portant researches in parapsychology were done with a very clear
concept of rule and method in mind. Pioneer workers are likely
to be rule makers and even rule breakers rather than rule followers. This we anticipate will continue to be the case. The
value of these methods, then, as formulated, is to provide an
advantageous start for those who wish to begin as far up toward
the front as possible, for most of whom psi testing must remain a
matter incidental to other professional practice and work. Those
who will be drawn further into the depth of parapsychological
investigation as a professional career will, in due time, take these
more basic procedures as points of departure for such advances
as their own fresh inquiries will demand. Yet even for them the
benefits of already prepared basic methods will neither be lost nor
forgotten.Fourth, in emphasizing the need for certain standardized tests
we do not (as we have said) mean to discourage innovations as
far as these prove interesting and useful. The point that most
needs emphasizing for the research worker in parapsychology is
the importance of giving free rein to his own inventive genius in
the development of new and perhaps better devices of inquiry.
Perhaps most important of all in this connection is the psychological need of the experimenter himself to experience the enjoyment of breaking new ground. In the same breath, then, that the
importance of first becoming acquainted with standard, established procedure is emphasized, can be stressed with equal force
the need to advance beyond mere repetition. The experimenter
needs to move ahead one step at a time, all the while introducing
fresh novelty into every progressive effort.
Additional Reading
| KAHN S. D.: "Studies in extrasensory perception". Proc. Am. Soc. Psychical Res., 25:1-48, 1952. | |
| RHINE J. B.: "Requirements and suggestions for an ESP test machine". J. Parapsychol., 3:3-10, 1939. | |
| SCHERER W.: "Spontaneity as a factor in ESP". J. Parapsychol., 12:126- 147, 1948. | |
| STUART C. E., and PRATT J. G.: A Handbook for Testing Extrasensory Perception. New York, Farrar and Rhinehart, 1937. |
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Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication information:
Book title: Parapsychology, Frontier Science of the Mind:A Survey of the Field, the Methods, and the Facts of ESP and PK Research.
Contributors: J. B. Rhine - Author, J. G. Pratt - Author.
Publisher: Charles C Thomas.
Place of publication: Springfield, IL.
Publication year: 1957.
Page number: 168.
This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means.
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