ORCID Profile
0000-0003-1725-582X
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University of Adelaide
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Publisher: Society for Scientific Exploration
Date: 11-02-2023
DOI: 10.31275/20222729
Abstract: The following content constitutes an informal but fortuitous collection that speaks to methods and analysis in fringe science. Articles about model-building or theory formation on anomalous phenomena often garner the strongest interest for understandable reasons, but the underlying approaches and techniques that drive charge- or challenge- type discoveries arguably represent some of most fascinating and important information. To be sure, descriptions of flexible or innovative methods can inspire and support work across many different academic disciplines [for a discussion, see: Houran, J. (2022). An introduction and mission of building bridges to reach the unknown. Journal of Scientific Exploration, 36, 3-7. 0.31275/20222439]. Thus, the JSE welcomes submissions that present newly developed (or specifically tailored) methods and instrumentation for studies in anomalistics. We further encourage readers to explore the many peer-reviewed journals devoted to analytics, instrumentation, and research design. Interested readers can search and learn about such journals at aggregator sites like Publons.com or Resurchify.com, but Table 1 below presents a convenient selection of 25 ex les that arguably are worthy of attention with good-to-high impact factors.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 18-12-2013
Abstract: We explored the idea that the timing of executives’ career moves was consistent with Bak’s notion of self-organized criticality. Consistent with predictions, time series analysis of job changes for 43 hospitality executives obeyed a power law and revealed a mixture of predictable and unpredictable patterns with a musical nature (pink noise distribution). The data showed better fit for traditional ‘organization men’ versus opportunistic ‘trailblazers.’ These differences in career patterns (rhythms) could be used to reliably distinguish between these two executive-types using neural nets. Potential implications for executive coaching and development are discussed.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 16-03-2020
Abstract: We review the premise, popularity, and profitability of paranormal tourism, which involves visits to any setting or locale for the explicit purpose of encountering apparent supernatural phenomena for leisure, investigation, services, products, or conventions. This niche sector can offer an inherently engaging conceptual framework for seasonal or year-round space activation and monetization by businesses situated in specific settings or cities. On a broader level, the niche also illustrates how tourism–hospitality brands and operations can navigate and even capitalize on three paradigm shifts that have disrupted contemporary markets, that is, the mobilities, performative, and creative turns. This assertion is underscored with a case analysis of a historic site that successfully leveraged paranormal themes as part of its space reactivation and rebranding. Finally, our market study suggests that the success factors of paranormal tourism might indicate a fourth paradigm shift across the wider tourism–hospitality industry, whereby the experience economy is transforming to an enchantment economy.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2003
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 10-1996
DOI: 10.2466/PMS.1996.83.2.365
Abstract: Houran, et al.'s model for haunting phenomena predicts that fear of “paranormal phenomena” is associated with intolerance of ambiguity. Consistent with this prediction, ratings by 86 undergraduates (14 men and 72 women) showed a correlation of .33 between the scores on the Anomalous Experiences Inventory and the Rydell-Rosen Ambiguity Tolerance Scale.
Publisher: Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)
Date: 2003
DOI: 10.1097/00005053-200301000-00005
Abstract: The phenomenon of celebrity worship is currently conceptualized as an abnormal type of parasocial relationship, driven by absorption and addictive elements and which potentially has significant clinical sequelae. The authors hypothesize that the three increasingly extreme sets of attitudes and behaviors associated with celebrity worship also partly reflect the three domains of personality discussed in Eysenckian theory. Specifically, celebrity worship for entertainment-social reasons may reflect extraversion personality traits intense-personal attitudes and behaviors toward celebrities may reflect neuroticism traits and celebrity worship of a borderline-pathological nature may reflect psychoticism traits. To test this idea, the authors administered the Celebrity Attitude Scale and the Abbreviated Form of the Revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire to large convenience s les of students (N = 317) and community (N = 290) respondents. Results indicate that celebrity worship is not an uncommon phenomenon. Further, correlational analyses supported predictions and suggest that Eysenckian domains of personality may promote or hinder a person's progression along the continuum of behaviors associated with celebrity worship.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 21-10-2014
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 05-2004
DOI: 10.1348/000712604773952403
Abstract: For those with true near-death experiences (NDEs), Greyson's (1983, 1990) NDE Scale satisfactorily fits the Rasch rating scale model, thus yielding a unidimensional measure with interval-level scaling properties. With increasing intensity, NDEs reflect peace, joy and harmony, followed by insight and mystical or religious experiences, while the most intense NDEs involve an awareness of things occurring in a different place or time. The semantics of this variable are invariant across True-NDErs' gender, current age, age at time of NDE, and latency and intensity of the NDE, thus identifying NDEs as 'core' experiences whose meaning is unaffected by external variables, regardless of variations in NDEs' intensity. Significant qualitative and quantitative differences were observed between True-NDErs and other respondent groups, mostly revolving around the differential emphasis on paranormal/mystical/religious experiences vs. standard reactions to threat. The findings further suggest that False-Positive respondents reinterpret other profound psychological states as NDEs. Accordingly, the Rasch validation of the typology proposed by Greyson (1983) also provides new insights into previous research, including the possibility of embellishment over time (as indicated by the finding of positive, as well as negative, latency effects) and the potential roles of religious affiliation and religiosity (as indicated by the qualitative differences surrounding paranormal/mystical/religious issues).
