Editing Parapsychology (section)

===Early psychical research===
[[File:Henry Slade with Zöllner.png|thumb|upright|[[Henry Slade (medium)|Henry Slade]] with [[Johann Karl Friedrich Zöllner]]]]
In 1853, chemist [[Robert Hare (chemist)|Robert Hare]] conducted experiments with [[Mediumship|mediums]] and reported positive results.<ref>{{cite book|first=Terence|last=Hines|author-link=Terence Hines|title=Pseudoscience and the Paranormal|publisher=[[Prometheus Books]]|location=Amherst, NY|pages=50–52|date=2003|isbn=1573929794}}</ref> Other researchers such as [[Frank Podmore]] highlighted flaws in his experiments, such as lack of controls to prevent trickery.<ref>[[Frank Podmore|Podmore, Frank]]. (1897). ''Studies in Psychical Research''. G. P. Putnam's Sons. pp. 48–49</ref><ref>[[Frank Podmore|Podmore, Frank]]. (1902). ''Modern Spiritualism: A History and a Criticism''. Methuen Publishing. pp. 234–235</ref> [[Agenor de Gasparin]] conducted early experiments into [[table-tipping]]. For five months in 1853, he declared the experiments a success, being the result of an "[[ectenic force]]". Critics noted that the conditions were insufficient to prevent trickery. For example, the sitters may have moved the table with their knees, and no experimenter was simultaneously watching above and below the table.<ref>[[Frank Podmore|Podmore, Frank]]. (1897). ''Studies in Psychical Research''. New York: Putnam. p. 47</ref>

The German [[Astrophysics|astrophysicist]] [[Johann Karl Friedrich Zöllner]] tested the medium [[Henry Slade (medium)|Henry Slade]] in 1877. According to Zöllner, some of the experiments were successful.<ref>[[Gordon Stein|Stein, Gordon]]. (1996). ''The Encyclopedia of the Paranormal''. Prometheus Books. p. 703. {{ISBN|1573920215}} "Slade succeeded only on tests that allowed easy trickery, such of producing knots in cords that had their ends tied together and the knot sealed, putting wooden rings on a table leg, and removing coins from sealed boxes. He failed utterly on tests that did not permit deception. He was unable to reverse the spirals of snail shells. He could not link two wooden rings, one of oak, the other of alder. He could not knot an endless ring cut from a bladder, or put a piece of candle inside a closed glass bulb. He failed to change the optical handedness of tartaric dex-tro to levo. These tests would have been easy to pass if Slade's spirit controls had been able to take an object into the fourth dimension, then return it after making the required manipulations. Such successes would have created marvelous PPOs (permanent paranormal objects), difficult for skeptics to explain. Zöllner wrote an entire book in praise of Slade. Titled ''Transcendental Physics'' (1878), it was partly translated into English in 1880 by spiritualist [[Charles Carleton Massey]]. The book is a classic of childlike gullibility by a scientist incapable of devising adequate controls for testing paranormal powers."</ref> However, flaws in the experiments were discovered, and critics have suggested that Slade was a fraud who performed trickery in the experiments.<ref>[[John Mulholland (magician)|Mulholland, John]]. (1938). ''Beware Familiar Spirits''. C. Scribner's Sons. pp. 111–112. {{ISBN|978-1111354879}}</ref><ref>[[Ray Hyman|Hyman, Ray]]. (1989). ''The Elusive Quarry: A Scientific Appraisal of Psychical Research''. Prometheus Books. p. 209. {{ISBN|0879755040}} "In the case of Zöllner's investigations of Slade, not only do we know that Slade was exposed before and after his sessions with Zöllner, but also there is ample reason to raise questions about the adequacy of the investigation. [[Hereward Carrington|Carrington]] (1907), [[Frank Podmore|Podmore]] (1963), and [[Eleanor Mildred Sidgwick|Mrs. Sidgwick]] (1886–87) are among a number of critics who have uncovered flaws and loopholes in Zöllner's sittings with Slade."</ref>

The [[Society for Psychical Research]] (SPR) was founded in [[London]] in 1882. Its formation was the first systematic effort to organize scientists and scholars to investigate paranormal phenomena. Early membership included [[Philosophy|philosophers]], scholars, scientists, educators and [[politician]]s, such as [[Henry Sidgwick]], [[Arthur Balfour]], [[William Crookes]], [[Rufus Osgood Mason]], and Nobel Laureate [[Charles Richet]].<ref name=Beloff>{{Cite book|last=Beloff |first=John |title=Handbook of parapsychology |publisher=Van Nostrand Reinhold |year=1977 |isbn=978-0442295769}}</ref> Presidents of the Society included, in addition to Richet, [[Eleanor Mildred Sidgwick|Eleanor Sidgwick]] and [[William James]], and subsequently Nobel Laureates [[Henri Bergson]] and [[Lord Rayleigh]], and philosopher [[C. D. Broad]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Past Presidents|url=http://www.spr.ac.uk/page/past-presidents-parapsychology|publisher=Society for Psychical Research|access-date=21 August 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150223112644/http://www.spr.ac.uk/page/past-presidents-parapsychology|archive-date=23 February 2015}}</ref>

