Författare (År) Titel. (Språk) Tidskrift Volym : Sidor
Abstract.


T. Moss, H. H. Eveloff and A. F. Chang (1974) A laboratory investigation 
of telepathy: the study of a psychic. (English) Behav Neuropsychiatry 6 : 
71-80
A series of experiments in psychic phenomena were undertaken with a 
21-year-old man who claimed to have telepathic ability. An elaborate 
procedure was devised to render collusion between Transmitters and 
Receiver ineffective, if not impossible. Results tended to support the 
subject's claims. Several single responses are reported which seemed 
particularly noteworthy with respect to correlation in time and content. A 
Control subject, duplicating the experimental procedure, did not have the 
overall success rate demonstrated by the experimental subject. The authors 
conclude that this experiment strongly suggests the possibility of 
telepathy, but does not prove it.

C. S. Rebert and A. Turner (1974) EEG spectrum analysis techniques applied 
to the problem of psi phenomena. (English) Behav Neuropsychiatry 6 : 18-24
Electroencephalographic techniques were used to study unusual sensory 
capabilities. One S, the "sender," of a pair of Ss was stimulated with 10 
sec duration trains of flicker at 6 or 16 fps, randomly interspersed with 
periods of no flicker. EEGs were recorded from another S, the "receiver," 
to determine if EEG driving or alpha block would be evident on trials when 
the sender was stimulated, compared to when the sender was not stimulated. 
Differential alpha block on control and stimulus trials was observed 
reliably in one receiver, indicating some information transfer. The S's 
overt indications of which stimulus occurred were not different from what 
would be expected by chance. The physical parameters by which the EEG 
effect was mediated were not determined.

C. A. Leon (1975) "El duende" and other incubi. Suggestive interactions 
between culture, the devil, and the brain. (English) Arch Gen Psychiatry 
32 : 155-62
The belief in persecution or possession by evil sprits is still popular in 
Latin American countries. Observations were made on 12 Columbian families 
who were haunted by 'el duende' (a special kind of imp, goblin, or 
poltergeist) and other spirits. Interviews elicited a detailed account of 
events, a demographic and socioeconomic description ofthe families, 
exploration of the psyhosocial antecedents, and a psychiatric evaluation 
of individual members of the group regared as key persons. Possible 
psychodynamic mechanisms are involved in the production of the phenomenon 
and factors in the successful 'therapeutic'interventions of spiritualist 
rather than psychiatric or religious healers. The interaction of culture , 
folk belief, and the brain impaired by lesion or faulty learning appears 
as the important accountable dimension.

J. Ehrenwald (1975) Cerebral localization and the psi syndrome. (English) 
J Nerv Ment Dis 161 : 393-8
On trying to correlate the psi syndrome with a neural substrate, it is 
necessary to distinguish between spontaneous, "macropsychological" and 
experimenta, "micropsychological" incidents of the card-calling type. On 
comparing telepathic drawings with drawings made by brain-injured patients 
suffering from optical agnosia, the identical tendency to distortion and 
disorganization of the target materials can be discerned. It suggests that 
the telepathic subject is "agnostic" in relation to psi impressions, and 
that his central processing takes place in the right rather than the left 
hemisphere. The capricious nature of extrasensory perception (ESP) 
responses of the card-calling type points to fluctuations in the reticular 
and limbic midbrain system in warding off the intrusion into awareness are 
subliminal or irrelevant perceptions from the outside world.

J. S. Neki (1975) Sahaja: an Indian ideal of mental health. (English) 
Psychiatry 38 : 1-10
Sahaja is an Indian ideal of mental and spiritual health that has received 
special emphasis in the Sikh scriptures--especially, the Adi Granth. Since 
the concept of sahaja has long been associated with mystical thought and 
practice, its description has become shrouded in peculiar esoteric 
terminologies. It is the purpose of this communication to divest sahaja of 
its esoteric, mystic connotations and to redefine it as a mental health 
ideal in the context of contemporary conditions.

O. Prokop (1975) [Modern magic and medicine]
 Moderne Magie und Medizin (German) Zentralbl Gynakol 97 : 641-8
In a paper presented on the occasion of the 5th Congress of gynecology in 
the GDR the author discusses in details the phenomenon of modern occultism 
and quackery. Preferably he examines the so called parapsychology and 
declares that this is a field without any scientific value. Therefore the 
course of action of parapsychologists is not to be accepted without 
resolute reply.

D. Shainberg (1976) Telepathy in psychoanalysis: an instance. (English) Am 
J Psychother 30 : 463-72
A case is presented of a patient telepathically perceiving a stressful 
event in the analyst's life. Evidence for this is a dream of the patient 
that embodied a similar content and affect. It is hypothesized that the 
patient's telepathic ability derived from his self-effacing character 
trend, which determines an act of perception.

H. Eastwell (1976) Associative illness among aboriginals. (English) Aust N 
Z J Psychiatry 10 : 89-94
Associative mental illness occurring in close relatives is described from 
Numbulwar and Yirrkala Missions, two Aboriginal communities in Eastern 
Arnhem Land. Since it is a clear example of the influence of culture on 
mental illness, these factors which facilitate the production of the 
illnesses are examined. They are (1) cross-identification between members 
of the clan group; (2) the assumption that mental illness is caused by 
sorcery which acts to detriment of all the relatives in a clan group, not 
only on the individual; (3) the belief that mental experiences in general 
are not private and may be shared by close relatives.

S. R. Dean (1976) A quest for purpose in psychic research. (English) Ment 
Health Soc 3 : 114-21
Metapsychiatry is a term born of necessity to designate the important but 
hitherto unclassified interface between psychiatry and mysticism. By 
"mysticism" the author means phenomena experienced by the senses but not 
explainable by the intellect. Examples of such phenomena are dreams, ESP, 
faith healing and so forth. The author believes that such phenomena were 
endowed by nature as life preserving functions. Thus, precognition is a 
sort of psychic radar, warning an individual of impending danger; dreams 
are a safety valve for potentially psycholytic repressions; and faith is 
an important element in the healing process. Such phenomena are probably a 
primitive acquisition, latent in all of us. They should not be treated 
merely as divine manifestations requiring no further explanations. 
Scientists must seek rational answers, and physicians should seriously 
consider using gifted, reputable psychics as paramedical aides.

M. V. Seeman (1976) Time and Schizophrenia. (English) Psychiatry 39 : 
189-95
It is possible, albeit reductionistic, to consider the many dysfunctions 
of reality testing found in schizophrenia as manifestations of a defective 
time sense. This perspective on schizophrenic discourse, for instance, 
permits a new grasp of "schizophrenic logic" and a novel approach to 
therapeutic interpretation. The present paper describes the use of 
time-related interventions in the psychotherapy of a schizophrenic 
patient. Several aspects of time sense are outlined. Under each heading 
are examples from the psychotherapy of Carrie, demonstrating her 
idiosyncratic notion of that particular temporal concept. Interpretations 
are aimed at clarifying the cognitive assumptions underlying the patient's 
expressions.

B. Greyson (1977) Telepathy in mental illness: deluge or delusion? 
(English) J Nerv Ment Dis 165 : 184-200
The belief that one can read others' minds has long been considered a 
symptom of psychosis, despite reports in the parapsychological literature 
of veridical telepathy. All patients admitted to an inpatient psychiatric 
unit were screened for paranormal beliefs, and those claiming telepathic 
abilities were tested in a free-response ESP task. Eighteen per cent of 
the inpatient population claimed telepathic abilities; of the nine 
patients who completed the task, none performed above chance expectations. 
Higher frequencies of paranormal experiences than those reported 
previously in the psychiatric literature were attributed to the context of 
the study. Schneider's first rank symptoms and a belief in telepathy 
discriminated schizophrenics more reliably than other paranormal 
experiences. Possible psychodynamics of delusions of telepathy were 
discussed in view of the predominance of women and younger men reporting 
them, as were the possible effects of such research on patients' 
delusions.

I. Stevenson (1977) The explanatory value of the idea of reincarnation. 
(English) J Nerv Ment Dis 164 : 305-26
The idea of reincarnation is presented as having considerable explanatory 
value for several features of human personality and biology that currently 
accepted theories do not adequately clarify. Reincarnation is not offered 
as a substitute for present knowledge derived from genetics and 
understanding of environmental influences; it may, however, usefully 
supplement such knowledge. The present paper does not present evidence 
from cases suggestive of reincarnation. It does, however, cite cases of 
subjects who have claimed to remember previous lives, most of whose 
statements have been verified in the course of detailed investigations. 
For each case, a reference is provided to a detailed published case report 
furnishing the evidence in that case. The idea of reincarnation may 
contribute to an improved understanding of such diverse matters as: 
phobias and philias of childhood; skills not learned in early life; 
abnormalities of child-parent relationships; vendettas and bellicose 
nationalism; childhood sexuality and gender identity confusion; 
birthmarks, congenital deformities, and internal diseases; differences 
between members of monozygotic twin pairs; and abnormal appetites during 
pregnancy. Empirical studies of cases of the reincarnation type have so 
far not provided any evidence that justifies using reincarnation as an 
explanation for the occurrence of child prodigies of the large inequities 
in socioeconomic conditions of humans at birth.

I. Stevenson (1977) The Southeast Asian interpretation of gender 
dysphoria: an illustrative case report. (English) J Nerv Ment Dis 165 : 
201-8
In the West gender dysphoria is commonly attributed to a biological 
abnormality, parental influences favoring assumption of a gender opposite 
to the subject's anatomical sex, or a combination of these factors. In 
Southeast Asia (among Hindus and Buddhists), numerous cases of gender 
dysphoria occur. They generally receive less attention than they do in the 
West and evoke relatively little concern on the part of the persons 
affected and the members of their families. The condition is attribwted to 
residues of a previous life as a member of the opposite sex. Some persons 
with gender identity confusion claim to remember details of previous 
lives. A case illustrating such claims (without verifiable details) is 
presented.

