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chapter

12
Sensation and parapsychology

Receiving sensory Parapsychology


information

Sense Sensory information in the Methodology Phenomena


receptors central nervous system

Brain Neurones Illusion and Early Evaluation Experiments ESP Psychokinesis


hallucination research and fraud and
participants

Reflex Neural impulse Adaptation

Learning objectives b outline the passage of neural information in the


reflex arc
12.1. The nervous system c explain the concepts of summation and habituation
a define terms relating to the nervous system 12.5. Neurone activity and sensation
b distinguish between the peripheral and central a outline processes of habituation and adaptation
nervous systems b explain the concept of sensory thresholds
c identify the major receptors for different senses c identify sources of illusion and hallucination
12.2. Receiving sensory information 12.6. Parapsychology
a link physiological factors in sensation with a define terms relating to parapsychological research
experience b outline methods of parapsychological fraud
b describe the main receptors of the visual system c evaluate Rhine’s investigations of ESP
c identify adaptive features of sensory information
processing 12.7. Parapsychological research
a list the main areas of parapsychological research
12.3. Processing sensory information b describe how ganzfelds have been used by
a identify areas of the brain involved in processing parapsychologists
sensory information c evaluate evidence for remote viewing
b distinguish between cortical and sub-cortical
information processing 12.8. Experimenter and participant variables
c describe the processing of visual information in a describe the sheep-goat effect
the cerebral cortex b distinguish between experimenter and participant
effects in parapsychological research
12.4. The reflex arc c evaluate problems of control and replication in
a describe the structures of neurones which com- parapsychological research
prise the reflex arc
354 Physiological psychology Section 3

In this chapter, we will be looking at how the transmitted by sensory neurones to other parts of
nervous system gathers information from our the nervous system.These neural impulses travel
external environment.We have many more than from the sensory receptor to the brain, usually
five senses which convey information to the brain: going straight to the part of the brain known as
at the very least, we have sight, hearing, touch, the thalamus, which acts as a kind of sorting and
taste, smell and proprioception (the sense which relay station for the information which is coming
tells us about the internal state of the body, such as in. From there they pass to the specialised sensory
the position of joints and muscles) – although areas on the largest part of the brain, the
really proprioception consists of several senses, not cerebrum, where the information that they carry
just one.We have one set of receptors which is analysed and interpreted.
inform us about balance, another which informs is Neural information takes the form of a single
about movement, and so on.The empiricist electrical impulse. Receptor cells generate an
philosophers were mistaken when they assumed electrical impulse in response to a stimulus.This is
that human beings had only five senses – and if known as transduction: the incoming
they had taken our internal senses into account at information changes its form, and ends up as an
the same time, they might easily have developed a electrical impulse, or as a pattern of several
very different kind of philosophy. impulses.These impulses are all of the same
Sometimes, though, it seems as though people strength, forming a kind of ‘on-off ’ binary system.
can receive information, or send it, without using They are produced by the changes in the
their external senses.This has been given various electrical potential of the cell, which we will be
names, ranging from ESP (extra-sensory looking at later in this chapter.
perception) to psi, to parapsychology. In this
chapter we will be looking at how psychologists Receptors in the visual system
have gone about studying ESP, and what it has The receptors in the visual system are special
told us about human potential – and the human photo-receptor cells found in the retina of the
capacity for deception! eye.These cells contain chemicals which bleach
when they are exposed to light.When this chemi-
cal change happens, the electrical potential of the
Receiving sensory information cell changes, and an electrical impulse is passed on
to the bipolar neurones which form the next layer
The process by which we receive information is of the retina (Figure .). From there it passes to
known as sensation. Human beings possess a the ganglion cells.These have extremely elon-
number of specialised systems which allow us to
receive different types of information.The
Figure 12.1 The structure of the retina
peripheral nervous system includes one system
which receives that form of electro-magnetic
radiation which we refer to as light; another
system receives rhythmic changes in air pressure
which we know as sound; a third system receives
information about physical contact with the skin;
a fourth about changes in the body; and we also Cone
cell
receive information about the chemical
composition of the air around us and of food that
we eat, through the senses of smell and taste. Rod
cell

How sensory receptors work

The brain receives information from a number of Optic


sensory receptors, each of which is specialised to nerve
receive certain types of stimuli.Whatever type of Bipolar Ganglion
stimulus they receive, these receptors change the neurone cell
information into electrical impulses that can be
Chapter 12 Sensation and parapsychology 355

gated stems, or axons, which lead completely out So, oddly, in dim light we can see things more
of the eyeball.The axons collect together at a clearly if we do not actually look straight at them.
point on the retina known as the blind spot, and When we try to focus on an object in these
form the optic nerve which passes to the brain. conditions, it seems fuzzy because there is not
There are two kinds of photo-receptors: rod enough light to see properly with the cone cells
cells and cone cells. Rod cells contain a chemical in the fovea. But to the side of the fovea, there are
known as rhodopsin, which is extremely sensitive rod cells, and these can pick up dim light
and responds to minute changes in light.This accurately.The constellation known as the Seven
means that rod cells are the cells which we use for Sisters, or the Pleiades, in the northern
night vision, when there is very little light hemisphere, contains one star which is too faint to
available. Rod cells can also detect very slight be detected by cone cells, but just bright enough
movements, so we find that the edge of the retina, to be picked up by rod cells: if you look directly
which is the extreme edge of our visual field, is at this constellation you can count only six stars,
entirely composed of rod cells.This helps us to whereas if you look slightly to the side of it you
react quickly to anything appearing at the edge of can count seven.
our field of vision – a mechanism which evolved
to warn us of possible sources of danger. Receptors in the auditory system
As we move towards the centre of the retina, The auditory system contains the specialised
we find that there are fewer rod cells and receptors for sounds, which are picked up as
increasing numbers of cone cells, until we find rhythmic changes in air pressure, arriving in waves
that the fovea, at the centre of the retina, is made which we refer to as sound waves.The outer ear
up entirely of cone cells.The fovea is the point collects the signal, and the outer and middle
where we focus our vision. Cone cells contain a sections of the ear together amplify it. But the
different chemical, known as iodopsin, which changes in pressure are actually transduced into
allows them to detect colour.This makes them electrical impulses by tiny hair cells, which lie
very effective for detailed inspection of objects. between two membranes in the inner ear (Figure
There are a number of theories about how colour .).When pressure waves pass through the fluid
vision actually works, and these are discussed in above and below them, the membranes are
Box . on the following page. squeezed.This produces a change in the electrical
The effects of this arrangement of cells in the potential of the hair cells, and they generate elec-
retina become particularly noticeable at night, or trical impulses.These impulses are picked up by
under conditions of very low illumination. Cone special ganglion cells in the basilar membrane
cells need quite a lot of light in order to function. (the lower one), and their long axons form the

Figure 12.2 The inner ear

Semicircular Cochlear
canals Bone duct

Oval
window
Fluid
(endolymph) Tectorial
membrane
Round Basilar
Auditory window membrane
nerve (contains
(axons of ganglion
ganglion cells) cells)
Fluid
Hair cells
(perilymph)
356 Physiological psychology Section 3

Box 12.1 Theories of colour vision

If we mix coloured lights, we find that any colour then look at a blank sheet of paper, you find
can be produced by varying the proportions of that you see an after-effect of the patch – but a
three colours: red, blue and green.The different green one. If the patch you stare at is green, the
shades which we see on a colour television are after-effect is red. Similarly, if you stare at a blue
produced by tiny coloured dots in these three patch, you get a yellow after-effect; a bright
colours, lighting up in varying combinations to patch produces a darker after-image; and so on.
produce the colours of the TV image.The In other words, after-effects reflect the opposite
observation that different combinations of lights of the stimulus to which they have been
could produce all the different colours, formed exposed – the opposite colour in the pairs
the basis of the first attempt to explain colour red/green and blue/yellow; and the opposite
vision, known as the Young-Helmholtz brightness in the pair light/dark.
principle, after the nineteenth-century In an attempt to explain both negative after-
researchers who developed the ideas. effects and colour blindness, Hering ()
The Young-Helmholtz theory of colour proposed the opponent-process theory of
vision proposed that we have three different colour vision. Hering argued that to explain
types of colour-detecting cells – cone cells – in human colour perception just in terms of the
the retina of the eye. One type is sensitive to three primary colours for light – red, blue and
red wavelengths of light, another to blue, and a green – was not enough: that in terms of
third type to green. By firing in different human perception there are four primary
combinations, depending on the light which is colours, because yellow is also experienced as a
reaching the eye, they signal the colour which pure colour and not a mixture. Hering believed
the brain should perceive. that we have three types of receptor cells in the
Although this seems a plausible enough retina, which process information in opposite
explanation for how we see colour, it hits ways.When the receptor is in its anabolic
problems when we are trying to explain two phase, it responds to one colour of a pair; when
phenomena: colour blindness and visual after- it is in the opposite phase, which Hering called
effects. Colour blindness occurs when the the the catabolic phase, it responds to the
person – who is usually male, since colour- opposite colour. So the same cells respond to
blindness is a sex-linked genetic disorder – is the pairs of colours, and the three types of
unable to distinguish between certain receptor are red/green, blue/yellow, and
wavelengths of light. In the majority of cases of light/dark. Negative after-effects are produced
colour blindness, the person confuses certain by the cells becoming fatigued by prolonged
shades of red with certain shades of green: a stimulation in one direction, and so working in
disorder not surprisingly referred to as red- the opposite way for a period after the
green colour blindness.This is actually quite stimulation ended, as they recover.
common, affecting about % of men, although Although these may seem like opposite ideas,
less than % of women. In some cases, much in fact there is some physiological evidence for
less common than the red-green ones, the both of them. MacNichol () showed that
person may have no colour vision at all, seeing there are different types of cone cells in the
everything as shades of black, white and grey; retina, which respond maximally to the three
and in a very few extremely rare cases, the different wavelengths of light represented by
person may confuse some shades of blue and red, blue and green – as predicted by the
yellow, but have accurate red-green colour Young-Helmholtz theory. And De Valois,
vision. It is hard to see how these observations Abramov and Jacobs () showed that bipolar
can be explained simply in terms of different cells, in the second layer of the retina, and also
cone cells for red, blue and green light. some cells in the thalamus, show opponent
A related issue is the question of negative processing. So both types of mechanisms appear
after-effects. If you stare at a red patch for a to have relevance in making sense out of how
period of time – say,  seconds or so – and we see colour.
Chapter 12 Sensation and parapsychology 357

auditory nerve, carrying information to the Receptors in the olfactory system


brain. Smell is often described as a ‘primitive’ sense,
Since a neural impulse is either on or off, and because it was one of the first to evolve – but that
of the same strength each time, information about does not mean that the information we receive
the volume and pitch of a sound has to be sent as from it is simple. On the contrary, the olfactory
a kind of code.Volume is signalled by the number system is capable of analysing highly complex
of hair cells which are stimulated: loud sounds information. Unlike the other sense receptors,
stimulate more hair cells. Pitch, however, is olfactory receptors are in direct contact with the
signalled in a rather more complex manner. In external world – they do not need special collect-
part, pitch seems to be indicated by the location ing equipment, like ears or eyes. Hair cells
of the hair cells which were stimulated.Von protrude directly from the olfactory area in the
Bekesey, in , cut tiny holes in the basilar nose – known as the olfactory epithelium – into
membranes of guinea pigs, and found that the hair the air flow created when we breathe.The ends of
cells near the middle ear end of the cochlea the hair cells are coated with a fatty substance.
responded to higher frequencies, while those at Chemical molecules in the air stick to this sub-
the other end of the cochlea responded to mid- stance, which generates an electrical impulse in
range frequencies. But low frequencies seem to be the cell.That impulse is passed directly to the
picked up all over the cochlea, and these are olfactory cortex of the brain, and to the limbic
indicated by how rapidly the hair cells fire. At low system (see Chapter ). So the cerebrum receives
frequencies, hair cells fire less often than at high olfactory information directly, whereas most other
frequencies. sensory information is relayed through the
Several species of animals can detect sounds that thalamus.
are outside the range of human hearing. Dogs, The direct connections of the olfactory system
bats and rats, for instance, can detect ultrasound – indicate that in evolutionary terms it is a very
sounds which are too high for human ears to ancient sense: more recently evolved systems tend
hear. Some dog owners train their animals to to have more elaborate physiological structures.
respond to ‘silent’ whistles, which produce This direct contact, and the olfactory system’s
ultrasonic signals. Bats use sonar to detect the connections with the limbic system, may explain
insects that they eat, sending out an ultrasonic how smells can be so powerful in evoking
call which bounces off the insect, making an echo memories or emotions from a long time ago.
which informs the bat about the location of its Many aromatherapists believe that the sense of
prey. And male rats are known to produce a smell and feelings of emotion are directly linked,
high-frequency, ultrasound shriek after they have and so they aim to help people who are distressed
just copulated, which warns other rats to keep or depressed by using essential oils to evoke more
away. positive moods.
Some species can detect very low frequencies Perhaps because it is a primary sense for many
of sound too. Low sounds carry a very long way, animals (the sense that they depend on most in
and whales are thought to be able to pick up their day-to-day lives), the olfactory sense is quite
infrasound (sound which is too low for human robust. New olfactory receptor cells are
beings to hear) through hundreds of miles of continually being grown, and a whole set can
ocean. Blakemore () described how pigeons renew itself completely over a period of six weeks
can detect sounds so low that they can even hear or so. So even if the olfactory receptors are
the very low rumbles of mountain ranges. One damaged, they can recover quickly.
theory about how homing pigeons find their Although we tend to think of vision and
way is that they can detect these distinctive, very hearing as our most important senses, human
low patterns of infrasound, although pigeons beings are far more sensitive to smells than we
have other homing senses as well. And there is a often suspect.Wallace () showed that people
theory – although evidence for it appears to be can distinguish between males and females by
lacking – that some of the ancient stone circles smell; and professional wine-tasters or others with
and mystical sites are located over rock a highly trained sense of smell can make quite
formations which produce distinctive infrasound sophisticated discriminations between stimuli
patterns. which seem to smell the same to most people.
358 Physiological psychology Section 3