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Date: 12-2019
DOI: 10.1037/CNS0000187
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2000
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 10-2007
DOI: 10.2466/PMS.105.2.688-690
Abstract: Findings from parapsychological field studies grounded in cognitive illusions parallel the results from St s' 2007 research on environmental mystery in simulated environments. However, parapsychology also implicates certain perceptual-personality characteristics in the perception of some forms of environmental mystery. Thus, it is argued that environmental mystery is produced fundamentally by an interaction of the right type of percipient (primed to detect and give credence to ambiguous stimuli) in the right type of environment (full of ambiguous stimuli).
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 04-2000
DOI: 10.2466/PR0.2000.86.2.669
Abstract: The lore surrounding the mythical Witches' Sabbat and contemporary reports of UFO abductions share three main characteristics: the use of masks, the appearance of “Men in Black,” and references to flight and abduction. We review these three commonalities with particular focus on the aspect of flight and abduction. We argue that narratives of the Witches' Sabbat and UFO abductions share the same basic structure, common symbolism, and serve the same psychological needs of providing a coherent explanation for anomalous (ambiguous) experiences while simultaneously giving the experient a sense of freedom, release, and escape from the self. This pattern of similarities suggests the possibility that UFO abductions are a modern version of tales of flight to the Sabbat.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 24-11-2022
Abstract: Situational-enchantment is a hypothesized arousal state encompassing a potent sense of connection or oneness with a “transcendent power or ultimate reality.” Qualitative research previously suggested that this in idual difference involves dissonance around ideations with competing “Emotional, Sensorial, Timeless, Rational, and Transformative” themes. We tested this presumed phenomenology via an online convenience s le of 79 men and 101 women who reported memorable ghostly experiences during a paranormal tour within the last 12 months. Respondents provided a global enchantment rating of their anomalous experiences, as well as selected specific descriptors from a set of 30 items on an adjective checklist (ACL). Analyses revealed that 21 items on the Enchantment-ACL formed a Rasch hierarchy of generally “pleasant” themes that was free of response biases related to age, sex, and latency (time since the “enchanting” experience). This structured sequence contained all five experiential themes, and the resulting Enchantment-ACL measure of this phenomenon showed good internal reliability (Rasch reliability = .82) and a positive correlation with global enchantment ratings ( r = .51, p .001). The other nine items formed a separate factor containing overtly “unpleasant” ideations. We discuss the results within a cognitive dissonance framework for situational-enchantment, although future research must explore potential nuances related to the construct’s dimensionality and the specific role of pleasant versus unpleasant ideations.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 11-2004
Abstract: The adaptational-continuum model of personality and coping suggests a useful context for research areas that emphasize both personality and coping. The present paper used Ferguson's (2001) model integrating personality and coping factors to further conceptualize findings around celebrity worship. Three hundred and seventy-two respondents completed measures of celebrity worship, personality, coping style, general health, stress, positive and negative affect and life satisfaction. Celebrity worship for intense-personal reasons is associated with poorer mental heath and this relationship can be understood within the dimensions of neuroticism and a coping style that suggests disengagement. Such findings suggest the utility of examining the relationship between celebrity worship and mental health within both personality and coping variables, which have practical implications for understanding and addressing mental health problems that may occur as the result of engaging in celebrity worship for intense-personal reasons.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2006
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 12-1997
DOI: 10.2466/PMS.1997.85.3.973
Abstract: As some percipients of UFOs may misinterpret ambiguous yet conventional aerial phenomena, this research tested the hypothesis that percipients of UFOs would score significantly lower on tolerance of ambiguity than nonpercipients. 39 percipients and 43 nonpercipients completed a measure of tolerance of ambiguity and the findings supported the hypothesis. Confounding factors such as respondents' age and sex could not reasonably account for this finding. Results complement conventional explanations for some UFO sightings.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 06-1997
DOI: 10.2466/PMS.1997.84.3C.1455
Abstract: Houran and Lange's psychological model of haunting phenomena predicts that contextual variables alone are sufficient to induce poltergeist-like perceptions. 22 subjects in idually visited five areas of a performance theater and were asked to notice the environment. 11 subjects in an informed condition were instructed that the location was haunted, while 11 in the control condition were told that the building was simply under renovation. Subjects' perceptions in both conditions were recorded via Green, et al.'s 1992 experiential questionnaire which contains 10 subscales related to psychological and physiological perceptions. Analysis yielded significantly more intense perceptual experiences on nine of the ten subscales in the informed condition, indicating that demand characteristics alone can stimulate paranormal-type experiences.
