Experimental Studies Record Type: Review   ID: 1175
The Basic Experiments in Parapsychology Rao, K. Ramakrishna (Ed.)
A selection of experimental ESP and PK reports from the last 50 years. The editor, who is Director of the Foundation for Research on the Nature of Man, points out that his "concern is not to present the best from the point of evidence and safeguards but to collect a few basic experiments that illustrate diverse procedures and broadly reflect the major trends of psi research. In making this selection, I have had in mind, among others, the student who wishes to carry out an experiment and is looking for useful experimental procedures" (p. 3). The Introduction to the book itself is in effect a bibliographic guide to modern experimental parapsychology. Rao briefly discusses several key topics and cites relevant literature. The topics are card-guessing tests, early PK experiments, ESP and personality variables, animal psi, EEG and ESP studies, memory and ESP, subliminal perception and ESP, psi-missing and the differential effect, and replication. Fifteen experiments are included, 9 of which were originally published in the Journal of Parapsychology, 3 in the Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, and 1 each in Biological Psychiatry, the Indian Journal of Psychology, and the International Journal of Parapsychology. Each experiment is preceded by an introduction by the editor, which provides the context of the article and suggestions for additional advanced reading. The experiments included are: "A Review of the Pearce-Pratt Distance Series of ESP Tests," by J.B. Rhine and J.G. Pratt; "A Further Investigation of Teacher-Pupil Attitudes and Clairvoyance Test Results," by Margaret Anderson and Rhea White; "ESP Card Tests of College Students With and Without Hypnosis," by Jarl Fahler and Remi J. Cadoret; "A Telekinetic Effect on Plant Growth. II. Experiments Involving Treatment of Saline in Stoppered Bottles," by Bernard Grad; "A Laboratory Approach to the Nocturnal Dimension of Paranormal Experience: Report of a Confirmatory Study Using the REM Monitoring Technique," by Montague Ullman and Stanley Krippner; "A Second Confirmatory ESP Experiment with Pavel Stepanek as a 'Borrowed' Subject," by J.G. Blom and J.G. Pratt; "Personality Characteristics of ESP Subjects: III. Extraversion and ESP," by B.K. Kanthamani and K. Ramakrishna Rao; "An ESP Drawing Experiment with a High-Scoring Subject," by J. Ricardo Musso and Mirta Granero; "PK Tests with a High-Speed Random Number Generator," by Helmut Schmidt; "Further Studies of Relaxation as a Psi-Conducive State," by Lendell W. Braud and William G. Braud; "Awareness of Success in an Exceptional Subject," by H. Kanthamani and E.F. Kelly; "Psi Information Retrieval in the Ganzfeld: Two Confirmatory Studies," by James C. Terry and Charles Honorton; "Yogic Meditation and Psi Scoring in Forced-Choice and Free-Response Tests," by K. Ramakrishna Rao, Hamlyn Dukhan, and P.V. Krishna Rao; "Transcontinental Remote Viewing," by Marilyn Schlitz and Elmar Gruber; and "Transcontinental Remote Viewing: A Rejudging," by Marilyn Schlitz and Elmar Gruber. The bibliography contains all references cited in the book—those originally listed in the experimental reports and those cited by Rao.
Publisher Information:	Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1984. 264p. Bibliography: 243-259. Index: 261-264

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