People who grow up in societies where the sense notes. Using this musical metaphor, researchers
of smell is systematically trained from an early age, have been able to identify similarities in how
as in the Native Australian societies, can detect a people perceive different kinds of smells, and these
tremendous amount of information using smell. do seem to correlate to quite a high degree with
A number of attempts have been made to the chemical constituents that go to make up the
classify smells. In , Zwaardemaker proposed substance which is being smelled.
that all smells could be reduced to nine main
types (see Table .). Crocker () suggested Receptors in the gustatory system
that there were four, not nine, classes of smell: We cannot taste anything without first dissolving
fragrant, or sweet; acid, or sour; burnt, or it in saliva, a saline-like fluid produced by special
empyreumatic; and caprylic, or ‘goaty’. Crocker glands in the mouth. Some chemical food addi-
developed a system for numbering smells tives, such as monosodium glutamate (E), have
according to these components.The number was their effect by increasing the flow of saliva from
on a scale from  to , so, for example, the smell these glands, which makes the food taste more
of a rose was given the number , which flavourful.The sense of taste and the sense of smell
meant that it was strongly fragrant, had some acid are very closely linked – so much so that if the
odour, and also just a little of the other two. sense of smell is impaired in some way, for
Vanillin was numbered , whereas the smell of example by a bad cold, we find it more difficult to
ethyl alcohol was given the code of .This taste food properly.
type of numbering system did help researchers to Taste receptor cells are grouped into taste
identify some of the basic similarities between buds, forming little bumps on the surface of the
smells; but nowadays it appears rather over- tongue and on the soft palate of the mouth.These
simplified. cells end in short hair-like structures, which come
Modern researchers take the view that it seems into direct contact with the saliva in the mouth,
rather unlikely that the sense of smell will be and react to the different chemical combinations
reduced to just a few basic components in the produced by dissolved food.The chemical causes a
way that early theorists imagined, since the range change in the chemical balance of the taste
of different chemicals which can be identified by receptor cell, which produces an electrical
the olfactory system is so large. Many recent impulse.
attempts to describe smells use the idea of notes – The strength of a flavour is signalled by faster
the idea that a smell is a bit like a musical chord, or slower firing from the nerve fibre, but the way
composed of combinations of different notes. that different tastes are coded is rather more
Some smells are thin and sharp, and these are complex. Different parts of the tongue seem to be
mainly composed of high notes, whereas others sensitive to different tastes, with those at the very
are richer and deeper, as if they contain more low front of the tongue being in general more
sensitive to sweet foods, those at the sides and
front responding best to salty tastes, those at the
Table 12.1 Types of smell side but to the rear responding best to sour tastes,
and those at the back of the tongue and on the
In 1895, Zwaardemaker proposed that all smells
could be reduced to nine main types: soft palate responding most to bitter tastes.
1 Ethereal – e.g. fruits, resins and ethers.
For some time, it was thought that these
regions simply contained different types of
2 Aromatic – e.g. camphor, cloves, lavender,
receptors. However, it is now clear that most taste
lemon, and bitter almonds.
receptors will respond to other tastes as well; but
3 Fragrant – e.g. flowers, violet, vanilla. that they have different thresholds of response
4 Ambrosial – e.g. amber or musk. for different chemicals – in other words, different
5 Alliaceous – e.g. hydrogen sulphide, chlorine. chemicals need to be of different strengths before
6 Empyreumatic – e.g. benzenes, roast coffee. they will depolarise the cell membrane enough to
7 Caprylic – e.g. cheese, rancid fat. produce an electrical impulse. It is thought that
8 Repulsive – e.g. deadly nightshade, bedbug. the brain decodes the impulses being received
9 Foetid – e.g. carrion, faeces. from the taste receptors by assessing how often
different nerve fibres in an area are stimulated, and
Chapter 12 Sensation and parapsychology 359

how sensitive the different groups of receptor cells back, thighs and calves have very high thresholds,
are. and are the least sensitive parts of the body.
As with the sense of smell, taste receptor cells Temperature is picked up by free nerve endings
are constantly renewing themselves, such that each in the skin.These sensory receptors react when
taste bud is completely renewed every seven days the temperature of the skin changes. ‘Warm’
or so. Sensitivity to taste seems to decline with receptors respond when the skin surface warms up
age, although as with most age-changes this is gently, but both cooling and rapid heating activate
highly variable. And, of course, individual the ‘cold’ receptors. One well-known tactile
sensitivity differs: a trained chef or food analyst, illusion which illustrates this involves passing
for instance, can detect very slight nuances of taste warm and cold water through two intertwined
in the flavour of a particular food, whereas many tubes. A person grasping both tubes together in
other people are content with far more general one hand, so that both kinds of stimulation are
assessments of flavour. received, will feel a hot sensation (Figure .).
There are differences between species in terms
of which tastes they can detect. Cats, for Pain receptors
example, do not have taste receptors for sweet Although pain receptors are also part of the tactile
things, whereas dogs do.You may have observed system, they are important enough to warrant
this if you have pets: dogs are often very fond of being discussed separately.When a stimulus which
chocolates or other sweets, but cats will tend to is powerful enough to cause damage contacts the
ignore them. In humans, our response to taste skin, chemical substances are released within the
varies with our physiological state: a solution of skin itself, and these flood the immediate area.
zinc sulphate heptahydrate, for example, is used These chemicals are picked up at the specialised
by dieticians to detect zinc deficiency, because it receptor sites of pain receptor cells, which have
seems completely tasteless to those who have
zinc deficiency, but has a strong and unpleasant
flavour to people who have not. Similarly, the Figure 12.3 The heat illusion
‘cravings’ for the taste of a particular food which
Warm water Cold water
many women experience during pregnancy is
thought to relate to a shortage of a relevant
mineral or other substance, which can be found
in that food.

Receptors in the tactile system


Sensory receptors in the skin are of three major
types: those which respond to pressure, those
which respond to temperature and those which
respond to painful stimuli.The sensory receptors
which respond to pressure are located just under
the skin, and seem to be quite variable: some of
them enclose the nerve ending in a small capsule,
while others leave it free.
Some areas of the skin are more sensitive than
others, because they have different numbers of
pressure receptors.This can be tested by touching
the skin with two points, close together, and
seeing whether the person feels the two separate
points or just one.The two-point threshold is set
at the point where the person experiences the
pressure as one point on % of the trials.Those
areas of the skin that have the lowest two-point
threshold tend to be the most sensitive parts of the
body: the lips, fingertips, tongue and genitals.The
360 Physiological psychology Section 3

free nerve endings in the skin.The chemical image is still complete even though the body itself
causes a change in the electrical potential of the is not, and the feelings are often so real that the
cell, producing an electrical impulse which is person acts on them. It is not uncommon,
transmitted rapidly to the spinal cord, stimulating a Melzack reported, for someone who has lost a
reflex response such as pulling the limb or body foot to try to get out of bed using that foot to
away from the stimulus. stand on – and to remember that it is missing only
As a general rule, the impulses carrying pain when they fall over.
information are simultaneously transmitted to the Perhaps more disturbingly, Katz and Melzack
brain, so that we become aware of it.There are () showed that phantom limbs can also carry
times, however, when we can experience pain and the memory of pain which happened before the
not notice it – particularly if we are engaged in amputation. Such pain can be extremely strong,
strenuous physical activity. Melzack and Wall and, of course, is very difficult to treat. In one
() proposed the gate theory of pain, which case, a man on his way to hospital to have a
argues that the nerve impulses which produce painful splinter removed from underneath a
pain pass through a series of ‘gates’ as they travel fingernail was involved in an accident which
up to the brain.These gates do not automatically crushed his arm. He still felt the pain of the
let the pain messages through: they are influenced splinter in the phantom limb he developed after
by other types of information too. So the gate can the arm was amputated. Katz and Melzack
be closed by neural impulses coming down from reported that anaesthetising painful injuries for a
the brain, such as those produced during extreme period of time before an amputation is carried out
arousal. And other kinds of stimuli, like pressure, seems to produce much less pain in a phantom
can sometimes close the gate; which might limb. It seems to allow the brain’s body-image
explain why rubbing a painful spot sometimes enough time to get used to an image of a
relieves the pain slightly. reasonably painless limb, so that when the brain is
Interestingly, we do not always feel pain in the generating the phantom, that too is reasonably
exact spot where an injury is located. Particularly painless. Katz and Melzack recommended that this
with internal injuries, we may feel the pain to be should become standard medical practice.
coming from a different area – nearby, but not
exactly in the same place.The reason for this is Receptors in the proprioceptive system
that feeling pain is not just a matter of feeling the When the empiricist philosophers argued that we
nerve impulses directly. Instead, the brain receives can know the world only through the evidence
the neural messages that signify pain – after they coming to us from our senses, they identified just
have passed through the appropriate gates, of five: sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. But this
course – and projects these messages on to its own meant that they ignored a very important set of
internal ‘map’ of the body. senses: the ones which tell us about our own
This becomes particularly evident with the bodies.These senses, which we can loosely term the
study of phantom limbs – the experience of proprioceptive senses, provide an important source
feeling that a limb is still there after it has been of information, which we often take for granted.
amputated. Melzack () reported a series of There are a number of different types of
case studies of people with phantom limbs, and receptors for this type of information.
showed that these are extremely common – Proprioceptive receptors carry information from
indeed, they seem to be the normal outcome our muscles, tendons and joints along internal
of both deliberate and accidental amputations, nerve fibres to the sensory area in the cerebral
rather than being exceptional. Melzack proposed cortex of the brain. Sacks () reported a case in
that phantom limbs occur as a result of the which a woman experienced complete loss of
brain’s projection of feeling on to its internal proprioception, quite suddenly.This was brought
body-image. on by a sudden inflammation of the
The internal body-image, Melzack argued, is proprioceptive sensory nerves, and it left her
pre-wired into the nervous system: people who feeling ‘disembodied’, and unable to co-ordinate
are born without limbs still often experience or control her actions. She described it as feeling
whole phantom limbs, but they could not have as though the body were suddenly ‘blind’ – unable
learned that. In the case of amputation, the body- to ‘see’ itself doing anything.
Chapter 12 Sensation and parapsychology 361

Another source of information is the sense of early age, so they become much more proficient at
balance.The receptors for this are located in the using smell as a major source of information than
vestibular apparatus of the inner ear, above the most Western people do.When it is trained, the
cochlea.They consist of a number of hair cells, human sense of smell is extremely sensitive, and
which protrude into a thick viscous substance can detect infinitesimal concentrations of some
containing tiny pieces of calcium crystals, known types of substances.
as otoliths.When the body is not upright, or if the Similarly, in ,Witkin showed how people
head is tilted, the otoliths exert pressure on the from traditional African societies were less
hair cells.The pressure produces an electrical dependent on vision as their main sense than were
impulse which is then transmitted to the brain. Europeans.They utilised their kinaesthetic senses
These sensors also allow us to detect constant, far more in adjusting their balance, so they were
linear motion, like the kind of motion we feel in a less easily tricked by illusions which would
train or aeroplane. unbalance Europeans.We may have a great deal to
Body movement, or kinaesthesia, is also learn from people in non-technological societies
detected in the inner ear, but this time using about just what the human sensory system can
another part of the vestibular apparatus known as achieve.
the semicircular canals.These are three loops, each
containing fluid, which lie perpendicular to one Sensory information in the central
another in the three dimensions (see Figure . nervous system
on page ).When the body is moved suddenly,
or changes direction, the fluid swirls around in the The nerve fibres and neural structures which
semicircular canals, and this movement is detected make up the brain and the spinal cord are known
by small hair cells. Different types of movement collectively as the central nervous system, or CNS.
produce different amounts of swirling in the One important part of the functioning of the
canals, so the brain detects what movement is central nervous system concerns the processing of
happening.The dizziness that we feel after going sensory information: sensory information is
on a roundabout or rollercoaster is due to the received through the specialised sense organs, as
fluid in our semicircular canals still moving. we have just seen, but the information then travels
Some recent evidence has identified special cells to the central nervous system in order to be
containing small metallic granules which seem to analysed, and in order for action to be based on its
act as magnetic receptors in some animals, such implications.
as pigeons.This is thought to help them with their
sense of direction. It has been suggested that Decoding in the thalamus
human beings also might possess these magnetic The neurones from most sensory receptors form
orientation receptors; but so far the evidence is synapses at the part of the brain known as the
inconclusive. Some people believe that they have a thalamus. A synapse occurs when a neurone comes
good ‘sense of direction’, which might result from to an end and passes its message on to other neu-
such receptors, but systematic evidence for this rones, which carry the information on to other
seems to be limited. And, of course, there is also parts of the brain. (We looked at how synapses
the problem that we may need to be sensitised to work in Chapter .) The thalamus acts as a sen-
such a sense from an early age in order to use it sory relay mechanism for the brain, in the sense
fully, as with the sense of smell. that it receives sensory information and sorts it
There are many things that we still do not out before channelling it to the appropriate area
know about human beings and their ‘minor of the cerebral cortex.The optic and auditory
senses’, and it seems likely that conducting nerves, which as we have seen, began in the eye
research among people from non-technological and the inner ear, end in the thalamus. Here, they
societies might help us to throw more light on the make connections with other neurones which pass
subject. For example: Dodd () discussed the the information on to the visual and auditory
olfactory training system for Native Australian areas of the cortex.
children, which was mentioned earlier.These There are special sets of nuclei in the thalamus
children are explicitly trained in the identification which process visual and auditory information.
and recognition of different smells from a very Those which process visual information are
362 Physiological psychology Section 3

known as the lateral geniculate nuclei. In , The sensory receptors are listed in Table ..The
Hubel and Wiesel reported on the outcome of a special areas on the cerebral cortex are known as
series of studies involving micro-electrode sensory projection areas, and they are listed in
recording – recording brain activity by using Table .. In Chapter , we saw how Hubel and
electrodes so small that they could record the Wiesel () found three different kinds of
electrical impulse of a single nerve cell. neurone in the visual cortex. One type of cell,
Hubel and Wiesel found that cells in this area of which they called simple cells, responded to
the brain responded to very exact stimuli – a small, highly defined units of information coming
roughly circular spot of light in a particular part of from just one place in the visual field, for example
the visual field. Each cell was excited by a stimulus a dot or a line at a particular angle. Complex cells
in the centre of its receptive field, but inhibited by received information from several simple cells, and
stimuli falling on the surrounding area. So a light this meant that they would fire in response to
directly in the centre of the cell’s receptive field more complex information – like a line at any
would cause the cell to fire, but one which only angle, or a line at a particular angle anywhere in
just missed it would not.The researchers also the visual field. And hypercomplex cells received
found that these cells reponded just as strongly to information from several complex cells, and would
a bar of light: the stimulus did not need to be a
dot, but the bar of light did have to cover the
centre of the cell’s receptive field. Table 12.2 Sensory receptors
In addition to this, Hubel and Wiesel found that
binocular comparisons of information seem to The retina This responds to light infor-
begin in the thalamus. Lateral geniculate cells were mation entering the eye.
arranged in alternate layers, depending on whether The receptors are of two
kinds, detecting brightness
they received information from the left or the right and colour.
eye.Those cells closest to one another in the
The cochlea This reponds to sound
different layers also responded to stimuli from the information received
same part of the visual field. So the implication is through the ear. It detects
that some preliminary processing of the visual intensity and pitch.
information takes place in the thalamus, even The olfactory This responds to chemicals
though the processing becomes much more epithelium carried in the air and enter-
sophisticated when the information reaches the ing the nose. Researchers
are uncertain as to how
visual cortex. many different types of
olfactory receptor exist.
Decoding in the cerebrum The taste buds These respond to chemicals
The cerebrum is a large structure that, in human dissolved in saliva. They
beings, overshadows all the rest of the brain. It respond to salt, sweet, sour
consists of two large, heavily folded hemispheres, and bitter tastes.
separated by a deep groove down the centre, and The skin receptors These detect information
containing grey matter on the surface, and dense being received by the skin.
There are different recep-
white matter underneath.The white matter con-
tors for temperature,
sists of the myelinated axons of tightly packed pressure, and pain.
connector neurones, which carry messages back- The proprioceptors These respond to informa-
wards and forwards between the different areas of tion which comes from
the cerebrum.The grey matter, on the outside, within the body. Some
consists of cell bodies and unmyelinated nerve respond to proprioception
fibres, and it is about six layers of cells deep. It is itself – that is, the position-
ing of the muscles and
in the grey matter, known as the cerebral cortex, limbs. Other receptors
that most of the activity of the cerebrum seems to respond to information
take place. about balance; while the
As we saw in Chapter , there are specialised kinaesthetic receptors
areas on the cerebral cortex which process the respond to information
about movement.
information picked up by specific sense receptors
Chapter 12 Sensation and parapsychology 363

Table 12.3 Sensory projection areas simple visual stimulus, like a dot or a line, and
recording which neurones fired in response, they
The striate cortex Processes visual gradually built up a picture of the way that the
(visual cortex) information. cortex was organised. One of their findings was
The olfactory cortex Processes information from that this part of the cerebral cortex seems to be
smell receptors in the nose, organised into columns, which they referred to as
and may possibly also be ocular dominance columns. Each column
involved in gustatory (taste)
processes. responds to information from just one eye, and all
the cells in a particular column are activated in
The auditory cortex Processes information from
the ears. response to the same stimulus.
The somatosensory Processes information
Hubel and Wiesel found that there are roughly
area about the surface of the six layers of cells in each column, corresponding
body, which is picked up by to the layers of the cerebral cortex. Also, different
sense organs in the skin. layers contain cells which seem to have different
The motor cortex Concerned with voluntary functions. For example, layer IV is where the cells
movements of the muscles. bringing information from the thalamus end,
forming synaptic connections with other cells.
fire in response to simple shapes or patterns (see Other layers have cells which form connections
Figure .). with different parts of the cerebral cortex.
The implication of this finding is that some The arrangement of the columns is interesting
very basic kinds of visual information-processing – too, because Hubel and Wiesel showed that they
at least, the processing involved in sorting out are organised in such a way as to alternate
simple shapes and figures and distinguishing them information from the left and right eyes. So a
from their backgrounds – may be ‘wired in’ to the column which contains cells responding to, say, a
nervous system itself. So it provides physiological line at a certain angle, in a particular part of the
evidence which can be taken as supporting the visual field as seen by the right eye, would be
Gestalt psychologists’ argument that figure-ground situated next to a column which responded to
perception is a fundamental, innate part of visual exactly the same stimulus but seen by the left eye.
perception. And it also tells us something The next column along would respond to a
important about the relationship between the stimulus seen by the right eye, which was only
structure and arrangement of nerve calls in the slightly different from the previous one – the
brain, and our perceptual experience. angle might have shifted by just one or two
degrees, say. And the column after that would
Ocular dominance columns respond to the same stimulus, but from the left
In , Hubel and Wiesel reported the outcomes eye, and so on (see Figure . overleaf).
of thousands of micro-electrode recordings in the
visual cortex of the cerebrum. By presenting a Crossover points
Both hearing and vision are directional senses,
which means that we use them to locate where
Figure 12.4 Simple, complex and hyper- things are. Ocular dominance columns alternate
complex cells the same information from the right and the left
Hypercomplex cells
eye, and this may be because it allows the brain to
compare the slightly different images received by
the right and left eye. As we saw in Chapter , the
difference between the two tells us how far away
something is: closer objects show more disparity
Complex
cells in the visual image than objects which are further
away. So comparing the stimuli received by the
two eyes gives us an important cue to distance.
Having information from different eyes next to
Simple cells one another may help the brain to process this
information.
364 Physiological psychology Section 3

