Parapsychology: Frontier Science of the Mind is a book by Joseph Banks Rhine and Joseph Gaither Pratt, originally published in 1957.
It is a textbook and reference work which provides an introduction to the field of parapsychology, which discusses "methods for testing, tables for evaluation, reading lists, and other research aids".
Parapsychology: Frontier Science of the Mind has been reviewed in The Philosophical Review, Philosophy East and West, and the Southern Medical Journal.
With THOMAS BOOKS careful attention is given to all details of manufacturing and design. It is the Publishers desire to present books that are satisfactory as to their physical qualities and artistic possibilities and appropriate for their particular use. THOMAS BOOKS will be true to those laws of quality that assure a good name and good will.
Printed in the United States of America.
The plan of the book is simply to state the established facts and to offer in the text references to the main publications that cover the researches concerned. Only the main references, however, are given. None but the research parapsychologist would need the rest, and he well knows how to find them himself. This book, rather, is designed to be read and consulted by those who do not already know the field but who wish, to some extent at least, to
enter it with proper information at hand* Each section and sub-section is labeled, identified and indexed as clearly as possible to make the search for needed items a quick and easy one.
The essential features of method and apparatus are photo-graphically illustrated. The procedures, both methodological and evaluative, are given to an extent that should serve the purpose for all but the professional parapsychologist himself. If there are shortcomings encountered, we want to know about them for cor-rection on revision, and if information is lacking that the reader cannot himself find with die help of the available references, we
will welcome direct inquiry from readers.
We are indebted to our publisher, Mr. Charles C Thomas, for the suggestion that this book should be written. Our greatest obli-gation, of course, is to our fellow-workers in parapsychology who have given us the findings these pages review. We are especially grateful to those colleagues who have helped with the manuscript: Dr. R. J. Cadoret, Dr. Louisa E. Rhine, Dr. R. H. Thouless, Dr.
T. N. E. Greville, Dr. j. A. Greenwood, Mrs. Sally Feather, Mrs. Farilla David, and Mrs. Joan Walker. We have, of course, to hold ourselves responsible for whatever inadequacies the book may still reveal.
J.B.R.
J.G.P.
Parapsychology Laboratory of
Duke University
Durham, North Carolina
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Contents
Page
Foreword v
PARTI
PRESENT KNOWLEDGE
Chapter
1. A Field of Science 5
Definition of the Field, 5; Subdivisions, 7; Relations to
Other Areas, 10; Clarification of Terms and Concepts,
12.
2. Objective Research Methods 17
Introduction, 17; The Two Stages of Scientific Method,
19; Exploratory Methods in Parapsychology, 20;
Methods of Verification, 30; Methods of Distinguishing
Types of Psi, 39.
3. The Facts about Psi and Its Types 45
The Evidence for Psi, 45; The Case for Clairvoyance,
53; The Problem of Telepathy, 54; The Case for Precog-
nition, 56; The Case for Psychokinesis, 59.
4. Psi and the Physical World 66
First the Facts, 66; And Then the Implications, 72,
5. The Psychology of Psi 78
Psi is Normal, 79; The Place of Psi in Personality, 85;
Conditions Affecting Psi, 93.
6. Psi Research and Other Related Fields 101
Psi in Practice, 101; Psi in Psychiatry, 105; The Place of
Psi in Education, 107; Anthropology's Contact with Psi,
109; The Biology of Psi, 111; Physiological Explorations
in Parapsychology, 113; The Psi Frontier on Medicine,
115; Parapsychology and Religion, 118; The Philosophy
of Psi, 122.
vii
viii PARAPSYCHOLOGY
PART II
TESTING TECHNIQUES
7. Psychological Recommendations for Psi Testing . . . 131
Right Psychological Conditions Essential, 131; In-
fluence of the Experimenter, 131; The Psychological
Needs of the Subject in Psi Tests, 133; The Experi-
menter-Subject Relation in Psi Tests, 135.
8. Some Bask: Psi Test Procedures 139
Introduction, 139; Exploratory Psi Tests, 140; Con-
clusive Test Methods, 156; Summarizing Comments, 167.
9. Statistical Methods ......... 170
Introduction, 170; Evaluation of a Total Score, 172;
Evaluation of a Difference Between the Scores of Two
Series, 175; Some Uses of the Chi-Square Test, 177;
Other Methods of Statistical Evaluation, 180; Criterion
of Significance, 185.
List of Tables I89
Some Significant Events in Parapsychology 203
Glossary 211
Name Index 215
Subject Index 217
Illustrations
Page
Decline in scoring rate within . . . tests of PK 49
Quarter distribution of hits on the record page and set ... . 61
Dice used for comparisons in PK tests 71
ESP test for the blind 83
Effect of attitude upon ESP test performance 92
ESP record sheets 142-143
Blind matching 148
Placement test of psychokinesis 155
Screened touch-matching test of ESP 160
PK test for target face with machine-thrown dice 165
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