A. M. Comunetti (1978) Systematic experiments to establish the spatial 
distribution of physiologically effective stimuli of unidentified nature. 
(English) Experientia 34 : 889-93
Many persons react to a kind of external agent by unconscious muscular 
reactions if they move across a place where this agent is supposed to be 
particularly active. Such places normally coincide with geological 
discontinuities, such as water veins, mineral ores. Practitioners of this 
art of detecting claim that the reaction patterns on different levels 
above ground are identical as vertical projections of the source pattern, 
this without perceptible attenuation. In some cases the supposed source 
was believed to have been found up to several hundred meters below ground 
surface. The statement of perpendicular propagation, which is the subject 
of this paper, is of prime importance for an approach towards 
understanding and all kinds of prospecting.

A. Dale, D. Anderson and L. Wyman (1978) Perceptual aura: not spirit but 
afterimage and border contrast effects. (English) Percept Mot Skills 47 : 
653-4
This study demonstrates that auras can be produced under laboratory 
conditions and explained by the principles of afterimages and border 
contrast phenomena.

P. Diaconis (1978) Statistical problems in ESP research. (English) Science 
201 : 131-6
In search of repeatable ESP experiments, modern investigators are using 
more complex targets, richer and freer responses, feedback, and more 
naturalistic conditions. This makes tractable statistical models less 
applicable. Moreover, controls often are so loose that no valid 
statistical analysis is possible. Some common problems are multiple end 
points, subject cheating, and unconscious sensory cueing. Unfortunately, 
such problems are hard to recognize from published records of the 
experiments in which they occur; rather, these problems are often 
uncovered by reports of independent skilled observers who were present 
during the experiment. This suggests that magicians and psychologists be 
regularly used as observers. New statistical ideas have been developed for 
some of the new experiments. For example, many modern ESP studies provide 
subjects with feedback--partial information about previous guesses--to 
reward the subjects for correct guesses in hope of inducing ESP learning. 
Some feedback experiments can be analyzed with the use of skill-scoring, a 
statistical procedure that depends on the information available and the 
way the guessing subject uses this information.

S. R. Dean, J. r. Plyler CO and M. L. Dean (1980) Should psychic studies 
be included in psychiatric education? An opinion survey. (English) Am J 
Psychiatry 137 : 1247-9
The authors received 228 response to a questionnaire on psychic phenomena 
mailed to professors and residents in psychiatry, other medical faculty, 
and deans of medical schools. Fifty-eight percent of the respondents 
believed that an understanding of psychic phenomena is important to future 
graduates of psychiatry, and 44% believed that psychic factors are 
important in the healing process. The authors believe that including 
psychic studies in psychiatric education would attract more medical 
students to psychiatry.

B. Greyson and I. Stevenson (1980) The phenomenology of near-death 
experiences. (English) Am J Psychiatry 137 : 1193-6
The authors studied retrospectively 78 reports of "near-death experiences 
using subjects narratives and questionnaires, interviews, and medical 
records. Prior experiences suggestive of transcendence of death were more 
common among these subjects than among control populations, but prior 
experiences suggestive of extrasensory phenomena were less common. 
Subsequent changes in attitudes were more common than among subjects in 
other studies who had had psychic experiences. The influence of cultural 
and psychological factors, sensory deprivation, and reflex adaptive 
responses to stress explain some but not all of the features of near-death 
experiences. Their potential value to our conceptualization of dying and 
to suicide prevention and the care of the terminally ill justifies further 
investigation.

E. A. Rodin (1980) The reality of death experiences. A personal 
perspective. (English) J Nerv Ment Dis 168 : 259-63
In recent years, there has been a marked increase in reports of the 
subjective experience of individuals in severe life-threatening 
circumstances. These have been used to suggest that scientific facts are 
now in agreement with religious beliefs as to the survival of the 
personality after physical death. This paper presents a personal death 
experience viewed by the author as a "subjective reality". This is 
contrasted with "shared subjective reality," i.e., commonly held beliefs 
among groups of individuals which do not necessarily lend themselves to 
scientific verification and scientifically derived objective reality. 
Subjectively real death experiences are regarded as corollary to a toxic 
psychosis. The content of the psychosis, which is not under voluntary 
control, determines the subjective experience of having entered either 
heaven or hell.

S. J. Ellman and M. B. Moskowitz (1980) An examination of some recent 
criticisms of psychoanalytic "metapsychology" (English) Psychoanal Q 49 : 
631-62
Some of the recent criticisms of psychoanalytic metapsychology are 
discussed, particularly the contributions of Schafer and Rubinstein. An 
examination of the logic underlying these criticisms indicates that many 
of them are either I) extratheoretical and say nothing about the 
scientific status of the theory or formulation under scrutiny; 2) rely on 
certain a priori philosophical assumptions which, if adopted, would 
severely limit the scope of psychoanalytic theorizing. Several suggestions 
are offered which would allow for more fruitful discussion of substantive 
logical and empirical question.

H. J. Irwin (1981) The psychological function of out-of-body experiences. 
So who needs the out-of-body experience? (English) J Nerv Ment Dis 169 : 
244-8
What psychological needs are served by the out-of-body experience (OBE)? 
On the basis of a review of the literature in rather diverse areas several 
hypotheses on this issue are formulated in terms of Murray's conceptual 
system of manifest needs. A simple survey of the need profiles of students 
reporting OBEs provides support for only one of the hypotheses, namely, 
that such individuals are concerned with and attentive to their mental 
processes. Unanticipated by the literature was the finding that people 
reporting OBEs exhibit low levels of need for achievement and need for 
deference. If a sophisticated theory of the OBE is to be developed much 
more research must be conducted into the psychological, parapsychological, 
and neurophysiological correlates of the phenomenon.

M. G. Kenny (1981) Multiple personality and spirit possession. (English) 
Psychiatry 44 : 337-58
"Multiple personality" remains surrounded with a halo of the occult, and, 
as a rare exotic, fits uneasily into the framework of modern 
psychotherapy. Yet, the spirit-possession phenomena which it so closely 
resembles are widely distributed and commonly reported; and therefore, 
from the comparative perspective of anthropology, the truly interesting 
question is not why it occurs at all but why it occurs so seldom. This 
essay is an anthropologically motivated intellectual history of the 
perceived relation between multiple personality, possession, and kindred 
states. On the theoretical side, it concerns the creative role of 
psychological curing, the influence of theory upon the existence of the 
things which it is held to explain, and the influence of social and 
cultural factors on self-perception and the topography of the ego. I will 
begin by outlining the relation between multiple personality and 
possession, and follow with an account of how certain Western 
psychological theorists once tentatively allowed for the real existence of 
possession. Next I will examine cases of multiple personality in which 
possession was considered to play a literal role. As such an 
interpretation became increasingly suspect, decline of belief in 
possession was paralleled by a decline of interest in multiple personality 
as such and in the frequency of reported cases.

D. Zelt (1981) First person account: the Messiah quest. (English) 
Schizophr Bull 7 : 527-31
The article that begins below is the fifth in a series of personal 
accounts to be published in the Schizophrenia Bulletin. In describing his 
account, the author commented: "The viewpoint is solely my consciousness. 
The substance of every statement and the specific words in many statements 
actually occurred to me. Third person narrative was chosen to convey a 
sense of my psychological distance from the experience. This distance was 
essential for accomplishing growth. I have described my emotions and 
thoughts as exactly as possible, and in sufficient detail for the reader 
to follow the sequence of change in thought from and content. In spite of 
certain passages in the text, I had never previously felt fervently about 
any religion, religious figure, or telepathy, and I had never felt 
harassed by the Central Intelligence Agency. The experience described 
followed many extreme stresses--death of a parent, end of a longtime 
romantic relationship, and a career change. Before these events, my 
emotional and social adjustment had been good...." Brief comments by two 
clinicans who saw the author during different phases of the experience 
described are appended to his account.

S. W. Twemlow, G. O. Gabbard and F. C. Jones (1982) The out-of-body 
experience: a phenomenological typology based on questionnaire responses. 
(English) Am J Psychiatry 139 : 450-5
The authors review the few surveys that have been made of the incidence of 
out-of-body experiences. They then present data on 339 respondents to 
questionnaires who reported having had out-of-body experiences and 81 who 
had not. They analyze these data according to the conditions existing at 
the time of the experience, phenomenological features, and the long- and 
short-term impact of the experience. Finally, they raise questions about 
the etiology of out-of-body phenomena and their meaning to individuals who 
have such experiences.

D. Lester (1982) Astrologers and psychics as therapists. (English) Am J 
Psychother 36 : 56-66
It was suggested that astrologers and psychics may play a role similar to 
that played by psychotherapists, and that they serve clients who do not 
wish to characterize themselves as having psychological problems. These 
ideas were documented by extracts from the writings of astrologers and by 
transcripts of visits to astrologers and psychics by a client.

A. Tozzi (1982) [Telepathy in hypnosis. Personal research]
 Telepatia in ipnosi. Ricerca personale. (Italian) Minerva Med 73 : 3213-5
Following the casual observation of an unusual possibility of achieving 
telepathic communication during a hypno-therapeutic relationship, an 
examination was made of the real existence of this phenomenon and its 
extent through a systematic projective research. The positive results 
noted in 16 subjects, while offering little possibility of expressing a 
final and certain judgement on the point, are highly significant, and 
suggest that the therapist should establish a true and intense 
relationship with the patient before him. It is only by satisfying these 
requirements that the transference relationship will allow the achievement 
of the results expected, and remain a supremely rewarding experience for 
the partners.