Figure 12.5 Ocular dominance columns in the visual cortex

Direction of electrode

II

III

IV

VI

L R L R L R L R L R L R L R L R L

L ⫽ stimulus from left eye R ⫽ stimulus from right eye

In order for the information from each eye to


be compared, it needs to be matched up at some Figure 12.6 Visual pathways of the brain
point.The matching up occurs at the optic
chiasma – a crossover point in the brain where oooooo xxxxxx
oooooo xxxxxx
the optic nerves carrying information from the oooooo xxxxxx
oooooo xxxxxx
two eyes meet (Figure 12.6). At the optic chiasma,
fibres carrying information from the left side of
each retina pass to the left hemisphere, and those
carrying information from the right side of each x
x
o
o
o
x
x
x
o
o Retina
x o x o oo
x
retina pass to the right hemisphere. So the left Optic nerve xo
xo x
xo
o
hemisphere receives information about what is to xo
x o
x
xo Optic
x o x o
the right in the visual field, while the right Corpus x
o x
x o o
oo
chiasma
x x oo
hemisphere receives information about what is on callosum x
x oo
x oo
the left of the visual field.We looked at this in xx
x
oo
o
x o
Chapter 10, when we look at what happens when x
x
o
o
x o
o
the two are separated, in split-brain studies. x
x o
o
x o
A similar mechanism exists for hearing.We tell x
x x
x o
o o
o

which direction a sound is coming from by o


x
comparing the signals received by our two ears. A x oo
x o oo o
sound from the right-hand side will reach the x o
x x oo o o oo
x x x x o oo
right ear fractionally before it reaches the left. x
x o o
There is a crossover point at which information Lateral
geniculate
coming from the two ears is matched and crossed
Visual cortex nuclei
over, and this means that by matching up the (in thalamus)
information coming from the two ears, the brain
is able to identify where the sound is coming
from. needs immediate action – like a message that part
of the body is in acute pain or burning – then the
Sensory information in the spinal cord information is handled directly by the spinal cord.
Not all processing of sensory information occurs The combination of receptors, nerve cells and
in the brain itself. If the information is serious and cells in the spinal cord make what we generally
Chapter 12 Sensation and parapsychology 365

refer to as the reflex arc.The reflex arc may be muscles, so that you realise what you have done.
the most basic form of sensory processing which But it is not the brain which decides to make the
occurs in the nervous system, so studying the movement – the situation is too urgent for that.
nerve cells which are involved can give us a Instead, the information is processed by the most
simplified picture of how nerve cells work rapid means, so that the action can take place as
together (Figure .). quickly as possible.
Sensory information, then, is processed in the
The reflex arc spinal cord as well as in the brain itself. But the
The reflex arc has nothing to do with the brain. kind of information which is processed there is
When you pull your hand away from a hot object, very basic, survival-oriented information –
you do not really think about it – it happens avoiding pain – which needs to be dealt with as
automatically, almost as soon as the sense receptors fast as possible. And the nerve cells involved are
in your skin register the heat.This is because the also designed to make sure the message gets where
stimulus is detected by the pain receptors in the it is going as quickly as possible. In order to
skin, and stimulates a sensory neurone.The neu- understand this, we need to look more closely at
rone stretches all the way from the sense receptor the way that neurones work.
to the spinal cord, and the electrical impulse
which it generates passes right along its length. How neurones work
When it reaches the spinal cord, the neurone ends
at a synapse, where it passes its message on to a The three types of neurones involved in the reflex
connector neurone. arc – sensory, connector and motor neurones – are
Connector neurones are many-branched the three main kinds of neurones which make up
neurones that are found within the spinal cord the nervous system. Sensory neurones carry
and the brain.They make connections with several information from the sense receptors to the
different nerve cells; but in the case of the reflex central nervous system – usually either to the
arc, what is important is that the connector spinal cord or to the thalamus, which is the main
neurone passes the message on to a long motor sensory relay centre (Figure . overleaf).
neurone, which begins in the spinal cord and Connector neurones are found inside the brain
stretches all the way down to the muscle fibres of and the spinal cord, and have many dendrites
the arm.The action of the motor neurone connecting them to other nerve cells (Figure .
stimulates the muscle, which contracts and the overleaf). Most of the brain itself and the spinal
hand is jerked away from the painful stimulus. cord are made up of connector neurones. And
In reality, of course, a reflex like jerking your motor neurones carry the central nervous
hand away from a hot object involves several of system’s instructions to the muscle fibres, so they
each type of neurone, and not just one, but talking have one end in the brain or spinal cord, and the
about it as if it were just one makes the reflex arc other in the muscle fibres (Figure . overleaf).
easier to understand. Also, the connector neurone What we know as ‘nerves’ are actually the
will send a message to the brain, as well as to the elongated fibres of sensory and motor neurones,
bunched together. Some nerve fibres are afferent,
which means that they carry information from the
Figure 12.7 The reflex arc senses towards the brain. So they are composed of
Sensory
sensory neurones. Other nerves are efferent,
Cell body Spinal cord carrying information from the brain or spinal cord
neurone
to the muscles.They are composed of motor
neurones.The two types of nerves are spread in a
complex network throughout the human body.

The neural impulse


Because it is important that sensory information
Motor neurone Connector neurone
should travel quickly, the axons of both motor
Muscle fibre and sensory neurones are covered with a special
coating known as a myelin sheath.This sheath
366 Physiological psychology Section 3

Figure 12.8 A sensory neurone

Cell body

Direction of impulse Node of Ranvier


Dendrites

Synaptic
buttons

Sense Axon Myelin


receptor sheath

(Figure . opposite), which wrap themselves


Figure 12.9 A connector neurone
around the axon of the neurone. But they do not
cover it completely. Instead, they leave small gaps
Dendrites which are called nodes of Ranvier.The myelin
sheath acts as an insulator, preventing the electrical
impulse from being generated at that point. But in
order to understand this, we need to look a little
more closely at the chemistry of the nerve cell.
Nucleus Nerve cells fire by producing a brief electrical
impulse which travels down the axon to the cell’s
dendrites.The electrical impulse results from an
interaction between different chemicals inside and
outside the cell.This interaction is possible
Cell body
because the membrane which covers the axon of
the nerve cell is semi-permeable – that is, it lets
Synaptic buttons some molecules through but blocks others out.

Figure 12.10 A motor neurone

Dendrites

Muscle fibres

Axon
Motor end plate

Cell body

Node of Ranvier
Myelin
sheath

Synaptic
consists of fatty cells, known as Schwann cellsbuttons Some forms of chemical are electrically charged,
Chapter 12 Sensation and parapsychology 367

Figure 12.11 A Schwann cell opens special sodium ‘gates’, which allow sodium
ions to flow through into the cell. If the
Schwann cell membrane is only slightly depolarised, then
potassium ions flow back to keep things at rest.
But sometimes, the amount of depolarisation
reaches a threshold, and so many sodium atoms
Nucleus rush through that they create a brief positive
electrical charge in the neurone – what we call an
action potential.
The action potential does not last long, because
the sodium gates begin to close again as soon as it
Axon of nerve cell happens, while the potassium gates stay wide
open. So potassium rushes into the cell again
either positively or negatively, and these are while the sodium is shut out. Sometimes, this
known as ions.The electrical impulse of the reaction leaves the cell with such a strong negative
neurone results from an interaction between charge that it needs a short period of time to
sodium and potassium ions. recover before it can fire again.This period is
When the nerve cell is resting, there are more known as the absolute refractory period. It is
potassium ions outside the axon, and more sodium followed by the relative refractory period,
ions inside it. ‘Gates’ in the cell membrane open during which time the cell can fire, but only in
to let them pass through. Potassium ions pass response to a particularly strong set of signals.
through the cell membrane much more quickly
than sodium ions do, which means that effectively, The myelin sheath
three potassium ions pass outside the cell for every The action potential moves gradually along the
two sodium ions which pass into it. Since both axon of the neurone, depolarising the axon’s
sodium and potassium ions are positively charged, membrane as it goes. But, as we have seen, some
this produces a lower electrical charge inside the nerve cells are covered by a myelin sheath – a
nerve cell than there is outside it – the inside of coating made of special fatty cells which wrap
the cell is negatively charged with respect to the themselves round the axon. Schwann cells insulate
outside (see Figure .).When it is at rest – a the cell membrane, so that depolarisation cannot
state known as the resting potential – the happen, and the ions cannot pass through. But
neurone is ready to fire, but it can remain that way there are gaps between the Schwann cells, known
for a long time before it is triggered off. as nodes of Ranvier, and depolarisation can happen
As the electrical impulse travels down the cell, at these points. So in a myelinated nerve fibre –
the cell membrane becomes depolarised.This one which is covered by a myelin sheath – the

Figure 12.12 Ionic transfer

Na+ Na+ Na+ Na+ K+


Na+ Na+ Na+ Na+ K+
K+ Na+ Na+ Na+
K+ Na+
Na+ Na+ Na+ Na+ Na+ Na+

K+ + + K+ K+ K+ K+
Na+ K K Na+ K+ K+ Na+ K+ K+

Node of Ranvier

Axon Cell membrane


Myelin sheath
368 Physiological psychology Section 3

impulse has to jump from one gap in the cell brain as well as back to the muscles. But because
membrane to another.Travelling in large jumps neurones receive messages from so many other
means it travels much faster, and so signals can be neurones, each neurone has to receive several
passed around the body and to the brain far more chemical messages before it will generate an
quickly. electrical impulse.This is known as the principle
Sensory and motor neurones are all myelinated, of summation.
which allows us to respond quickly to sensory Usually, a synapse will make the next neurone
stimulation – like pulling a hand away from a fire. more likely to fire, by helping to depolarise the
But neurones in the autonomic nervous system cell membrane. For this reason, these synapses are
are not, which is why it takes us a bit longer to known as excitatory synapses. Some synapses,
feel the physical reaction to an alarming stimulus though, seem to work the other way.When they
– increased heartrate and so on. Some neural are picked up, they make the cell less likely to fire.
diseases, like multiple sclerosis, produce a gradual These are known as inhibitory synapses.The
demyelination of the motor neurones, which combination of excitatory and inhibitory
leaves the person with a progressive disability of synapses means that the brain can direct impulses
movement, and is eventually fatal. One of the towards particular sets of neurones, and avoid
main areas of research into multiple sclerosis is stimulating others.This allows it to generate
looking for ways to encourage Schwann cells to neural pathways – special routes for nerve
re-grow in these damaged areas of the nervous impulses which are involved with particular
system. functions or activities.We looked at some of these
The neurones which do not have myelin neural pathways, such as those involved in
sheaths tend to be mainly concerned with general movement of the body, in Chapter .
states of the body, like those generated by the
actions of the autonomic nervous system (see Neurone activity and sensation
Chapter ).These are longer-term states of being Repeatedly stimulating any nerve cell produces
rather than immediate reactions to stimuli, so it habituation.This means that the cell simply will
does not seem to be quite so important if the not fire any more in response to that stimulus,
nerve impulse carrying the signal takes a second although it might respond to a different one. In
or two longer to travel to the brain. But if your psychological terms, habituation means that we
hand is in a flame, an extra second or two can do cease to be aware of the information that we are
a lot of damage. receiving, and become aware of it again only
when the stimulus changes.You may have noticed
Synapses this already – for example, in the case of the con-
The electrical impulse, as we have seen, passes tinuous humming of a refrigerator.We usually
along a neurone by electrochemical means.The become so used to a stimulus like this that we
way that a neurone passes its message to the next only become aware of it when it stops.
one is also electrochemical, involving special Although we adjust to continuous noise, we can
chemicals known as neurotransmitters. As we saw still look at the same visual stimulus without it
in Chapter , what happens is that when the fading out.The reason why we do not normally
electrical impulse reaches the end of the neurone, experience habituation in the visual system is
it causes a special chemical to be released into the because of the continual tiny tremors and jerks
synapse between it and the next neurone.This that the eyeball makes.These are known as
chemical is picked up at a receptor site on the saccades. By making sure that an image is
next neurone. constantly falling on different retinal cells, the
Each neurone ends in a number of small saccades produce continual stimulation, so we can
branches, or dendrites, and these are where the keep seeing things even when they themselves do
receptor sites are located.This means that each not change.
neurone can make contact with a large number of All nerve cells become habituated to a stimulus
others. In the case of a pain reflex, for instance, if they are stimulated continuously – even those in
you do not just pull your hand away from the the visual system. In , Pritchard reported on a
stimulus.You also realise what you are doing – study in which miniaturised projectors and screens
neural impulses have been passed upwards to the were attached to contact lenses (see Figure .).
Chapter 12 Sensation and parapsychology 369

