The research within this thesis has been concerned with the concept of individual lability and how this may impact the occurrence of psychokinetic (PK) effects. Although frequently used as a descriptor within the fields of psychology, parapsychology has attempted to explore individual lability as a construct in its own right. Defined as an 'ease of change', within parapsychological research individual lability has been afforded the ability to either act as a contributing or mediating factor in the production of PK effects. To that effect, a major concern for this thesis was to operationalize the construct of individual lability via the development of a psychometric measure - an initial Lability Scale and then a further Revised Lability Scale. In order to make sense of the theoretical assumptions about individual lability this thesis explores the background of the production of PK effects in both real-world and experimental environments. It identifies shared individual elements in the reports of PK effects relating to heightened arousal, neurological activity, personality traits, emotional states and creativity that may help to identify multiple dimensions of individual lability. Drawing on the perspectives of lability models which emphasize an interaction between differing lability levels of random systems as a predictor of PK effects, it is suggested that successful outcomes are more likely between high levels of one system and low levels of another system. For the purposes of the three empirical studies a Random Number Generator (RNG) with different levels of Table, Pseudo and Live were employed to explore this interaction. An initial online survey consisting of measures of creative, neurological, state and Openness to Experience enabled the creation of the 71-item, 5 factor Lability Scale (LS) using factor analysis. Factors were defined as: Intuitive Cognition, Conceptual Cognition, Ego-Orientated Cognition, Emotional Interpretation and Analytical Cognition. The LS had good internal reliability and did not correlate with additional measures of anomalous experience and PK experiences, thus demonstrating face-value validity. The LS was subsequently employed in a series of three PK-RNG experiments exploring the lability interaction which incorporated a standardised design of a computerised I Ching task measured using the Q-sort method and separate group samples (N = 50). Study One included the impact of perceived stress, Study Two included the impact of the participant/research interaction, Study Three included the impact of goal-orientated striving. The primary hypothesis that levels of individual lability (Low, Medium, High) would significantly interact with Q-sort ratings of RNG system lability was not supported for all three experiments. In addition, the impact of the additional variables was non-significant. However, significant correlations were found between all of the LS factors apart from Analytical Cognition. It was also observed that there was a significant difference between lability levels between genders, with males on average having lower lability levels. In addition, a final analysis combining the individual and RNG lability data from all three studies was conducted, although there was also no significant interaction effect found between levels of individual and RNG lability. However, following the consistent lack of response from the Analytical Cognition factor it was deemed necessary to psychometrically refine the Lability Scale further. Therefore, a second factor analysis was conducted on the combined experimental data (N = 147) and the 32-item, 3 factor Revised Lability Scale was developed. Three identified factors were defined as: Creative Expression, Emotional Interpretation and Spiritual Interpretation. It was noted that the factor structure was somewhat reversed to that of the initial LS but the majority of items remained consistent. However, analysis showed that there was no interaction found between levels of individual lability and RNG lability. There were significant relationships between Creative Expression and Table RNG and Pseudo RNG lability levels. In addition, consistent difference between the genders in relation to the three factors were found with large effect sizes, with males having significantly lower levels overall. The final Discussion questioned the lack of significant findings for the lability PK-RNG interaction in relation to the complexity of the methodology and the multiple variables introduced in the empirical studies.

