By J.E. Kennedy
ABSTRACT: An emerging and potentially important strategy in parapsychological research has researchers openly discuss how their personal psi experiences have influenced their thinking about psi.  The present paper discusses characteristics of psi based on research findings supplemented by the author's personal psi experiences and professional experiences outside of parapsychology.  Psi experiences tend to inspire a worldview that is more interconnected, purposeful, and/or spiritual.  The change in worldview may be the primary function of psi.  The great majority of spontaneous psi experiences do not change the outcome of events or have other tangible, practical benefits.  Situations that involve strong motivations may be convenient vehicles for this transformative function rather than indicating that psi is directed by other human motivations as traditionally assumed in parapsychology.  Examination of one of the author's experiences that had a clear practical benefit revealed that the benefit could have been achieved more easily in a less dramatic and less conspicuously paranormal manner.  The possibility that psi is guided by factors other than the motivations of the people involved is suggested by the recurring theme that psi appears to be "self-obscuring" and by cases when psi experiences change a person's life direction.  The occurrence of psi varies greatly among individuals and appears to reflect substantial innate or genetic differences.  Transpersonal research methods may provide valuable insights into these aspects of psi.

As numerous writers have pointed out, the lack of understanding of the basic nature of psi phenomena presents several fundamental dilemmas and questions for parapsychology:

1. Psi is assumed to be directed by human motivation and intention (Braud & Schlitz, 1991; Ehrenwald, 1984; Rhine, 1964; Stanford, 1993), but at the same time, many psi effects are described as nonintentional (Stanford, 1993; Weiner & Geller, 1984), and the basic role or function of psi in human life is not understood (Beloff, 1994; Broughton, 1988).

2. It has not been established whether psi is a basic capacity that all people share or if it is a special ability limited to certain individuals (Braude, 1992; Broughton, 1988).

3. Parapsychology has a long-standing approach-avoidance relationship with religion and spirituality; on the one hand, suggesting that psi offers evidence for an expanded view of human potential and interconnectedness, (Rhine, 1966; Tart, 1997a, 1997b), while on the other hand, carefully avoiding or ignoring the central possibility that a higher intelligence or power may influence peoples' lives in a way that manifests as psi.

These dilemmas and questions may contribute to the lack of scientific recognition for parapsychology.  Rather than offering a coherent concept with supporting data, the field is usually presented as being at the very early stages of understanding the phenomena—in spite of over a century of research.  The speculations about the nature and functions of psi vary widely among parapsychological writers and have little empirical support.

Rhea White (1990, 1988) has suggested that valuable insights on the nature and function of psi may come from scientists examining the role of psi in their own lives and professional activities.  Several researchers have presented information in line with this suggestion (Blackmore, 1992; Braud, 1994; Grosso, 1990; Harary, 1992; Irwin, 1990; McClenon, 1991; Targ & Katra, 1998; Vilenskaya, 1991; Ulman, 1995; White, 1994a).  Rather than being a basic change in research strategy, this may be a matter of more openly discussing what has always been practiced.  For example, Eisenbud (1992) described many ostensible psi experiences in his clinical practice that influenced his thinking about parapsychology, and Stanford (1981) noted that his personal experiences had a role in developing and designing experiments.

In thinking about the dilemmas and questions listed above, I realized that I had definite views on these topics that were based on personal experiences that complimented or provided a context for the research findings.  The present paper describes several of these experiences and key findings from relevant research.  The long-term aftereffects of the experiences are described, as well as the context in which they occurred.  This approach is consistent with White's (1990) recommendations and also with Braud's (1998) strategy of "integral inquiry," which integrates traditional quantitative cause-effect research methods with qualitative research methods and insights from personal experience.  The value of a narrative approach in understanding the meaning and context of experiences is being increasingly recognized in psychology (Sarbin, 1986).  White  (1992, 1993b) has written review essays on narrative approaches that she related to psi research

Psi as Destiny

Sometime in adolescence or before, I developed the conviction that it was my destiny to do research on paranormal phenomena.  I do not know how or when this conviction developed, but it was well established by early high school.  My technical  undergraduate education was selected with this perspective.