Publisher: Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)
Date: 10-2002
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 02-2003
DOI: 10.2466/PMS.2003.96.1.311
Abstract: ‘Mental boundaries’ is a traditional concept in psychology, although attempts to conceptualize and measure such boundaries empirically have only recently been pursued. Two major efforts in this respect are Hartmann's Boundary Questionnaire and the Revised Transliminality Scale of Lange, Thalbourne, Houran, and Storm. We administered both along with the Briggs-Nebes Handedness Scale to a convenience s le of 268 participants to assess the convergent validity of the two boundary measures and to replicate previous evidence that the boundary construct involves body boundaries as well, such as a tendency toward mixed-handedness. As predicted, scores on the Revised Transliminality Scale correlated .66 positively with total scores on the Boundary Questionnaire, but neither measure was associated with the handedness scale. Each of the 12 domains of the Boundary Questionnaire correlated significantly with total scores on the Transliminality Scale, yet only five domains contributed significantly to the prediction of variance in transliminality scores in a standard multiple regression analysis. Analysis suggests that transliminality is related to specific domains of the Boundary Questionnaire, and we hypothesize that the other domains of the Boundary Questionnaire represent higher levels of the boundary construct than what is measured by the Revised Transliminality Scale. This idea is discussed within the context of Werner's 1948 theory of syncretic versus symbolic cognition.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 08-08-2020
Publisher: Center for Open Science
Date: 23-12-2021
Abstract: We assessed the 29 winning essays of the Bigelow Institute of Consciousness Studies (BICS) contest using an evidence hierarchy approach adopted in many scientific fields. Two independent judges rated the target essays for their quality of scientific evidence, reproducibility, and replicability using an evidence hierarchy adapted from several published models that accommodate both qualitative and quantitative evidence. According to our criteria, six essays (20.7%) were categorized as the highest level of scientific evidence, four essays (13.8%) were categorized at a medium level of scientific evidence, whereas the remaining 19 essays (65.5%) were considered a low level of scientific evidence. The overall agreement of the essay rankings between the present authors’ classifications of evidence quality and the rating system used by the BICS judges was only 44.8%, with a non-significant Spearman’s rho correlation of .03. This result indicates extremely little concordance (overlap) of the two evaluation systems, which corroborates prior research on the critical shortcomings of evidence hierarchies. The essays representing the highest level of scientific evidence per our criteria involved near-death experiences and mental mediumship. For other anomalies that ostensibly support the survival hypothesis (e.g., physical mediumship or electronic voice phenomena), more studies with refined experimental designs are needed to improve their quality of evidence as defined in current scientific terms. Important considerations and future research directions are likewise discussed.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 06-1997
DOI: 10.2466/PMS.1997.84.3C.1491
Abstract: A s le of 49 accounts of deathbed visions from Barrett's 1926 classic collection were analyzed using the classification scheme for contextual variables proposed recently by Lange, Houran, Harte, and Havens. Consistent with previous research, the contents of the contextual variables operating during these deathbed visions were consistent with the contents of the percipients' experiences. In addition, contextual variables were related to the modalities of the experiences, e.g., visual, auditory, and sensed presences, as well as the number of contents, e.g., deceased relatives, angelic beings, and the perception of symbolic borders or limits including water and heavenly gates, as perceived during the dying process. These findings are consistent with the interpretation that deathbed visions are comforting hallucinations and that contextual variables serve to structure these otherwise ambiguous experiences.
Publisher: Society for Scientific Exploration
Date: 22-05-2022
DOI: 10.31275/20222439
Abstract: The founding of the Journal of Scientific Exploration in 1987 coincided with my graduation from high school and start of higher education. Even then I was deeply interested in all types of anomalies thanks to my parents’ gift about ten years earlier of Jane Werner Watson and Sol Chaneles’ (1976) The Golden Book of the Mysterious (NY: Golden Press). That book was a childhood obsession that steadily evolved to serious academic curiosity, which then quickly transformed into passionate participation in scholarly research and writing. My curiosity and passion certainly endure, but these have been become increasingly balanced with skepticism that erupted from several negative experiences over the years with ideological-motivated academics. Of course, bias cuts both ways (Drinkwater et al., 2019 Irwin et al., 2016, 2017 Kennedy, 2005 Truzzi, 1987), so my own work has disappointed — and sometimes even irked — both debunkers of the paranormal and fervent believers in otherworldly phenomena. My appointment as the new Editor-in-Chief (EiC) might thus surprise in iduals who do not view me as a sympathetic ch ion for the advancement of ‘edge science,’ or what amounts to empirical observations that challenge scientific principles or concepts as presently understood. This Editorial avoids reciting my professional background and interests, which anyone can easily read at the Parapsychological Association website (sers/jhouran rofile.aspx) or via my ORCID record (000-0003-1725-582X). Rather, the goal here is to introduce readers to the underlying philosophy that will be the backbone of my JSE tenure. Indeed, readers deserve to know what the EiC stands for. I have also not been immersed in the Society for Scientific Exploration’s (SSE) activities and culture in recent years, so some members might understandably deem me an outsider. However, my academic career has consistently centered on edge science and advancing its cause. The diligent efforts of past Editors, Associate Editors, Editorial Board, and the unsung hero known as Kathleen Erickson (Managing Editor) have achieved notable strides in the JSE’s quality and impact over the years. But my primary aim is now to take the journal to the next level by bolstering its familiarity, reach, and influence within academia and the mainstream consciousness alike. This pursuit involves ersifying the provocative research in its pages and making that content more accessible and useful to non-specialists in other fields, as well as to journalistic outlets and the mass media. The latter forums can and should play a valuable role in public science education (Höttecke & Allchin, 2020 Huber et al., 2019 Olson & Kutner, 2008), although these can easily miss the mark as illustrated by my own frustrating experiences with misreported research.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 12-1996
DOI: 10.2466/PMS.1996.83.3F.1307
Abstract: Hauntings and poltergeist-like episodes are argued to be products of contagious reactions to ambiguous environmental or cognitive events. In particular, evidence suggests that the subjective and objective effects reported by percipients are the function of independent, nonparanormal etiologies whose constitutions have been previously established and described. According to this multivariate model, the labeling of ambiguous events as “abnormal” or “paranormal” initiates the reactive process which is subsequently sustained by perceptual contagion, i.e., flurries of paranormal observations due self-reinforcing attentional processes.
