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Overview
Parapsychology is defined as ‘the scientific study of the capacity attributed to some individuals to interact with their environment by means other than the recognised sensorimotor channels’. The neutral term ‘psi’ is used to denote this hypothesised capacity. Further information on parapsychology's terminology can be found on the Resources page.
At the KPU, we have always taken an interdisciplinary approach to parapsychology. Our work falls into four main areas:
This work tests the claim that people have paranormal abilities such as extrasensory perception (ESP) and psychokinesis (PK).
This work explores the reasons why people often misinterpret normal experiences as paranormal ones. Included here is research into deliberate deception and self-deception.
This work explores the causes and consequences of people’s paranormal beliefs and experiences, and the ways in which beliefs about the paranormal are warranted.
This work examines how the phenomena associated with parapsychology and its predecessors (mesmerism, spiritualism, and psychical research) have been reported and investigated in the context of wider debates about science and society.
Use the menu above to find out more about each of these topics.
Latest Research News
October 2012: For information about Dr Watt's research into the psychology and parapsychology of precognitive dream experiences, funded by the Perrott-Warrick Fund, please click here.
July 2010: Dr Caroline Watt has been awarded the position of Perrott-Warrick Senior Researcher. This will support a three-year programme of research into precognitive dream experiences. If you believe that you experience dreams of future events and are interested in taking part in this research, please contact Dr Watt.