D. Farrell (1983) Freud's 'thought-transference', repression, and the 
future of psychoanalysis. (English) Int J Psychoanal 64  : t 1 p71-81
Psychoanalysts since Freud have largely neglected his important, 
paradigmatic ideas on the possibility of 'thought-transference' 
(telepathy) as an influence in mental life. A chance recording of two 
dreams which proved to coincide in some detail with distant reality events 
again suggests evidence in favour of the telepathy hypothesis. On 
interpretation, one of these dreams reveals even greater correspondence 
with the reality event and shows the mechanism of transformation of the 
repressed wish from latent dream content into manifest dream, utilizing a 
number of elements of the dream instigator, an apparently telepathically 
received day residue. Working with this material proceeded against very 
strong resistance, most evident in repeated forgetting of one or another 
bit of the clinical data. This has been the fate of ideas pertaining to 
the occult since Freud's first formulations, as is documented here by 
references to the early history of psychoanalysis. The issue now and for 
the future is whether psychoanalysis will continue to ignore the crucial 
question of validity in regard to the telepathy hypothesis. The 
psychoanalytic method is uniquely qualified to investigate so-called 
parapsychological phenomena and has the same obligation to do so as with 
other mental events. We need to examine the evidence in spite of the 
threat posed to our conventional understanding of the limits of the mind 
by the very act of acknowledging the question. If we can overcome our 
resistance to undertaking this task, we may find that, once again, Freud 
pointed the way towards discovery of a new paradigm in science.

I. Stevenson (1983) American children who claim to remember previous 
lives. (English) J Nerv Ment Dis 171 : 742-8
An unknown number of American children claim to remember previous lives. 
In this paper data of 79 such children are analyzed and compared with data 
from a larger number of cases in India. Few American children of these 
cases make verifiable statements, and those who do nearly always speak 
about the lives of deceased members of their own families. In this 
feature, American cases differ from Indian ones, in which the children 
usually speak of the lives of deceased persons in another family and often 
in another community. Indian children also frequently make verifiable 
statements about the lives of such persons. In some other respects, 
however, such as the age of first speaking about the previous lives, the 
content of the statements they make, and related unusual behavior, 
American subjects closely resemble ones in India. Although many of the 
American cases may derive from fantasies, a wish-fulfilling motive or 
obvious gain for the child is not discernible in most of them. Nor do the 
cases resemble in their form fantasies of imaginary playmates. Some 
American cases of this type occur in families already believing in 
reincarnation, but many others do not. In these families the child's 
statements about a previous life are often puzzling and even alarming to 
his or her parents. The child is sometimes involved in conflict over the 
apparent memories with members of his or her family.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 
250 WORDS).

J. Cawte (1984) The 'ordinary' dreams of the Yolngu in Arnhem Land. 
(English) Aust N Z J Psychiatry 18 : 236-43
The phenomena of dreams have been accorded significance by all branches of 
mankind of which there is record. Australian Aborigines in their 
traditional cultures are no exception, although unfortunately the printed 
record of their dreams is meagre. This paper reports nine dreams which 
were volunteered by Arnhem Landers of the present day. The subjects they 
dreamed about represent a melange of traditional and introduced concerns 
competing for attention, including lifting a taboo, portents and auguries, 
a shark attack, a brake failure in a truck, a mysterious light in a cave, 
a visit from the dead, a disappointing love tryst, a drink problem and the 
Christian revival movement. The ordinary dreams of Aborigines resemble 
those of modern Western subjects in aspects such as frequency, duration, 
clarity of recall, shifts in attention and derailment of the narrative, 
but they differ from them in being accorded more significance and in being 
more reflected upon during waking hours. In this respect, Aborigines infer 
a closer connection between the dream and the waking life.

F. C. Jones, G. O. Gabbard and S. W. Twemlow (1984) Psychological and 
demographic characteristics of persons reporting out-of-body experiences. 
(English) Hillside J Clin Psychiatry 6 : 105-15
Three hundred, thirty-nine subjects who reported out-of-body experiences 
were compared to 81 subjects who had a strong interest in such phenomena 
but had not had the experience. They were also compared with several other 
groups on a scale of psychological adjustment. No distinctive 
psychological profile could be delineated, but the OBE subjects were less 
danger-seeking than the comparison group. Also, they showed significantly 
better psychological adjustment than a group of psychiatric patients and 
were roughly equivalent to a group of randomly selected college students. 
Demographic factors were discussed.

M. A. Persinger (1984) People who report religious experiences may also 
display enhanced temporal-lobe signs. (English) Percept Mot Skills 58 : 
963-75
Religious and god-related experiences have been hypothesized to be a 
portion of the continuum of phenomena that are generated by endogenous, 
transient electrical stimulation within deep structures of the temporal 
lobe. According to this hypothesis, normal people, without psychiatric 
history, who report intense religious experiences should also demonstrate 
a wide range of temporal lobe-related private behaviors. To test this 
prediction, a self-report inventory that contained 140 
temporal-lobe-relevant information, opinion-belief, and sampled MMPI 
statements was administered to two separate groups (n = 108; n = 41) of 
male and female first-year university students. In Study I, subjects who 
had reported religious experiences, particularly those who did not attend 
church regularly, scored significantly higher on a variety of statement 
clusters (n = 7 to 14 items) that contained temporal-lobe symptomology 
relative to groups who did not report religious experiences and did not 
attend church regularly. In Study II subjects, regardless of church 
attendance, who reported religious experiences scored significantly higher 
on the temporal-lobe clusters. People who reported religious experiences 
were more likely to have kept a dairy and to enjoy poetry reading or 
writing. However, religious experiments and churchgoers did not score 
higher (in either experiment) on clusters that contained mundane 
psychological or proprioceptive statements, descriptions of odd 
sensations, or modified portions of the Lie scale from the MMPI.

M. A. Persinger (1984) Propensity to report paranormal experiences is 
correlated with temporal lobe signs. (English) Percept Mot Skills 59 : 
583-6
Bivariate correlation analyses indicated that people who reported greater 
numbers of different types of paranormal experiences also reported greater 
numbers of temporal lobe signs. Whereas responses of one group (n = 108) 
of male and female university students gave a correlation of 0.60 between 
the two measures, for another group (n = 41) the correlation was 0.72. 
Partial correlation analyses, which involved holding the shared variance 
with affirmative responses to mundane psychological statements or odd 
sensations constant, did not alter the strength of the relationship. These 
results support the hypothesis that spontaneous paranormal experiences and 
the psychological components of complex partial (psychomotor) epilepsy may 
exist along the same continuum of temporal lobe sensitivity.

C. R. Stern (1984) The etiology of multiple personalities. (English) 
Psychiatr Clin North Am 7 : 149-59
This article reviews the four major categories of explanations into the 
etiology of multiple personality disorder including supernatural, 
physiologic, psychologic, and sociologic. From these categories and their 
subdivisions, a series of hypotheses was developed. A paradigmatic 
description of a typical case of multiple personality was then created 
from a synthesis of the findings of case history and interview analyses.

B. Greyson (1985) A typology of near-death experiences. (English) Am J 
Psychiatry 142 : 967-9
Cluster analysis of 89 near-death experiences yielded three discrete types 
of such experiences: transcendental, affective, and cognitive. Demographic 
variables did not differentiate individuals having these different types 
of experiences, but cognitive near-death experiences were less frequent 
following anticipated near-death events.

P. Fenwick, S. Galliano, M. A. Coate, V. Rippere and D. Brown (1985) 
'Psychic sensitivity', mystical experience, head injury and brain 
pathology. (English) Br J Med Psychol 58  : 35-44
The 'psychic' experiences of 17 students (sensitives) from the College of 
Psychic Studies were compared with those of 17 church-going control 
subjects, who were matched for age, sex, and approximate intellectual 
level. At interview, 67 items of information relating to the medical 
history, family history, 'psychic gifts', head injuries, and mystical 
experiences were obtained. The shortened WAIS, the Benton Visual Retention 
Test, with tests of both dominant (Wechsler Logical Memory) and 
non-dominant temporal lobe function (the Rey-Osterreith Test) were given. 
The results showed that the sensitive population contained more single or 
divorced people, and people who had sometime consulted a psychiatrist. 
They had experienced more head injuries and serious illnesses than the 
controls. Sixty-six per cent showed evidence of right hemisphere and right 
temporal lobe dysfunction and, of these, 35 per cent had poor visual 
memories. There was evidence to suggest that some 'psychic' experiences 
were associated with brain dysfunction. Despite an increased occurrence of 
head injury, no clear correlation with the onset of 'psychic' sensitivity 
was found. Mystical experiences showed a trend towards being related to 
non-dominant hemisphere dysfunction. Vagueness about the position of the 
sensitive's 'psychic helper' in physical space was also associated with 
non-dominant hemisphere dysfunction.

K. Makarec and M. A. Persinger (1985) Temporal lobe signs: 
electroencephalographic validity and enhanced scores in special 
populations. (English) Percept Mot Skills 60 : 831-42
Internal and external validity tests were completed for an inventory that 
has been used to infer signs of temporal lobe lability. Strong, positive 
correlations were reported for a normal (reference) population between the 
numbers of responses that referred to paranormal experiences (including 
feelings of a "presence") and separately to religious beliefs and the 
numbers of spikes per minute within electroencephalographic recordings 
from the temporal lobe. Numbers of spikes were also correlated with the 
subjects' scores on the hysteria, schizophrenia, and psychasthenia scales 
from the MMPI. These clusters of items were not correlated with electrical 
activity from the occipital lobe (the comparison region). Numbers of 
responses to control clusters of mundane experiences were not correlated 
with the temporal lobe measures. A group of student poets scored higher on 
different subclusters of temporal lobe signs and on the schizophrenia and 
mania scales of the MMPI than the reference group. For both groups, there 
were positive correlations between the amount of alpha activity in the 
temporal lobe only and answers to items such as "hearing inner voices" and 
"feeling as if things were not real." These results demonstrate that 
quantitative measures of electrical changes in the temporal lobe are 
correlated with (or with the report of) specific experiences that are 
prevalent during surgical or epileptic stimulation of this brain region.