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Date: 12-06-2020
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 08-1997
Abstract: 30 experiences of shamanic journeys derived from Harner (1990) were analyzed based on a recent coding scheme for contextual variables proposed by Lange, Houran, Harte, and Havens. Consistent with previous research, the experiential content of the trances was quite consistent with the content of the available contextual variables, and embedded cues in particular ( r = .68, p .001). As predicted, trance states of shamanic journeys are sufficiently structured to suppress contextual effects on the modality of experience. The findings suggest that the contents of shamanic trance are not solely influenced by psychopathology, biochemical effects, or cultural influences.
Publisher: Society for Scientific Exploration
Date: 11-08-2023
DOI: 10.31275/20233033
Abstract: See Article
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 02-2002
Abstract: Celebrity worship has been conceptualized as having pathological and nonpathological forms. To avoid problems associated with item-level factor analysis, 'top-down purification' was used to test the validity of this conceptualization. The respondents (N = 249) completed items modelled after existing celebrity worship questionnaires. A subset of 17 unidimensional and Rasch scalable items was discovered (the local reliability ranged from.71 to.96), which showed no biases related to age and gender. This subset was dubbed the Celebrity Worship Scale (CWS). The items also showed no celebrity bias, indicating that CWS applies equally to acting, music, sports, and 'other' celebrities. The Rasch nature of the items defines celebrity worship as consisting of three qualitatively different stages. Low worship involves in idualistic behaviours such as watching and reading about a celebrity. At slightly higher levels, celebrity worship takes on a social character. Lastly, the highest levels are characterized by a mixture of empathy with the celebrity's successes and failures, over-identification with the celebrity, compulsive behaviours, as well as obsession with details of the celebrity's life. Based on these findings, the authors propose a model of celebrity worship based on psychological absorption (leading to delusions of actual relationships with celebrities) and addiction (fostering the need for progressively stronger involvement to feel connected with the celebrity).
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2003
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 12-1998
DOI: 10.2466/PR0.1998.83.3F.1411
Abstract: 50 college students completed the Anomalous Experiences Inventory, the AT-20 measure of tolerance of ambiguity, and a frequency of dream recall questionnaire. Using path analysis we show that precognitive dreams can be modeled as accidental ‘hits' with increased dream recall and the interpretation of such hits as ‘meaningful coincidences' seems facilitated by a belief in the paranormal. As predicted, both factors are affected by tolerance of ambiguity, which provides the flexibility required to store and recall ambiguous dream information while simultaneously allowing dream recallers to assume a paranormal origin of their ‘precognitive’ dreams. Moreover, the fit of the proposed model did not depend on sex or age. Alternative models that provided a better fit to the data validated the roles of tolerance of ambiguity and belief in the paranormal in eliciting experiences of precognitive dreaming, but frequency of dream recall was not confirmed as a crucial factor.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 06-2002
DOI: 10.2466/PR0.2002.90.3.817
Abstract: The 18-item Manic-Depressiveness Scale was revised via a Rasch ‘top-down purification’ procedure to provide a new 12-item scale with no significant age or sex bias. Application of this scale to previously collected data indicated that patients with manic-depression and schizophrenia receive comparable scores, which are significantly higher than those of a control group of students. Moreover, for a subgroup of patients with manic-depression, scores correlated .55 ( p 001) with number of manic-depression-relevant medications being taken. These findings lend support to the validity of the Rasch Manic-Depressiveness Scale as a general measure of psychoticism and psychiatric status.