Parapsychological research, including the examination of the anomalous process termed ‘psi’, is highly controversial, with the existence of psi not accepted by mainstream science. The aim of this thesis was to study one aspect of psi, extrasensory perception (ESP), to examine whether evidence for ESP could be obtained or whether ostensibly extrasensory experiences can be attributed to purely psychological processes. Three studies are reported. The first obtained reports of spontaneous cases of ostensible ESP from 94 participants, using an online survey. Participants described their experience and responded to a series of questions regarding the aftermath of their experience and their reasoning for a paranormal interpretation. Results demonstrated several patterns that replicated earlier findings, including the predominance of female percipients, serious events, and close relationships between the percipient and target person. Negative emotions were common, including shock and confusion, particularly at the point of ostensible confirmation of the experience; the most common long-term response was an increase in paranormal belief, although some participants were relatively unaffected. Approximately two-thirds of participants had considered viable normal explanations for their experience, including coincidence and expectation of likely outcomes. Paranormal explanations were commonly attributed to the lack of a viable normal explanation, the striking coincidence between the experience and event, or the unusual nature of the experience. Many cases were weak evidentially; findings overall suggest that many ostensibly extrasensory experiences may have non-psi explanations. Two subsequent studies examined ESP in laboratory conditions, using the ganzfeld paradigm. Based on findings from spontaneous case research and previous laboratory studies, it was examined whether success was related to the emotional bond between pairs of participants, or to their sexes. The first study employed 30 pairs of participants, each taking part once as sender and once as receiver. Picture postcards were used as targets, and an emotional connectedness scale was used to assess pairing closeness. Direct hits and binary hits were above mean chance expectation (MCE); both were non-significant, although binary hitting was only marginally so. Results were suggestive of improved performance for closer pairings and mixed-sex pairings, but were non-significant. The second study was a partial replication, with 40 pairs of participants and using video clips as targets. EEG recordings were taken from the frontal midline (Fz) site of both participants. Approximately half of senders experienced stroboscopic stimulation at 6Hz throughout the trial in an attempt to drive theta rhythms associated with a hypnagogic state, mirroring the state expected in receivers due to ganzfeld stimulation. Direct hits were at MCE, while binary hits were non-significantly above MCE; binary hitting across the two studies was significant. There was no effect of pairing closeness or sexes on success, and hitting was not associated with any EEG features or with strobe usage. Overall, laboratory findings appeared promising in terms of significant binary hitting but continued a trend of inconsistency within and between ganzfeld ESP studies. This inconsistency, together with the many weakly evidential spontaneous cases collected, point more strongly to a psychological interpretation of ostensibly extrasensory experiences, rather than the elusive psi.

In this qualitative study the researcher explores the experiences and locus of control orientation of five individuals who have been guided by diviners. It also determines whether any traits or demographic variables characterise individuals consulting with diviners. This study is underpinned by three assumptions, namely, that multiple accounts of reality exist (postmodern philosophy), that knowledge cannot be void of subjectivity (constructivist epistemology) and that ‘meaning’ is influenced by dominant discourses (social constructionist paradigm). Individuals’ experiences with diviners are documented using thematic network analysis. Comparative analysis of the participants’ global themes revealed that ‘control’ and ‘self insight’ and ’self expression’ were common themes. Levenson’s Locus of Control Questionnaire was applied and established that an internal locus of control orientation predominated amongst participants. This finding contradicted existing literature. Professionals in the field of humanities and lay persons interested in divination would appreciate this study. Focal areas for future research and clinical practice are highlighted. / Psychology / (M.A. (Clinical Psychology))

In this qualitative study the researcher explores the experiences and locus of control orientation of five individuals who have been guided by diviners. It also determines whether any traits or demographic variables characterise individuals consulting with diviners. This study is underpinned by three assumptions, namely, that multiple accounts of reality exist (postmodern philosophy), that knowledge cannot be void of subjectivity (constructivist epistemology) and that ‘meaning’ is influenced by dominant discourses (social constructionist paradigm). Individuals’ experiences with diviners are documented using thematic network analysis. Comparative analysis of the participants’ global themes revealed that ‘control’ and ‘self insight’ and ’self expression’ were common themes. Levenson’s Locus of Control Questionnaire was applied and established that an internal locus of control orientation predominated amongst participants. This finding contradicted existing literature. Professionals in the field of humanities and lay persons interested in divination would appreciate this study. Focal areas for future research and clinical practice are highlighted. / Psychology / (M.A. (Clinical Psychology))

