von Engel-Orakel-Karten - Verwendung und Verfremdung religiöser Vorstellungen und Sujets / Leonie von Oldenburg ; Betreuer: Günter Kehrer." Tübingen : Universitätsbibliothek Tübingen, 2016. http://d-nb.info/1168238218/34.
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Edle, von Hoessle Stefanie [Verfasser], Peter [Gutachter] Angerer, and Jürgen in der [Gutachter] Schmitten. "Analyse der protektiven und stressfördernden Faktoren des täglichen Pendelns mit der Bahn für Arbeitnehmer in Luxembourg - Eine qualitative sowie quantitative Analyse / Stefanie Edle von Hoessle ; Gutachter: Peter Angerer, Jürgen in der Schmitten." Düsseldorf : Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek der Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, 2020. http://d-nb.info/1220503495/34.
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Bauer, Katrin [Verfasser], and Birgit [Akademischer Betreuer] Emich. "Der andere Kepler - Vom Aufstieg eines frühneuzeitlichen Gelehrten mit Hilfe der Astrologie / Katrin Bauer. Gutachter: Birgit Emich." Erlangen : Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), 2014. http://d-nb.info/1075833345/34.
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Le, Maléfan Pascal. "Les délires spirites, le spiritisme et la métapsychique dans la nosographie psychiatrique française." Paris 5, 1989. http://www.theses.fr/1989PA05H009.
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A la fin du XIXe siècle et au tout début du XXe apparut une vague de délires ayant un lien direct dans leur forme et leur contenu avec le spiritisme. Ces délires furent appelés des délires spirites ou des délires de médiumnité. Si ceux-ci avaient déjà été repérés dans les décennies précédentes (Baillarger, Seglas), ce fut dans la première moitié du XXe siècle qu'ils firent l'objet d'une étude détaillée et que les cliniciens leur assignèrent une place dans la nosographie. Ce travail de classification fut élaboré en fonction de certitudes et de paradoxes qu'ils suscitèrent, et s'inscrit dans un contexte et une intertextualité qui ont force à interroger les rapports entre la pathologie et la croyance. En arrière-fond de cette construction, il est donc important de souligner certaines positions idéologiques de la psychiatrie sur la para normalité, en l'occurrence la médiumnité et l'état de transe mais aussi la métapsychique. Mais il apparait qu'à la fois il y eut discours réducteurs sur ces domaines et utilisation de ceux-ci dans un processus de fondement d'un pan du savoir psychiatriqueAt the end of the nineteenth century and in the early twentieth century, there appeared a wave of deliriums directly linked in their form and content to spiritualism. These deliriums were named spiritualistic deliriusms or mediumship deliriums. Though these had been detected in the preceding decades (Baillarger, Seglas), it was not until the first half of the twentieth century that they were subjected to a detailed study and that clinicians alloted them a place in nosography. This effort at classification was elaborated with regard to the certainties and paradoxes which they aroused and fits in with a context and intertextuality which have compelled psychiatrists to raise the question of the relationship between pathology and belief. As a background to this nosographic construction, it is essential to underline certain ideological positions of psychiatry concerning paranormality, in this case mediumship and the state of trance but also metapsychism. But at the same time, it has become apparent that there has been, in these fields, a simplifying approach to the problem as well as their utilisation in laying the foundation of a part of psychiatric knowledge
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Rigoll, Fabian [Verfasser]. "Nutzerorientiertes Energiedatenmanagement / Fabian Rigoll." Karlsruhe : KIT Scientific Publishing, 2017. http://www.ksp.kit.edu.
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Goulding, Anneli. "Mental health aspects of paranormal and psi related experience /." Göteborg : Göteborg university, 2004. http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb402242195.
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Villemin, Martial. "A la rencontre de la voyance : voyants en Moselle : Leur présence et leur rôle dans la société actuelle : essai de mise en perspective d'une branche de la parapsychologie." Metz, 2004. http://www.theses.fr/2004METZ009L.