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Date: 09-2018
DOI: 10.1037/CNS0000171
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-1999
Publisher: Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)
Date: 03-2001
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2001
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 08-10-2018
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 06-1996
DOI: 10.2466/PMS.1996.82.3.755
Abstract: The content of perceived apparitions, e.g., bereavement hallucinations, cannot be explained entirely in terms of electromagnetically induced neurochemical processes. It was shown that contextual variables influential in hallucinatory and hypnotic states also structured reported haunting experiences. As predicted, high congruency was found between the experiential content and the nature of the contextual variables. Further, the number of contextual variables involved in an experience was related to the type of experience and the state or arousal preceding the experience. Based on these findings we argue that a more complete explanation of haunting experiences should take into account both electromagnetically induced neurochemical processes and factors related to contextual mediation.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 14-10-2016
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2000
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 06-2003
DOI: 10.2466/PMS.2003.96.3C.1300
Abstract: During the course of a larger study on sensory thresholds and transliminality, 22 men and 28 women ( M = 23 1 yr. SD = 2.9) mostly composed of students selected from a snowball s ling approach completed the Revised Transliminality Scale and a brief measure of everyday aberrations in memory. Scores on the measures correlated .59 ( p .001), and this result was not due to the confounding effects of age or sex. These preliminary results are consistent with the hypothesis that transliminality involves a state of increased activation that can induce a loss of conscious experience, thereby lending support to the definition of transliminality as the tendency for psychological material to cross thresholds into or out of consciousness.
Publisher: Society for Scientific Exploration
Date: 11-02-2023
DOI: 10.31275/20222829
Abstract: This section contains further exchange about the evidence and outcomes from the 2021 Bigelow Institute of Consciousness Studies (BICS) essay contest on postmortem survival. As noted in the Introduction to the Summer’s issue’s Special Subsection on BICS (pp. 348–349), heated debates are certainly expected with controversial topics. But exchanges should remain constructive by focusing on cool analysis that helps to arrive at the most appropriate conclusions [see e.g., Tkotz, J., et al. (2021). Keep calm in heated debates: How people perceive different styles of discourse in a scientific debate. Frontiers in Education, 5, Article 572503. 0.3389/feduc.2020.572503].
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 12-1996
DOI: 10.2466/PMS.1996.83.3F.1259
Abstract: A s le of 89 instances of angelic encounters found on Internet web sites were analyzed using the classification scheme for contextual variables proposed by Lange, Houran, Harte, and Havens (1996). Consistent with previous research, the contents of the contextual variables operating during these angelic encounters were consistent with the content of percipients' experiences. In addition, contextual variables were related to the modalities of the experiences as well as to the percipients' apparent arousal. The proposed existence of two different types of encounters was supported. Percipients' experiences in “direct” encounters strongly resembled those found in other hallucinatory experiences such as poltergeist-like episodes, death-bed visions, and shamanic trances. By contrast, there is strong evidence that “reconstructed” encounters are often the result of accidental or puzzling (but otherwise normal) encounters with actual human beings.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 12-1998
DOI: 10.2466/PR0.1998.83.3.807
Abstract: We examined the relationship of tolerance of ambiguity to severe global factors and specific types of anomalous or paranormal experience. 107 undergraduate students completed MacDonald's 1970 AT-20 and the Anomalous Experiences Inventory of Kumar, Pekala, and Gallagher. Scores on the five subscales of the Anomalous Experiences Inventory correlated differently with tolerance of ambiguity. Global paranormal beliefs, abilities, experiences, and drug use were positively associated with tolerance of ambiguity, whereas a fear of paranormal experience showed a negative relation. The specific types of anomalous experiences that correlated with tolerance of ambiguity often involved internal or physiological experience, e.g., precognitive dreams, memories of reincarnation, visual apparitions, and vestibular alterations. We generally found no effects of age or sex. These results are consistent with the idea that some paranormal experiences are misattributions of internal experience to external (‘paranormal’) sources, a process analogous to mechanisms underpinning delusions and hallucinations.
Publisher: Society for Scientific Exploration
Date: 19-10-2023
DOI: 10.31275/20233169
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 07-2002
Publisher: Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)
Date: 10-1998
DOI: 10.1097/00005053-199810000-00008
Abstract: The hypothesis that paranormal (poltergeist) experiences are delusions resulting from the affective and cognitive dynamics of percipients' interpretation of ambiguous stimuli was tested in two studies using a structural modeling approach. Consistent with attribution theory, study I indicated that such delusions are best modeled by a closed negative-feedback loop involving belief, experience, and fear as process variables. Using a more homogeneous s le of percipients, study II replicated this model and the relations among the process variables reached statistical significance. The findings extend established attributional models of delusions by incorporating psychosocial and cognitive factors, including age, gender, and tolerance of ambiguity. The model is proposed as a general framework for the understanding and study of delusions and contagious psychogenic illness, in particular.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 06-2001
DOI: 10.2466/PR0.2001.88.3.641
Abstract: Effects of age and sex in paranormal belief remain controversial because issues of scaling and differential item function are not given due attention. Therefore, in response to the recent debate between Irwin and Vitulli, these issues are reviewed and validated as crucial approaches for obtaining an objective measure of paranormal belief. A Rasch version of Tobacyk's Paranormal Belief Scale has been developed, but research with this scale suggests that—contrary to past literature and recently refined studies—age and sex are neither consistent nor crucial factors mediating paranormal belief.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2005
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 06-1998
DOI: 10.2466/PMS.1998.86.3C.1469
Abstract: This note relates recent research on dream content to other findings on imaginal experiences which suggest that state or situational factors frequently define the content of experiences related to altered states of consciousness. As with hallucinatory, dissociative, and autohypnotic phenomena, dream content reflects a continuity between waking and imaginai experience.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2005
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 02-1998
DOI: 10.2466/PR0.1998.82.1.183
Abstract: This research tested the notion that poltergeist-like experiences reflect the need to explain anomalous personal experiences, Thus, it was hypothesized that percipients of poltergeists would score lower on tolerance of ambiguity than controls. Further, it was hypothesized that tolerance of ambiguity would negatively correlate with the number of different categories of poltergeist experience. 30 self-identified percipients of poltergeist-like phenomena and 30 self-identified nonpercipients of the paranormal were administered the Rydell-Rosen Ambiguity Tolerance Scale and Houran and Lange's Poltergeist Experiences Checklist. Results partially supported predictions Percipients of the paranormal scored significantly lower on tolerance of ambiguity than nonpercipients, but scores on the experiences checklist did not significantly correlate with scores on tolerance of ambiguity. The results supported the main hypothesis but more detailed research is needed to clarify the roles of age and tolerance of ambiguity in the perception of anomalous phenomena.