Self-reports have described luck as an important factor in people’s lives, and there is a sizable body of psychological research conducted around the belief in luck, primarily as an intangible external element and a companion of gamblers. This thesis reviews the major part of this research, offering a critical analysis and identifying a region of research into luck that warrants further investigation. That is, if psychic events, collectively termed ‘psi’ are possible then such events may just appear to be lucky. Several parapsychological studies have investigated this relationship between luck and psi but have failed to discern if this relationship is real, perhaps because of the lack of explicit definition of luck or the measurement of what it is that the participants believe it to be. To address this issue existing luck belief measures were reviewed but it was clearly necessary to construct a new comprehensive measure based on thorough bottom-up test construction principles. A series of semi-structured interviews about luck were reanalysed qualitatively, the themes of which were used in the generation of items for a questionnaire. Through a series of factor-analyses a final 40-item, 4-factor Questionnaire of Beliefs about Luck (QBL) was produced, with factors labelled Luck, Chance, Providence and Fortune, to which was added a 1-item measure of Perceived Personal Luckiness (PPL). The new measure was found to be robust and internally reliable and correlated with paranormal belief supporting several predictions and thereby demonstrating sound construct validity. The literature on psi and luck indicated that luck might best be understood by Stanford’s (1974a) model of ‘psi-mediated instrumental response’ (PMIR) and a PMIR-type study was planned which incorporated the new QBL. A non-intentional precognition experiment with 100 participants utilised erotic-images as psi incentives and found good evidence of psi with this design. Furthermore, the QBL Luck subscale was found to be a significant predictor variable of psi score, indicating that the measure has good predictive validity, and PPL, belief in psi, and erotic reactivity also correlated with psi scores. There was also a near gender-effect. The findings were discussed in light of previous results and were interpreted in relation to the psychological theories outlined in the literature review, finding support for the notion of self-serving biases, and offering fresh insights into the illusion of control. A model was put forward for the relationship of luck and psi. It was concluded that the QBL was a comprehensive, reliable, valid and useful tool in the investigation of luck

In this PhD research a question is posed that concerns ‘varieties of creativity’ that have infrequently been explored empirically, although often described anecdotally. This question being: is, and if so, how, is creativity related to altered states of consciousness (ASCs) and parapsychological experiences? This thesis systematically explores the relationship between multiple dimensions of creativity and: personality traits characterised by an openness to intrapersonal experience and a fluid cognitive-style; specific altered states of consciousness and anomalous experiences (such as mystical experiences and subjective paranormal experiences); and anomalous cognition. The common thread is conceived as an examination of the extent to which creativity might involve ‘epistemological flexibility’ — that is, involves shifts into, and between, different ‘ways of knowing’. As such, a major part of this thesis was the psychometric development of a new self-report instrument, the Creative Cognition Inventory, which measures the reported use of different epistemological resources (such as intuition, dreams and rational logic) in the creative process. Creativity is defined in terms of a process, participated in at the person-level, which leads to a novel and adaptive product or performance. Drawing upon models of the creative process and person, it is suggested that a biphasic process is common to most theories of creativity, and that individuals with particular traits have been hypothesised to engage in this with more facility. Models that have explored cognitive, affective and perceptual ‘looseness’ as facilitating novelty are examined. As altered states of consciousness involve subjective shifts in these same dimensions, it is proposed that creativity and ASCs may be experientially related, either directly, or in terms of an overarching trait, such as ‘boundary-thinness’ or ‘transliminality’, which propitiates both. A multi-dimensional approach was taken to creativity measurement, accepting its complexity as a componential construct that might consist of multiple creativities. In Study One, the benefits of a multidimensional approach to creativity measurement were evident, refuting earlier work that had used only cognitive estimates of creativity and found no relationship with either boundary-thinness or transliminality. These constructs are experiential-traits that assess ones degree of intrapersonal openness, cognitive fluidity and sensitivity, and are associated with a proclivity to have unusual experiences. In Study One, they were found to be significantly correlated with both domain general measures of creativity (creative personality) and domain specific measures (emotional creativity and involvement in the arts). The sample for Study One consisted of 65 psychology undergraduates (49 females; 16 males). A second study assessed the degree to which different dimensions of creativity were related to different experiences of consciousness. 