Figure 12.13 Stabilised retinal images


comfortable in the water. Similarly, we become
habituated to light pressures, like the feel of
clothes, very quickly; although not when the
pressure is so strong as to become painful. Given
the role of pain receptors in alerting us to dangers
and problems, it is probably just as well that we do
not become habituated to pain stimuli very
quickly.
Mini projector
Recovering from habituation can produce some
interesting effects; we often experience a sensation
Screen
which is exactly opposite to that which we have
just been experiencing. Negative after-effects are
particularly pronounced in the visual system. If,
for instance, you spend a couple of minutes gazing
continually at an area of red, and then you look at
a white surface, you will experience an after-
Contact lens
image of a greenish colour. Similarly, watching a
continuous, linear movement produces an after-
image of movement in the opposite direction –
an effect known as the waterfall effect (see
This meant that the volunteers who wore them Chapter ).
received a stabilised image on the retina: the
projector moved whenever the eyeball moved, so Adaptation
that the image always fell on exactly the same part Adaptation is another factor in sensory percep-
of the retina each time. Pritchard found that the tion. Our sense receptors tend to adjust themselves
image which the research participants saw to the background stimulation that they are
disappeared within just a few seconds, as the rod receiving. If the background stimulation is low,
and cone cells became habituated to the stimulus. then the sensory stimulus can seem exaggerated,
We seem to habituate quite quickly to olfactory or much higher than usual. For example, a noise
information.You may have had the experience of which seems quite ordinary in the daytime, such
entering a room or a building and noticing that it as a telephone bell, can seem extremely loud at
had a slightly strange smell. Usually, by the time night, when background sensory information is
you have been in that room for a few minutes, lower.
you do not notice the smell any more – you have The process of adaptation is even more
become habituated to it. Similarly, we can adapt apparent when it comes to the way that our visual
quickly to different tastes, but we can recover sense is able to adapt to low light levels.We have
from this adaptation almost equally rapidly. Much already seen how we have different types of
of the enjoyment of having more than one course receptor cells: cone cells providing colour vision,
in a meal involves precisely that kind of but not being very sensitive to dim light; and rod
adaptation, and many people will have had the cells which are much more sensitive, but only
experience of being unable to taste something detect black and white. Cone cells can react quite
properly because they have just eaten something quickly to changes in illumination, but they do
quite different: a classic example here is the effect not allow us to see much in dim light. Rod cells
of peppermint flavoured toothpaste, which can take much longer to adapt, but when they have
make orange juice taste completely different. done so, we can see much more than we might
We can also become habituated quite quickly have thought possible.
to some kinds of tactile information, especially Researchers have investigated dark adaptation
temperature.You may have noticed that it does using perceptual thresholds. A perceptual
not take long to adjust to the temperature of a threshold is the point at which a measured
normal swimming pool – it may feel cold when stimulus – in this case, a flash of light – can be
you first dive in, but within a very few minutes detected % of the time.Varying the brightness
your skin sensors adjust, and you feel quite of the flash of light, and measuring how long the
370 Physiological psychology Section 3

person had been in the dark, allowed researchers pollution and so on all combine to prevent us
to detect the way that rod and cone cells adapt to from experiencing the full adaptative capacity of
darkness. our sensory systems.
When we go from a lit room into darkness, it Absolute thresholds are not the only kind of
takes real time for our visual system to adapt fully. threshold that psychologists measure – in fact, they
At first, we cannot see anything at all, because our are pretty rare, given the difficulties of reducing
eyes are not adapted at all. After five minutes, our external stimuli. More commonly, psychologists
cone cells have adapted as much as they can, and measure difference thresholds – the point at
we can see more than before – our perceptual which we can detect that a stimulus has changed.
threshold has fallen, so that a lower stimulus is We have already mentioned the two-point
required.The adaptation pauses at this point, and threshold of touch sensitivity – the point at which
it would be easy to think that we had achieved it is not possible to tell whether there are two
full adaptation. But the rod cells only begin to points touching the skin, or just one.That is a
adapt fully after about  minutes, and they do kind of difference threshold. But the more
not reach their full sensitivity for about  common ones are those that involve changes in
minutes (Figure .). So if you are in the intensity – such as the point where we can detect
country, away from street lights, do not be too that a light has become brighter, or that a sound
impatient to switch on your torch – you will be has become louder.
surprised at how much you can see if you give The smallest change in intensity that we can
your eyes long enough to adapt! detect is known as a j.n.d., which stands for ‘just
noticeable difference’. A j.n.d. is the amount of
Sensory thresholds change in physical energy that is necessary for
When our sensory systems are fully adapted to someone to detect a difference between the two
low stimulation conditions, it is astounding how stimuli % of the time.This amount is not always
sensitive they become.The absolute threshold the same: it varies according to the level which is
for a sensory system is the minimum stimulus that already going on. If you are in conditions of very
it can detect, under conditions of full adaptation. dim light, you will detect a slight increase in light
Psychologists have investigated the absolute energy. But if you were in bright light, you would
thresholds of our five external senses, and Table not detect such a slight increase.You would need a
. gives a description of how remarkably sensi- much greater increase in light energy, so the j.n.d.
tive these are. But in real life, of course, we rarely would be proportionately larger.
give our nervous system a chance to extend its The proportions are expressed by a number
capabilities fully: street lights, traffic noise, air known as Weber’s constant.There is a Weber’s
constant for loudness, for pitch, for brightness, for
Figure 12.14 Dark adaptation pressure on the skin, for detecting salt solutions,
and many more.The constants are not all the same
as each other, but they stay the same in any one
9
scale. For example: to detect an increase in the
= cone adaptation weight of something that we lift, we need it to go
8
Light intensity threshold

= rod adaptation
7 Table 12.4 Absolute sensory thresholds

6 Vision A candle flame 30 miles away on a


clear, dark night.
5 Hearing The tick of a watch 6.5 metres away.
Taste One teaspoon of sugar in two gallons
4 of water.
Smell One drop of perfume in the volume
3 of a three-bedroomed house.
10 20 30 40 Touch The wing of a fly falling one centi-
Minutes spent in darkness metre onto your cheek.
Chapter 12 Sensation and parapsychology 371

up by approximately one-fiftieth of its weight. In Visual and auditory illusions are not
other words, we would not detect the difference uncommon – we often think that we have heard a
between g and g, but we would detect the particular sound which, on examination, turns out
difference between g and g.The decibel to have been something else. But visual or
scale, which we use to measure sounds, auditory hallucinations are frequently regarded as a
approximates to human j.n.d.s for sound (Figure sign of mental disturbance. If somebody sees and
.).Weber’s constant for sound is roughly one- responds to visual images or sounds which are not
tenth, which means that the energy of the sound there, they are often regarded, at least in modern
has to increase by a tenth before we can detect technologically oriented societies, as being in need
that it has become louder. So the difference of psychiatric treatment.The experience of
between  and  db is much larger than the hallucinations, such as hearing voices, is regarded
difference between  and  db. as a symptom of the psychiatric disorder
schizophrenia (see Chapter ).
Illusion and hallucination
Disturbances in the reception of sensory informa- Inducing hallucinations
tion usually take the form of illusions or halluci- There are a number of ways to induce hallucina-
nations.There is often some confusion between tions. In , Penfield and Rasmussen conducted
the two. As we saw in Chapter , illusions are a series of investigations involving direct electrical
produced when a stimulus is misinterpreted, so stimulation of different areas of the brain, using
that it is perceived as something different. If you small electrodes while the patient was conscious.
see a human figure in the distance, but on moving (There are no sensory nerve endings in the brain
closer you find that it is really a tree, you have itself, so the patients did not feel any pain.) When
experienced an illusion. But if you are in a wide- a particular region of the visual cortex was stimu-
open field, with nothing near you, and you believe lated, one patient reported seeing balloons floating
that you see a tree next to you, that is a halluci- upwards into an infinite sky. Others reported see-
nation. Hallucinations are sensory experiences ing other visual images.These were hallucinations
which occur when there is no direct initiating induced by direct stimulation of the visual cortex
stimulus: they are produced ‘out of the blue’, so to itself.
speak, by the nervous system. Sometimes hallucinations can be induced by
drugs like LSD, mescaline and, in a milder form,
Figure 12.15 The decibel scale psilocybin. Hallucinogenic drugs produce an
intense sensitivity to visual stimulation, such that
colours and sounds become brighter and clearer.
Rock concert
Human Many drug-induced experiences which are
Road drill at 1 metre
pain 120 described as ‘hallucinations’ are really illusions,
threshold Jet airliner 200m brought about by this extreme sensitivity. Such
overhead illusions begin with an external stimulus, although
100
Tube train 6m away they can be very powerful and convincing,
Hearing
Heavy lorry seeming as if they have come ‘from nowhere’.
damage
80 8m away However, in a very few instances full-blown
with
prolonged hallucinations do seem to occur, and it is thought
exposure
60 Conversational that these come from chemical stimulation of the
speech visual cortex by the drug.
Illusions, and on rare occasions hallucinations,
40 Quiet office can also be produced by other experiences, such
as excessive fatigue or stress. Oswald ()
20 conducted a number of sleep-deprivation
Whisper 2m away experiments, and found that one of the effects of
Human prolonged loss of sleep was that illusions or
threshold 0 hallucinations would occur.This often involved a
of hearing false perception of movement: a wallpaper pattern
might appear to be swirling around, for instance,
Source: Radin, 1997
372 Physiological psychology Section 3

or an item of furniture might seem to shift its


position when the person was not looking at it. Parapsychology
People experiencing severely restricted sleep can
have similar experiences, which is one reason, Throughout recorded history, human beings have
among many, why driving can be very dangerous described experiences which appear to have been
under such conditions. impossible using ordinary sensory channels.They
appear to be using what are loosely described as
Synaesthesia ‘psychic’ abilities – perceiving emotions or
We know more about visual illusions and visual thoughts at a distance, influencing objects without
hallucinations than we do about any others, but actually touching them; healing people; predicting
these phenomena can occur with the other senses the future; and so on.The study of para-
too. Most of us will have experienced tactile illu- psychology involves investigating those aspects of
sions, or auditory ones, where something sounds human experience which seem to go beyond (para
or feels like something else – there are a number = ‘beyond’) the normal, conventionally accepted,
of party games based on these experiences.The types of experience.
phenomenon known as synaesthesia involves the
confusion of different sensory modes, such that What is psi?
someone might experience a sound as a taste, or a
colour as a sound. In one case, a man who had Morris () described parapsychology as the
been blind since the age of eleven experienced study of apparent ‘new’ means of communication
touch and sound in terms of colours: he had done between organisms and their environment.The
this as a child, and as far as he was concerned, term psi is used generally, to refer to all, or any, of
colours continued to be part of normal experi- these types of influence, which are described in
ence even though he could no longer see them Table ..There are two sets of working
(Wheeler and Cutsforth, ). hypotheses in modern parapsychology.The
Vernon () suggested that synaesthesia may pseudopsi hypothesis states that most, if not all,
be the normal state for infants, who only of the evidence for psi is spurious, and comes
gradually learn to differentiate between the from deception or misinterpretation.The psi
different sensory modes which make up hypothesis states that under certain conditions,
experience. Other researchers have suggested that human beings do seem to have access to
synaesthesia may result from neural confusions in genuinely new means of communication (Morris,
the thalamus, perhaps occurring as a result of the ). Parapsychologists utilise both of these
action of neurotransmitters in neural pathways hypotheses.
throughout that region of the brain. Essentially, The problem is that many, if not most, of the
though, such conclusions are mostly guesswork, experiences that people think of as ‘psychic’
based on our existing knowledge of how different actually have much more mundane explanations.
functions are dealt with in different parts of the We have already seen, in Chapters  and , how
brain. important expectations are to our cognitive
The study of illusion and hallucination is a processes: we are very ready to perceive what we
fascinating one, which we have only touched the expect to happen, and our memories for what
surface of here. It also has relevance for the next actually took place are a long way from being a
area which we will be looking at in this chapter, factual tape-recording. Our perceptual systems are
which is research into parapsychology. Both geared to ‘filling in’ gaps, which means that we
illusion and hallucination have been put forward can easily be tricked into failing to notice things.
as explanations for parapsychological phenomena, Also, as we saw in Chapter , most people have
sometimes with reason. But many psychologists very unrealistic ideas about probability and
believe that they are not the whole explanation coincidence. And as we will see in the next
for all parapsychological experiences, and that section of this book, our social representations and
there may genuinely be instances where we appear attributions mean that objective reality is much
to receive or transmit information outside of the less important in determining what we think, than
normal sensory channels. social consensus. And social consensus, for the
Chapter 12 Sensation and parapsychology 373

Table 12.5 Types of psi

Extra-sensory perception
Telepathy Information perceived by one (the ‘sender’) is obtained by another (the
‘receiver’) without using currently recognised sensory channels.
Clairvoyance The person gains information about their environment, or things in it, without
using currently recognised sensory channels.
Precognition The person acquires knowledge about a future event when that knowledge
could not have been deduced from existing information.
Psychokinesis (PK)
Micro PK The person is able to exert psychokinetic influence at microscopic or micro-
electronic levels. Instrumentation or statistical analysis, or both, are needed to
detect what is happening.
Macro PK The person creates a psychokinetic effect which can be detected with the naked
eye.
Direct mental interaction The person is able to influence a living target – human, animal or plant.
with living systems (DMILS)

most part, is fascinated by ‘mystical’ things, and () described how scepticism about para-
very ready to believe in them. psychological phenomena has effectively become
Psychologists are very aware of these an entire school of thought in parapsychology.
mechanisms, and of the way that members of the Skeptical parapsychologists (I use the American
public are often hoodwinked by them into spelling of ‘sceptical’ to describe this school of
thinking things are more inexplicable than they thought, since that is what they call themselves)
really are. As a result, psychologists generally tend devote much of their research to challenging para-
to be sceptical about experiences that are psychological theories and demonstrations. As a
commonly claimed as paranormal. Blackmore result, parapsychological methodology has had to
() described how many of these experiences respond to their criticisms, and we will be looking
can be explained much more easily by applying at some examples of this later in this chapter.
ordinary psychological mechanisms, and many Exposing fraudulent activity, however, is also an
other psychologists share this view. essential part of parapsychological research. Many
However, most psychologists also retain an open of the well-known and widely publicised
mind when it comes to the possibility that people ‘psychics’ have been shown to be fraudulent when
or animals really may have some forms of exposed to careful and systematic laboratory
communication that we do not yet understand. investigation. But apparently successful ‘psychics’
The complexities of human experience are far can make a great deal of money, and so they are
from being fully understood, and it would be very reluctant to submit to rigorous investigation.
arrogant to assume that we knew everything there Some of the tricks that they use to deceive people
is to know. Although a knowledge of are described in Box . on page , and others
psychological mechanisms can explain a great deal will come up elsewhere in this chapter. A great
of apparently parapsychological experience, most deal of parapsychological research work,
psychologists reserve judgement on the question particularly in Britain where it is mainly based at
of whether they can explain everything. the University of Edinburgh, is concerned with
investigating these cases.
The Skeptical school
Some, however, do not. In addition to those who Early parapsychological research
research parapsychological phenomena because
they think there is really something that needs Research into parapsychological phenomena of
explaining, there are those who insist that there is one sort or another took place throughout the
absolutely nothing of the kind, and that positive nineteenth century, and continued into the
research outcomes are the result either of deliber- twentieth. Mostly, this research was conducted by
ate fraud, or of inadequate research controls. Kurtz private individuals, or through organisations such
374 Physiological psychology Section 3

Box 12.2 Identifying parapsychological fraud

Evaluating whether either ESP or PK is really would quite like to believe that psychic
happening involves examining many different phenomena exist, they are often prepared to see
factors. It is important to be rigorous about this things as psychically influenced when there is
examination, because fraudulent ‘psychics’ who no need to do so. Our tendency to notice the
can convince the general public that they have ‘accurate’ bits of horoscopes and ignore the
‘real powers’ earn a great deal of money. So, irrelevant bits is a classic example of this – and
they put a great deal of effort and ingenuity it is no accident that horoscopes only make
into producing fraudulent psychic effects.The general predictions, not specific ones.
American stage magician James Randi has Psychologists know this as the Barnum effect,
devoted a considerable amount of effort to after the circus entrepreneur P.T. Barnum,
exposing how psychic fraudsters work, and how whose slogan was ‘there’s a fool born every
they have tricked naïve parapsychological minute’.
researchers (Randi, ). Parapsychology Morris () discussed how observers can
researchers at the University of Edinburgh and also be tricked.The most common methods for
the University of Hertfordshire have also been doing this are:
active in exposing psychic fraudsters.  The observer may be given inaccurate
Some of these sources of fraud have been information, e.g. through use of mirrors,
described in the text. But there are many ways echo devices, etc.
that fraudulent psychics can deceive the public.  The observer may be led to misperceive the
One of them, for example, is to seem to gain information, e.g. by means of camouflage, use
information or exert influence across barriers, of black threads, black-clad ‘invisible’
when really it is a matter of circumventing assistants, sensory overload, or skilful use of
them using special techniques. For example: a the laws of perception.
magician with a highly trained sense of smell  The observer’s attention may be diverted, so
can often detect subtle characteristics in a that they are observing some irrelevant event
person’s smell, associated with fatigue, anxiety, at the crucial moment.
or other emotional states, which they use as  The observer may be led to misinterpret the
material for their apparent ‘telepathy’. Or an information, through erroneous explanations,
accomplice may provide indetectable signals changes of props or illogically timed
using a small hidden electronic pulser which additions, or confusion of the natural
informs the ‘psychic’ about crucial information. sequence of events.
Stage magicians are adept at the subtle ‘peek’  The observer may be led to misremember
which allows them to gather necessary the information perceived, by using props
information even if they seem to be unable to such as ‘doctored’ photographs, or by skilful
see anything.They can also use sleight of hand, application of the principles of human
reflections, blindfolds with a loose weave that memory.
can be seen through, and even an odourless
Morris () pointed out that each of these
alcohol which makes an envelope temporarily
strategies involves a slightly different level of
transparent so they can see a hidden picture
information processing, and this means that
inside, and then evaporates leaving the envelope
each level can be used to deal with situations
just as it was before.
that could not be dealt with adequately by the
Sometimes, of course, the barrier is not there
previous ones.Taken together, they amount to a
are all – the connection between the psychic
considerable ‘toolbox’ that a skilled stage
and the target results from a subtle application
magician, or an equally skilled psychic
of the self-fulfilling prophecy, and people’s
fraudster, can use.
gullibility. Since the majority of the public
Chapter 12 Sensation and parapsychology 375

