Book report: Parapsychology Today -- Research Methodology c. 1968

Parapsychology Today (C) 1968 by Rhine and Brier

Background Information: If you're looking for more hard science in your ESP research, this is the book for you. This book is a compilation of research papers and discussions performed under the auspices of the Rhine Research center, an independent facility originally part of Duke University (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhine_Research_Center). 

The theme that runs through almost all of the experiments is on testing methodology, since psychic powers have some unusual elements to consider. How do you quantify results to tell whether someone is psychically perceiving the unknowable, or just guessing? Guessing, it turns out, produces a random average of about 50%, so you'd imagine subjects with psychic perceptions would score above 50%. They do, but strangely, so do subjects that score consistently below average. So the data has to be screened for variance from the mean, not just percentages. And then there seems to be a change in accuracy to do with the duration of the testing. (If you've taken any college psych courses, you probably suffered through some obtuse discussions of testing methods, so you'll find this applied demonstration of the method very edifying). 

Of course, there are descriptions of the specific experiments including psychokinesis, precognition and so forth, and also the way that an individual's beliefs if the possibility of psychic powers affected their test scores. (It seems "sheep" adamantly believe in psychic power, and score higher than "goats" who are unbelievers). Gender differences were also explored in regard to the type of results. 

The final part of the book includes transcripts and papers presented at panel discussions on the topics of the future of Paranormal Research and advice to students considering going into the field.