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Date: 12-2019
DOI: 10.1037/CNS0000163
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 07-2003
DOI: 10.1080/00223980309600616
Abstract: Celebrity worship is a form of parasocial interaction in which in iduals become obsessed with 1 or more celebrities, similar to an erotomanic type of delusional disorder. Drawing on the cognitive factors implicated in erotomania, the authors hypothesized that celebrity worshippers might be expected to exhibit verbal, visuospatial, and cognitive deficits related to flexibility and associative learning. This general hypothesis was tested in a s le of 102 participants who completed the Celebrity Attitude Scale (L. E. McCutcheon, R. Lange, & J. Houran, 2002), the Entertainment-Social, Intense-Personal, and Borderline Pathological subscales, and 6 cognitive measures that included creativity (verbal), crystallized intelligence, critical thinking, spatial ability, and need for cognition. The results were consistent with predictions and suggest that cognitive deficits only help facilitate an in idual's susceptibility to engage in celebrity worship. The results are discussed in terms of the multivariate absorption-addiction model of celebrity worship.
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Date: 09-2022
DOI: 10.1037/CNS0000328
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 02-1997
DOI: 10.2466/PMS.1997.84.1.339
Abstract: The phenomena traditionally attributed to recurrent spontaneous psychokinesis is shown to be inherently comprised of vague sensory and environmental stimuli. The ambiguous nature of these experiences precludes any definite supposition as to their source of origin or whether there is only one causal mechanism. Further, many of the so-called paranormal effects are fully comparable to known psychophysical phenomena. Consequently, it is argued that this hypothesis as an explanation of poltergeist-like experiences is premature and unjustified.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 04-1997
DOI: 10.2466/PMS.1997.84.2.691
Abstract: This research tested the hypothesis that anomalous images on film can be attributed to the specific recording medium. Using five different film media, a total of 96 photogtaphs and 8 min. of 8-mm motion picture film were obtained during a field study of a reported haunting. Multiple covariates were also recorded including electromagnetic field fluctuations, time of day, and geographic position. No anomalous images were obtained, although approximately half of the frames on both the infrared and black and white films were unexposed. The results are discussed in terms of ambiguous events being interpreted as meaningful due to paranormal contexts.
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Date: 03-2018
DOI: 10.1037/CNS0000126
Publisher: Society for Scientific Exploration
Date: 19-10-2023
DOI: 10.31275/20233131
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2002
Publisher: Society for Scientific Exploration
Date: 20-08-2022
DOI: 10.31275/20222659
Abstract: Well-known aerospace entrepreneur Robert T. Bigelow has contributed a great deal privately and publicly to science and technology over the years, including the realm of anomalistics and edge science [see: Kelleher, C. A., & Knapp, G. (2005). Hunt for the skinwalker: Science confronts the unexplained at a remote ranch in Utah. Paraview Pocket Books]. This generous support should be celebrated, as it is virtually unique in modern times where academic freedom and consequential funding are sparse in the controversial fields that JSE routinely spotlights. In fact, Bigelow recently formed the Bigelow Institute of Consciousness Studies (BICS) to support research on the ostensible survival of human consciousness after physical death and the potential nature of such a state. BICS therefore comprises an ongoing platform for exploration and education versus a singular act of support from a lone patron. Among the organization’s first initiatives was a global c aign to solicit the best evidence supporting the notion of postmortem survival. This venture paralleled successful ‘crowdsourcing contests’ that some companies use to drive product improvements or innovations via public competitions with cash awards [see: Segev, E. (2020). Crowdsourcing contests. European Journal of Operational Research, 281, 241–255. 0.1016/j.ejor.2019.02.057 ].