as the Society for Psychical Research (SPR). Figure 12.16 The Zener symbols
Beloff () describes several of the case studies
which SPR researchers investigated, some of
which turned out to be fraudulent, but others
of which seemed to have produced genuine, or at
least inexplicable, phenomena.
One particularly influential investigation, as it
turned out, was that of a ‘Margery’ Crandon, a
medium who appeared to be able to summon and The Cross
materialise spirits.The case attracted the attention
of the influential psychologists E.G. Boring and
William McDougall. It also attracted the attention
of Joseph and Louisa Rhine: a couple who were
The Wavy lines The Circle
actively involved in exposing the medium’s
fraudulent activity.When, later that year,
McDougall was invited to head the psychology
department at Duke University, North Carolina,
the Rhines also joined his staff.
J.B. Rhine proceeded to develop an active
research programme at Duke University. He had
three principles for his research: firstly, that it
The Square The Star
would depend on ordinary people, not those who
had made a living out of their supposedly ‘psychic’
abilities (Rhine had been deeply disillusioned by correct guesses as against the chance expectation
the discovery of ‘Margery’s’ fraud, and he of .
distrusted mediums and apparently spontaneous Rhine continued to research this phenomenon,
psychic phenomena as too open to manipulation); and developed a series of rigorous testing
secondly, that it would involve simple and easily procedures which became widely accepted for this
tested procedures, which would be more likely to type of research. His main concern a this time was
show a reliable effect; and thirdly, that it would to be able to distinguish between telepathy and
involve rigorous statistical assessment of the test clairvoyance, since the initial outcomes could have
results, and so take care of the problems presented resulted from either. One way that he tested for
by probability and chance effects. clairvoyance tests was to use the ‘Down-Through’
technique, in which the participant had to call out
The Zener cards the sequence of all  symbols before anyone had
Rhine’s research programme continued through- yet turned the cards over and looked at them –
out the s. He asked Karl Zener, a psy- preventing any unconscious telepathic influence.
chologist on McDougall’s staff who specialised Telepathy was more tricky, since it was hard to do
in perception, to design a set of cards which objectively, but one approach was to provide the
would provide clear, memorable imagery and ‘sender’ with a set of numbers that told them
could be used for ESP experiments. The result which symbol to think of at a time.
was a pack of  cards, now known as Zener
cards, each of which had one of five symbols: a Negative psi and the ‘sheep-goat’ effect
cross, a circle, a square, a star, and wavy lines Rhine’s belief that all human beings were likely
(Figure .). These cards were shuffled, and to have parapsychological ability took a back seat
then the research participant would be asked to as the research programme continued, because
predict what the next card to be dealt would be. their results showed that they had certain people
The statistical baseline was that the researchers who were distinctive as ‘high-scorers’. These
could expect a ‘hit’ % of the time, purely by people would typically score between seven and
chance. But Rhine and Zener carried out  nine correct hits in a set of , as opposed to the
preliminary trials in the academic year –, chance score of five. Rhine investigated a
and achieved a hit rate of nearly %, with  number of variables, including the influence of
376 Physiological psychology Section 3

drugs – finding, for example, that sodium amytal, a Critics argued that the Duke University findings
depressant, tended to decrease the level of scoring, had resulted from scientific fraud rather than
whereas caffeine, a stimulant, increased it. rigorous research, and that the testing procedures
A separate part of Rhine’s research programme used in the laboratory had been seriously flawed
concerned PK testing. Rhine and Rhine’s (Hansel, ) although other researchers chal-
investigations into dice-throwing involved the lenged these claims.
development of automatic dice-throwing The reliability problem appears to be a regular
machines, to preclude skilled throwing, and several feature of parapsychological research. An initial
other precautions.This research did not produce phase of highly positive and convincing results
such dramatic findings as the ESP research had. In tapers off into a period where results become
fact, one of the most consistent findings was that elusive, and often has a third phase, where it is
some people seemed to be scoring systematically finally discredited when one or two high-
lower than chance – to the point of being highly achieving participants are detected in fraud. Beloff
statistically significant. Although the studies were () discussed how this reliability problem has
carried out during the s, the Rhines did not occurred with almost all kinds of
publish these findings until ; and in , parapsychological phenomena, ranging from early
Schmiedler proposed that what was actually demonstrations of mesmerism and clairvoyance, to
happening was a kind of negative-psi effect, with the performances of spirit mediums, to
some people actually influencing the outcomes demonstrations of Zener-card ESP.
away from the desired direction. For some, the reliability problem is evidence
In , Schmeidler reported that people who that the whole business of parapsychological
believed in psi were much more likely to produce research is fraudulent.Their argument is that
positive findings on ESP tests than those who initial demonstrations are less rigorously checked
were avowedly sceptical. Indeed, the difference by sceptical investigators, since they involve new
was so great that the sceptics – whom she called approaches and new techniques. As controls
‘goats’ – actually seemed to score at below-chance become more rigorous, those involved become
levels, while believers – referred to as ‘sheep’ – less and less able to sustain the deception, and so
scored above chance. their demonstrations are more erratic and less
Naturally, these results produced considerable reliable. Dingwall () argued that  years in
discussion among parapsychologists, and further psychic research had convinced him that almost all
studies supported the general finding of the of the people involved were not seeking truth, but
differences in outcomes between ‘sheep’ and seeking to confirm their own personal agendas,
‘goats’, although not as strongly as Schmiedler’s and that this led to a powerful tendency towards
original ones. Lawrence () performed a meta- either deliberate fraud, or negligent methodology.
analysis of  studies investigating this effect, In the case of the Rhine experiments, for
conducted by  different experimenters.The example, Dingwall argued that some of the Zener
results showed that there was a highly consistent cards used in early studies were constructed of
significant difference between believers and non- such flimsy material that they could be read even
believers in terms of how well they performed on when face-down.
experimental psi tasks. Other suggestions have been put forward to
explain the reliability problem. One of these
The reliability problem concerns the atmosphere in which the research is
Rhine did, though, publish a report of his ESP conducted. Rhine himself believed that the critical
findings in , and the report attracted immedi- atmosphere engendered by sceptics interfered with
ate and massive attention. It also stimulated a psychic ability, which was why his results declined
number of other research programmes in several over time.The Duke researchers had discovered
American universities, and led to the establishment that the best mental approach to psi research was
of the Journal of Parapsychology as a vehicle for one of ‘playful challenge’, with the tasks being
reporting systematic academic research in the treated as pleasant and enjoyable.The Rhine ESP
field. As research continued, however, it became experiments were repeated in several American
apparent that the early findings could not be repli- universities, with varying success but always lower
cated consistently, either at Duke or elsewhere. than the Duke outcomes.They were also repeated
Chapter 12 Sensation and parapsychology 377

in Britain, with absolutely zero results. However, Experimental control


one is tempted to speculate on the likelihood of One source of these different standards concerns
British research psychologists of the s the adequacy of experimental controls. All
managing to achieve an atmosphere of ‘playful psychoogical research which involves laboratory
challenge’ in their laboratories! experimentation needs to be carefully controlled
There is also the question of the immense – and, as we will see, para-psychologists are
pressure put on individuals who seem to have perhaps keener than anyone else to ensure that
demonstrated psychic ability in the laboratory.The happens. The main problem is to do with
need to replicate their achievement over and over avoiding sensory leakage. This where a flaw
again is bound to produce boredom and in a study allows information to be transmitted
decreasing interest, and it is not unreasonable to to the participant through normal sensory
suppose that would affect ability as well.We have channels, when that ought to have been
already seen how memory and perception – impossible. For example, Dingwall’s criticism of
which are robust abilities – are affected by the early Zener card experiments was that they
personal factors like hunger, emotion and fatigue; were so flimsy that participants could detect the
and there is no reason to suppose that symbol even when the card was face-down. If
parapsychological abilities are stronger. It may be the ordinary senses could provide information
that those individuals, faced with dwindling which was supposed to be inaccessible by means
abilities from these factors but aware of the of those senses, the results of the study are
importance of their demonstrations, resorted to invalidated.
fraud in later years in an attempt to simulate their For this reason, as we will see, modern
unfeigned earlier performance. parapsychologists are meticulous in their attention
to experimental control. In fact, they are far more
Evaluating parapsychological research so than many conventional psychologists. If we
look closely at ordinary psychological research, we
Parapsychology as a discipline experiences far find that it is not the case that every single
more methodological criticism than any other possible variable is normally identified and
area of psychology. But this is not because eliminated. An experimental cognitive
parapsychologists conduct sloppy work. On the psychologist, for example, will evaluate the
contrary, the rigour with which modern potential contaminating variables of an
parapsychological research is conducted would put experiment very carefully, and aim to eliminate
to shame the work of many other psychological those which are likely to affect the outcome. But
researchers. But parapsychologists, virtually by with more obscure possibilities, the psychologist is
definition, are studying phenomena which likely to judge that the possibility of
challenge conventional materialist assumptions contamination is so remote that it can reasonably
about how the world works. As a result, there are be ignored.
different standards applied to parapsychology than Parapsychologists on the other hand, must
to other forms of psychological research. control any effect which could conceivably affect
Some psychologists argue that the dual the outcome, even if it is distinctly unlikely that it
standard is justified, on the grounds that actually did.They will also be rigorously
parapsychology represents such a challenge to our scrutinised, to make sure that they do. A cognitive
general world-view that they need to produce psychologist can uncover a psychological effect
findings which are absolutely incontrovertible. But and be able to announce it to the psychological
there is also the problem of making what are community relatively freely. But a parapsychologist
known as Type II errors, by failing to recognise who uncovers an effect of the same magnitude
a significant phenomenon when it is really there. will need to respond to skeptics who are actively
Radin () argued that the extreme dual seeking to discredit their statements.The slightest
standard applied to parapsychology has resulted in flaw in the methodology will lead to the
stifling or suppressing very real findings, and also conclusion that the study is invalid as evidence. So
making it extremely difficult for parapsychologists the matter of experimental rigour is crucial for
to obtain research funds. parapsychology.
378 Physiological psychology Section 3

Replication strong. Some skeptics argue that the effects may be


A second aspect of the dual standard concerns the consistent, but that they are too weak to be
replication of experimental findings. Replication considered valid.Yet the same standard is not
is an important criterion in scientific research – if applied to medical data. Utts () compared the
a finding cannot be replicated, then it is consid- evidence for psi with the evidence that aspirin
ered invalid. But replication is not an absolute could be a useful tool for preventing heart attacks.
matter. Even physicists and chemists find that, on In the latter case, the effect was only shown
occasions, their experiments do not replicate. But unequivocally in a study involving more than
if they can be replicated most of the time, that is , people. A smaller study, involving only a
considered adequate as evidence. Similarly, couple of thousand individuals, would have only
psychological findings are not invariably replicated shown an extremely weak effect – and in fact, it
– there are occasions when the researchers con- was smaller studies with weak effects which had
ducting the replication do not carry out the hinted that the large study was worth carrying
procedures exactly, or make some adjustment out. But the larger study showed the effect was
which means that the outcome does not happen there, and that it was sufficient for medical action
according to prediction. But as long as the find- to be taken – aspirin is now recommended as a
ings can be replicated by most other researchers, treatment for heart attacks.
and as long as those researchers are working in Some parapsychological research, notably the
different laboratories and not all part of the same ganzfeld studies which we will be looking at
research team, an effect is considered valid. An later, show effects which are up to four times
effect must be replicable to be accepted, but one stronger than the aspirin effect. But because of the
or two failures to replicate do not matter – as long way that parapsychological research is regarded,
as the majority of replications are consistent. skeptics argue that they are still too weak to be
The same holds true for parapsychology – considered adequate as evidence.The standards
except when parapsychological findings are being applied to one branch of scientific research are very
communicated to the rest of the world. Skeptics different from the standards applied to another.
who argue against parapsychological research
often seize on one or two failures to replicate, as Meta-analysis
evidence that a whole research finding is invalid – One solution to this problem has been to use the
even when there are positive findings of the same technique of meta-analysis.This is a research
effect being made in numerous laboratories method which involves looking at the findings of
around the world. Blackmore () described all of the known studies in an area – or as many
how she became a skeptic as a result of of them as practicable – and seeing how their
experimental findings which were only positive in results appear when taken as a whole. In a meta-
a minority of cases – about six experiments out of analysis, researchers look at the scores obtained
twenty – and not reliably replicable. from different studies, and also at the standard
Radin () challenges this argument, on the deviations of those scores. Utts () discussed
grounds that parapsychological abilities, almost by how meta-analysis allows researchers to combine
definition, are at the extreme end of human data using specific statistical techniques, and to
ability. A successful baseball player would not explore the pattern of data across the various
achieve peak performance in a replicable manner, studies.This allows researchers to identify consis-
and the team’s fans would be very happy if he tent findings, which may be less apparent in a
scored a ‘home run’ in six out of twenty attempts. single small study, and to evaluate just how reliable
It is unrealistic, Radin argues, to expect that level a given effect is.
of consistency when dealing with exceptional Meta-analysis is used in many areas of
abilities. And, of course, if parapsychological psychology, and is one of the most powerful
abilities were so robust that they could always be research tools available to us today. Radin ()
demonstrated experimentally under any showed how, in several different areas of
conditions, they would not be a matter of debate parapsychological research, meta-analysis indicates
in the first place. that there are consistent effects. Because they are
Another problem is the fact that many drawing data from a much larger pool of research
parapsychological findings are not particularly participants, the overall reliability of an effect is
Chapter 12 Sensation and parapsychology 379

much easier to estimate. Figure . shows the the file-drawer problem to work in the opposite
outcome of a meta-analysis of tests of micro-PK, direction. Because of the fear of ridicule, or of
in which participants attempted to influence a seeming to be ‘going out on a limb’, some
random number generator (Nelson and Radin, psychologists may not publish positive psi effects,
).The points on the chart indicate the even when they have obtained them. I personally
average result for the studies conducted during know of at least one instance of an academic
that year.The lines running through the points psychologist, working at a highly prestigious
indicate the standard deviations of each year’s university, who conducted a set of psi studies out
findings.While the outcome of any one study on of curiosity, obtained highly significant results,
its own may not be particularly impressive, the consulted colleagues about publication, and was
small but consistently positive outcomes revealed advised to keep quiet about them. He followed
by the meta-analysis give a very different picture. the advice, and the results of the study were
relegated to the file drawer.
The file-drawer problem This is anecdotal, of course, and it is more likely
Another problem for parapsychologists, which is that most ‘file-drawer’ studies are, as the skeptics
not faced by other psychological researchers argue, failures to replicate. But the use of meta-
(although perhaps it should be) is known as the analysis also allows parapsychologists to deal with
file-drawer problem.This is the argument that this argument, by calculating just how many failed
only positive findings are submitted to journals for studies would need to have been relegated to file
publication. Failed replications are not sent for drawers in order to cancel out the effect. In the
publication, but instead are filed away in a drawer, case of the Nelson and Radin meta-analysis of
with nobody knowing about them except the micro-PK described earlier, there would have to
people who carried out the study. Skeptics argue be roughly , failed studies to cancel out the
that this effect seriously distorts parapsychological effects of the  studies analysed. A file-drawer
research findings, making them seem more con- problem of this magnitude somehow does not
vincing than they really are. seem terribly likely.
It is questionable, however, just how important Another factor in favour of parapsychologists
the file-drawer problem really is. It is a problem on this matter is the way that – unlike other
which permeates all scientific research, not just psychologists – parapsychologists have a policy of
that of parapsychology; yet in other fields it is actively seeking out non-replications wherever
accepted as unavoidable, and largely ignored. In they can. In , the Council of the
the case of parapsychology, it is also possible for Parapsychological Association adopted a policy

Figure 12.17 A micro-PK meta-analysis

56%

54%

52%
Hit rate

50%

48%

46%
1959
1961
1963
1964
1965
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987

