1. Parapsychology
Personal Psychology 20

2. What is parapsychology?
The scientific and scholarly study of unusual events associated with the human experience
These experiences are difficult to explain within current scientific models
Parapsychologists only study anomalies that fall into one of three general categories – ESP (extra-sensory perception), mind-matter interaction (psychokinesis), and phenomena that suggest survival after death (near-death experience

3. What parapsychology is not….
It is not the study of anything paranormal or bizarre
Not concerned with astrology, UFOs, bigfoot, vampires or witchcraft
It is known as a pseudoscience, but a parapsychologist does not make money by entertaining the public

4. Why is parapsychology interesting?
What we know about the nature of the universe is incomplete and parapsychology can teach us more
The capabilities of the human mind have been underestimated
Assumptions about the separation of mind and body may be incorrect
Many parapsychologists can support their ideas with data and research

5. Esp: Extra sensory perception
ESP is the most testable and well known area of parapsychology
Often referred to as the “6th Sense”
3 main types of ESP: telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition

6. telepathy
A person with the ability to read others’ thoughts and mental contents
May involve on person sending thoughts to another or perceiving another’s thoughts without using any of the five recognized senses.

7. clairvoyance French for “clear-seeing”
The ability to “see” information about people, objects or locations without the use of any of the five senses
Includes crystal gazing and tea-leaf reading

8. precognition
Knowledge of a future event or circumstance not obtained by inference or deduction but by paranormal means
What most people mean when using the term “psychic”
Dream interpretation often falls under this category

9. What the skeptics say
After thousands of experiments, a reproducible ESP phenomenon has never been discovered
No one individual has convincingly demonstrated psychic ability
Skeptics argue that the evidence is not there to support the phenomena of parapsychology