Editing Parapsychology (section)

=== Fraud ===
[[File:James Randi crop.jpg|thumb|right|[[Magic (illusion)|Stage magician]] and [[scientific skeptic|skeptic]] [[James Randi]] has demonstrated that [[Magic (illusion)|magic tricks]] can simulate or duplicate some supposedly psychic phenomena.]]

There have been instances of [[fraud]] in the history of parapsychology research.<ref>[[Henry Gordon (magician)|Henry Gordon]]. (1988). ''Extrasensory Deception: ESP, Psychics, Shirley MacLaine, Ghosts, UFOs''. Macmillan of Canada. p. 13. {{ISBN|0771595395}} "The history of parapsychology, of psychic phenomena, has been studded with fraud and experimental error."</ref> In the late 19th century, the [[Creery Sisters]] (Mary, Alice, Maud, Kathleen, and Emily) were tested by the [[Society for Psychical Research]] and believed them to have genuine psychic ability; however, during a later experiment they were caught utilizing signal codes and they confessed to fraud.<ref>[[Ray Hyman|Hyman, Ray]]. (1989). ''The Elusive Quarry: A Scientific Appraisal of Psychical Research''. Prometheus Books. pp. 99–106. {{ISBN|0879755040}}</ref><ref>[[Gordon Stein|Stein, Gordon]]. (1996). ''The Encyclopedia of the Paranormal''. Prometheus Books. p. 688. {{ISBN|1573920215}}]</ref> [[George Albert Smith (film pioneer)|George Albert Smith]] and [[Douglas Blackburn]] were claimed to be genuine psychics by the Society for Psychical Research, but Blackburn confessed to fraud:

{{blockquote|For nearly thirty years the telepathic experiments conducted by Mr. G. A. Smith and myself have been accepted and cited as the basic evidence of the truth of thought transference...

...the whole of those alleged experiments were bogus, and originated in the honest desire of two youths to show how easily men of scientific mind and training could be deceived when seeking for evidence in support of a theory they were wishful to establish.<ref>Andrew Neher. (2011). ''Paranormal and Transcendental Experience: A Psychological Examination'' Dover Publications. p. 220. {{ISBN|0486261670}}</ref>}}

The experiments of [[Samuel Soal]] and [[K. M. Goldney]] of 1941–1943 (suggesting the precognitive ability of a single participant) were long regarded as some of the best in the field because they relied upon independent checking and witnesses to prevent fraud. However, many years later, statistical evidence, uncovered and published by other parapsychologists in the field, suggested that Soal had cheated by altering some of the raw data.<ref name=Alcock81/>{{rp|140–141}}<ref name=Haskell>{{Cite journal|last=Scott |first=C. |author2=Haskell, P. |title="Normal" Explanation of the Soal-Goldney Experiments in Extrasensory Perception |journal=Nature |volume=245 |issue=5419 |pages=52–54 |year=1973 |bibcode=1973Natur.245...52S |doi=10.1038/245052a0|s2cid=4291294 }}</ref><ref>Betty Markwick. (1985). ''The establishment of data manipulation in the Soal-Shackleton experiments''. In [[Paul Kurtz]]. ''A Skeptic's Handbook of Parapsychology''. Prometheus Books. pp. 287–312. {{ISBN|0879753005}}</ref>

In 1974, many experiments by Walter J. Levy, J. B. Rhine's successor as director of the Institute for Parapsychology, were exposed as fraudulent.<ref name="McBurney 2009">McBurney, Donald H; White, Theresa L. (2009). ''Research Methods''. Wadsworth Publishing. p. 60. {{ISBN|0495602191}}</ref> Levy had reported on a series of successful ESP experiments involving computer-controlled manipulation of non-human subjects, including rats. His experiments showed very high positive results. However, Levy's fellow researchers became suspicious about his methods. They found that Levy interfered with data-recording equipment, manually creating fraudulent strings of positive results. Levy confessed to the fraud and resigned.<ref name="McBurney 2009"/><ref>Neher, Andrew. (2011). ''Paranormal and Transcendental Experience: A Psychological Examination''. Dover Publications. p. 144. {{ISBN|0486261670}}</ref>

