The coverage of parapsychology in introductory psychology textbooks: 1990-2002

Journal of Parapsychology, The, Spring, 2003 by James McClenon, Miguel Roig, Matthew D. Smith, Gillian Ferrier

Table 4 lists thejournals most often used as publication outlets by authors cited within the 2002 texts. Discussion of the ganzfeld controversy in Psychological Bulletin accounted for 63 citations. Authors publishing in the popular, nonrefereed Skeptical Inquirer were cited 58 times, whereas those publishing in the Journal of Parapsychology were cited only 22 times. Frequent citation from the Skeptical Inquirer reveals political and rhe torical qualities within scientific education because this nonreferred publication advocates particular skeptical positions (Collins & Pinch, 1982; McClenon, 1984).

USE OF TERMINOLOGY

Roig et al. (1991) noted that only 8 (19%) of the 1980s texts covering parapsychology mentioned that psi was the term generally used to refer to the various phenomena studied by parapsychologists. In the 1990s review, 8 (29%) of the sample texts mentioned psi. In the 2002 sample, 12 books (36%) referred to psi. Most texts identified the various forms of psi (e.g., telepathy, clairvoyance) and explained that psi referred to processes of information or energy transfer that were not currently explained in terms of known physical mechanisms. The term was therefore used appropriately to cover all of the following: ESP, telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, and psychokinesis (PK). Authors of some textbooks, however, used the term psi incorrectly. For example, the authors of one 199 Os text and one 2002 text equated psi with ESP. One 1990s text incorrectly stated that ESP (and therefore psi) experiences fell into four general categories: telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, and out-of-body experiences. Authors of two 1990s texts incorrectly stated that PK was a type of ESP.

CRITICISMS OF PARAPSYCHOLOGY

All textbooks discussed criticisms of parapsychological research. The 1990s texts most often referred to Hyman's (1985, 1994) critiques when discussing ganzfeld research, commenting that there was still debate over the adequacy of experimental control and replicability of the findings. Twenty-one of the 2002 texts discussing parapsychology reviewed Milton and Wiseman's (1999) analysis of failures to replicate ganzfeld experiments. Many authors drew skeptical conclusions. For example, Wade and Tavris (2000, p. 182) stated, "The history of research on psychic phenomena has been one of initial enthusiasm followed by disappointment when research cannot be replicated, and the thousands of studies done since the 1940s have failed to make a convincing case for ESP."

Texts often discussed fraud in reference to claims by self-proclaimed psychics. This feature was central to many texts' discussions of psi. In the 1990s sample, 14 texts (44%) mentioned fraud as a reason to be skeptical of parapsychological findings. Although 9 of the 2002 books mentioned fraud by research subjects, these texts placed greater emphasis on psychic performers rather than subjects within experiments. James Randi, who attempts to debunk these individuals, was cited in 15 books (45% of the 2002 texts discussing parapsychology).