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2002
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 10-1996
DOI: 10.2466/PMS.1996.83.2.499
Abstract: Two subjects were asked to keep a 30-day journal of occurrences in their residence which are traditionally associated with hauntings and poltergeist-like phenomena. It was expected that the instructions would increase the frequency of perception of unusual or rarely occurring events in their residence, resulting in an attentional and “perceptual contagion effect.” As expected, several features of the percipients' observations closely resembled those found in previously reported poltergeist episodes. Most importantly, the distribution of perceived occurrences closely resembled the predicted logistic curve, suggesting that hauntings involve a perceptual process where initial observations “infect” later ones.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 11-2008
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 04-2004
Abstract: The DSM–IV definition of delusion is argued to be unsatisfactory because it does not explain the mechanism for delusion formation and maintenance, it implies that such beliefs are necessarily dysfunctional (pathological), it underestimates the social component to some delusions, and it is inconsistent with research indicating that delusions can be modified through techniques such as contradiction, confrontation, and cognitive-behavioral therapy. However, a well-replicated mathematical model of magical/delusional thinking based on a study of paranormal beliefs and experiences is consistent with the hypothesis that attributional processes play a central role in delusion formation and maintenance. The model suggests attributional processes serve the adaptive function of reducing fear associated with ambiguous stimuli and delusional thinking is on a continuum with nonpathological forms. Based on this collective research an amendment to the definition of delusion is proposed and its clinical implications are addressed.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 02-1997
DOI: 10.2466/PR0.1997.80.1.345
Abstract: This research tested the hypotheses that belief in the paranormal is associated with a lessening of death anxiety and that direct experiences of the paranormal are stronger correlates with less fear than the stated belief. Contrary to predictions, scores on Templer's 1970 Death Anxiety Scale were not associated with scores on either Belief in the Paranormal or Paranormal Experiences, subscales of the Anomalous Experiences Inventory. Instead, significant sex differences were found on three out of the five subscales which indicate a need to clarify possible sex-specific variables in the perception and report of anomalous phenomena by 14 men and 19 women.
Publisher: Rhine Research Centre
Date: 11-06-2019
Publisher: Journal of Anomalous Experience and Cognition
Date: 29-08-2023
DOI: 10.31156/JAEX.25124
Abstract: Objective: We used the ChatGPT-3.5 artificial intelligence (AI)-based language program to compare twelve types of mystical, supernatural, or otherwise anomalous entity encounter narratives constructed from material in the publicly available corpus of information, and compared their details to the phenomenology of spontaneous accounts via the Survey of Strange Events (SSE) and the grounded theory of Haunted People Syndrome (HP-S). Methods: Structured content analysis by two independent and masked raters explored whether the composite AI-narratives would: (a) cover each encounter type, (b) map to the SSE’s Rasch hierarchy of anomalous perceptions, (c) show an average SSE score, and (d) reference the five recognition patterns of HP-S. Results: We found moderate evidence of a core encounter phenomenon underlying the AI-narratives. Every encounter type was represented by an AI-generated description that readily mapped to the SSE, albeit their contents showed only fair believability and low but generally positive correlations with each other. The narratives also corresponded to below-average SSE scores and referenced at least one HP-S recognition pattern. Conclusions: Prototypical depictions of entity encounter experiences based on popular source material certainly approximate, yet not fully match, the phenomenology of their real-life counterparts. We discuss the implications of these outcomes for future studies.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 15-07-2013
Abstract: Despite well-publicized exceptions, women are the minority in the highest levels of executive leadership—a phenomenon traditionally attributed to workplace barriers collectively termed the glass ceiling. Newer research, however, increasingly implicates self-imposed barriers to women’s advancement. This suggests that barriers to women might be undergoing a “shift” whereby personal priorities hold greater influence over advancement opportunities than do traditional workplace barriers. We tested this notion via an online survey of fifty-four male and forty-five female global industry leaders. Two main findings emerged. First, contrary to traditional stereotypes, men and women held essentially the same views on career and home life. Second, data revealed that men and women emphasized self-imposed barriers over workplace barriers as the major obstacles to women’s advancement. The most common self-imposed barriers involved family and household responsibilities holding a higher priority, as well as work–life balance, whereas the most prominent workplace barriers were lack of mentoring, lack of careful career planning, stereotyping, and perception of feminine traits. We argue that the “glass ceiling” is now predominantly a misnomer and that the current challenges to advancement are best characterized as an “invisible obstacle course” whereby organizations inadvertently fail in helping women to successfully manage their self-imposed barriers via a lack of active leadership development.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 07-2013
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 29-10-2020