M. A. Persinger (1985) Geophysical variables and behavior: XXII. The 
tectonogenic strain continuum of unusual events. (English) Percept Mot 
Skills 60 : 59-65
Transient and very localized geophysical forces are hypothesized to be a 
major source of phenomena that have been traditionally labelled as haunts 
and poltergeists. They would be generated by increasing tectonic stresses 
and would display electromagnetic and gravitational characteristics. 
Materials would be influenced according to their physical properties. 
Dielectric materials would respond differently from conductors. Organic 
semiconductors, of which the human being is an important subcategory, 
would be affected as well. The conspicuous overlaps between 
(non-convulsive) complex partial epilepsy and many episodes of 
poltergeists and haunts are expected in light of the direct stimulation of 
the observer's brain by the transient, intense magnetic fields and the 
liability of temporal lobe structures. Implications and some general 
predictions for the distribution of these phenomena in time and space are 
discussed.

M. A. Persinger and P. M. Valliant (1985) Temporal lobe signs and reports 
of subjective paranormal experiences in a normal population: a 
replication. (English) Percept Mot Skills 60 : 903-9
Correlations (r = 0.50) were found between the numbers of different psi 
(paranormal) experiences and the numbers of temporal lobe signs within a 
population of university students (n = 99). The strongest correlation of 
0.60 occurred with a cluster of signs that are similar to symptoms 
reported by patients who show chronic foci in the mesiobasal temporal 
lobe. However, there were no significant correlations between numbers of 
different psi experiences and clusters of control items or a lie scale. 
Specific analyses of the 140 items of the inventory indicated only 23 
reached statistical criterion (p less than .001). Of these 17 were direct 
temporal lobe signs that implied deepened affect, auditory-vestibular 
experiences (vibrations, hearing one's name called), olfactory auras, 
perseveration ("forced" thinking), depersonalization, and sense of the 
personal. Five items involved beliefs about exotic phenomena or 
philosophical ideas. Only one item was from a control cluster. These 
results support the hypothesis that mystical or paranormal experiences are 
associated with transient electrical foci within the temporal lobe of the 
human brain. The repeated occurrence of these experiences within normal 
individuals may be embedded within a more complex symptomatology of 
temporal lobe signs.

M. Morse, P. Castillo, D. Venecia, J. Milstein and D. C. Tyler (1986) 
Childhood near-death experiences. (English) Am J Dis Child 140 : 1110-4
We nonselectively interviewed 11 patients aged 3 through 16 years who had 
survived critical illnesses, including cardiac arrests and profound comas. 
Any memory of a time they were unconscious was considered to be a 
near-death experience (NDE) and was recorded. Seven of these children had 
memories that included being out of the physical body (six patients), 
entering darkness (five patients), being in a tunnel (four patients), and 
deciding to return to the body (three patients). We also interviewed 29 
age-matched survivors of illnesses that required intubation, narcotics, 
benzodiazepines, and admission to an intensive care unit. None of them had 
any memories of the time they were unconscious. In our study population, 
NDEs were clearly associated with surviving a critical illness. The 
elements of NDEs reported are similar to those previously described in 
adults. No children described elements of depersonalization as part of 
their NDEs. A core NDE, triggered by the process of dying or resuscitation 
efforts, may be a natural developmental experience. We present a 
neurophysiologic hypothesis as to the cause of NDEs.

S. Pasricha and I. Stevenson (1986) Near-death experiences in India. A 
preliminary report. (English) J Nerv Ment Dis 174 : 165-70
The authors report some features of 16 cases of near-death experiences 
that they investigated in India. After presenting brief accounts of four 
such experiences, the authors describe and discuss features in which the 
Indian cases differ from a larger sample of American cases. They note that 
some of these features seem to be culture-bound, but they caution against 
accepting this observation as adequate evidence that the case derive only 
from culture-bound beliefs. Some differences may derive from the effects 
of a person's beliefs on what actually does happen after death, and some 
different features may, on closer examination, be found to be basically 
similar in nature if not in detail.

L. Gearhart and M. A. Persinger (1986) Geophysical variables and behavior: 
XXXIII. Onsets of historical and contemporary poltergeist episodes 
occurred with sudden increases in geomagnetic activity. (English) Percept 
Mot Skills 62 : 463-6
Several researchers have reported that poltergeist episodes frequently 
begin on the day (+/- 1 day) of a sudden and intense increase in global 
geomagnetic activity. To test this visual observation, a near-complete 
account of these episodes for which the inception dates were recorded and 
verified was examined. Statistical analyses clearly indicated that global 
geomagnetic activity (aa index) on the day or day after the onset of these 
episodes was significantly higher than the geomagnetic activity on the 
days before or afterwards. The same temporal pattern was noted for 
historical cases and for those that have occurred more recently. The 
pattern was similar for episodes that occurred in North America and in 
Europe. The results were statistically significant and suggest that these 
unusual episodes may be some form of natural phenomena that are associated 
with geophysical factors.

D. J. Sonkin (1986) Clairvoyance vs. common sense: therapist's duty to 
warn and protect. (English) Violence Vict 1 : 7-22
This article addresses the issue of a therapist's duty to warn and protect 
victims of domestic violence. In three different cases, California courts 
have found therapists liable for violent acts perpetrated by clients in 
their care. Based on the landmark Tarasoff case that mandated the 
therapist to report threats made by their clients regarding a specific 
victim, the courts have now extended the therapist's duty to include the 
reporting of those clients they assess as dangerous but who have not made 
specific threats, as well as the protection of unintended victims of 
violence, such as children. Therapists are concerned that the courts are 
expecting them to be clairvoyant and that psychologists may not be able to 
predict dangerousness. This article will discuss these concerns in light 
of the current state of the art regarding the prediction of dangerousness 
and its relationship to domestic violence. The author suggests specific 
clinical interventions for victims and perpetrators of domestic violence.

J. J. Tobacyk and T. P. Mitchell (1987) The out-of-body experience and 
personality adjustment. (English) J Nerv Ment Dis 175 : 367-70
Relationships between the out-of-body experience and personality 
adjustment were studied. A total of 445 college students, including 65 
reporting out-of-body experiences, completed self-report measures of death 
orientation, defensive style, narcissism, paranormal beliefs, 
self-concept, and social desirability. No significant differences were 
found between respondents reporting out-of-body experiences and 
nonreporters on any of the instruments, except for the Paranormal Belief 
Scale. Reporters of out-of-body experiences showed significantly greater 
belief in precognition, psi, spiritualism, and witchcraft than did 
nonreporters. Findings indicate considerable similarity between reporters 
and nonreporters in personality adjustment. It is clear that, on these 
personality adjustment measures, the out-of-body experience was associated 
with neither less effective nor more effective adjustment.

J. F. Schumaker (1987) Mental health, belief deficit compensation, and 
paranormal beliefs. (English) J Psychol 121 : 451-7
The present study examined the relationship between religious and 
nonreligious paranormal beliefs and mental health, as well as the 
possibility that nonreligious subjects compensate for a lack of 
identification with traditional religion by increased nonreligious 
paranormal beliefs. Subjects were 80 undergraduates categorized as 
religious or nonreligious on the basis of scores on the Traditional 
Religion subscale of the Paranormal Belief Scale. Religious subjects had 
significantly higher total paranormal belief scores than nonreligious 
subjects. Those adopting religious paranormal beliefs were actually 
somewhat more likely to adopt other nonreligious paranormal beliefs. The 
failure of nonreligious subjects to compensate fully for this traditional 
religious belief deficit was reflected in their mental health ratings on 
the Langer's Mental Health Scale (Langer, 1962). Paranormal beliefs were 
found to be negatively correlated with reported symptoms of 
psychopathology, supporting the formulation that paranormal beliefs may 
serve to ensure psychic integrity by acting as "self-serving cognitive 
biases."

M. A. Persinger and K. Makarec (1987) Possible learned detection of 
exogenous brain frequency electromagnetic fields: a case study. (English) 
Percept Mot Skills 65 : 444-6
Zener card representations were presented visually for 15 sec. every 30 
sec. for a total of 40 trials per session over 17 sessions to a single 
subject who displayed temporal lobe lability. During the 15 sec. before 
the presentation of one of the symbols (target) either a specific 4-Hz 
magnetic field pattern or a 1-Hz or 7-Hz magnetic field was presented 
bilaterally at the level of the temporal lobes. Field strengths were in 
the order of milligauss (about 1000X background values). The subject was 
required to anticipate the next symbol for each trial. Only when the 4-Hz 
field preceded the target symbol did the subject's accuracy of guessing 
remain systematically above (50%) chance (20%) over the sessions. These 
results suggest that exogenous magnetic fields may become discriminative 
stimuli through temporal association. Evidence of habituation was also 
obtained.

A. B. Silverstein (1987) Beta weights, unit weights, and other weights. 
(English) Percept Mot Skills 65 : 201-2
A simple example of the use of different weights with just two predictors 
was presented. The replacement of the beta weights by unit weights 
resulted in a very slight loss of predictive validity, and even the 
arbitrary reversal of the beta weights resulted in a smaller loss than 
might have been expected. A relationship demonstrated by Green was used to 
help explain these results. In many situations, it appears worthwhile to 
follow the approach taken here to determine how great a loss of predictive 
validity would result from the use of unit weights in place of beta 
weights.