Overall

Yearly hit-rate point estimates and 95% confidence intervals for RNG studies of mind-matter interaction. In some
cases the confidence intervals are so small that they are obscured by the point-estimate dots. (Source: Radin, 1997)
380 Physiological psychology Section 3

aimed to counter the selectivity involved in only which the magician apparently bent, and then
reporting positive outcomes. From then on, broke, a fork simply by stroking it. After they had
negative findings were reported routinely, both in seen the activities, the participants were given
their publications and at conferences. As a result, statements about the task, and asked to rate how
negative-finding outcomes are much more well- far they felt them to be true.The questions were
publicised in parapsychology than they are in either ‘important’, such as ‘the psychic handled the
other areas of psychology – and they are routinely cutlery before the fork demonstration began’, or
included in meta-analyses. ‘unimportant’, such as ‘when the study was over,
the psychic returned unbent cutlery to the pile’.
Belief and gullibility Wiseman and Morris found that the believers
Schmiedler’s distinction between ‘sheep’ and rated the demonstrations as being significantly
‘goats’ included the observation that believers more ‘paranormal’ than the non-believers did.The
were much more likely to report psi experiences non-believers, however, recalled significantly more
of their own than non-believers were. Schmiedler of the ‘important’ information, though there were
believed that non-believers do not report psi no differences in recall when it came to the
experiences because they subsconsciously avoid or ‘unimportant’ information. Once that recall data
suppress them; but others took the view that had been collected, the participants were then told
believers may simply be more gullible – too ready that the demonstration had not been of psychic
to accept fake psychic demonstrations at face ability, but of magic tricks.Then they were asked
value. to recall information about the demonstration
Besterman, in , investigated this by asking again.This time, there were no differences
people to attend a fake seance, and then asking between believers and non-believers. It does seem,
them a number of questions about what had therefore, as though belief in psychic phenomena
happened. Besterman found a number of does predispose people to shape their memories of
differences between believers and non-believers. these events – something that is well-known, and
Believers tended to underestimate the number of deliberately manipulated, by fraudulent psychics.
people present; they failed to report major
disturbances which took place if they seemed ESP research
unrelated to the main subject of the seance; and
they did not recall all of the conditions of the Modern parapsychological research is very
seance. different from the early Rhine studies. Para-
In another study, Jones and Russell () set psychologists have had to address the
up a fake ESP demonstration in front of methodological challenges we have just examined,
participants who were either believers or non- and as a result they make a great deal of use of
believers. In one of their conditions, the rigorous measurement and computer-based
demonstration seemed to be successful, while the controls.They also conduct research into a wide
other showed an unsuccessful outcome.They range of topcis:Table . lists some of the papers
found that believers often distorted their delivered at a recent parapsychological research
memories of the unsuccessful demonstration, conference. In this section, we will look at some
remembering it as having successfully of the specific research areas that have been
demonstrated ESP.The non-believers, on the investigated by parapsychologists.
other hand, recalled both of the conditions of the We will begin by looking at studies of extra-
experiment accurately. sensory perception, or ESP. ESP research
In ,Wiseman and Morris conducted a investigates cases where the person seems to
study to investigate whether believers and non- receive information from some kind of target
believers showed different recall for pseudo- in the environment, across barriers which
psychic demonstrations.The participants watched prevent that information from being transmitted
a stage magician perform a number of apparently in the ordinary way (see Figure .). Modern
psychic manoeuvres. One was an apparent ESP research into ESP is mainly concerned with
task, in which the magician correctly identified three areas: telepathy, clairvoyance, and
cards taken from an ESP pack, without seeming to precognition.We will look at research into each of
look at them.The second was a fake PK task, in these areas.
Chapter 12 Sensation and parapsychology 381

Table 12.6 The range of modern para- Figure 12.18 A simple model of ESP
psychological research

A sample of papers presented at the 1997


Annual Convention of the Parapsychological
Association
Factors related to the depth of near-death
experiences: testing the ‘embellishment over
time’ hypothesis B
Out-of-body experiences and dissociation
Emotion and intuition: unravelling variables con- A
tributing to the Presentiment Effect
Attention focusing facilitated through remote
mental interaction: a replication and exploration
R
of parameters
Exploring the links: creativity and psi in the
R
Ganzfeld
Psi and cross-cultural studies I
Target
Understanding misdirection: the pseudo-psychic’s
invisible assistant E (source)

Quantitative investigation of a legally disputed Organism


‘haunted house’
Psi-Ping: an investigation of mental intention
(receiver) R
and internet responsiveness via the World Wide
Web
S
An unbiased method for trial-by-trial sampling
of deterministic randomness sources for ESP
experiments
Ganzfeld at the crossroads: a meta-analysis of
the new generation of studies
Telepathy involves the sending of information
Individual differences in blind psychic readings
from the mind of one person (the ‘sender’) to the
Belief in the paranormal and attendance at
psychic readings
mind of another (‘the receiver’). As we have seen,
early research into this area used the Zener cards
Experience of sleep paralysis
as the material for sending information, and
Relationship between childhood
hypnogogic/hypnopompic experiences, child-
perhaps as a consequence, the Zener cards have
hood fantasy proneness and anomalous come to symbolise research into telepathy, for
experiences and beliefs: an exploratory WWW most people. However, just about nobody uses
survey them now.There were many criticisms of the
Perceived luckiness and the UK National Lottery Zener card studies, and modern parapsychological
Backwards causation, precognition and the inter- research involves very different techniques.
vention paradox One of the main sources of dissatisfaction of
Human sensing of weak electromagnetic fields: the Zener studies was the fact that they involved
a possible relationship to psi? forced-choice methods. In other words,
Experiment One of the SAIC Remote Viewing participants did not have free choices of what to
Program: a critical re-evaluation report – their answers were constrained to the five
Eyewitness testimony for ‘seance room’ symbols. As time went on, many parapsychologists
phenomena began to feel that this was a bit artificial, and
’Broken’ marital relations and claims of para- certainly remote from any manifestations of psi in
psychological experiences
everyday life – a bit like Ebbinghaus’s use of
Correlates of aura vision: the role of psi nonsense syllables to study memory, which we
experiences, dissociation, absorption, and
looked at in Chapter . So, they looked for
synesthesia-like experiences
research methods which did not impose so many
limitations on the participant.
382 Physiological psychology Section 3

There had been a number of studies implying shown a randomly selected photograph, print, or
that psi seemed to be most associated with video clip.The sender concentrates on the target,
relaxed, or naturally meditative, states. Schechter and the receiver keeps up a continuous verbal
() conducted a meta-analysis of  report of the sensory impressions and images that
experiments on hypnosis and psi, and found a they are receiving.This carries on for about half
strong suggestion that a hypnotic state could an hour. After that time, the receiver comes out of
facilitate manifestations of psi.There was also a the ganzfeld and is shown several (usually four)
series of studies conducted at the Maimonides different stimuli of the same type as the one that
Medical Centre in New York, which suggested the sender was looking at.The receiver rates each
that the contents of dreams could be influenced one according to how strongly it matches the
by an image transmitted by a ‘sender’ in the next imagery they experienced while in the ganzfeld. If
room (Ullman, Knipper and Vaughan, ). the target image receives the highest rating, it
Although the Maimonides dream studies were counts as a ‘hit’, so if it were just chance, the hit
criticised, and other researchers failed to replicate rate would be %.
them (Child, ), there was enough to suggest The results obtained using the ganzfeld
that perhaps an experimental procedure which technique were, for the most part, positive. But in
encouraged participants to relax and reduced , Hyman, a convinced parapsychological
sensory stimulation, might be a good idea. skeptic, reported a meta-analysis of  ganzfeld
studies, conducted between  and . He
The ganzfeld technique concluded that there were a number of statistical
The solution which researchers adopted was to and methodological weaknesses in the way that
use the ganzfeld technique.This is a long- the studies had been conducted. Honorton (),
established method of reducing sensory stimula- a parapsychologist, responded to the criticisms by
tion.We came across it in Chapter , since it was conducting a parallel meta-analysis, which argued
used by the Gestalt psychologists to investigate that even though these weaknesses had occurred,
figure-ground perception. Establishing a ganzfeld they were not enough to account for the strong
means cutting off as many sources of external psi effects shown in the ganzfeld studies.
sensory information as practical, so that the person As a result of this debate, and to the credit of
is relaxed and undistracted.Table . lists the both of them (it is rare for opposing academics to
features of a modern ganzfeld experience work together on anything), Hyman and
described by Bem and Honorton (). Honorton produced a joint communiqué, which
In a typical ganzfeld study, a research participant they released in .This paper identified the
– the ‘receiver’ – is settled in the ganzfeld, while a types of weaknesses in the earlier ganzfeld studies,
sender, in a separate, acoustically isolated room, is and recommended more stringent procedures for
future experimenters, some of which are listed in
Table ..
Table 12.7 Establishing a ganzfeld
The autoganzfeld studies
The room is acoustically isolated. In , Bem and Honorton reported a series of
The research participant sits in a comfortable, eleven new ganzfeld studies which followed the
reclining chair. guidelines published by Hyman and Honorton
Translucent ping-pong ball halves are placed meticulously.Their basic design was the same, but
over the eyes. they used video clips as their material, and the
Headphones are placed over the ears. experimental protocols were controlled by a
A red floodlight directed at the eyes creates an computer. As a result, they became known as the
undifferentiated visual field. autoganzfeld studies.These new, squeaky-clean
White noise played through the headphones studies produced very successful results.
creates an undifferentiated auditory field. Perhaps inevitably, the studies were criticised by
Relaxation exercises are carried out to minimise Hyman (), mainly on the grounds that there
somatic ‘noise’ from proprioception. was ‘incomplete justification of the adequacy of
Source: Bem and Honorton, 1994
the randomization procedures’, but this was not a
particularly strong critique, and was challenged as
Chapter 12 Sensation and parapsychology 383

Table 12.8 Recommended procedures for Table 12.9 Psi-conducive variables


ganzfeld studies
The participant has had personal reported psi
Strict security measures against sensory leakage. experiences.
Testing and documentation of randomisation The participant has had prior psi testing.
methods for selecting targets. The participant obtains high scores on the
Testing and documentation of randomisation Myers-Briggs Feeling-Perception scale.
methods for sequencing the judging pool. The participant has studied mental disciplines.
Statistical correction for multiple analyses. The participant has a belief in psi.
Advanced specification of the experiment’s The participant is extroverted rather than
status (e.g. whether it was a pilot study). introverted.
Full documentation of experimental procedures The participant shows high levels of creativity.
in the published report.
The experimenters use dynamic rather than
Full documentation of the statistical tests used, static targets.
including whether planned in advance or
selected afterwards, in the published report. The experimenters promote a ‘warm social
ambiance’.
Source: Hyman and Honorton, 1986 The experimenters use a sender.

Source: Honorton, 1992


such by Bem (). Another criticism came from
Wiseman, Smith and Kornbrot () who
suggested that there might have been some sound these factors into their study as far as possible, but
leakage between the two rooms containing the the other ganzfeld studies examined by Milton
sender and the receiver. But this criticism, too, and Wiseman had not. Milton and Wiseman
seems to have been speculative rather than based concluded that it was necessary for researchers to
on evidence, and appears rather unlikely.The address, and investigate, these factors much more
overall consensus was that the autoganzfeld studies closely – that just using a ganzfeld study without
conducted by Bem and Honorton provided strong paying attention to psi-conducive procedures was
evidence for a psi effect. not enough to produce reliable psi effects.
That effect, however, proved elusive. In , That was not, however, the end of the story,
Milton and Wiseman published another meta- since at the same meeting at which Milton and
analysis, this time of the ganzfeld studies which Wiseman presented their findings, researchers
had been conducted since the publication of the reported four new ganzfeld studies, which would
Hyman and Honorton guidelines. It included  have produced a significant outcome in the
new ganzfeld studies, from ten different Milton and Wiseman meta-analysis if they had
researchers.When they were taken together, their been included.These studies had paid careful
cumulative results were close to zero. Milton and attention to their research procedures, and also to
Wiseman discussed a number of factors which the selection of their participants – utilising highly
might have explained why the Bem and creative individuals, or those with prior
Honorton studies had been successful, where experience of mental disciplines which meant
other studies had not. they were more likely to score positively (more
The main difference, they found, was in the about that later).The overall conclusion, then,
way that the studies had been conducted. Bem seems to be that the ganzfeld technique does hold
and Honorton had paid particular attention to some potential for demonstrating psi abilities, but
psi-conducive procedures.These are ways of not with everyone, and not in every situation.
carrying out a study which will make sure that
the person feels at ease, and is likely to be able to Clairvoyance
utilise any psi abilities they may have. Honorton Clairvoyance is described as happening if a
() identified ten factors which could person gains information about their environ-
influence how effective the procedures were, and ment, or things in it, without using the currently
also how participants were selected (Table .). recognised sensory channels.There is a major
Bem and Honorton had taken care to incorporate theoretical problem for parapsychologists in
384 Physiological psychology Section 3

distinguishing between clairvoyance and telepathy, studies, since some participants seemed to be able
since a picture which is being ‘sent’ mentally by a to identify the target images whether another
participant in a telepathy study also has a physical human being was consciously trying to transmit
existence, and could therefore, at least in theory, them, or not.
be perceived by a clairvoyant receiver. But there
have been some experimental investigations which Remote viewing
specifically relate to clairvoyance. Perhaps the most well-known studies of clairvoy-
Some of the ganzfeld studies did not use a ance, though, are remote viewing studies, some
‘sender’, on the grounds that the relevant images of which caused quite a stir among scientists in
could be obtained by clairvoyance, rather than by the late s and early s. It began with a
telepathy. Honorton () found that ganzfeld report in Nature by Targ and Puthoff, in .
studies which used senders generally produced They reported a series of field experiments using
better results than those which did not; but only Pat Price, a former Californian police commis-
where the experimenters were already sioner.The experiments had been investigating
experienced in using both sender and no-sender remote viewing – a form of clairvoyance in which
methods.Where experimenters stuck to just one the individual is able to ‘see’ a specific area or
or other method, it was the no-sender studies location some distance away, without receiving
which had produced slightly stronger results. that information through conventional channels.
Morris, Dalton, Delanoy and Watt () The target locations for Targ and Puthoff ’s
undertook a specific investigation of whether the studies were all in the San Francisco Bay area.
sender mattered in autoganzfeld research.The They had a pool of  targets, twelve of which
study had three different conditions: sender absent were randomly chosen for each experiment.
(condition ); sender present but receiver not Neither the experimenters involved, nor the
certain whether they were present or not research participants, knew the contents of the
(condition ); and sender present with receiver target pool, and the twelve locations for the study
aware of the sender’s presence (condition ). At were chosen using a double-blind control. Price
the beginning of the study, the receiver was would be taken to the location from which he
introduced to their ‘sender’. In conditions  and , would work, accompanied by an experimenter.
they were told that the person might or might not Two of the nine studies were conducted out of
be acting as sender for their study. At this point, doors, one in an office, and five from a large
nobody involved knew whether the person would copper-screen Faraday cage, designed to block any
be in condition  or condition . In condition , electrical transmissions.When Price was settled, a
they were told definitely that this person would team of two to four experimenters would be
be their sender. given a target location.They had half an hour to
Once the receiver was settled in the ganzfeld, drive to that location, and remained there for a
the sender returned to the room where the targets further half-hour. During that second half-hour,
would be shown. At that point, for those in Price described the sensory images that he was
conditions  or , the computer system made a receiving, and these were tape-recorded.
random selection as to which condition of the Price showed a striking ability to describe the
experiment was to be carried out. If it was buildings, docks, roads, gardens and the like which
condition , the ‘sender’ would be asked to leave; formed the target locations. But he also made a
if it was condition , they would be asked to number of inaccurate observations. So the
remain and focus on the images they would be researchers asked independent judges to assess the
shown. correlation between Price’s descriptions, and the
The overall results were significant, indicating locations.The judges correctly matched six of
that there had been an effect. Interestingly the nine locations tested with Price’s descriptions.
enough, though, there was no significant In , however, Marks and Kammann wrote a
difference between the three conditions – letter to Nature challenging the Targ and Puthoff
although the researchers did find a strong studies.They challenged the methodology, on the
experimenter effect, which we will discuss later. grounds that the experimenters had encouraged
They concluded that the presence of a sender was Price by referring to the previous successful trials,
not actually necessary to obtain results in ganzfeld and that these remarks were on the tapes and
Chapter 12 Sensation and parapsychology 385

