The Parapsychological Association

Carlos S. Alvarado, Ph.D.

Atlantic University (carlos.alvarado@atlanticuniv.edu)

Over the years several authors have published reports and discussions of out-of-body experiences in theJournal of Nervous and Mental Disease(e.g., Alvarado, Blackmore, Ehrenwald, Irwin). The most recent contribution on the topic is a paper I coauthored with Nancy L. Zingrone and Etzel Cardeña.

We explored an idea that has been mentioned in the literature since the nineteenth-century: the tendency for OBEs to take place in inactive states. Furthermore, we studied the possible relationship of body activity and the number of OBE features.

Here is the reference, and abstract, and a link to the paper.

Zingrone, N.L., ALvarado, C.S., & Cardeña, E. (2010) Out-of-body experiences, physical body activity and posture: Responses from a survey conducted in Scotland.Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 198, 163-165.http://www.medicine.virginia.edu/clinical/departments/psychiatry/sections/cspp/dops/publicationslinks/Zingrone%20Alvarado%20Cardena%20OBEs%20body%20activity%20JNMD%202010.pdf

Abstract: Although there have been studies of some factors related to the features of out-of-body experiences (OBEs), the effect of physical body posture and activity has not been systematically explored. Over the years research has suggested that OBEs are more frequent in states of low physical
activity and when the body is supine, in agreement with other findings related to alterations in consciousness. Thus, we predicted that OBEs would be associated with lying down and little or no physical activity, and that these factors would show a higher number of OBE features than OBEs in which
the person was physically active and/or standing. OBE cases were collected through appeals in published sources. Respondents provided a description of their only or most recent OBE and filled out a questionnaire about OBE features. The findings indicate that OBEs were associated with low physical
activity and being in a supine position. Those who had experiences under these conditions also obtained a higher number of OBE features than those who were active and standing at the time of the OBE.

We concluded that our results "are consistent with . . . models of OBEs . . . that posit that scant (or extreme) afferent stimulation may make OBEs more likely. Tart (1975) suggested that maintaining a state of consciousness requires ongoing stabilizing feedback, which in the case of the body can arise from the activity of the body within the environment . . . Of course, there may be additional factors related to OBEs such as changes of afferent stimulation through the habituation that occurs in repetitive motions . . . and perhaps the need for the individual to maintain a prolonged focus on inner experience rather than on, for instance, perceptual changes. Additional research projects could evaluate other possible mediating factors on the incidence and characteristics of OBEs. For example, it would be valuable to know
whether the results apply equally to induced as to spontaneous OBEs, and to assess the effect of benign . . . versus traumatic contexts . . . Rather than arguing that the OBE can be reduced to the previously mentioned factors, however, it should be understood that we are proposing the further exploration of the interaction of such variables including body activity and posture."

Carlos S. Alvarado, Ph.D.

Atlantic University

Many digital  libraries have holdings related to the old mesmeric, spiritualistic and psychical research literatures. This is the first of a series of lists and comments about some of these resources. The holdings that appear below are a few examples of the many books and articles available in each virtual library. 

Lexscien: Library of Exploratory Science (http://www.lexscien.org/)

This virtual library is available by subscription. It is a project of the Centre for Fundamental and Anomalies Research. Its collection, presented as image facsimiles and in plain and formatted text, is still growing. The site offers historically important journals such as the Proceedings and Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, and the Journal of Parapsychology. Other more recent publications include European Journal of Parapsychology, Journal of Scientific Exploration, and Research in Parapsychology. At this point there are only a few books available.

Readers should consult the SPR Abstracts Catalogue (compiled by R. McLuhan and edited by Z. Weaver) that is part of the electronic holdings. This presents abstracts of the content of JSPR and PSPR published between 1882 and 2002.

Books
Gurney, E. , Myers, F.W.H., & Podmore, F. (1886). Phantasms of the Living (2 vols.). London: Trubner.

Myers, F.W.H. (1903). Human Personality and Its Survival of Bodily Death (2 vols.) London: Longmans, Green.

Osty, E. (1923) . Supernormal Faculties in Man. Londor.: Methuen.

Articles
Barrett, W.F. (1883). On some phenomena associated with abnormal conditions of the mind.Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, 1, 238-244.

Birge, W.R., & Rhine, J.B. (1942). Unusual types of persons tested for ESP: 1. A professional medium.Journal of Parapsychology, 6, 85-94.

Humphrey, B.M. (1945). ESP and intelligence. Journal of Parapsychology, 9, 7-16.

Myers, F. W. H. (1884). On a telepathic explanation of some so-called spiritualistic phenomena: Part I.Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, 2, 217-237.

Price, M., & Pegram, M.H. (1937). Extra-sensory perception among the blind. Journal of Parapsychology, 1, 143-155

Rhine. L.E. (1937). Some stimulus variations in extra-sensory perception with child subjects.Journal of Parapsychology, 1, 102-113.

Richet, C. (1889). Further experiments in hypnotic lucidity or clairvoyance. Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, 6, 66-83.