M. Knoll (1987) [The body as the site of self and other perception--a 
contribution to the identity problem]
 Der Leib als Ort von Selbst- und Fremdwahrnehmung--Ein Beitrag zum 
Identitatsproblem. (German) Psychiatr Prax 14  : uppl 1 p23-6
The author differentiates between two modes of perception, one is the 
"expressive" mode, stabilizing and aiming at constancy, the other is the 
"impressive" mode, penetrating the self and aiming at identification with 
the percept. The clinical relevance of the latter for the therapy of 
psychoses is demonstrated by five case studies. The "Leib" as the place of 
incidence of perception is viewed in its function for the interaction of 
physician and patient: above all psychotic border states induce forms of 
communication, which are remarkably close to the body and remain mostly 
unconscious, but might be the beginning and instigation of a whole of 
behaviour-(action) chains on the side of the therapist. For the purpose of 
a controlled handling of the instrument of therapeutic intervention it is 
necessary to bring to view precisely these processes occurring close to 
the body. The traditional idea of identity is embarrassing this process of 
perception.

D. L. Dutton (1988) The cold reading technique. (English) Experientia 44 : 
326-32
For many people, belief in the paranormal derives from personal experience 
of face-to-face interviews with astrologers, palm readers, aura and Tarot 
readers, and spirit mediums. These encounters typically involve cold 
reading, a process in which a reader makes calculated guesses about a 
client's background and problems and, depending on the reaction, 
elaborates a reading which seems to the client so uniquely appropriate 
that it carries with it the illusion of having been produced by paranormal 
means. The cold reading process is shown to depend initially on the Barnum 
effect, the tendency for people to embrace generalized personality 
descriptions as idiosyncratically their own. Psychological research into 
the Barnum effect is critically reviewed, and uses of the effect by a 
professional magician are described. This is followed by detailed analysis 
of the cold reading performances of a spirit medium. Future research 
should investigate the degree to which cold readers may have convinced 
themselves that they actually possess psychic or paranormal abilities.

G. C. Hewitt (1988) Misuses of biology in the context of the paranormal. 
(English) Experientia 44 : 297-303
Public suspicion of science stems from science's challenging of 
perceptions and myths about reality, and a public fear of new technology. 
The result is a susceptibility to pseudoscience. In claiming that creation 
'science' is as valid as evolution the creationists misquote scientists 
and seek to spread their own 'scientific' myths concerning a young age for 
the earth, an act of creation based on a particular literalist 
interpretation of the Christian Bible and a single worldwide flood. They 
use methods of debate and politics, rather than scientific research. A 
selection of their arguments is examined and the nature of the evidence 
for evolution is discussed. Problems with the creation 'science' model are 
noted. In the myth of the hundredth monkey phenomenon, original research 
is misquoted to denigrate scientific research and support sentimental 
ideas of paranormal events. The misuse of science is seen as damaging to 
society because it reduces the effective gathering and application of 
scientific information. However, pseudoscience provides a valuable guide 
to gaps in public scientific education.

R. Hyman (1988) Psi experiments: do the best parapsychological experiments 
justify the claims for psi? (English) Experientia 44 : 315-22
Since the founding of the Society of Psychical Research in 1982, psychical 
researchers have, in each generation, generated research reports which 
they believed justified the existence of paranormal phenomena. Throughout 
this period the scientific establishment has either rejected or ignored 
such claims. The parapsychologists, with some justification, complained 
that their claims were being rejected without the benefit of a fair 
hearing. This paper asks the question of how well the best contemporary 
evidence for psi--the term used to designate ESP and psychokinetic 
phenomena--stands up to fair and unbiased appraisal. The results of the 
scrutiny of the three most widely heralded programs of research--the 
remote viewing experiments, the psi ganzfeld research, and the work with 
random number generators--indicates that parapsychological research falls 
short of the professed standards of the field. In particular, the 
available reports indicate that randomization is often inadequate, 
multiple statistical testing without adjustment for significance levels is 
prevalent, possibilities for sensory leakage are not uniformly prevented, 
errors in use of statistical tests are much too common, and documentation 
is typically inadequate. Although the responsible critic cannot argue that 
these observed departures from optimal experimental procedures have been 
the sole cause of the reported findings, it is reasonable to demand that 
the parapsychologists produce consistently significant findings from 
experiments that are methodologically adequate before their claims are 
taken seriously.

P. Kurtz (1988) Skepticism about the paranormal: legitimate and 
illegitimate. (English) Experientia 44 : 282-7
With the growth of belief in the paranormal, skepticism can play a vital 
role in the scientific appraisal of claims. There are two forms: the 
first, hardly legitimate, is negative or total skepticism. It is 
nihilistic and dogmatic, and essentially self-defeating and 
self-contradictory. The second, a legitimate form, is selective 
skepticism. Here skepticism operates as a methodological principle of 
inquiry, testing hypotheses and theories in the light of evidence, but 
always open to new departures in thought. Skepticism has been applied 
historically to epistemology, metaphysics, religion, and ethics. The 
paranormal field has been full of fraud. Here the skeptic insists upon 
replicable experiments by neutral or skeptical observers before he will 
accept a claim as confirmed.

B. J. Leikind and W. J. McCarthy (1988) Firewalking. (English) Experientia 
44 : 310-5
Firewalking is known throughout recorded history and around the world. 
Ordinarily it is associated with religious beliefs or mystical states of 
mind in which the gods or unusual mental powers provide extraordinary 
protection for true believers or those with proper training. However, 
firewalking commonly involves hot materials of low heat capacity and poor 
thermal conductivity and sometimes the use of insulation. The excited or 
trance-like states of firewalkers contribute to the firewalkers' 
subjective experience but are not required for a successful walk. We 
conclude that elementary knowledge of physics and psychology is sufficient 
to explain the known observations of firewalking.

D. F. Marks (1988) The psychology of paranormal beliefs. (English) 
Experientia 44 : 332-7
Investigation of paranormal claims has failed to find any repeatable 
phenomena, yet beliefs in such phenomena are extremely prevalent. Some of 
the psychological mechanisms which support these beliefs are described. 
Mental imagery, subjective validation, coincidence, hidden causes, and 
fraud all contribute to the folklore in this field. Magical thinking is as 
evident today as it ever has been. Recent research suggests that increased 
skepticism concerning paranormal claims can result from special 
educational procedures which emphasize critical thinking rather than 
learning scientific facts.

J. Randi (1988) The detection of fraud and fakery. (English) Experientia 
44 : 287-90
Fraud is often found in science, especially in what is termed, 'fringe 
science'. There are several reasons why scientists should be aware of the 
fact that they, too, can be deceived, both by subjects in experiments and 
by themselves. The will to believe is strong even among 'hard-headed' 
academics, and is often the factor that causes them to publish results 
that do not stand up to subsequent examination and/or attempts to 
replicate. In some cases, scientists would be well advised to consult with 
such experts as conjurors, when skilled frauds are in a position to 
mislead them.

C. Scott (1988) Remote viewing. (English) Experientia 44 : 322-6
Remote viewing is the supposed faculty which enables a percipient, sited 
in a closed room, to describe the perceptions of a remote agent visiting 
an unknown target site. To provide convincing demonstration of such a 
faculty poses a range of experimental and practical problems, especially 
if feedback to the percipient is allowed after each trial. The precautions 
needed are elaborate and troublesome; many potential loopholes have to be 
plugged and there will be strong temptations to relax standards, requiring 
exceptional discipline and dedication by the experimenters. Most reports 
of remote viewing experiments are rather superficial and do not permit 
assessment of the experimental procedures with confidence; in many cases 
there is clear evidence of particular loopholes left unclosed. Any serious 
appraisal of the evidence would have to go beyond the reports. Meanwhile 
the published evidence is far from compelling, and certainly insufficient 
to justify overthrow of well-established scientific principles.

P. Skrabanek (1988) Paranormal health claims. (English) Experientia 44 : 
303-9
Faith in paranormal cures has always been the last hope of many sufferers 
from chronic or incurable diseases. Magico-religious rituals of healing 
are still around, but some have been replaced by pseudo-scientific 
systems, thinly disguising old superstitions in new obscurantism, more 
appealing to the half-educated. In medical quackery, inventiveness seems 
to be limitless, and only the main paranormal healing systems can be 
reviewed here. The increasing popularity of 'alternative' healing 
indicates the extent of dissatisfaction with dehumanising aspects of 
modern, technological medicine and its preoccupation with curing the 
curable at the expense of caring for the incurable. This leaves the 
sufferers, and also healthy people labelled with non-existent diseases, 
bleeding prey for the sharks roving the seas of medical ignorance.

S. Silverman (1988) Correspondences and thought-transference during 
psychoanalysis. (English) J Am Acad Psychoanal 16 : 269-94
Correspondences, when the analyst has not verbalized his disturbed 
thoughts and they appear in the patient's spoken associations during 
analytic treatment, are not due to a single cause. Rather, they occur 
under a variety of circumstances: chance, coincidence, communication 
through sensory stimuli and perceptions, sometimes of extraordinary 
subtlety; or possibly thought-transference. Even if the latter possibility 
were doubted, the correspondence still may have usefulness as a finding of 
significance for the treatment process itself. It may alert the analyst to 
repressive forces directed toward the mix of his disturbing thoughts 
(reality derived), residues of old conflict areas that these have 
activated, even if transiently, and also to the current state of his 
countertransference. Utilizing the patient's associations will increase 
the analyst's awareness and facilitate the latter's quickly working 
through of these elements. This will favor progress of treatment. As for 
the question of thought-transference, preliminary findings suggest that 
the conditions under which it seems to occur involve the simultaneity of 
(1) the analyst's tendency to repress disturbing thoughts (including 
activated infantile residuals) because of guilt at being distracted and 
(2) qualitatively similar conflictual themes emerging from repression in 
the patient's unconscious. It raises the question as to whether 
extrasensory communication is between the unconscious of the two persons 
involved, occurring at a time when two opposite forces--repression in the 
analyst and modification of repression of qualitatively similar 
idea-complexes in the patient--are operative. The subject of 
correspondences and thought-transference in psychoanalytic treatment 
requires further study.