Abstract: Tourism-hospitality businesses sometimes market consumer experiences in terms of “enchantment,” although this phrase is often used vaguely or variously. Therefore, we approached the issue conceptually by examining prior research on the experience economy, extraordinary architectural experiences, and accounts of paranormal tourism. Our critical overview suggests that we are dealing with a phenomenon rooted in environment-person bidirectional (or enactive) effects. We subsequently argue for the term “situational-enchantment” to denote a distinct and progressive arousal state characterized by dis-ease or dissonance that facilitates a sense of connection or oneness with a “transcendent agency, ultimate reality, or Other.” An iterative Content Category Dictionary exercise based on target literature specifically mapped this hypothesized state in terms of five competing features: (a) Emotional, (b) Sensorial, (c) Timeless, (d) Rational, and (e) Transformative. We frame this phenomenology within Funder’s Realistic Accuracy Model, which we propose drives an epiphanic process involving attentional, perceptual, attributional, and social mechanisms. Our synthesis of the multidisciplinary literature in this domain helps to clarify the nature and relevance of enchantment as an in idual difference that varies across people and is subject to a variety of contextual influences. Accordingly, we discuss how this hypothesized state can be manipulated to an extent within certain people by creating or reinforcing conditions that spur experiential and rational engagement with ambiguous or unexpected stimuli.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 12-2003
DOI: 10.2466/PR0.2003.93.3.687
Abstract: Previous theoretical and empirical work leads to a prediction that the developmental sequelae of childhood trauma may be risk factors in the development of transliminality. 106 undergraduate students completed the Revised Transliminality Scale and the Survey of Traumatic Childhood Events. In support of the prediction, scores on the Revised Transliminality Scale correlated .39 ( p .001) with the total scores on the index of childhood trauma. Follow-up analyses suggested that various sorts of childhood trauma could be interpreted for this group as related to transliminality: having one's house destroyed, robbed, or vandalized being struck by someone within or outside the family being yelled and screamed at by a caregiver witnessing the physical abuse of a parent and sexual abuse. Longitudinal study is required to sharpen evidence.
Publisher: Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)
Date: 09-1997
DOI: 10.1097/00005053-199709000-00009
Abstract: Both rodents and primates have evolved to orchestrate food intake to maintain thermal homeostasis in coping with ambient temperature challenges. However, the mechanisms underlying temperature-coordinated feeding behavior are rarely reported. Here we find that a non-canonical feeding center, the anteroventral and periventricular portions of medial preoptic area (apMPOA) respond to altered dietary states in mice. Two neighboring but distinct neuronal populations in apMPOA mediate feeding behavior by receiving anatomical inputs from external and dorsal subnuclei of lateral parabrachial nucleus. While both populations are glutamatergic, the arcuate nucleus-projecting neurons in apMPOA can sense low temperature and promote food intake. The other type, the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus (PVH)-projecting neurons in apMPOA are primarily sensitive to high temperature and suppress food intake. Caspase ablation or chemogenetic inhibition of the apMPOA→PVH pathway can eliminate the temperature dependence of feeding. Further projection-specific RNA sequencing and fluorescence in situ hybridization identify that the two neuronal populations are molecularly marked by galanin receptor and apelin receptor. These findings reveal unrecognized cell populations and circuits of apMPOA that orchestrates feeding behavior against thermal challenges.
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Date: 03-2019
DOI: 10.1037/CNS0000153
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 21-10-2019
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Date: 09-2021
DOI: 10.1037/SCP0000251
Publisher: Society for Scientific Exploration
Date: 11-02-2023
DOI: 10.31275/20222777
Abstract: This year brought a whirlwind of learnings, so my warmest thanks to the SSE leadership and JSE editorial team for actively supporting my adjustment to the Editor-in-Chief role. I want to especially acknowledge the production efforts of our stalwart Managing Editor Kathleen Erickson, as well as the selfless and continuing mentorship from the prior editor Stephen Braude. Extremely helpful discussions and guidance also came from colleagues, including Garret Moddel, Julia Mossbridge, Brian Laythe, Mark Rodeghier, Daniel Sheehan, and Michael Sudduth. Their periodic calibrations were much needed and greatly appreciated. Of course, tremendous gratitude goes to the Associate Editors for doing the heavy “thinking and lifting” of evaluating submissions and facilitating quality reviews on a deadline. The time and energy associated with their work can neither be overstated nor overappreciated. This excellent group of scientific advisors likewise challenges me in many ways that enhance my perspective and hopefully my performance—so bravo to Imants Barušs, Jeremy Drake, Álex Escolà-Gascón, Hartmut Grote, Rense Lange, Brian Laythe, James G. Matlock, Julia Mossbridge, Roger Nelson, Mark Rodeghier, Paul Smith, Harald Walach, and N. C. Wickramasinghe.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 09-1998
DOI: 10.3758/BF03200673
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2000
Publisher: Society for Scientific Exploration
Date: 22-05-2022
DOI: 10.31275/20222451
Abstract: The popularity of ‘survival-related’ research over recent years has been accompanied by critical discussions by parapsychologists (e.g., Cunningham, 2012 Roll, 2006 Sudduth, 2009), as well as intense debates between advocates and skeptics (see e.g., Journal of Parapsychology, 80, pp. 169-264). Of course, these are not unexpected trends with highly controversial topics that can also challenge the belief systems of investigators and commentators. The correspondence below thus underscores the importance of methodology and rules of evidence relative to reincarnation-type cases.
No related grants have been discovered for James Houran.