Consciousness Monday March 27th 2005



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Monday October first

1) Go Over Test

2) The rough draft of the paper is due on Wednesday October 10th rather than Oct. third. The final draft is now due on November 9th (Friday). Previously Wednesday October 24th was the due date. Half the grade will be awarded for the rough draft and half for the final draft. The two grades taken together count the same as one test. However, the grade for the paper may not be dropped (see drop option/attendance information).. Late papers will be penalized one MAJOR grade for each class late. A paper is late when it is not turned in at the beginning of the class where it is due.

Be aware that the rough draft is a complete paper with at least 12 references (the text does NOT count as a reference) and at least ten FULL pages of text not counting the cover page. The final draft is to take care of corrections. Pictures, graphs, tables, etc. do not count toward your page total.

Attach your writing center Ticket (a new one!) to your paper.

Penalty: A grade of "A" turns into a grade of "B" when the paper is one class late.(APPLIES TO ROUGH & FINAL VERSION)..

NOTE: DO NOT USE QUOTES! Instead, look at the author’s concept that is relevant to your paper, write the concept using your own words and cite the source (Jones, 2007).

Next version of paper due on Nov. 9th. (Friday).

3) Self Hypnosis on Friday—Arrive early—DO NOT ARRIVE AT ALL IF YOU ARE MORE THAN 5 MINUTES LATE.

4) ESP – A bridge between Perception and Consciousness

4)ASSIGNMENT: Read chapter 6 Sensation &Perception

4) Bring in Zener cards

A) PARAPSYCHOLOGY is the scientific study of psi phenomena.

B) PSI is a general term used to identify a person's

extrasensorimotor communication with the environment.

PSI includes ESP & PK.

C) ESP (extrasensory perception) is the experience of,

or response to, a target object, state, event, or influence

without sensory contact.

There are three types of ESP:

a) Clairvoyance -- Extrasensory perception of objects or events.

b) Precognition -- Prediction of random future events the occurrence of which cannot be inferred.

c) Telepathy -- Extrasensory perception of the mental state of activity of another person.

PSYCHOKINESIS is NOT ESP – It is not sensory it is MOTOR

Psychokinesis (PK) is a direct (mental and non-muscular) influence exerted by the subject on an external process, condition, or object.

But what about ghosts and poltergeists life after death and such?

& Even Things That go “Bump”

In The Dark?

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VALIDITY OF the phenomenon:

HOW MANY IN THE CLASS BELIEVE IN THE EXISTENCE OF PSI phenomena?

Does that mean that the phenomena actually exist?

- - - - -- - - - - - -

Around 1972 the American Association for the Advancement of Science accepted the Parapsychological Association into affiliation. AAAS is the scientific organization of scientific organizations. The American Psychological Association, The American Chemical Society, The Acoustical Society of America and many other professional scientific organizations are members of AAAS.

The Parapsychological Association (PA) is the professional organization of Parapsychologists.

The PA was accepted as an affiliate by a large majority of the

membership at the annual meeting. At that meeting a number of very well known scientists spoke in favor (and against) admitting the PA.

After affiliation, Obtaining grant money from federal and

other sources became easier for parapsychologists.

start

Some important research in parapsychology

Personality and psi

Gertrude Schmeidler CCNY City college of NY. -- General

psych students used over a number of years

(source: SCHMEIDLER, ESP & Personality Patterns , Yale University Press, 1958. )

Her work has been replicated and expanded by many researchers in many colleges.

Those who are believers in psi will score above chance (sheep) and those who are non-believers (Goats) will score below chance. Those who feel sick or are unhappy will score below chance and those who are feeling good and are happy will score above chance. (( Results were statistically HIGHLY significant -- and replicated by others including myself.))

Schmeidler used the well known ZENER cards (ESP cards,

Rhine cards)

ZENER was a psychologist who designed the cards for use in perception experiments -- not parapsychology experiments.

Yes, many researchers have obtained statistically significant results indicating that PSI phenomena exist BUT what about replicability of studies -- can different researchers in different places get the same result --- does the research fit together into a logical whole? --- YES!

Schmeidler's work was replicated and extended by many researchers and the personality variables associated with psi phenomena were a consistent factor.

CRITIQUE

But, if you tighten up the controls and make a fraud-proof experiment the psi effect disappears. Doesn't this tell you that the effects obtained are an artifact?

No, because there is no such thing as a fraud-proof experiment. The use of meta-analysis has shown a reliable and replicable non-chance psi effect. And besides, when you tighten up the controls the effect does not disappear.