P. Tosch (1988) Patients' recollections of their posttraumatic coma. 
(English) J Neurosci Nurs 20 : 223-8
Patients' recollections of posttraumatic coma as viewed retrospectively 
were explored in this descriptive study. Fifteen patients from two urban 
north Texas hospitals who incurred traumatic head injury and associated 
coma (Glasgow Coma Scale score of 8 or less for at least six hours) were 
interviewed. A set of open-ended questions was developed and utilized in a 
semi-structured interview with each subject. Data such as age, sex, type 
of injury, how injury occurred, Glasgow Coma Scale score, and duration of 
coma were collected. Responses elicited during the interviews were 
analyzed qualitatively. In this investigation seven subjects reported no 
recollections of being comatose. Eight were able to relate experiences 
with three prevailing themes: imprisonment, sensory experiences, and 
death-like experiences. Four subjects recalled actions perceived as 
helpful and not helpful while in coma. Recollections of unconsciousness 
appeared to have been affected by the length of coma but not by the 
Glasgow Coma Scale score or the type of head injury sustained. These 
findings reveal patients in coma from a traumatic head injury have a 
limited degree of awareness of the environment. That awareness should be 
incorporated into nursing management of the comatose patient in acute and 
chronic care settings.

A. S. Heber, W. P. Fleisher, C. A. Ross and R. S. Stanwick (1989) 
Dissociation in alternative healers and traditional therapists: a 
comparative study. (English) Am J Psychother 43 : 562-74
Nineteen psychiatry residents were compared to 12 community-based 
alternative healers on the Dissociative Experiences Scale and the 
Dissociative Disorders Interview Schedule. Neither group showed evidence 
of extensive psychopathology. However, the alternative healers reported 
more Schneiderian symptoms, extrasensory experiences, and secondary 
features of multiple personality disorder. Among the healers, these 
experiences did not seem to be indicative of psychopathology, and were in 
fact valued and sought after. Dissociative experiences are not necessarily 
indicators of psychiatric disorder in nonclinical groups.

D. M. Donovan (1989) The paraconscious. (English) J Am Acad Psychoanal 17 
: 223-51
A new concept, the paraconscious, is presented as the third complementary 
member of the conscious/unconscious paradigm. A form of cognition dating 
from early intrauterine existence to sometime in the first year of life, 
the nature of the paraconscious is determined by the incompleteness of 
developing cognitive structures, giving rise to a form of knowing that 
does not allow for the generation of voluntarily retrievable mental 
representations. The paraconscious provides a conceptual framework for the 
understanding of "conflict-free" psychic development, thereby linking such 
apparently disparate phenomena as Stoller's core gender identity and 
primary transsexualism, Bruch's primary anorexia nervosa, night terrors, 
and ubiquitous convictions such as the belief in telephathy and the 
survival of death by human consciousness. It has profound implications for 
the treatment (or nontreatment in the case of primary male transsexualism) 
of significant psychiatric syndromes and raises crucial questions about 
the nature of learning during the earliest moments of our cognitive 
existence, about the nonlinguistic transmission of information and about 
the origin of certain widely held beliefs.

H. A. Senn (1989) Jungian shamanism. (English) J Psychoactive Drugs 21 : 
113-21
The literature on shamanism generally describes a specially gifted 
individual who is able to contact and communicate with a realm where 
spirit beings offer wisdom and help, and who actively transmits this 
knowledge to others. There seem to be approximately five features that 
define shamanism: the necessity of a "call"--an illness or accident that 
signifies the necessity of the individual to work with the spirits; the 
method used to achieve communion with the altered state of reality; the 
quality of the altered state of consciousness (ASC); the process of 
healing that is utilized; and the psychic feats that distinguish the 
abilities of a shaman. Carl Jung displayed all five of these features in 
his life and psychotherapy, including dreams and waking fantasies in 
childhood; the use of active imagination in the induction of an ASC; 
contact with forces, knowledge, and power of the unconscious; a dual 
"personality," and the dialogue with the inner world--the unconscious, the 
realm of the archetypes; the use of these discoveries to counsel, advise, 
and heal; and psychic abilities, such as clairvoyance and out-of-body 
experiences.

J. S. Derr and M. A. Persinger (1989) Geophysical variables and behavior: 
LIV. Zeitoun (Egypt) apparitions of the Virgin Mary as tectonic 
strain-induced luminosities. (English) Percept Mot Skills 68 : 123-8
Temporal analyses were completed between the occurrence of intense 
displays of exotic luminous phenomena over a church in Zeitoun (Egypt) 
during the years 1968 through 1969 and regional seismicity. These 
phenomena, viewed by thousands of onlookers, began one year before an 
unprecedented increase (factor of 10) in seismic activity about 400 km to 
the southeast. Monthly analyses also demonstrated a moderate (0.56) 
correlation between increases in seismicity and the occurrence of luminous 
phenomena during the same or previous month. These results were 
interpreted as further support for the hypothesis that most anomalous 
(terrain-related) luminous phenomena are generated by factors associated 
with tectonic strain.

B. Huot, K. Makarec and M. A. Persinger (1989) Temporal lobes signs and 
Jungian dimensions of personality. (English) Percept Mot Skills 69 : 841-2
Phenomenological experiences that suggest temporal lobe lability were 
correlated with Jungian personality (Myers-Briggs) indicators. People with 
frequent temporal lobe indicators were more intuitive than sensing and 
more perceiving than judging; in the more general population temporal lobe 
indicators were also weakly associated with feeling rather than thinking. 
Students who were actively engaged in a drama class also displayed more 
frequent temporal lobe signs than psychology students. The data are 
commensurate with the hypothesis that the relationship between belief in 
psi phenomena, psi experiences, and specific cognitive styles is derived 
from a temporal lobe lability factor.

M. A. Persinger (1989) Geophysical variables and behavior: LV. Predicting 
the details of visitor experiences and the personality of experients: the 
temporal lobe factor. (English) Percept Mot Skills 68 : 55-65
The visitor experience, a more intense form of the normal sense of 
presence, emphasizes the deep belief of personal contact with an 
extraterrestrial (or religious) entity. Phenomenological details of 
visitor experiences are expected to reflect the functions of deep temporal 
lobe structures; common details involve cosmic meaningfulness, vestibular 
experiences, flickering, complex visual sensations and alimentary 
references. After intense experiences, interictal-like behaviors similar 
to religious conversions (widening affect, sense of personal, desire to 
spread the word, concern about Man's destiny) emerge. Normal people who 
are prone to these experiences show frequent temporal lobe signs and 
specific personality characteristics that include enhanced creativity, 
suggestibility, mild hypomania, anxiety, and emotional lability. Learning 
histories that encourage the use of right temporal lobe functions for the 
consolidation of memory, such as compartmentalization of beliefs or 
repression due to early sexual abuse, predispose to intense visitor 
experiences. The most frequent precipitants are psychological depression, 
personal (existential) stress and proximal exposure to the focal tectonic 
strain fields that accompany luminous phenomena. Possible 
neuropsychological mechanisms are discussed.

W. Leuschner (1989) [A telepathic phenomenon]
 Uber ein telepathisches Phanomen. (German) Psyche  43 : 415-28
The phenomenon of telepathy in the treatment process is explained by 
reference to the subliminal theory of dreams of psychoanalysis and to 
certain aspects of experimental dream research. The author highlights 
certain derivable consequences regarding the interpretive process.

R. Sanchez (1989) Empathy, diversity, and telepathy in mother-daughter 
dyads: an empirical investigation utilizing Rogers' conceptual framework. 
(English) Sch Inq Nurs Pract 3 : 29-44
The purpose of this study was to examine empathy, diversity, and telepathy 
in natural mother-daughter dyads. The investigation was conceptualized and 
conducted according to the concepts and principles of the Rogerian Science 
of Unitary Human Beings. The sample for this descriptive study consisted 
of 180 volunteer mother-daughter dyads; the mother served as the receiver 
and the child as sender of telepathic messages. Empathy and diversity were 
expected to be related to telepathy levels. Results indicated that one 
form of empathy (personal distress) and diversity were significantly (p 
less than .05) related to telepathy. When the components of the diversity 
score were further examined, only those subjects who were moderately 
differentiated and mobile demonstrated significant telepathy scores. 
Multiple regression analysis showed that 6% of the variance in telepathy 
was accounted for by diversity and empathy. Findings added to what is 
known about living systems that manifest negentrophy and evolve toward 
increasing diversity.

C. A. Ross, S. D. Miller, P. Reagor, L. Bjornson, G. A. Fraser and G. 
Anderson (1990) Structured interview data on 102 cases of multiple 
personality disorder from four centers [see comments] (English) Am J 
Psychiatry 147 : 596-601
Patients with multiple personality disorder (N = 102) at four different 
centers were interviewed with the Dissociative Disorders Interview 
Schedule. The presenting characteristics of the patients at all four 
centers were very similar. The clinical profile that emerged included a 
history of childhood physical and/or sexual abuse in 97 (95.1%) of the 
cases. The subjects reported an average of 15.2 somatic symptoms, 6.4 
Schneiderian symptoms, 10.2 secondary features of the disorder, 5.2 
borderline personality disorder criteria, and 5.6 extrasensory 
experiences; their average score on the Dissociative Experiences Scale was 
41.4. The results indicate that multiple personality disorder has a 
stable, consistent set of features.