During my undergraduate college years, I had many apparent psi experiences that strongly reinforced this interest and sense of destiny.  

One of the first experiences involved efforts to send "life energy" to a friend from high school who was in coma from a brain tumor.  Although I never saw him in the hospital, almost every day for several weeks I would make an effort to establish a "connection" with him and then send "energy."  The sense of a successful connection and energy transfer were related to sensations in the region of my heart.  We had not been close in recent years and my efforts were motivated by a sense of exploration as well as concern.  

One morning as I began this practice, I had a clear inner insight that my efforts were actually holding him back from his own path or destiny.  On that day my efforts focused on transmitting the message that I was ending contact and wished him well with whatever lay ahead for him.  Two days later I learned that he died within a day after this insight.  The close timing between my release of effort and his death from a gradual decline over many weeks, combined with the clarity of the experiences for me, made this seem like more than coincidence.

The primary result of this experience for me was an enhanced appreciation and respect for the different paths or destinies of people, and for a worldview that allows higher purposes and connectedness.  Other than this sense of understanding, I have found no apparent benefit for anyone resulting from this experience.  Of course, it may have significant implications for research on prayer and psychic healing.

During these college years, I also met the only person I have known who had unambiguous psi ability available almost at will.  As part of my explorations, I would periodically get readings from psychics.  The readings were uniformly unimpressive, with little information resulting from my brief, noncommittal answers to the usual probing questions such as "Does the name George mean anything to you?"  At a local spiritualist church, several psychics offered short readings one night each week.  One evening I got in line for a reading from a new psychic who seemed to have an unusual sparkle.  The reading for the person in line before me started with the following exchange (with P being the psychic and R the young man getting the reading):
P: I see you are an artist.
R: Yes.
P: You don't paint, you do sculpture.
R: Yes.
P (emphatically): Why don't you sculpture the tree?
R (very excited): I can't!  It's the landlord's!

Further discussion verified that the primary interest in the young man's life was to be allowed to sculpture a tree in the yard where he lived.

For my reading she made simple, unambiguous statements that accurately described details of where I lived and certain events in my life.  We became friends and I subsequently witnessed many instances of psi in her readings.

The following exchange may give an idea of the tone of these readings.  The person getting the reading was a woman, an experimental psychologist, interested in parapsychological research and visiting from another state.  She and the psychic had never met before, and I arranged the reading.
P: I see that you have a close friend who is a black male.
R: Yes.
P: And he is gay.
R: Yes. What does he do?
P: Well, let’s see. (P looks up momentarily. Then with a radiant smile and complete confidence, she says:) He’s a nightclub entertainer. He plays the piano and does card tricks.
R: I can’t handle this.

P then described his clothes during the performances and his mannerisms, which R verified were correct.

With a few exceptions, these various experiences during and right after college had no tangible benefit or motivation for me other than reaffirming my interest in psychic research and sense of destiny.  The fact that someone could know in detail how my room was laid out and what was happening in my life affirmed that psi phenomena occur, but did not affect my daily life as a student.  The three cases with tangible benefits to myself or to others are described in the Appendix in order to present a more complete picture.  It may also be useful to add that the psychic viewed her ability entirely as God operating through her to help people on their spiritual paths.  She had no interest in research and considered my interest in research as a temporary phase.

After graduating, I expected to do research on paranormal phenomena, but did not know when or how that would happen.  While traveling in the eastern US, I visited the Institute for Parapsychology, and ended up staying and working at the Institute for about six years

The initial conversations with the staff at the Institute for Parapsychology quickly revealed that the key question for any prospective researcher was "Are you a psi-conducive experimenter?"  The situation was described clearly—certain experimenters get positive results and others do not. At the Institute at that time (1973), Jay Levy, Helmut Schmidt, and H. Kanthamani were considered psi-conducive experimenters, whereas Chuck Akers was not.  However, Chuck made useful contributions to statistics and methodology.

