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INTRODUCTION
Parapsychologyis the scientific study of experiences which, if they arc as they
seem to be, arc in principle outside the realm of huma n ca pa bi lit ies a s pr esentl y
co nceive d by conventional scientists. Thus parapsy cho lo gi ca l pheno mena
o stensi bl y indi ca te the operation of factors currently unknown t o o r un r e co gn i z e d
by o r th o d o x sc ie n c e , popularly referred to as paranormal factors. Mo r e f o r m a l ly ,
pa r a ps y ch o lo g y h a s be en defined by its proponents as the study of " apparent
anomalies of behavior and experience that exist apart from currently known
explana to ry mechanisms that a ccount for o r ga ni s m- e nv ir o n me n t a n d o r g a n is m -
o r g a n i s m i n f o r m a t i o n a n d i n f l u e n c e f l o w " (Parapsycholo gical Association, 1989,
pp. 394-395). Familiar examples of such anomalous phenomena are experiences that
seemingly involve extrasensory perception (ESP) a nd a ppar itio ns (e.g., gho sts). T he
objec tive of this book is to provide an introduc tory survey of parapsychologists
efforts to explore the authenticity and bases of these a n o m a l o u s , apparently
p a r a n o r m a l p h e nomena.
As a general delineation of the scope of parapsychological research the above para-
graph has several features warranting consideration. Most important is the point
that in no way is there any presumption here of the existence of "the paranormal,"
contrary t o t h e a p p r o a c h o f m a n y c o n t e m p o r a r y parapsychologists who a c t ually
regard parapsychology as the study of the paranormal. Certainly peo ple repo rt
ha ving experiences in which it seemed to them there was, for exa mple, some
info rmatio n a cquired with o u t t h e i n v o l v e m e n t o f t h e r e c o g n i z e d human senses.
Rut when such an "extrasensory' experience is termed Parapsychological no conclusion
has necessarily been reached that there exists a paranormal process by which
information can be mediated outside the individual's sensory capacities.

As far as the definition of parapsycho logica l experiences is concerned it is

purely a matter of appearances. of how an experience seem to be. A fundamental task
of researchers then is to investigate the actual bases of these experiences,
determining the extent to which the phenomena are explicable within the framework
of accepted principles of mainstream science and if appropriate, defining the
respects in which that framework should be extended in order to a c c o m m o d a t e
e m p i r i c a l f i n d i n g s o n t h e pheno mena .
A l t h o u g h p a r a p s y c h o l o g i c a l e x p e r i ences appear to be paranormal they there -
fore are not defined to be so; rather, the questio n of their pa ra no rmality is a
ma tter for investiga tion. It is important to appre ciate the distinction between
paramrholog-