J. D. Bernhard and M. R. Gardner (1990) Nonrashes. 6. Telepathic pruritus. 
(English) Cutis 45 : 59
We report the case of a paranoid schizophrenic man who suffered from the 
delusion that two other men used mental telepathy to make him itch over a 
period of thirteen years. To our knowledge, this is the first report of 
"telepathic pruritus."

P. G. Newrick, E. Affie and R. J. Corrall (1990) Relationship between 
longevity and lifeline: a manual study of 100 patients [see comments] 
(English) J R Soc Med 83 : 499-501
The relationship between length of lifeline and age at death has been 
evaluated in 100 consecutive autopsies. A highly significant association 
between the two was discovered which was strengthened further when hand 
size was controlled for. We feel that a powerful new prognostic sign may 
thus be within grasp.

M. A. Persinger and S. D. Fisher (1990) Elevated, specific temporal lobe 
signs in a population engaged in psychic studies. (English) Percept Mot 
Skills 71 : 817-8
We tested the hypothesis that a special population of people who maintain 
exotic beliefs and report frequent subjective psi experiences should 
display more frequent temporal lobe signs and symptoms. Clusters of items, 
that reflect various temporal lobe factors for 20 women who were actively 
(greater than 1 year) involved with a local psychic and spiritual 
development group, were compared to items for an age-matched reference 
group (n = 61). T-scores for the reference group did not differ from those 
of the normal population. Whereas the psychic group did not differ from 
the reference group on various control and psychiatric measures, mean 
T-scores on clusters that infer complex partial epileptic signs 
(specifically a sense of presence, olfactory experiences, and intense 
meaning) ranged between 65 and 70. Group affiliation explained 22 to 50% 
of the variance for each of these variables; with discriminant analysis, 
they correctly classified 95% of both groups of participants.

C. Green (1990) Waking dreams and other metachoric experiences. (English) 
Psychiatr J Univ Ott 15 : 123-8
This paper summarizes the development of the concept of metachoric 
experiences from 1961 onwards. The name of metachoric experience was given 
to one in which the whole of the environment was replaced by a 
hallucinatory one, although this may provide a precise replica of the 
physical world and appear to be completely continuous with normal 
experience. Prior to 1968 three types of metachoric experiences had been 
recognized; lucid dreams, out-of-the-body experiences (OBEs) and false 
awakenings, all of which showed interrelationships. The Institute's 1968 
appeal for apparitional experiences led to a recognition that many of 
these were probably metachoric. This was suggested among other things by 
certain cases in which the lighting of the whole field of view changes, 
thus indicating that the experience was completely hallucinatory. The 
study of apparitions led also to the concept of waking dreams, i.e. 
completely hallucinatory experiences which may be initiated and terminated 
without any awareness of discontinuity on the part of the subject. These 
experiences seem to be capable of considerable apparent extension in time, 
thus providing a possible explanation of some reports of UFO sightings and 
of some of the more anomalous experiences of psychical research. In this 
connection the paper discusses the well-known Versailles experience of 
Miss Moberly and Miss Jourdain, and a published case of C.G. Jung. In 
conclusion some of the most obvious similarities and differences between 
the different types of metachoric experiences are discussed.

N. N. Lebedeva and I. S. Dobronravova (1990) [The organization of human 
EEG rhythms in special states of consciousness]
 Organizatsiia ritmov EEG cheloveka pri osobykh sostoianiiakh soznaniia. 
(Russian) Zh Vyssh Nerv Deiat 40 : 951-62
In the paper the results are presented of studying of the electrical brain 
activity of a specific contingent of subjects which by subjective 
evaluations considered themselves a category of sensitives (extrasenses). 
The EEG of these subjects was studied in various functional states--a 
state of relative rest (background) during diagnostics, of directed 
influence on the percipient and during meditation. Specificity of 
spatial-temporal organization of the brain electrical processes of 
operators--sensitives was revealed, the structure of which correlated with 
the state of mind. The character of changes in the EEG of these subjects 
in the background and especially during autogenous activity allows to 
suggest the formation of a spontaneous focus of stimulation in regulatory 
brain systems with a leading role of the frontal cerebral regions in these 
processes as one of the ways of organization of cerebral functions for the 
regulation of the extrasensory activity.

M. A. Persinger and P. Richards (1991) Tobacyk's sex differences in the 
experiences of ego-alien intrusions. (English) Percept Mot Skills 73 : 
1151-6
Tobacyk's Revised Paranormal Belief Scale and an inventory that infers 
temporal lobe signs were administered to 44 men and 54 women who were 
enrolled in first-year university courses. Women believed more in psi 
phenomena, witchcraft, and spiritualism than did men, who believed more in 
extraterrestrial life forms. Although complex partial epileptic-like signs 
were moderately (0.40) correlated with total beliefs for both sexes, these 
signs were dominated by experiences of ego-alien intrusions for women 
only. The results support the concept of greater interhemispheric 
coherence in women compared to men and emphasize the importance of limbic 
processes in the formation and maintenance of religious and paranormal 
beliefs.

T. McMullen (1991) The savant syndrome and extrasensory perception. 
(English) Psychol Rep 69 : 1004-6
D.A. Treffert, following B. Rimland, cited examples which he states show 
ESP to be occurring in certain autistic savant children. The evidence is 
questioned on the ground that it is hearsay, uncorroborated by independent 
scrutiny.

S. A. Gordeev, B. K. h. Baziian and N. N. Liubimov (1992) [The dynamics of 
somatosensory and visual evoked potentials as a correlate of reversible 
states of altered consciousness]
 Dinamika somatosensornykh i zritel'nykh vyzvannykh potentsialov kak 
korreliat obratimykh sostoianii izmennogo soznaniia. (Russian) Biull Eksp 
Biol Med 114 : 451-3
Somatosensory and visual evoked potentials (EPs) of the brain of 17 
sensitive subjects (extrasenses) and 12 ordinary healthy subjects were 
studied. It was found that during extrasensory activity (direct impact, 
meditation) in comparison to rest values, the amplitude of intermediate 
and late components of visual and somatosensory EPs of both hemispheres 
and early components of somatosensory EPs of ipsilateral in relation to 
stimulation hemisphere diminished 2-4--fold. There was a recovery of these 
components after discontinuation of extrasensory activity. It is shown 
that ordinary subjects could not change their EPs when they tried their 
best to decrease EPs. It is shown that ordinary subjects could not change 
their EPs when they tried their best to decrease EPs. It is suggested that 
the ability of extrasenses for reversible changes of their mind by direct 
adjustment of the activity of the ascending nonspecific systems of the 
brain and by alterations of interhemispheric relations forms the basis of 
extrasensory activity.

H. N. Sno, D. H. Linszen and F. de Jonghe (1992) Art imitates life: Deja 
vu experiences in prose and poetry. (English) Br J Psychiatry 160  : 511-8
the deja vu experience is a subjective phenomenon that has been described 
in many novels and poems. Here we review over 20 literary descriptions. 
These accounts are consistent with the data obtained from psychiatric 
literature, including various phenomenological, aetiological and 
psychopathogenetic aspects of the deja vu experience. The explanations, 
explicitly formulated by creative authors, include reincarnation, dreams, 
organic factors and unconscious memories. Not infrequently, an association 
with defence or organic factors is demonstrable on the basis of 
psychoanalytic or clinical psychiatric interpretation. The authors 
recommend that psychiatrists be encouraged to overstep the limits of 
psychiatric literature and read prose and poetry as well.

M. A. Persinger and K. Makarec (1992) The feeling of a presence and verbal 
meaningfulness in context of temporal lobe function: factor analytic 
verification of the muses? (English) Brain Cogn 20 : 217-26
We hypothesized that the feeling of a presence, particularly during 
periods of profound verbal creativity (reading or writing prose or 
poetry), is an endemic cognitive phenomenon. Factor analyses of 12 
clusters of phenomenological experiences from 348 men and 520 women 
supported the hypothesis. We conclude that periods of intense 
meaningfulness (a likely correlate of enhanced burst-firing in the left 
hippocampal-amygdaloid complex and temporal lobe) allow access to 
nonverbal representations that are the right hemispheric equivalents of 
the sense of self; they are perceived as "a presence." The relevance of 
our results to the theories of Jaynes, Bear, Edelman, and MacLean is 
discussed.

C. A. Ross and S. Joshi (1992) Paranormal experiences in the general 
population. (English) J Nerv Ment Dis 180
 discussion 362-8 : 357-61
The Dissociative Disorders Interview Schedule was administered to a random 
sample of 502 adults in the general population of Winnipeg, a midwestern 
Canadian city. Results showed that paranormal/extrasensory experiences 
were common in the general population. They were linked to a history of 
childhood trauma and to other dissociative symptom clusters. A factor 
analysis of the paranormal experiences identified three factors which 
together accounted for 44.0% of the combined variance of the scores. A 
model is proposed in which paranormal experiences are conceptualized as an 
aspect of normal dissociation. Like dissociation in general, paranormal 
experiences can be triggered by trauma, especially childhood physical or 
sexual abuse. Such experiences discriminate individuals with childhood 
trauma histories from those without at high levels of significance.

S. J. Walker (1992) Supernatural beliefs, natural kinds, and conceptual 
structure. (English) Mem Cognit 20 : 655-62
This article presents cross-cultural evidence in support of the notion 
that adults' natural kind concepts are theory based but may be informed by 
knowledge/belief systems other than the biological. Three groups of 
subjects from western Nigeria--rural, urban, and elite--participated in 
the study. Subjects heard stories describing alterations of appearance; 
that is, one natural kind was made to resemble another in both ritual and 
nonritual contexts. Subjects then were required to judge the identity of 
the altered item and to give an explanation for the category judgment. It 
was predicted that subjects would make more nonpreservation-of-identity 
category judgments supported by supernatural explanations in the ritual 
contexts and that subjects' use of supernatural explanations would reflect 
the extent of their engagement with the supernatural. The first prediction 
was borne out; the second prediction was only partially supported. 
Discussion of the results emphasizes the importance of exploring the role 
of sociocultural factors in conceptual structure.