could have cued the judges.Without these cues, about this, drove to the site, and reported that the
they argued, independent judges obtained results experiment was obviously a failure, because all
which were little more than chance. that was there was a hillside with sheep.The
Tart, Puthoff and Targ () in turn challenged military people to whom he reported this
Marks and Kammann’s criticisms.They performed eventually said that there had been a mistake with
a re-analysis of the data, removing all phrases the map co-ordinates.The journalist, however, was
suggested as potential cues, and any others which unaware that the location was exact – but the
might have been subsequently identified as having military base was hidden deep underground.
that potential.Then they submitted the material to In , the CIA commissioned a review of the
a new, independent judge, who was unfamiliar government-sponsored remote-sensing research.
with the Price study.This judge was asked to visit The committee came to six general conclusions.
each target site, and to evaluate how closely the Firstly, that free-response remote-viewing studies
transcripts of Price’s tape-recording matched the were generally more successful than forced-choice
targets.This time, seven out of the nine targets ones. Secondly, certain individuals were
were correctly matched, with a high match consistently more successful than others –
between the transcript and the target site, and a regardless of specific design conditions in specific
very low match between the transcript and other experiments.Thirdly, mass screening showed that
locations. So,Tart, Puthoff and Targ argued, their about % of those tested seemed to show
findings were not a cueing artefact. And also, the consistent remote-viewing abilities. Fourthly,
criticism did not apply to their several replication remote viewing did not improve consistently with
studies. either practice or training. Some people could
Marks () responded by challenging the perform effectively after only a few minutes of
validity of their re-judging exercise, on two instruction; others still found it difficult or
counts: firstly, that one of the researchers had impossible after several hours. Fifthly, while it was
carried out the editing of the transcripts, and unclear whether feedback was necessary, it did
secondly that the material which was being re- seem to enhance performance by providing a
judged had already been published, and the new psychological boost. And sixthly, that remote
judge might have retained an unconscious viewing was unaffected by either distance or
memory of it. For good measure, he also electromagnetic shielding (Utts, ).
challenged their statement about the replication There is, of course, still a great deal of dispute
studies, saying that they too had provided sensory over remote-viewing studies. But there is also a
cues in the transcripts. In their response, Puthoff considerable programme of research which has
and Targ () said that his criticism was based built up in this area, in several research locations.
on a misunderstanding about how the procedure Like other parapsychological research, effect sizes
had controlled for sensory cueing.They also seem to be larger when there is an atmosphere of
performed yet another re-analysis of their data, trust and openness among participants. In ,
taking Marks’s argument about cueing and Targ and Katra proposed a set of guidelines for
showing that, even if it had been true (which they researchers conducting remote-viewing studies,
did not believe) it still would not have had a large which are listed in Table .. Despite the
enough effect to account for the significance of challenges, they regard remote viewing as one of
the results. the most reliable of the psi experiences currently
The arguments about remote viewing carried being researched by parapsychologists, but they
on, and still carry on today. But the research was stress that it requires a sense of commonality of
convincing enough for the US military to fund a purpose, and mutual trust between viewer and
considerable research programme into the field, experimenter.
and for a number of successful cases to be
reported in the parapsychological journals. In one Faking clairvoyance and telepathy
case, described by Radin (), a remote viewer So far, we have looked at experimental evidence
was given the map co-ordinates of a particular for telepathy and clairvoyance. But telepathy and
site, and described a secret military facility in great clairvoyance are also popular areas for stage psy-
detail, even identifying code words written on chics, whose activities often involve appearing to
folders inside filing cabinets. A journalist heard perform ESP when really they are doing nothing
386 Physiological psychology Section 3

Table 12.10 Guidelines for remote-viewing Table 12.11 Some common general responses

Use viewers who are open to and even excited A European city Paris
about the prospect of psychic experience. One of a list of five items The second or
Pay attention to each viewer by giving considera- fourth in the list
tion to his or her mental state at the time of the Number between 10 and 20 17
experiment.
One of the Zener symbols the star
Provide trial-by-trial feedback of only the correct
target, and do it as soon as feasible. Number between 1 and 100 37
Create trust by full disclosure, and no hidden A vegetable carrot
agendas.
Psi is a partnership, not a master/slave
Precognition
relationship.
Precognition, as its name implies, involves acquir-
Seriousness of purpose provides motivation both
to the viewer and the experimenter.
ing knowledge about a future event, in situations
where that knowledge could not have been
Targets should be physically and emotionally
attractive, and uniquely different. No tarantulas deduced from existing information.There are,
for those who do not want to experience them. obviously, many anecdotal accounts of precogni-
Do not create large target pools. Have two to tion – someone may dream about a fire, for
four items at most. example, and then discover that a friend’s house
Take enough time to achieve rapport, plus 10-30 has burned down.Too often, though, these appar-
minutes for each trial. One trial per day is plenty. ently convincing examples have other explana-
One trial per week is better, to maintain serious- tions. As we saw in Chapter , for example, we
ness of purpose. all have five or six dreams a night. It is not
Practice allows viewers the opportunity to recog- uncommon, either, for people to dream about
nise mental noise and separate it from the psi
fires. Statistically, it is entirely likely that sooner or
signal.
later, someone will have a dream about a fire and
Source: Targ and Katra, 1997 then encounter a real-life one. Moreover, the
dream may have taken place some time before,
and only be recalled when news of the fire is
received.
of the kind. Sometimes, it is simply a matter of That does not, however, mean that all evidence
being sensitive to highly subtle forms of informa- for precognition can be discounted. Sometimes,
tion. People who have come asking for psychic precognitive experiences are dramatic and very
readings often give away a lot, without realising it. difficult to explain in that way.Those experiences
The ‘clairvoyant’ will pick up cues from clothing, often seem to involve powerful events such as
from the way that someone sits and talks, from death, accident or severe illness happening to very
information that they have unconsciously revealed close friends or relatives. But the problem for
earlier in the interview, and from many other parapsychological researchers is gathering the data,
cues. and seeking independent sources of verification.
If the person has made an appointment to see Occasionally, these predictions are well-
the ‘psychic’, the latter is likely to have learned as documented; but since they are real-life events,
much as possible about them beforehand, and researchers are more often dependent on the
many well-known ‘psychics’ subscribe to participant’s own accounts. And, as we saw in
information-gathering services about their Chapter , people’s accounts are not factual
specialist areas.Their supposedly psychic records of what happened, but constructions of
observations are based on their specialist events shaped to fit in with their social
knowledge, and so have a reasonable likelihood of understandings – including their personal
being fairly accurate.There are also many general understandings of the paranormal.
observations which can be made reasonably safely,
because people tend to choose them as a general Physiological measures of precognition
rule. A few of these are listed in Table ., but There is, however, some intriguing experimental
there are many more. evidence for a different kind of precognition.This
Chapter 12 Sensation and parapsychology 387

evidence involves taking physiological measure- autopsies and erotic photos. (Because of this, only
ments of changes in skin conductivity. As we will adults were used in the study.) The participant’s
see in the next chapter, skin conductivity changes physiological reactions were monitored and
in response to emotional or stressful stimulation. It recorded for the whole period of the study.
is a well-established and reliable response, which, Not suprisingly, the emotional pictures
among other things, forms the basis for lie- produced a powerful physiological reaction. But
detectors. But it can also form a useful measure of what was more interesting was that they seemed
people’s involuntary emotional reactions. to produce a reaction in the participant before
Radin () reported a set of studies which they had actually appeared. Figure . is the
looked at people’s responses to emotional stimuli. combined results from  research participants in
In a typical study, the participant would sit in a this study. It shows how there was a measurable
comfortable chair, facing a colour computer difference between the physiological reactions
screen. Electrodes for measuring changes in skin before pleasant pictures, and the physiological
conductivity and a heartrate monitoring device reactions obtained before emotional ones. Radin’s
were attached to the fingers of the left hand.The research suggests that the research participants
participant was able to control the computer were somehow able to anticipate what type of
display using a mouse with the right hand. image they were about to see. However, when
Pressing the mouse button caused the computer they were asked whether they had any idea about
to make a random selection from a large set of what was coming up, almost all of the participants
photographs.The screen remained blank for five responded negatively.
seconds, then the photo was displayed for three This is a very new approach to precognition
seconds, then the screen went blank again for research, and it remains to be seen what it will
another five seconds. Finally, a message indicated produce. However, Radin states that the results
that the participant could start again when they have been independently replicated in at least
were ready. one other laboratory, located in a different
Some of the photos, which were high-quality continent. The unconscious nature of the
digitised images, were of pleasant images, such as physiological reactions involved make this
landscapes or happy people. Others were designed approach to parapsychological research a very
to be disturbing or shocking, including images of interesting one.

Figure 12.19 Physiological responses and precognition

0.30
Before During After
0.25

0.20
Change in electrodermal activity

0.15

0.10

0.05

0.00

-0.05

-0.10 Calm
Emotional
-0.15

-0.20
1
4
7
10
13
16
19
22
25
28
31
34
37
40
43
46
49
52
55
58
61
64

Samples, 5 per second

Source: Radin 1997


388 Physiological psychology Section 3

Fraudulent precognition which a research participant attempts to influence


There is, however, a large discrepancy between the a random set of numbers generated by a comput-
type of precognition identified by Radin’s er.The computer produces random sequences of
research, and the kind that appears in supposedly zeros and ones, and the research participant
‘psychic’ demonstrations on TV or stage. Sadly, attempts to influence what it produces, so that
these offer many opportunities for fraud. Many there are, say, consistently more ones than zeros.
supposed ‘predictions’, for example, consist of a Obviously these studies need to take careful
note in a sealed envelope, or a note written on a account of the nature of randomness – sometimes
pad. But there are devices for inserting new notes there will be more ones than zeros naturally – but,
into apparently sealed envelopes, and also ones as we saw earlier, there does seem to be some evi-
which allow a stage magician to write rapidly and dence that some people might be able to exert a
inconspicuously on a pad of paper, once the infor- microelectronic influence in this way.
mation has become known.These devices are also Dice-tossing studies were a spin-off from
used by fraudulent psychics, to add to their Rhine’s research, and have been conducted since
credibility. the s.These are very straightforward: a
Fraudulent psychics also have our selective particular number is selected – not normally six –
perceptual mechanisms on their side. Psychics and the person tosses the dice while ‘willing’ that
often make a number of ‘predictions’, but they number to come up. A ‘hit’ occurs on those
only home in on the successful ones.The others occasions when their mental intention coincides
are disregarded, and any records of them which with the face that actually comes up. Again, it is
might exist are rarely offered as evidence. It is also necessary to take into account the probability of
very easy for us to become convinced that a that number occurring randomly. It is also best
prediction was actually quite similar to what has not to choose the number six, since in ordinary
happened even when it wasn’t – our tendency to
adjust our memories and to disregard small details
Figure 12.20 A simple model of PK
(see Chapter ) does the fraudulent psychic a
great favour.

Psychokinesis research

In research into psychokinesis, usually shortened


to PK, the organism (which means the animal or
human being researched) is able to exert an
B
influence on a target in the environment, across
barriers which would normally prevent any such
A
influence from happening (see Figure .).
Psychokinesis is generally split into two
R
categories. Micro-PK deals with situations where
someone has been able to exert psychokinetic R
influence at microscopic or microelectronic levels,
where instrumentation or statistical analysis, or Organism
I Target
both, are needed to detect what is happening.
Macro-PK is considered to occur if the
(source)
E (receiver)

psychokinetic effect can be detected with the


naked eye. R
Micro-PK studies
We have already looked at one example of micro-
S
PK experimentation, in the form of the meta-
analysis of RNG studies (random number genera-
tor studies) conducted by Nelson and Radin in
.These studies are usually automated trials, in
Chapter 12 Sensation and parapsychology 389

dice, where the holes are scooped out of the face, touching it, or make a piece of paper on a spindle
the six is very slightly lighter than the other five turn round, also without contact. In reality, he had
sides, because it has more holes. So it is slightly become extremely skilled at blowing out a fine jet
more likely to turn up than the others. of air without showing it, and the breeze that this
In , Radin and Ferrari conducted a meta- generated produced the effect.The investigator
analysis of dice-tossing studies conducted between learned to replicate the trick, and so demonstrated
 and .Their analysis included every the fraud.
English-language study they could find, which There are other ways of creating apparently
produced  experimenters, in  different psychokinetic effects. For example, holding the
experiments, using a total of  research hands round an open cylinder heats up the air
participants who had tossed the dice about . inside, and sets up an air current which can make
million times.They compared these outcomes paper or other light objects move. It is often
with just over , dice throws in  control possible to re-start a stopped watch by holding it
studies, where people had tossed dice without in the hands, because the problem is often
attempting to influence them. congealed oil inside the watch, or a small piece of
The overall hit rate for the control studies was grit.The oil in the watch becomes more fluid as it
.%.The overall hit rate for the studies where warms up, and this frees the mechanism – for a
participants had deliberately tried to influence the while, anyway. And, of course, the spoon-bending
outcomes was .%. Although this difference so beloved of some ‘psychics’ requires an
might not seem to be very large, given the huge opportunity to handle the spoon surreptitiously
numbers of participants involved, it works out beforehand, so that the metal can be weakened,
statistically as giving odds of more than a billion and only a very subtle, invisible pressure is
to one against the results happening simply by required to produce the effect. Magicians have a
chance. And when the researchers controlled for range of tricks for creating apparently impossible
high-achieving individual researchers by events, and skilled psychic fraudsters learn how to
eliminating their studies from the analysis, they use these to create apparently convincing
still found odds of more then three million to paranormal phenomena.
one. Although individual studies of dice-throwing It is also possible for psychic fraudsters to
are often equivocal, their combined results do circumvent obstacles which have been set up.
imply that micro-PK – or some other factor – Magnets can be used to create apparent movement
might be influencing the outcomes. in objects, or invisible threads between the two
hands can be used to move a small item
Macro-PK backwards and forwards.The obstacle may be
Macro-PK – psychokinesis which is visible with weaker than it appears, or not a barrier to some
the naked eye – is one of the most popular of all other factor, such as heat. It may even not be there
of the apparent parapsychological effects, including at all: sometimes, stage magicians use perceptual
as it does spoon-bending, and other dramatic illusions which lead the person to think that a
effects. Unfortunately, however, it also seems to be barrier is present when it is not really. And psychic
the area of parapsychology which is most dogged fraudsters do too.
by fraud and misdirection on the part of practi- The stage magician and skeptic James Randi
tioners. Sadly, too, many television presenters has offered a ,,-dollar reward to anyone
(though not all, as Chris Evans recently demon- who is able to demonstrate macro-PK
strated) collude with such people, allowing them unequivocally, under controlled conditions. But
to handle and adjust their material beforehand in despite the large number of self-styled psychics
order to create an apparently spectacular effect in making a living on TV and in other sectors of the
front of the cameras. entertainment business, his prize has not yet been
Skilled fraudsters are able to exert highly subtle claimed.
influences on their material, which are not There are, of course, several areas of
apparent to observers. In one case, a purported parapsychological research. One area concerns the
‘psychic’ appeared to be able to make objects type of research where a person attempts a direct
move simply by ‘thinking’ at them. He could, mental interaction with another living system.
apparently, turn the pages of a book without This area used to be known as bio-PK, but more
390 Physiological psychology Section 3