Schrenck-Notzing, A. Von (1922). The Hopfgarten poltergeist case. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, 20, 199-217.

Sidgwick, H., Johnson, A., Myers, F.W.H.. Podmore, F., & Sidgwick, E.M. (1894). Report on the Census of Hallucinations.Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, 10, 25-422.

Tyrrell, G.N.M. (1935). Some experiments in undifferentiated extra-sensory perception. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, 29, 52-{)8.

Google Books (http://books.google.com/)
Includes facsimile books and journals that have been wholly or partially scanned in a digitalization project sponsored by Google. The references that appear below are facsimile scans of books and journals.

Books
Barkas, T.P. (1862). Outline of Ten Years' Investigations into the Phenomena of Modem Spiritualism. London: Frederick Pitman.

Brittan, S.B., and Richmond, B.W. (1853). A Discussion of the Facts and Philosophy of
Ancient and Modern Spiritualism. New York: Partridge & Brittan.

Carrington, H. (1908). The Coming Science. Boston: Small, Maynard.

Edmonds, J.W., and Dexter, G.T. (1853). Spiritualism (4th ed.). New York: Partridge &
Brittan.

Flammarion, C. (1909). Mysterious Psychic Forces. Boston: Small, Maynard.

Lodge, 0.J. (n.d., ca 1920). The Survival of Man (new enlarged ed.). New York: George
H. Doran.

Maxwell, J. (1905). Metapsychical Phenomena. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons.

Podmore, F. (1897). Studies in Psychical Research. New York: G.P. Putnam's.

Ramsey, W. (1856). Spiritualism, a Satanic Delusion. Peace Dale, Rl: H.L. Hastings.

Wallace, A.R. (n.d., ca 1895). Miracles and Modern Spiritualism (Rev. ed.). London:
Nichols.

Articles
Brittan, S.B. (1874). Spiritualism of the ancients. Brittan's Journal of Spiritual Science , Literature, Art, and Inspiration, 2, 1-15.

Butler, N.M. (1886). The progress of psychical research. Popular Science Monthly, 29,
482-491.

Carrington, H. (1903). Psychical research. Metaphysical Magazine, 17, 175-200.

Flammarion, C. (1897). A seance with Eusapia Paladino: Psychic forces. Arena, 18, 730-747.

Hyslop, J.H. (1907). Preliminary report on the trance phenomena of Mrs. Smead.
Proceedings of the American Society for Psychical Research, 1, 525-722.

James, W. (1907). A case of clairvoyance. Proceedings of the American Society for
Psychical Research, 1, 221-236.

[Jastrow, J.). (1887). Some miscalled cases of thought-transference. Science, 9, 115-116.

Lang, A. (191 I). Psychical research. The Encyclopaedia Britannica (11 th ed.), vol. 22, 544-547. New York: The Encyclopaedia Britannica Company.

Review of the Proceedings of the SPR, Part XV. (1890). Science, 15, 128.

[Titchener, E.B.). (1901). Review of From India to the Planet Mars, by T. Flournoy.
American Journal of Psychology, 12, 265-268.

I agree with David Luke's comments about the importance of publishing in non-parapsychological journals, as stated in the last issue ofMindfield. I write for both parapsychology and non-parapsychological journals. While I would not like parapsychology journals to disappear--they fulfill important functions as all specialty journals do--I believe publishing in the other journals help us to circulate our work more efficiently, and to integrate it better to other disciplines.

To motivate others to publish in non-psi journals I present here references and abstracts of some of my papers about historical topics.

Alvarado, C.S., & Krippner, S. (2009). Nineteenth century pioneers in the study of dissociation: William James and psychical research.Journal of Consciousness Studies, 17, 19-43.

Following on recent trends in the historiography of psychology and psychiatry we argue that psychical research was an important influence in the development of ideas of dissociation. To illustrate the point, we discuss American psychologist and philosopher William James’ (1842-1910) writings about mediumship, secondary personalities, and hypnosis. Some of James’ work on the topic took place in the context of research conducted by the American Society for Psychical Research, such as his early work with medium Leonora E. Piper (1857-1950). James’ work is an example of the influence of psychical research on aspects of psychology such as the concepts of the subconscious mind and of dissociation. The work is also consistent with James’ interest in consciousness and in radical empirism and pluralism.

Alvarado, C.S. (2010). Classic Text No. 84: ‘Divisions of Personality and Spiritism’ by Alfred Binet (1896).History of Psychiatry, 21, 487-500.

During the nineteenth century such individuals as Alfred Binet (1857—1911), who is the author of this Classic Text, conducted clinical and research work that led to the development and refinement of ideas about the subconscious mind and dissociation. The work concentrated on hysterical blindness, hypnosis, spontaneous somnambulism, and double and multiple personality. Another phenomenon that focused thinking on the topic was mediumship. The Classic Text is an excerpt from Binet’s writings that illustrates how a representative of French abnormal psychology used mediumship to defend his particular ideas about the mind. The excerpt is taken from the English language translation, published in 1896, of Binet’s Les Altérations de la personnalité (1892).