211 participants were recruited from the general population through opportunity sampling (108 females; 101 males). The sample included professional artists (n = 36) and scientists (n = 27). Competing models of a relationship between creativity and ASC-proclivity were assessed: cognitive expansion; affective openness; and motivational impetus. This study provided numerous insights into the experiences of consciousness that might be related to varieties of creativity. The key findings were that emotional creativity was most robustly associated with ASCs; artistic creative-personality was associated with ‘positive’ ASCs, including those along an oneiric continuum (e.g. hypnagogia and hallucinations), and those along an affective expansion continuum (e.g. dissociation and positive mystical experiences). Further, original and flexible cognition appeared to be associated with states along an oneiric continuum. Thus, Study Two found support for the affective and cognitive models, yet within different ranges of experience. This ‘model’ helps to clarify, by using heterogeneous, rather than homogenous constructs of ‘unusual experiences’, specific processes by which ASCs and creativity may be related and as such deserves further exploration. The final piece of research developed a novel protocol for recording impressions thought by participants to involve extrasensory perception (ESP) and associated states of consciousness in daily life, using experience- sampling methodology. As success in ESP experiments has consistently been reported amongst visual artists, the above models were used to explore what aspects of the creativity complex might be associated with ESP-performance. As only emotional creativity related to the reporting of parapsychological experiences in Study Two, the affective openness model was expected to predict ESP-performance. Further, a carefully matched control group (n = 15) was used against which to compare success of artists (n = 15). Artists did not demonstrate a superior ESP effect in this study, although they did perform at a level commensurate with previous research. The affective openness hypothesis for ESP performance was rejected. Rather, it was questioned whether previous studies had not adequately matched controls or that the ‘take-home’ methodology, perhaps increasing relaxation and control for the participants, increased performance levels for the non-artists

Physicalism as universally construed is the thesis that everything in the world is either physical or a consequence of physical facts. Certain consequences of physicalism for free will, religion, and so on make it unpalatable to some. Physicalism should not be dismissed merely on its unpalatability. Nonetheless, we should be very sure it is true before accepting it uncritically (as much of science and philosophy now do). Physicalism is a contingent thesis, taken as true on the basis of strong inductive evidence and an inference-to-the-best-explanation that specifies it as the best theory over any of its competitors to provide an ontological account of the universe. So long as there is no contrary evidence to the claims of physicalism, then it stands relatively uncontested. I argue that there is a body of well-attested empirical evidence that falsifies universally-construed physicalism by violating an essential assumption of the theory – causal closure of the physical domain. I present a detailed account of this closure-violating evidence. So that those who are unfamiliar with the body of evidence on offer may judge its validity, I include brief summations of experimental designs, findings, and analyses, plus some controversies pertaining to the data and their resolutions. I then argue why this body of empirical evidence should count against universal physicalism, argue for the evidence’s scientific legitimacy, and discuss criticisms which have been lodged against it, then explain why these criticisms lack force. I conclude that the evidence I present is sufficient to falsify the universal construal of physicalism as supported by today’s and by foreseeable future understandings of the physical world. I acknowledge, though, that nothing can be guaranteed against an indefinite “wait-and-see” argument for some implausible “fully-realized” physics that may be able to reconcile the evidence I propose with such a fully-completed formulation of physicalism. I suggest that if this is the best physicalists can come up with, then their position is weak and the inference-to-the-best-explanation that until now supported universal physicalism should be turned around to tell against the theory. / text

Although psychical research identified through structured research the commonality of anomalous experiences for the bereaved from as early as the 1880s, it wasn’t until the 1970s with the publication of a medical doctorate on such phenomena that medical communities and social science began to recognise them too. Beyond this point, research became more popular on the subject. Extensive research conducted on post-death experiences (aka, Post-Death Contacts – ADCs) since the 1970s, has largely focused on what impact they have on the bereaved, rather than the ontology of the phenomena themselves. All such studies have found these experiences to be therapeutic for the bereaved, and a natural aid to recovery. However, no research findings to this point have been presented on what cognitive mechanisms create the therapeutic gains experienced, as a direct result of the spontaneous anomalous experiences. This thesis set out to investigate what makes such experience therapeutic, and aid the process