recently, researchers have preferred to use the will be looking at in Chapter  (Rosenthal and
category DMILS (direct mental interaction with Jacobsen, ).
living systems) instead. DMILS studies include Experimenter effects are no less powerful in
research into remote staring – investigating the parapsychological research than they are in other
feeling of being stared at which many people forms of psychology. But since the differences are
experience – and other types of remote influence so very apparent in parapsychological research,
on the body. Another major source of research in they are recognised explicitly. Some experimenters
this area concerns healing – the ability to induce appear to be able to facilitate psi abilities in their
positive physiological states in people which help research participants, and these are known as psi-
them to recover from illness or injury. But there is permissive experimenters. Others obtain
not space to go into these areas here. consistently negative outcomes from
parapsychological research, and they are known as
psi-inhibitory experimenters.
Experimenters and participants
Factors in experimenter effects
Parapsychological research, as we have seen, has When the experimenter effect was identified in
produced some interesting findings. But it also has parapsychology, a number of researchers began to
some special requirements. Because researchers are investigate it explicitly.They found that it was a
investigating very subtle abilities of the human combination of two sets of factors.The first was the
mind, they are particularly susceptible to small pleasantness or unpleasantness of the experimental
human influences which may not affect the more setting, for the participant. Crandall () found
robust of our abilities. that if the experimental participant was relaxed and
found the atmosphere pleasant, they would be
Experimenter effects more likely to produce positive results.This, of
One of the most consistent findings in parapsy- course, also meant that people would respond dif-
chological research is that some experimenters, ferently depending on whether they liked the
using well-controlled methods, repeatedly obtain person who was dealing with them: it was not
significant results from ESP or PK studies; whereas about achieving a single successful formula, but
others, using exactly the same methods, consis- about having an experimenter who could get on
tently obtain negative findings. One of the main well with that particular participant, and so help to
hypotheses which have been put forward to create a pleasant, relaxed atmosphere.
explain this is that the difference comes from The second set of factors concerned the expec-
experimenter effects – subtle differences in tations of the experimenter.Taddonio ()
manner, tone of voice, and other slight factors found that experimenters who expected to obtain
which convey different expectations to positive results tended to do so, while those who
participants. expected the experiment to be unsuccessful tend-
Experimenter effects are powerful in all forms ed to produce unsuccessful outcomes. But, as with
of psychological research.Their strength was first Rosenthal’s rats, it was not a magical effect.
identified by Rosenthal and Fode (), who Experimenters communicated their expectations
demonstrated how experimenters’ beliefs about subtly, and those who expected the research par-
experimental rats’ abilities in maze-running were ticipants to fail conveyed that message to them. As
sufficient to produce fast or slow maze-running in a result, any psi abilities which the individual
the rats concerned.These were not magical might have shown were inhibited: not many peo-
effects: the experimenters who believed that their ple are able to do well in any task when it is
‘maze-bright’ rats would do well handled them apparent that they are expected to fail.
more gently and stroked them when taking them As we saw earlier, Morris et al. () found a
to the maze, whereas those who believed that strong experimenter effect in their comparison of
their rats were from a strain bred to be ‘maze-dull’ sender and no-sender conditions in autoganzfeld
handled them more roughly, and spent less time studies.Table . shows the different outcomes
with them. Rosenthal went on to demonstrate obtained by the three experimenters.The
experimenter effects in many other situations, researchers identified four possible explanations
including a well-known field experiment for their findings. One of these was the possibility
involving manipulating teachers’ beliefs, which we of fraud, which they had to consider as a
Chapter 12 Sensation and parapsychology 391

Table 12.12 Different success rates for Schmiedler suggested that, in situations where
experimenters in the same study the experimenter is highly motivated and also has
strong psi abilities of their own, they may
somehow transfer those abilities to experimental
Experimenter Experimenter Experimenter
participants, for the duration of the experiment.
A B C
Schmiedler argued that it is important to
Hit 48% 24% 14%
rate
distinguish between ordinary psi-permissive
experimenters, who simply create a climate in
Source: Morris et al., 1995 which the participant’s own abilities can come out
easily; and these psi-conducive experimenters. It
is important, Schmiedler argued, that psi-
possibility. However, the experiment had included conducive individuals should be identified, and
a great many controls designed to make fraud that they should not conduct routine psi
almost impossible, including a computer- investigations, since if they do, the experimental
automated procedure, the involvement of a second findings may become distorted.
experimenter who had to sign off a hard copy of
the experimental data before the end of the Psi-responsive participants
session, and several other safeguards. Given the There have also been some studies indicating that
sheer number of controls in the procedures, and people with particular personality characteristics
the commitment to experimental rigour of the are more likely to produce positive psi outcomes
experimenters concerned, fraud in this instance than others. For example, Honorton et al. ()
seems an unlikely hypothesis. conducted a meta-analysis of free-response
Another possible explanation was psychological, ganzfeld studies, and found that extroverts tended,
in that one experimenter may have been better at as a general rule, to score more highly than intro-
adopting a style and manner which facilitated verts. However, in a further study using an artistic
enthusiasm, comfort, trust, and confidence. As a population, Morris et al. () found a slight
result, participants may have felt more relaxed, and positive correlation between introversion and psi
able to pay attention to internal states and success, so evidently the relationship is not that
imagery. A third possibility is that some simple.
experimenters might have additional psi capacities When researchers had measured extroversion
which could facilitate the occurrence of psychic and psi success using the NEO model of
events around them. And a fourth possibility personality (see Chapter ), which has six different
which the researchers considered is the fact that sub-factors, they had found that psi success
the successful experimenter had also done much correlated positively with the three factors of
of the recruitment of participants, and so they activity, excitement seeking and positive emotions;
were already familiar with her when they arrived. but not with the other three, which were warmth,
It could be that, unconsciously, this researcher had gregariousness and assertiveness (Morris et al.,
scheduled participants for herself who were more ).They suggested that the correlation with
likely to perform well. extroversion probably came from extroverts
enjoying the novelty of the ganzfeld experience,
Psi-conducive experimenters rather than coming from social factors, as such.
Schmiedler () argued that some experi- We have already seen how believers in psi tend
menters may influence experimental findings too to score more highly than non-believers.
much.There have been several cases where specif- Honorton () showed that taking part in other
ic experimenters obtain remarkably high success psi experiments was also correlated with successful
levels with participants, but those same partici- performance, and it was suggested that this might
pants are unable to repeat their performance later, have its effect by reducing feelings of anxiety or
or even come close to it.These results, as far as tension which could inhibit psi performance.
anyone can tell (and they have looked) do not Having previously practised a mental discipline,
come from fraud, or conscious effort on the part such as yoga or meditation, was also positively
of the experimenter, but seem instead just to correlated with psi success.
happen. Creative people also tend to score more highly
392 Physiological psychology Section 3

Table 12.13 Creativity and psi outcomes


themselves distinguish between ‘proof-oriented’
research, which aims to establish whether or not
Group N Hits % Significance psi exists, and ‘process-oriented’ research, which
(one trial per level aims to explore the conditions and processes
participant) involved in psi demonstrations. But acceptance or
Musicians 32 18 56 p<.0001 rejection of psi is a matter for each individual.
Artists 32 16 50 p<.002 Psychology’s official position, obviously, is of
Creative writers 32 13 41 p<.05 reserved judgement and some scepticism (though
Actors 32 13 41 p<.05 not, inevitably, skepticism). Psychologists know far
Total 128 60 47 p<.0001 too much about the way that people can be
hoodwinked into believing that an event is
mysterious when it is nothing of the kind, to
on psi tasks. Dalton () performed a study accept psi unreservedly. But, as we have seen,
comparing different types of high-creativity parapsychologists are concerned about that too.
participants in an atuomated ganzfeld task.There And many psychologists, if approached privately,
were four groups: artists, musicians, creative will express a personal belief that psi is not an
writers, and actors. Each of the groups achieved impossibility; although the dangers of being
significance on the task, with musicians scoring misrepresented often mean that they are reluctant
extremely highly.The results are given in Table to say so in public.
.. Dalton’s findings agreed with those of an Parapsychological research in many ways is very
earlier ganzfeld study which used music students different from other areas of psychology. But its
at the Juillard School of Performing Arts, who had methods and approaches are similar – it is the
produced similarly high success rates (Schlitz and emotions which the topic generates which makes
Honorton, ). it distincitive. In the next chapter, we will be
Research into parapsychology, then, offers us looking at research into the psychology of
some interesting challenges. Parapsychologists emotion, stress, and motivation.

Key terms
absolute refractory period The period of a few DMILS An abbreviation for ‘direct mental interaction
milliseconds immediately after the firing of a neurone, with living systems’, which is the term used in para-
when the neurone will not produce another electrical psychology to refer to psi phenomena such as
impulse, no matter how much stimulation it may telepathy or healing.
receive.
efferent neurone A neurone which carries informa-
afferent neurone A neurone which carries informa- tion away from the brain and spinal cord.
tion from the sensory receptors towards the brain and
electrical potential The burst of electricity pro-
spinal cord.
duced by a nerve cell when firing.
autoganzfeld studies Ganzfeld studies of ESP
experimental rigour The carefulness with which
which involve a computer-controlled automated
an experiment is conducted; the care taken when
procedure to prevent sensory leakage or unconscious
conducting an experiment to make sure that all
experimenter bias.
procedures and controls are implemented
clairvoyance Gaining information about objects or effectively.
the environment without using recognised sensory
experimenter effects Unwanted influences in
channels.
a psychological study which are produced, con-
cone cells Cells in the retina which respond to sciously or unconsciously, by the person carrying out
different wavelengths of light, and therefore indicate the study.
colour.
extra-sensory perception Acquiring information
dendrites Branches at the endings of the axons of from a target in the environment, without using
nerve cells, which allow the cell to make connections normal sensory channels.
with several other neurones.
file-drawer problem The problem of selective
dice-tossing studies Studies of psychokinesis in reporting in psychological research, in that only
which the person aims to influence the fall of a dice. studies with positive findings tend to be reported in
journals, while unsuccessful studies tend to remain in
Chapter 12 Sensation and parapsychology 393

the experimenter’s filing cabinet and are not sent off precognition Knowledge of events which will
for publication. happen in the future, which appears to have been
obtained without using normal sensory channels.
fovea The central part of the retina, where the visual
image is most clearly focused. pseudopsi hypothesis The idea that all evidence
for parapsychological influence comes from deception
habituation Becoming accustomed to a stimulus,
or misinterpretation.
such that it is no longer registered by sensory
neurones. psi A general term used by parapsychologists to
describe forms of communication which have
infrasound Sound which is too low to be detected
occurred without the use of ordinary sensory
by human ears.
channels.
kinaesthetic senses The bodily senses which inform
psi-conducive experimenters Experimenters who
us about the position and state of the muscles, skeletal
generate high success rates from research participants,
system and internal organs.
without using fraud, but with the same research
lateral geniculate nuclei An area of the thalamus participants being unable to repeat their success with
where the cells forming the optic nerve synapse with other experimenters.
those leading to the visual cortex.
psi hypothesis The idea that human beings are able
macro-PK Psychokinesis in which the para- to use new, apparently impossible means of communi-
psychological influence on the target is visible by the cation under certain circumstances.
naked eye.
psi-inhibitory experimenters Experimenters who
micro-PK Psychokinesis in which the outcome of the seem to inhibit the demonstration of psychic abilities
psi influence is too small to be detected by the naked among their research participants.
eye, and usually needs to be identified electronically.
psi-permissive experimenters Experimenters who
myelin sheath A fatty coating around sensory and seem to facilitate the demonstration of psychic abilities
motor neurones which help the neural impulse to among their research participants.
travel faster.
psychokinesis A psychic ability in which the person
nodes of Ranvier Gaps in the myelin sheath of a exerts an influence on a target, across barriers which
sensory or motor neurone, which allow ionic transfer would normally prevent any such influence.
across the cell membrane and so produce the electrical
random number generator studies Para-
potential which forms the nerve impulse.
psychological research into micro-PK, in which a
ocular dominance columns Columns of nerve cells research participant attempts to influence a random
found in the visual cortex in which the cells at each set of numbers generated by a computer.
level respond to the same stimulus, received by the
reliability problem A problem in both para-
same eye.
psychology and psychotherapy, in which an initial
olfactory epithelium The layer of cells in the nose research phase yields highly positive results, but
which responds to direct chemical stimulation, and so these taper off with repeated studies, or treat-
forms the receptor for the sense of smell. ments, until eventually, outcomes are little more than
chance.
optic chiasma The part of the brain where the optic
nerve from each eye meets, and half of their fibres remote viewing studies Parapsychological studies
cross over. in which the research participants describe scenes or
physical objects located at considerable distances from
parapsychology The scientific study of anomalous them, and not perceivable by conventional means.
means of communication or of transmission of
information. Parapsychologists conduct research replication The repeating of a study by other
into extra-sensory perception, telekinesis, and researchers, in order to ensure that the findings are
DMILS. reliable, and not just an artefact of one particular
experimental situation.
phantom limbs The name given to the phenome-
non experienced by amputees, of still feeling the limb RNGS See random number generator studies.
as present and alive even though it has been surgically
saccades Minute, involuntary movements of the
removed.
eyeball.
photo-receptor cells Special cells in the retina (rods
sensory leakage When a flaw in a para-
and cones cells) which respond to light by altering
psychological study allows the research participant to
their chemical structure and so producing an electrical
gain relevant information through normal sensory
impulse.
channels.
394 Physiological psychology Section 3

sensory neurone A nerve cell which receives infor- transduction The process of converting information
mation from sense receptors and passes it to the nerve from one form to another in physiological terms, e.g.
cells of the central nervous system. converting the pressure waves which comprise sound
into electrical impulses which can be passed to the
synaesthesia A condition in which sensory input
brain.
becomes distorted and confused, such that sounds
may be experienced as touch, etc. two-point threshold A measure of skin sensitivity
which is concerned with how far apart two pinpricks
synapse The junction between nerve cells which is
must be to be identified as separate stimuli.
bridged by neurotransmitter chemicals.
ultrasound Sound which is too high-pitched to be
telepathy The transmission of information from one
detected by human hearing.
person to another without using normal sensory
channels.

Summary

1 The peripheral nervous system consists of sensory 5 Sensory systems show habituation and adaptation.
receptors, which transduce sensation into Perceptual thresholds describe the minimal stimuli
electrical impulses; and neurones which transmit which can produce a perceptual response. Sensory
those messages to the central nervous system. systems may also become distorted, producing
synaesthesia, illusion, or hallucination.
2 Different senses have receptors responsive to
different types of information. There are visual 6 Parapsychologists conduct research into experiences
receptors, auditory receptors, olfactory and which appear to involve information transmission
gustatory receptors, tactile receptors which which bypasses normal sensory channels. This
respond to temperature and pressure, pain includes research into fraudulent psychics, as well as
receptors, and proprioceptive receptors. experimental studies of apparent psi phenomena.

3 Sensory information is processed and decoded in 7 Experimental parapsychological research includes


the central nervous system. Both the thalamus studies of ESP using the ganzfeld technique,
and the visual cortex of the cerebrum are involved remote viewing, and studies of micro-
in decoding visual information. psychokinesis. Each of these areas has generated
considerable debate, although cumulative research
4 The reflex arc is a simple representation of the findings often imply some general effects.
action of the three main types of neurone:
sensory neurones, connector neurones and motor 8 Parapsychological investigations indicate that
neurones. These convey electrical impulses gener- positive findings are closely linked to a number of
ated by electro-chemical interactions. experimenter and participant variables, and do not
occur on every occasion. Although skeptics see this
as a weakness, others argue that the same observa-
tions apply to most exceptional human abilities.

Self-assessment questions Practice essay questions

1 Briefly outline how visual information is 1 What problems do parapsychological researchers


processed. encounter when attempting to evaluate para-
psychological phenomena scientifically?
2 What is the reflex arc, and what types of neu-
rones does it involve? 2 How important are experimenter and participant
effects in parapsychological research?
3 What is a ganzfeld and how has it been used in
parapsychological research? 3 To what extent can behaviour be explained in
terms of the activity of the nervous system?
Chapter 12 Sensation and parapsychology 395

Test your knowledge of this chapter with our online quizzes and games at:
http://www.psych.co.uk

Explore sensation and parapsychology further at:


Senses
http://ear.berkeley.edu/ – Diagrams, links and extensive research on the hearing sciences.
http://www.umds.ac.uk/physiology/jim/tasteolf.htm – Basic information and diagrams about taste and smell.
http://www.science.mcmaster.ca/Psychology/psych2e03/lecture11/touch.lecture.html – Tutorial and diagrams on
touch perception.
http://www.ispub.com/journals/IJAMT/Vol1N1/motion.htm – Tutorial and reading list on motion interpretation.
Parapsychology
http://www.ed.ac.uk/~ejua35/parapsy.htm – Extensive links page to resources on the internet, includes all branches
of parapsychology including sites where you can have your fortune told.
http://www.psiresearch.org/para1.html – Answers to frequently asked questions on this subject.

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