Areas of study included [[telepathy]], [[hypnotism]], [[Odic force|Reichenbach's phenomena]], [[apparitional experiences|apparitions]], [[hauntings]], and the physical aspects of [[Spiritualism (religious movement)|Spiritualism]] such as [[table-tilting]], [[Materialization (paranormal)|materialization]], and [[Apport (paranormal)|apportation]].<ref>Thurschwell, Pamela. (2004). ''Literature, Technology and Magical Thinking, 1880–1920''. Cambridge University Press. p. 16. {{ISBN|0521801680}}</ref><ref>McCorristine, Shane. (2010). ''Spectres of the Self: Thinking about Ghosts and Ghost-Seeing in England, 1750–1920''. Cambridge University Press. p. 114. {{ISBN|978-0521767989}}</ref> In the 1880s, the Society investigated apparitional experiences and [[Anomalous experiences|hallucinations in the sane]]. Among the first important works was the two-volume publication in 1886, ''[[Phantasms of the Living]]'', which was largely criticized by scholars.<ref>Douglas, Alfred. (1982). ''Extra-Sensory Powers: A Century of Psychical Research''. Overlook Press. p. 76. {{ISBN|978-0879511609}} "Phantasms of the Living was criticized by a number of scholars when it appeared, one ground for the attack being the lack of written testimony regarding the apparitions composed shortly after they had been seen. In many instances several years had elapsed between the occurrence and a report of it being made to the investigators from the SPR."</ref> In 1894, the ''Census of Hallucinations'' was published which sampled 17,000 people. Out of these, 1,684 persons admitted to having experienced a hallucination of an apparition.<ref>Williams, William F. (2000). ''Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience: From Alien Abductions to Zone Therapy''. Routledge. p. 49. {{ISBN|1579582079}}</ref> The SPR became the model for similar societies in other European countries and the United States during the late 19th century.

Early [[clairvoyance]] experiments were reported in 1884 by [[Charles Richet]]. Playing cards were enclosed in envelopes, and a subject was put under hypnosis to identify them. The subject was reported to have succeeded in a series of 133 trials, but the results dropped to the chance level when performed before a group of scientists in Cambridge. J. M. Peirce and [[Edward Charles Pickering|E. C. Pickering]] reported a similar experiment in which they tested 36 subjects over 23,384 trials, which did not obtain above-chance scores.<ref name="Hansel 1985">[[C. E. M. Hansel]]. ''The Search for a Demonstration of ESP''. In [[Paul Kurtz]]. (1985). ''A Skeptic's Handbook of Parapsychology''. Prometheus Books. pp. 97–127. {{ISBN|0879753005}}</ref>

In 1881, [[Eleanor Mildred Sidgwick|Eleanor Sidgwick]] revealed the fraudulent methods that [[Spirit photography|spirit photographer]]s such as [[Édouard Isidore Buguet]], [[Frederick Hudson (photographer)|Frederic Hudson]], and [[William H. Mumler]] had utilized.<ref>Edmunds, Simeon. (1966). ''Spiritualism: A Critical Survey''. Aquarian Press. p. 115. {{ISBN|978-0850300130}} "The early history of spirit photography was reviewed by Mrs Henry Sidgwick in the Proceedings of the SPR in 1891. She showed clearly not only that Mumler, Hudson, Buguet and their ilk were fraudulent, but the way in which those who believed in them were deceived."</ref> During the late nineteenth century, many fraudulent mediums were exposed by SPR investigators.<ref>Moreman, Christopher M. (2010). ''Beyond the Threshold: Afterlife Beliefs and Experiences in World Religions''. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. p. 163. {{ISBN|978-0742562288}} "SPR investigators quickly found that many mediums were indeed, as skeptics had alleged, operating under cover of darkness in order to perpetrate scams. They used a number of tricks facilitated by darkness: sleight of hand was used to manipulate objects and touch people eager to make contact with deceased loved ones; flour or white lines would give the illusion of spectral white hands or faces; accomplices were even stashed under tables or in secret rooms to lend support in the plot... As the investigations of the SPR, and other skeptics, were made public, many fraudulent mediums saw their careers ruined and many unsuspecting clients were enraged at the deception perpetrated."</ref>

Largely due to the support of psychologist [[William James]], the [[American Society for Psychical Research]] (ASPR) opened its doors in [[Boston]] in 1885, moving to [[New York City]] in 1905 under the leadership of [[James H. Hyslop]].<ref name="Berger">{{Cite book |last=Berger |first=Arthur S. |author2=Berger, Joyce |title=The Encyclopedia of Parapsychology and Psychical Research |publisher=Paragon House Publishers |year=1991 |isbn=978-1557780430 |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofpa00berg }}</ref> Notable cases investigated by [[Walter Franklin Prince]] of the ASPR in the early 20th century included [[Pierre L. O. A. Keeler]], the [[Great Amherst Mystery]] and [[Patience Worth]].<ref>Larsen, Egon. (1966). ''The Deceivers: Lives of the Great Imposters''. Roy Publishers. pp. 130–132</ref><ref>Berger, Arthur S. (1988). ''Lives and Letters in American Parapsychology: A Biographical History'', 1850–1987. McFarland. pp. 75–107. {{ISBN|978-0899503455}}</ref>