A book by Rosenthal (of the Rosenthal effect) {describe Rosenthal effect} showed use of META-ANALYSIS to investigate the "lawfulness" of large numbers of related studies by many investigators in many research facilities. This meta- analytic approach has now been applied by Rosenthal (and many others) to certain well studied areas within parapsychology. Meta-analysis is now a standard statistical tool used in the social sciences to evaluate a body of research.

For example, around 600 studies involving the use of psi on the output of

random number generators with computer controlled psychokinesis experiments were investigated. As the "quality" of the study improved the PK effects observed did not decline in significance. Also, the cumulative results of many studies done in many places by many researchers showed that the phenomenon was consistent and even the non-significant results trended in the direction of the significant results obtained in other studies.

Thus, the evidence for the existence of the phenomena is

very strong. However, the Source or causes of the psi phenomena are not known.

Also refer to January 1994 Psychological Bulletin first article by Bem and Honorton on the reality of psi.

Bem, D. J., & Honorton, C. (1994). Does psi exist? Replicable evidence for an anamolous process of information transfer. Psychological Bulletin, 115, 4-18.

The article is located at:



Here is the article’s abstract

Psychological Bulletin

1994, Vol. 115, No. 1, 4-18.

Does Psi Exist?

Replicable Evidence for an Anomalous Process of Information Transfer

Daryl J. Bem and Charles Honorton

Abstract

Most academic psychologists do not yet accept the existence of psi, anomalous processes of information or energy transfer (such as telepathy or other forms of extrasensory perception) that are currently unexplained in terms of known physical or biological mechanisms. We believe that the replication rates and effect sizes achieved by one particular experimental method, the ganzfeld procedure, are now sufficient to warrant bringing this body of data to the attention of the wider psychological community. Competing meta-analyses of the ganzfeld database are reviewed, 1 by R. Hyman (1985), a skeptical critic of psi research, and the other by C. Honorton (1985), a parapsychologist and major contributor to the ganzfeld database. Next the results of 11 new ganzfeld studies that comply with guidelines jointly authored by R. Hyman and C. Honorton (1986) are summarized. Finally, issues of replication and theoretical explanation are discussed.

* * *

The term psi denotes anomalous processes of information or energy transfer, processes such as telepathy or other forms of extrasensory perception that are currently unexplained in terms of known physical or biological mechanisms. The term is purely descriptive: It neither implies that such anomalous phenomena are paranormal nor connotes anything about their underlying mechanisms.

Does psi exist? Most academic psychologists don't think so. A survey of more than 1,100 college professors in the United States found that 55% of natural scientists, 66% of social scientists (excluding psychologists), and 77% of academics in the arts, humanities, and education believed that ESP is either an established fact or a likely possibility. The comparable figure for psychologists was only 34%. Moreover, an equal number of psychologists declared ESP to be an impossibility, a view expressed by only 2% of all other respondents (Wagner &h; Monnet, 1979).

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TOPIC: Major Points in Chapter 5

Pages 148 and 149.

While the author maintains that the circadian rhythm is approximately 24 hours, other studies show that the natural circadian rhythm is approximately 26 to 27 hours per day.

Page 150. Melatonin is a hormone secreted by the pineal gland, which is deep within the brain. Melatonin output increases as light intensity increases, and it falls as light intensity decreases. It appears to be related to peoples’ circadian rhythm.

Page 151. Seasonal affective disorder or SAD, is a form of depression associated with long nights and short days.

Page 157. Changes in EEG pattern associated with stages of sleep. There are four major stages anyway of sleep,

Stage one, which is associated with alpha wave production.

Stage 1 REM which is characterized by stage one outpuy plus rapid eye movements that are recorded separately using electromyogram recordings.

Stage 2 where you get sleep spindles,

Stage 4 where delta waves (slower than alpha waves) appear and;

Stage 4 where there are even more delta waves..

As you shift through the various stages of sleep. You go back and forth, stage 1,2,3, 4 and 4,3,2, 1. A typical sleep cycle lasts about 90 minutes or 1 1/2 hours.

Page 161. The best current evidence for the purpose of sleep and dreaming is that there is a memory consolidation process. If people do not get sufficient sleep, the memory consolidation process is interfered with.

Pages 168 to 172 hypnosis. Hypnosis is best thought of as simply another altered state of consciousness. Dreaming, hypnosis, and, a variety of drugs create an altered state of consciousness.

Pages 174 to 180. The authors of this book, assume a relatively positive stance toward the use of a variety of mind altering drugs. Be cautious about some of the author's positive conclusions in regard to the use of these drugs. Another factor, the authors do not mention is the adulterated versions of some of these drugs. Some of the street drugs can be very dangerous indeed, because they may contain very dangerous chemicals.

Chapter 6 sensation and perception is next.

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TOPIC: Parapsychology LECTURE

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