of recovery from grief. From a critical review of the previous literature, it was noted that several of the extensive studies, and related popular literature, identified hope to a consistent reported outcome of such experiences. However, no existing studies appeared to have investigated its presence and process in this context. Therefore, a mixed method study design was developed to investigate the impact of such experiences further and the role of hope within them. A questionnaire approach of validated scales found levels of hope to be significantly higher in groups of the bereaved who do report post-death experience than those who don’t. The bereaved who do not report such experiences appear to encounter a significant drop in hope. Content and thematic analyses were conducted on written feedback of experiences collected from the questionnaires; this highlighted the variety of experiences and their commonality. It also highlighted significant shifts in ‘states of mind’ from negative to positive emotions, from the point of loss, to following the first anomalous encounter. Continued bonds with the deceased were also expressed, as well as previously noted therapeutic gains and themes of hope. In-depth interviews were conducted as the final study of this thesis, with an interpretative phenomenological analysis applied to the data. New findings are presented on the personal changes that take place within post-death events. Experients defined hope and how they saw it acting within their lives and experiences as a support system to feelings of loss, which fell in line with previous positive psychology theories on hope. Several key points are concluded. Firstly, the findings of this thesis have practical applications to clinical practice surrounding palliative care and applied positive psychology, regarding the importance of anomalous experiences encountered by the bereaved. Secondly, the thesis and its findings demonstrate the multi-disciplinary approaches which can be taken to parapsychological issues, in this case combining positive psychology, thanatology and healthcare. And finally, the thesis highlights the usefulness of the mixed method approaches, to provide ‘sweeping maps’ of any given phenomena under investigation, particularly in cases where the previous research findings are limited or are yet to be explored.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-27T13:46:26Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 WELTHON RODRIGUES CUNHA.pdf: 8617285 bytes, checksum: 597e9e9a788c2e3a1cf4865ce24020a7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-02-18 / This paper makes an analysis of psychic phenomena within the Spiritualist religion Kardecist. Mediumship is addressed as a symbolic system, which is articulated in a religious field itself, the psychic field and on which transit other forms of religiosity, such as Umbanda and Candomblé. Mediumship is regarded as a symbolic system complex and multifaceted, from four dimensions, namely the social level, the social group or micro, the individual and the paranormal. The paper focuses its analysis on the paranormal dimension, establishing a process of legitimation of science by spiritualism, mediated by science or parascience of parapsychology, which is appropriate and re-signified by intellectuals and researchers Brazilian spiritists, to the point of forming a field paranormal Brazilian where it is possible to establish a dialogue between science and religion spiritualist. The author of five chapters trace the entire route of the historical and ideological religiosity Spiritualist Kardecist and parapsychology, as well as what he calls the Brazilian paranormal field. Indicates the existence of a Brazilian spiritism, with religious connotations and different from the original French, which has a more scientific connotation. In the last chapter conducts a description and analysis of how the speech supposedly scientific parapsychology and science spiritualist and psychic interprets the phenomenon which the social function that interpretation plays for unification and institutionalization of spiritualism as a religion systematized. / O presente trabalho realiza uma análise do fenômeno mediúnico, dentro da religiosidade espírita kardecista. A mediunidade é abordada enquanto um sistema simbólico, que se articula dentro de um campo religioso próprio, o campo mediúnico e sobre o qual transitam outras formas de religiosidade, como a umbanda e o candomblé. A mediunidade é considerada como um sistema simbólico complexo e multifacetado, a partir de quatro dimensões, a saber, a dimensão social ampla, a social grupal ou micro, a individual e a paranormal. O trabalho centra a sua análise na dimensão paranormal, que estabelece um processo de legitimação do espiritismo pela ciência, mediatizada pela ciência ou paraciência da parapsicologia, que é apropriada e ressignificada por intelectuais e pesquisadores espíritas brasileiros, ao ponto de formar um campo paranormal brasileiro, onde é possível o estabelecimento de um diálogo entre ciência e religião espírita. O autor em cinco capítulos traça todo o itinerário histórico e ideológico da religiosidade espírita kardecista e da parapsicologia, bem como do que ele denomina de campo paranormal brasileiro. Aponta a existência de um espiritismo brasileiro, com conotação religiosa e diferente do original francês, que tem uma conotação mais científica. No último capítulo realiza uma descrição e análise de como o discurso pretensamente científico da parapsicologia e da ciência espírita interpreta o fenômeno mediúnico e qual a função social que esta interpretação desempenha para a institucionalização e unificação do espiritismo enquanto religião sistematizada.