In 1974, Rhine published the paper ''Security versus Deception in Parapsychology'' in the [[Journal of Parapsychology]], which documented 12 cases of fraud that he had detected from 1940 to 1950 but refused to give the names of the participants in the studies.<ref>Philip John Tyson, Dai Jones, Jonathan Elcock. (2011). ''Psychology in Social Context: Issues and Debates''. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 199. {{ISBN|978-1405168236}}</ref> [[Massimo Pigliucci]] has written:

<blockquote>Most damning of all, Rhine admitted publicly that he had uncovered at least twelve instances of dishonesty among his researchers in a single decade, from 1940 to 1950. However, he flaunted standard academic protocol by refusing to divulge the names of the fraudsters, which means that there is unknown number of published papers in the literature that claim paranormal effects while in fact they were the result of conscious deception.<ref>[[Massimo Pigliucci]]. (2010). ''Nonsense on Stilts: How to Tell Science from Bunk''. University of Chicago Press. p. 82. {{ISBN|978-0226667867}}</ref></blockquote>

[[Martin Gardner]] claimed to have inside information that files in Rhine's laboratory contain material suggesting fraud on the part of [[Hubert Pearce]].<ref name="Frazier pp. 168-170">[[Kendrick Frazier]]. (1991). ''The Hundredth Monkey: And Other Paradigms of the Paranormal''. Prometheus Books. pp. 168–170. {{ISBN|978-0879756550}}</ref> Pearce was never able to obtain above-chance results when persons other than the experimenter were present during an experiment, making it more likely that he was cheating in some way. Rhine's other subjects could only obtain non-chance levels when they could shuffle the cards, which suggested they used tricks to arrange the order of the [[Zener cards]] before the experiments started.<ref>Lawrie Reznek. (2010). ''Delusions and the Madness of the Masses''. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 54. {{ISBN|978-1442206052}}</ref>

A researcher from [[Tarkio College]] in Missouri, James D. MacFarland, was suspected of falsifying data to achieve positive psi results.<ref name="Frazier pp. 168-170"/> Before the fraud was discovered, MacFarland published two articles in the ''Journal of Parapsychology'' (1937 & 1938) supporting the existence of ESP.<ref name=MacFarland01-1937>{{Cite journal|title=Extra-sensory perception of normal and distorted symbols|journal=Journal of Parapsychology |date=June 1937 |first=J.D.|last=McFarland |issue= 2|pages=93–101 }}</ref><ref name=MacFarland02-1938>{{Cite journal|title=Discrimination shown between experimenters by subjects|journal=Journal of Parapsychology |date=September 1938 |first=James D.|last=McFarland |issue=3 |pages=160–170 }}</ref> Presumably speaking about MacFarland, Louisa Rhine wrote that in reviewing the data submitted to the lab in 1938, the researchers at the Duke Parapsychology Lab recognized the fraud. "...before long they were all certain that Jim had consistently falsified his records... To produce extra hits, Jim had to resort to erasures and transpositions in the records of his call series."<ref>Louisa Rhine. (1983). ''Something Hidden''. McFarland & Company. p. 226. {{ISBN|978-0786467549}}</ref> MacFarland never published another article in the Journal of Parapsychology after the fraud was discovered.

Some instances of fraud amongst [[Spiritualism (movement)|spiritualist]] [[Mediumship|mediums]] were exposed by early psychical researchers such as [[Richard Hodgson (parapsychologist)|Richard Hodgson]]<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A040457b.htm |title=Hodgson, Richard (1855–1905) Biographical Entry |access-date=2007-08-03 |publisher=Australian Dictionary of Biography, Online Edition|chapter=Hodgson, Richard (1855–1905) }}</ref> and [[Harry Price]].<ref>[[Mary Roach]]. (2010). ''[[Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife]]''. Canongate Books Ltd. pp. 122–130. {{ISBN|978-1847670809}}</ref> In the 1920s, [[Magic (illusion)|magician]] and escapologist [[Harry Houdini]] said that researchers and observers had not created experimental procedures that preclude fraud.<ref name=Houdini>{{Cite book|last=Houdini |first=Harry |title=A Magician Among the Spirits |publisher=Arno Press |year=1987 |isbn=978-0809480708}}</ref>