R. W. Evans (1992) The postconcussion syndrome and the sequelae of mild 
head injury. (English) Neurol Clin 10 : 815-47
The postconcussion syndrome refers to a large number of symptoms and signs 
that may occur alone or in combination following usually mild head injury. 
The most common complaints are headaches, dizziness, fatigue, 
irritability, anxiety, insomnia, loss of consciousness and memory, and 
noise sensitivity. Mild head injury is a major public health concern 
because the annual incidence is about 150 per 100,000 population, 
accounting for 75% or more of all head injuries. The postconcussion 
syndrome has been recognized for at least the last few hundred years and 
has been the subject of intense controversy for more than 100 years. The 
Hollywood head injury myth has been an important contributor to persisting 
skepticism and might be countered by educational efforts and 
counter-examples from boxing. The organicity of the postconcussion 
syndrome has now become well documented. Abnormalities following mild head 
injury have been reported in neuropathologic, neurophysiologic, 
neuroimaging, and neuropsychologic studies. There are multiple sequelae of 
mild head injury, including headaches of multiple types, cranial nerve 
symptoms and signs, psychologic and somatic complaints, and cognitive 
impairment. Rare sequelae include hematomas, seizures, transient global 
amnesia, tremor, and dystonia. Neuroimaging and physiologic and 
psychologic testing should be used judiciously based on the problems of 
the particular patient rather than in a cookbook fashion. Prognostic 
studies clearly substantiate the existence of a postconcussion syndrome. 
Manifestations of the postconcussion syndrome are common, with resolution 
in most patients by 3 to 6 months after the injury. Persistent symptoms 
and cognitive deficits are present in a distinct minority of patients for 
additional months or years. Risk factors for persisting sequelae include 
age over 40 years; lower educational, intellectual, and socioeconomic 
level; female gender; alcohol abuse; prior head injury; and multiple 
trauma. Although a small minority are malingerers, frauds, or have 
compensation neurosis, most patients have genuine complaints. Contrary to 
a popular perception, most patients with litigation or compensation claims 
are not cured by a verdict. Treatment is individualized depending on the 
specific complaints of the patient. Although a variety of medication and 
psychologic treatments are currently available, ongoing basic and clinical 
research of all aspects of mild head injury are crucial to provide more 
efficacious treatment in the future.

H. T. Hunt, A. Gervais, S. Shearing-Johns and F. Travis (1992) 
Transpersonal experiences in childhood: an exploratory empirical study of 
selected adult groups. (English) Percept Mot Skills 75 : 1135-53
A questionnaire was developed to assess adult recall for a range of 
transpersonal experiences throughout childhood and adolescence (mystical 
experience, out-of-body experience, lucid dreams, archetypal dreams, ESP), 
as well as nightmares and night terrors as indicators of more conflicted, 
negative states. In two exploratory studies this questionnaire was 
administered to subjects with high estimated levels of early transpersonal 
experiences and practising meditators, with respective undergraduate 
controls. A cognitive skills/precocity model of early transpersonal 
experience was contrasted with a vulnerability of self model by 
comparisons of these groups on questionnaire categories, imaginative 
absorption, neuroticism, and visual-spatial skills, with some support 
found for both models depending on experience type, age of estimated 
recall, and adult meditative practice.

M. R. Lavallee and M. A. Persinger (1992) Left ear (right temporal lobe) 
suppressions during dichotic listening, ego-alien intrusion experiences 
and spiritualistic beliefs in normal women. (English) Percept Mot Skills 
75 : 547-51
Beliefs in spiritualism, a history of a sensed presence, and mental 
diplopia may share a common source of psychometric variance. We 
hypothesized that this variance should be specifically associated with 
right temporal-lobe function. Inferences of temporal lobe signs, 
hemisphericity (Vingiano's quotient) and self-esteem as well as dichotic 
listening measures were obtained for 26 university women. As predicted, 
the numbers of left-ear suppressions (right temporal-lobe function) but 
not of right-ear suppressions were specifically and moderately (rho = 
0.64) correlated with the intensity of Tobacyk's spiritualistic beliefs 
and a history of sensed presences and ego-alien intrusions. However, the 
negative association (rhos about -0.45) between indices of left-right 
hemisphericity and self-esteem was related to a separate factor.

M. A. Persinger (1992) Enhanced incidence of "the sensed presence" in 
people who have learned to meditate: support for the right hemispheric 
intrusion hypothesis. (English) Percept Mot Skills 75 : 1308-10
If the "sensed presence" is the transient intrusion of the right 
hemispheric equivalent of the left hemispheric (and highly linguistic) 
sense of self, then any process that facilitates interhemispheric 
electrical coherence should enhance these experiences. As predicted, the 
"ego-alien intrusion" (sensed presence) factor was specifically and 
significantly elevated in 221 people who had learned to meditate (65 to 
70% were involved in Transcendental Meditation) compared to 860 
nonmeditators. Variants of a sensed presence were more frequent in female 
than in male meditators and were particularly evident in left-handers who 
had learned to mediate. The effect size suggests that learning a 
meditation technique is counterindicated for subpopulations, such as 
borderline, schizotypal, or dissociative personalities, who display very 
fragile self-concepts.

M. A. Persinger (1992) Right hemisphericity, low self-esteem, and unusual 
experiences: a response to Vingiano. (English) Percept Mot Skills 75 : 
568-70
Vingiano's (1992) challenge concerning the relationship between right 
hemisphericity, low self-esteem, mystical experiences, and religiosity can 
be clarified by the concept of vectorial hemisphericity. Ontogenetic 
intrusions of right-hemispheric processes into the left hemispheric sense 
of self should be experienced most frequently as an apprehensive 
"presence" that results in lower self-esteem. Because transient 
above-normal left-hemispheric activity enhances positive affect and the 
sense of self, concurrent right-hemispheric intrusions are experienced as 
mystical experiences. Religiosity would be the consequence of persistent 
above-normal left-temporofrontal activation that encourages the delusion. 
Hence, extreme conditions, such as left lateralized temporal-lobe 
epileptic foci, encourage both mystical and religious experiences.

W. Vingiano (1992) Hemisphericity and self-esteem. (English) Percept Mot 
Skills 74 : 825-6
The 1991 paper by Persinger and Makarec, while posing some interesting 
theoretical and speculative questions, misstates the magnitude of the 
effect size in the validation of the Hemisphericity Questionnaire and 
draws some unwarranted conclusions. This article briefly reviews the 
issues involved.

J. Glicksohn, O. Salinger and A. Roychman (1992) An exploratory study of 
syncretic experience: eidetics, synaesthesia and absorption. (English) 
Perception 21 : 637-42
Synaesthesia and eidetic imagery are both syncretic experiences entailing 
a dedifferentiation of perceptual qualities. In this paper the correlation 
between synaesthesia and eidetic imagery is explored. Ten subjects 
selected for possible eidetic and/or synaesthetic ability were tested in a 
battery of tasks that tap structural and typographic eidetic imagery, and 
colour-hearing and colour-mood synaesthesia. It was found that both 
structural and typographic eidetic imagery were correlated with measures 
of synaesthesia, indicating a relationship between the two phenomena.

B. Greyson and N. E. Bush (1992) Distressing near-death experiences. 
(English) Psychiatry 55 : 95-110
Most reported near-death experiences include profound feelings of peace, 
joy, and cosmic unity. Less familiar are the reports following close 
brushes with death of experiences that are partially or entirely 
unpleasant, frightening, or frankly hellish. While little is known about 
the antecedents or aftereffects of these distressing experiences, there 
appear to be three distinct types, involving (1) phenomenology similar to 
peaceful near-death experiences but interpreted as unpleasant, (2) a sense 
of nonexistence or eternal void, or (3) graphic hellish landscapes and 
entities. While the first type may eventually convert to a typical 
peaceful experience, the relationship of all three types to prototypical 
near-death experiences merits further study. The effect of the distressing 
experience in the lives of individuals deserves exploration, as the 
psychological impact may be profound and long-lasting.

M. Roig and M. A. Neaman (1992) Hemisphericity style and belief in ESP. 
(English) Psychol Rep 71 : 995-1000
108 students were classified as preferring either a style of left or right 
hemisphericity using Zenhausern's Preference Questionnaire. The students 
then completed two scales designed to measure belief in extrasensory 
perception (ESP). Students who scored as preferring a right style scored 
higher on belief in ESP than those who preferred a left style. The results 
are consistent with previous findings which suggest a connection between 
right hemisphere functions (e.g., imagery) and belief in ESP.

M. A. Persinger (1993) Paranormal and religious beliefs may be mediated 
differentially by subcortical and cortical phenomenological processes of 
the temporal (limbic) lobes. (English) Percept Mot Skills 76 : 247-51
The vectorial hemisphericity concept predicts that endorsements of beliefs 
in paranormal phenomena are associated with elevated subcortical (complex 
partial epileptic-like signs) temporal lobe experiences while endorsements 
of religious beliefs are associated with experiences of the right 
(cortical) hemispheric equivalent (the sensed presence) of the linguistic 
sense of self. Partial correlation analyses, which removed the expected 
shared variance, supported this hypothesis for 400 men and 400 women; 
religious affiliation did not contribute any statistically significant 
influence. However, agreements with extreme religious beliefs, such as 
killing others in God's name, were associated with weekly church 
attendance and were primarily endorsed by men but not by women.