Parapsychology: The Science of Unusual Experience. . - book review

PARAPSYCHOLOGY: THE SCIENCE OF UNUSUAL EXPERIENCE edited by Ron Roberts and David Groome. London: Arnold, 2001. Pp. xiii + 186. $24.95. (paperback). ISBN 0430-76168-7.

This anthology includes contributions from academics in the United Kingdom, and the book is divided in three sections: Myth and Method, Beliefs, and Unusual Experiences. Some readers of this journal may take exception, as I do, to the definition of parapsychology as the science of unusual experience. I imagine that most would rather subscribe to its classical definition as "the scientific field that is concerned with interactions, both sensory and motor, that seem not to be mediated by any recognized physical mechanism or agency" (Rush, 1986, p. 4). It is also unfortunate, in my view, that the editors do not make a clear distinction between unusual experiences and the possible external validity of those events (see Cardena, Lynn, & Krippner, 2000). The editors' unusual terminology may explain why readers will encounter chapters on the placebo effect or meditation, which are not generally covered in books about psi.

The first section, Myth and Methods, includes a chapter on Science and Experience, in which Ron Roberts gives a brief summary of the philosophy of science, especially as it applies to the study of experience. It is difficult to do justice to this difficult area in a few pages; the author takes a Popperian view, while maintaining the importance of society and culture in the actual practice of science. The chapter by Anthony Esgate and David Groome, on Probability and Coincidence, also seeks to give an overview of these topics, especially as they apply to causal statements made about unusual experiences. Of course a reader cannot get a real grasp on probability in 15 pages, but the authors at least convey the message that typical "common sense" may be mistaken when making attributions of probability. They cite the work of Kahneman and Tversky on judgment heuristic and biases, but they might have also included the work by Gigerenzer and others who have shown that some of the biases and false probabilities exhibi ted in experimental settings may not carry to everyday situations. The final chapter in this section, by Christopher French, reviews The Placebo Effect, a topic that has received considerable coverage recently. Although it is a decent summary of the field, I still wonder what the topic has to do with parapsychology.

The second section, Beliefs, contains two chapters. Richard Wiseman, probably the best known of the contributors and an erstwhile magician himself, gives a brief but very useful account of various techniques involved in fraudulent psychic claims. In the chapter on Astrology, David Groome makes a strong case for his conclusion that "available scientific evidence offers no support for astrology whatsoever" (p. 72) and includes an invitation for the reader to participate in a research project (a nice addition to the book, which is also found in the chapter on dreams).

The final and largest section of the book includes chapters on unusual experiences (Near-Death Experiences, by Chris Roe, and Alien Abductions, by Christopher French), the only chapter that, in my view, is fully devoted to parapsychology (Paranormal Cognition, by Caroline Watt), two chapters on cognitive processes (Unconscious Awareness, by Tony Towel, and Dreams, by Antje Mueller and Ron Roberts), a chapter on Meditation by Stephen Benton, and a concluding chapter on Society and the Paranormal, by Ron Roberts. Other than the chapter on Paranormal Cognition, the one on Dreams is the only one that has a substantial discussion on psi phenomena, in this case related to the dream stage. All of the chapters are competently written and should be thought of as easy-to-read general introductions to the literature rather than as thorough reviews of the field or as purveyors of new empirical of theoretical knowledge. In the case of the Meditation chapter, I had a problem understanding how a set of procedures and philos ophies, which may or may not lead to unusual experiences, could be categorized as an "unusual experience." A categorical distinction between an induction procedure (e.g., meditative or hypnotic techniques) and experience seems to have been missed by the editors. Nonetheless, that chapter could have dealt far more with meditation strategies and their possible relationship to psi phenomena (witness the late Charles Honorton's contributions in that regard).

In sum, this volume is reader-friendly and includes various summaries of interesting topics, but some chapters' relationship to parapsychology or even to unusual experiences is quite debatable. Someone interested in a thorough review of parapsychology can do better (e.g., Broughton, 1991; Radin, 1997), whereas a more comprehensive treatment of unusual, or anomalous experience can be found elsewhere (Cardefia, Lynn, & Krippner, 2000 [Disclaimer note: I am an editor of this volume]). Nevertheless, this book may appeal to readers who desire a brief, although unsystematic, overview of some interesting topics in psychology and parapsychology.