In this thesis I argue that the category Near-Death Experience (NDE) emerged in the late-twentieth century, and is structured by the discourses of 'Medicine' and 'Science', and the wider discursive factors of the 'Spiritual Marketplace'. Within NDE literature, the experiences of people coming out of their bodies in Operating Theatres, and then travelling to other realms, are considered to have parallels in the accounts of mystics, shamans, and religious visionaries of other cultures and other times. Against this, I argue that the category of the NDE does not "articulate the same field of discourse" (Foucault, 1969:24-25) as these other religious accounts. NDE researchers sift through these accounts in search of a common thread, but miss the wider social fabric of the religious narratives they seek to excavate, as well as the discursive location that structures their own research. In order to reposition this debate within its own history of ideas, I argue that the category "NDE" is itself dependent on the Operating Theatre for its emergence and initial appeal, and it is the Operating Theatre that makes the discourse of NDEs possible. Within the last 120 years, there have been many attempts to intersect science with anomalous experiences on the fringes of human consciousness: Psychical Research categorised deathbed visions in a wider schemata that was interested in how the fringes of the subconscious mind might yield evidence of another reality; contemporary Parapsychology looked at third-person accounts of deathbed visions recounted to Nurses and Doctors across the globe. Neither of these iscourses had the crossover into the wider 'public sphere' that Raymond Moody's book Life After Life (1975) did, a book that recounts first-person accounts of normal people, caught in extreme medical emergencies, who come out of their bodies, witness the medical teams' attempt to resuscitate them, visit a heavenly realm, and return to tell people about it. What is unique about the NDE is not the vision of a world after death, but the context in which this vision occurs. In Chapter 2 I explore that context by arguing that Psychical Researchers' investigation of mediums, apparitions, and deathbed visions sought to prove that posthumous existence of the Other (that is, one's relatives or friends who had passed on to the other side), and indirectly the Self. (Conversely, NDE research, seeks to prove the existence of the Self, and indirectly, the Other.) In Chapter 3 I examine how Medicine and the Modern Hospice Movement shaped the conditions of emergence of the category 'NDE'. The removal of 'death' from the public sphere into the private sphere of the West meant that death became something exotic. The idea that death was a defeat for modern medicine lead to the emergence of the modern Hospice movement, which opened up a space for the visions of those close to death to be recounted in the public sphere. The recounting of such experiences encapsulates a narrative that includes the Surgeon's intervention, the technology used in the Operating Theatre, and of the everyday man or woman talking about their visions, all of which gives these experiences a cultural currency that sets them apart from other religious and/or New Age accounts. In chapter 4 I recognise that, for these experiences to have an appeal, they must have a market to appeal to. Thus, I examine the 'Spiritual Marketplace', and argue that the NDE researchers fundamentally misread the appeal of their life after death accounts. NDE researchers felt that they had uncovered publicly verifiable evidence for life after death, which they expected to shake the foundations of Western society. Instead, these accounts were read as a curio in the privacy of the spiritual consumer's home, an interesting account that suggested death might not be the end of existence, but little else. When their vision of a spiritual revolution failed to materialise, the founders of the NDE movement fell into a bitter war about the precise signification of the category NDE, thus giving an indication of the fundamental indeterminacy of the category. In chapter 5 I explore how NDE research intersects with the discourse of "Science". I therefore examine the construction of science, the function of science, and the limits of science in NDE literature. I begin by examining how the narratives of science permeate NDE literature, and how all sides implicitly reinforce a binary of Science/Religion that emphasises the former as objective and neutral, and the latter as irrational belief. I then argue that, ultimately, NDEs happen at the very limits of human experience in a realm far outside of what can be answered by direct scientific observation; the debate tells us more about the different metaphysical presumptions present than it does about whether or not science can answer the question 'is there life after death?" In chapter 6 I argue that, in the discourse surrounding NDEs, death and mysticism become entwined as the 'exotic other'. I therefore examine how the categories 'death' and 'mysticism' are themselves both bound up in a particular web of signification. The NDE secures its own identity against an understanding of death born in clinical medicine and, latterly, Freudian psychoanalysis: death becomes a point, after which there is an unknown. Similarly, the NDE inherits an understanding of Mysticism that can be traced back to William James. Nevertheless, the understanding of 'death' throughout history is not fixed but fluid, depending on a myriad of cultural and social discourses. Similarly, the modern psychological definition of 'mysticism' as an ineffable, subjective experience is extremely narrow in comparison to the accounts of mystics in the Middle Ages. When the understanding of these two categories changes, the emphasis upon securing 'evidence' for life after death evaporates. This point is missed in contemporary NDE research that assumes that its own desire to find evidence of life after death is reflective of a universal need for humans to believe in religion: whilst NDE researchers believe that they have finally uncovered a window on to another world, I have argued that this is, in fact, a mirror of their own particular predilections and desires.