According to the survivalist interpretation of mediumship, the existence of discarnate persons provides the best explanation for the data associated with physical and mental mediumship. Others—advocates of what is often called the “super-psi hypothesis”—maintain that the data of mediumship may be at least equally explained in terms of living agent psi (ESP and psychokinesis). Many defenders of the survivalist interpretation of mediumship attempt to defl ate the alleged explanatory virtues of the super-psi hypothesis by arguing that the hypothesis is unfalsifi (...) able and lacks independent evidential support. My central contention in this paper is that these frequently encountered survivalist criticisms of the super-psi hypothesis are ultimately self-defeating to the case for survival from mediumship. To show this I first argue in some detail that the survivalist interpretation of mediumship is committed to a kind or degree of psi that is indistinguishable from what is required by the super-psi hypothesis. From this vantage point it can be shown that any attempt to impugn the explanatory virtues of the super-psi hypothesis on account of the kind or degree of psi it requires undercuts the argument for survival itself. (shrink)

According to Reactance Theory (Brehm & Brehm 1981), when an individual's freedom is threatened through some form of coercion, reactance usually sets in. Reactance is "a motivational state aimed at restoring the threatened freedom" (Silvia 2005:277), which may explain the tendency for believers ('sheep') to psi-hit and non-believers ('goats') to psi-miss. In this study, the effect of reactance on psi performance was investigated using Ertel's (2005a, 2005b) Ball Selection Test. It was hypothesized that goats are more reactant than sheep in (...) psi tests because goats are predisposed to disproving the psi hypothesis which requires noncompliance. In a laboratory setting, participants completed up to four runs (60 trials/run) of paranormal target-seeking (trying to predict the numbers on table tennis balls). Hit rate for the whole sample (N = 82) was significant, 21.06% (p =.002), where PMCE = 20%. Participants were randomly assigned to a control condition (n = 42) or treatment condition (n = 40) requiring them to read a statement that induced reactance. A significant reactance effect was found. There was no significant sheep-goat effect, but the relationship between psi-hit rates and sheep-goat scores was significant. Reactant goats scored significantly lower than control sheep, as expected, but not significantly lower than control goats. Pre-test scores on Tension and Confusion, as measured on The Profile of Mood States-Short Form (POMS-SF) (McNair, Lorr, & Droppleman 1971), predicted psi outcomes. Keywords: Ball Selection Test-ESP-PK-reactance-psi-sheep-goat effect. (shrink)

The study of mediums was part of a larger program of psychical research, begun in the late 19th century, intended to examine specifically whether human personality survives bodily death, and more generally whether the brain produces mind or consciousness, as most scientists since the late 19th century have assumed. Although a vast amount of high-quality research resulted from that effort, the study of mediumship was almost completely abandoned during the latter half of the 20th century, primarily because of the impasse (...) reached over whether the phenomena are best-interpreted as attributable to deceased agents or to living agents. In this paper the author examines some types of mediumship research that have been considered particularly important for the survival question: cross-correspondences, drop-in communicators, and proxy cases. She argues that a revival of research on mediumship, particularly with proxy sittings, could contribute importantly to present-day psychical research and, perhaps ultimately, move us beyond the current impasse. Keywords: mediumship--survival--proxy research--cross-correspondences--drop-in communicators. (shrink)