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Je veux montrer la présence et le rôle des voyants dans la société actuelle. Je borne mon enquête au département de la Moselle, tout en sachant que ce territoire n'a rien de spécifique à cet égard. La recherche de la véracité de la voyance n'est pas mon objectif, je veux seulement en découvrir la réalité, c'est à dire ce qui se passe entre la professionnelle et son client. J'insiste beaucoup sur la distinction à faire entre véracité et réalité. La prédominance du sexe féminin chez les voyants et chez les consultants m' a amené à m'interroger. C'est, me semble-t-il le rôle maternel de la femme qui joue. Chez les consultants mâles, on relève une forte proportion d'homosexuels. M'attachant à la réalité, je ne cache pas les diverses raisons qui peuvent faire que le consultant peut se déclarer satisfait des prédictions qu'il a reçues. On aboutit à se pencher sur l'efficacité symbolique de cet acte ésotérique ( en tout vas compris comme tel par le consultant) ; il est indéniable qu'un effet placebo peut se produire ; on peut aussi envisager ce qu'on nomme " prophéties auto-réalisatrices", ainsi que l'influence d'une parole forte émanant d'une autorité ; on doit enfin ne pas omettre une " complaisance"de la part du consultant, lequel s'ingénie à faire coller les faits arrivés avec les paroles qu'il a entendues. Je termine en donnant mon opinion sur la nature et l'origine de ce qu'on nomme sixième sens. C'est ce que j'appelleHistoire naturelle du 6° sens. Je m'efforce de démontrer que le don de communication extra sensorielle serait un reliquat de capacités plus développées chez nos ancètres animaux. Il s'agit peut-être que d'une faculté de mieux utiliser, de mieux coordonner les données fournies par les sens. Enfin, je me demande, avec certains paléontologues indiscutables, s'il ne faut pas inverser les données du problème. Homo Sapiens ne serait-il pas en train d'apprendre seulement à se servir mieux et autrement de ses cinq sens ?I intended to show the clairvoyants presence and role in present society. Although my survey is limited to the "Département de Moselle", it must be noted that this departement has nothing specific in that respect. The search for the veracity of clairvoyance was not my objective. I only wanted to find out about its reality, or in other words, about what happened between the clairvoyants and their customers. As such, I made a strong distinction between both these concepts. Clairvoyants and their customers are by far females and this led me to the question of whether the mother characteristics of women played a role in their clairvoyance. On the other hand, male clairvoyants are often homosexuals. I then covered the various reasons for which people appear happy with the predictions that have been made to them. This led me to examine the symbolic effectiveness of such an esoterical act, as it is perceived as such. It cannot be denied that a placebo effet may take place there. One can also think in terms of what could be called " self-happening prophesies" or also of the influence of strong words spoken with autority. Lastly, I must also consider that a certain accommodating attitude may exist, in which people try hard to find perfect matches between wath they have told and wath happens around them. The paper ends with wath I blieve to be the nature and the origin of the Sixth Sense. This is what I call the Natural History of the Sixth Sense. I attempted that the gift of extra-sensorial communication could be the remnant of more developed capabilities that existed in our animal ancestroes. It is perhaps only the facultaty of better using, better coordinating th data supplied by our senses. Lastly I wondered with a few unquestionable palaeontologists whhether we should not look at the problem the other way round. Would Homo Sapiens not be simply in the processs od learning to use its five senses better and in a different way ?
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Hardy, Christine. "Ethnologie et parapsychologie une double perspective sur la transe, les états modifiés de conscience et les phénomènes paranormaux /." Lille 3 : ANRT, 1988. http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb376058103.
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Heinzel, Thomas [Verfasser], Basileios [Akademischer Betreuer] Makridēs, and Stamatios [Akademischer Betreuer] Gerogiorgakis. "Weiße Bruderschaft und Delphische Idee : Esoterische Religiosität in Bulgarien und Griechenland in der ersten Hälfte des 20. / Thomas Heinzel. Gutachter: Vasilios Makrides ; Stamatios Gerogiorgakis." Erfurt : Universitätsbibliothek Erfurt, 2013. http://d-nb.info/1044576197/34.
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Penataro, Sanchez Alejandro [Verfasser]. "Kognitive Divinationskünste im Kaiserlichen China : das Prognosesystem Qimen Dunjia / Alejandro Penataro Sanchez." Berlin : Freie Universität Berlin, 2012. http://d-nb.info/1029950903/34.