Alvarado, C.S. (2009). Late nineteenth and early twentieth century discussions of animal magnetism.International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 57, 366-381.

The mesmerists explained the phenomena of what was later called hypnosis as the effects of a force called animal magnetism. Both psychologists' and physicians' writings generally create the impression that the magnetic movement disappeared after the mid-19th century. While the concept of animal magnetism declined significantly by the end of the 19th century, it did not disappear completely. Some examples include the work of Hector Durville, Henri Durville, Emile Magnin, and Edmund Shaftesbury. Detailed accounts of the work of Edmund Gurney and Albert de Rochas are presented. Similar to its earlier counterpart, the late mesmeric movement was associated with what today is known as parapsychological phenomena. This association, and the belief that the demise of magnetic theory represents scientific progress, has led many to emphasize a history that is incomplete.

Alvarado, C.S. (2009).  Ambroise August Liébeault and psychic phenomena.American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 52, 111-121.

Some nineteenth-century hypnosis researchers did not limit their interest to the study of the conventional psychological and behavioral aspects of hypnosis, but also studied and wrote about psychic phenomena such as mental suggestion and clairvoyance. One example, and the topic of this paper, was French physician Ambroise August Liébeault (1823-1904), who influenced the Nancy school of hypnosis. Liébeault wrote about mental suggestion, clairvoyance, mediumship, and even so-called poltergeists. Some of his writings provide conventional explanations of the phenomena. Still of interest today, Liébeault's writings about psychic phenomena illustrate the overlap that existed during the nineteenth-century between hypnosis and psychic phenomena--an overlap related to the potentials of the mind and its subconscious activity.

Alvarado, C.S. (2008). Note on online books and articles about the history of dissociation.Journal of Trauma and Dissociation, 9, 107-118.

Students of the history of dissociation will be interested in the materials on the subject available in the digital document database Google Book Search. This includes a variety of books and journals covering automatic writing, hypnosis, mediumship, multiple personality, trance, somnambulism, and other topics. Among the authors represented in the database are: Eugène Azam, Alfred Binet, James Braid, Jean-Martin Charcot, Pierre Janet, Frederic W.H. Myers, Morton Prince, and Boris Sidis, among others. The database includes examples of case reports, conceptual discussions, and psychiatric and psychological textbook literature.

Alvarado, C.S. (2007). (with F.R. Machado, W. Zangari, & N.L. Zingrone). Perspectivas históricas da influência da mediunidade na construção de idéias psicológicas e psiquiátricas [Historical perspectives of the influence of mediumship on the construction of psychological and psychiatric ideas]. Revista de Psiquiatria Clínica, 34 (supp.1), 42-53.

Background: Psychology and psychiatry have long been influenced by the phenomena their practitioners study. A variety of ideas about the mind and its pathology were developed in the context of studies of hysteria, double and multiple personality and hypnotic phenomena. Objectives: In this study we argue that mediumship influenced both psychology and psychiatry in different ways. The study of mediumistic phenomena such as trances and written or verbal messages claimed to come from deceased spirits contributed to the development of several important concepts during the nineteenth century and later
on. Methods: We have reviewed the historical psychiatric and psychological literature relating to mediumship to identify discussions about mediumship.Results: Mediumship was used to defend a variety of ideas about the subconscious mind by figures such as William B. Carpenter, Frederic W.H. Myers, and Joseph Grasset. Both Pierre Janet and Théodore Flournoy used mediumship to illustrate forms of dissociation. Similarly, psychopathology was related in different ways to the practice
of mediumship, as discussed by Jean-Martin Charcot, Pierre Janet and Gilbert Ballet.Conclusions: While mediumship was just only one factor affecting concepts of the subconscious, dissociation and psychopathology, its influence needs to be more recognized than it is currently done in the historiography of psychology and psychiatry.
 

Here is an abstract of a paper I published with Nancy L. Zingrone in the Puerto Rican psychology journalCiencias de la Conducta (Sciences of Behavior).

Alvarado, C.S., & Zingrone, N.L. (2010). Variables relacionadas con experiencias parapsicológicas: La absorción y los sueños [Variables related to parapsychological experiences: Absorption and dreams].Ciencias de la Conducta, 25, 115-137.

Abstract

Two questionnaire studies were conducted with Puerto Rican participants to assess the relationship of parapsychological experiences to absorption, and vivid and lucid dreams. It was hypothesized that there would be a positive and significant relationship between absorption and specific parapsychological experiences, as well as with a combined measure of parapsychological experiences. We also hypothesized a positive and significant relationship between the index of parapsychological experiences and vivid and lucid dreams. The questionnaire used included parapsychological, absorption (Tellegen’s Absorption Scale), and other experiences items arranged randomly. All the hypotheses were confirmed for the first study, and partially for the second one. The results suggest that parapsychological experiences are related to the same cognitive processess found on absorption experiences, in dreams, and in other experiences.