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Kropf, Marianna [Verfasser], and Axel [Akademischer Betreuer] Michaels. "Rituelle Traditionen der Planetengottheiten (Navagraha) im Kathmandutal: Strukturen – Praktiken – Weltbilder / Marianna Kropf ; Betreuer: Axel Michaels." Heidelberg : CrossAsia, 2006. http://d-nb.info/1219173266/34.
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Heinzel, Thomas [Verfasser], Basileios [Akademischer Betreuer] Makridēs, and Stamatēs D. [Akademischer Betreuer] Gerogiōrgakēs. "Weiße Bruderschaft und Delphische Idee : Esoterische Religiosität in Bulgarien und Griechenland in der ersten Hälfte des 20. / Thomas Heinzel. Gutachter: Vasilios Makrides ; Stamatios Gerogiorgakis." Erfurt : Universitätsbibliothek Erfurt, 2013. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:gbv:547-201300483.
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Marmin, Nicolas. "La métapsychique (1875-1935) : une impasse fructueuse dans l'histoire de la science de l'esprit." Paris 5, 2001. http://www.theses.fr/2001PA05H053.
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Le 19e récolte les fruits des deux siècles de développement de la pensée scientifique qui le précèdent, les distille et les transforme en alcool philosophique "scientiste" : aucun phénomène ne semble pouvoir échapper à l'examen scientifique. Certains thèmes longtemps ignorés par les savants suscitent leur intérêt, comme les pouvoirs magiques et divinatoires. Dès l'Antiquité, on a recueilli des récits de visions d'avenir, de communication avec les esprits des morts et depuis le 18e siècle, certains missionnaires racontent que ces pouvoirs "existent" dans des cultures lointaines : ces "pouvoirs", c'est la psychologie en voie de constitution qui s'en charge. L'un des artisans de ce mouvement est un physiologiste qui est aussi un des fondateurs de la psychologie institutionnelle en France, Charles Richet (1850-1935) : il crée une science métapsychique afin d'étudier positivement ces sortes de scories. Par intérêt épistémiologique pour les étrangetés de l'esprit, les psychologues étudient alors ces "phénomènes" : spiritisme, télépathie, visions. . . Car c'est dans le monde matériel, visible qu'ils sont attendus et que doit s'appliquer leur étude. Mais certains écueils, certaines dérives liées à ce désir de "voir" semblent mettre en danger la discipline psychologique sur la voie de "la scientificité" : aussi se décharge-t-elle de la surnature en nouant un étrange dialogue avec la métapsychique. Ce dialogue complexe se poursuit pendant une cinquantaine d'années et sert à la construction de la psychologie actuelle : il révèle les erreurs méthodologiques dont les psychologues tentent de se prémunir et exprime les écueils philosophiques qu'ils veulent éviter. L'étude de ce dialogue à laquelle cette thèse est consacrée, tente de montrer la façon dont la psychologie posa ses jalons et délimita son champ de recherche, la façon dont elle construisit son sujet (-objet) et contribua à modeler l'image de l'homme moderneIn this dissertation, I intend to describe the relationship between psychology and psychical research in France between 1875 and 1935. From 1880 onwards, psychical phenomena such as spiritism or telepathy were widely discussed in the field of the so-called "new psychology". At the beginning of the twentieth century, those studies, under the name of "métapsychique" proposed by the French Nobel prize winner Charles Richet, gave birth to a raw materialistic form of spiritualism. They dealt mainly (but not only) with the physical effects of "mediumnism". In the same period some psychologists started to point out the dangers of such a dubious vicinity, as scandalous rumours of fraud were arising. (. . . )
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Peitzmann, Stefan [Verfasser], and Jürgen [Akademischer Betreuer] Werbick. "... damit es nicht nur Schicksal ist : Hermeneutiken des Unverfügbaren im Spiegel theologischen Denkens / Stefan Peitzmann. Betreuer: Jürgen Werbick." Münster : Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek der Westfälischen Wilhelms-Universität, 2012. http://d-nb.info/102702114X/34.
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Strube, Julian [Verfasser], and Michael [Akademischer Betreuer] Bergunder. "Sozialismus, Katholizismus und Okkultismus im Frankreich des 19. Jahrhunderts. Die Genealogie der Schriften von Eliphas Lévi / Julian Strube ; Betreuer: Michael Bergunder." Heidelberg : Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg, 2016. http://d-nb.info/1180609913/34.
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