The attitude at the Institute seemed to be that successful experimenters were born, not made, whereas successful subjects were made, not born.  J.B. Rhine's writings were explicit on these points.  Rhine and Pratt (1957, p. 133) took the position that "good subjects are not born, but made."  However, for experimenters,
the only rule to follow is that of the old motto: "Pretty is as pretty does."  A psi experimenter is one who, under conditions that insure he is not fooling himself, can get results.  All others should do something they can do well. (p. 132)

The expectation was that unsuccessful experimenters would not be able to develop the ability to become successful.  This principle was consistent with the history of the researchers at the Institute at that time and with lab lore about other researchers.  

Two other initial experiences at the Institute gave me the early impression that parapsychological research was dominated by experimenter effects.  In one of the first experiments I participated in, my task was to try to make a machine driven by an electronic random number generator count up to a high number.  I found the task uninteresting and had little motivation.  On the other hand, the experimenter, Helmut Schmidt, sat beside me and focused intently on the machine.  As it was counting he would say under his breath "go, go, go."  He was very enthusiastic about high counts.  There was little question in my mind that any effects that were produced in these sessions were due to the experimenter.

In addition, a pervasive topic of discussion was whether the effects in Jay Levy's experiments with animals were due to psi by the animals or by the experimenter.  In these experiments gerbils or laboratory rats would receive positive or negative stimulation based on the outcome from an electronic random number generator.  A few months later, Levy was exposed as fraudulently manipulating his experiments (Rhine, 1975).  Despite this setback for animal psi research, the basic issue of experimenter effects in psi research still remained.

Within two years several review articles brought together clear evidence for psi mediated experimenter effects (Kennedy & Taddonio, 1976; White, 1976a, 1976b).  The evidence included: (a) consistent differences among experimenters even when the experimenters did not come in contact with the subjects, such as experiments carried out through the mail; (b) striking evidence that successful experimenters tended to have demonstrated psi abilities when serving as subjects; (c) clear evidence that psi could occur without conscious intention, and the suggestion that psi may operate more effectively in a nonintentional manner, which implies that a typical experiment may provide optimum conditions for experimenter psi; and (d) suggestive evidence that the prevalent mechanism for experimenter effects was not simply due to factors such as the experimenter's tone of voice and mannerisms as traditionally assumed in parapsychology. Regarding the issue of whether the experimenter effects were mediated by psi or by sensory processes, Rosenthal's (1966, 1969) extensive research on experimenter expectancy effects in psychological studies investigated similar processes of subtle communication of expectations through voice and mannerisms.  The available evidence indicated that this type of unconscious subtle communication appeared to be learned, and the experimenters became better at eliciting the expected results from their subjects.  However, the pervasive trend in parapsychology was for declines in psi results across subjects and studies, which suggested a different process for experimenter effects (Kennedy & Taddonio, 1976).

Subsequent developments provide further evidence for experimenter psi.  Experimental outcomes change when the experimenter's interests and intentions change (Kennedy, 2001; Targ, 2001).  Also, studies that attempted to use majority vote or repeated sampling techniques to enhance psi have consistently had significant internal patterns that are consistent with experimenter psi (Kennedy, 1979, 1995).  Further, these internal patterns offer the intriguing suggestion that the psi operated in the most efficient manner possible.  In addition, the  relationships between significance level and sample size in meta-analyses have often been significantly different from what would be expected if the subjects were producing the effect and have been consistent with psi influence by the experimenter (Kennedy, 1994).  However, several factors complicate the interpretation of the meta-analysis results at present.  More recent reviews have continued to support the findings described in the initial experimenter effect reviews (Palmer, 1989a; 1989b; 1997).

The extensive evidence for psi influences on living systems (Braud, 1993, 2000; Braud & Schlitz, 1991) brings into focus the fact that the participants' responses in psi experiments constitute a labile living system that may be subject to psi influence by the experimenter.  In particular, Eisenbud (1992, pp. 87-98) and Braud (1993) summarized evidence for apparent psi influence on a person's decisions and actions.  Following this line of thought, the Gnzfeld and other psi-conducive procedures may establish optimal conditions for experimenter influence rather than bringing out latent psi abilities by the participants.

In a revealing personal anecdote, Palmer (1997) described why he believed that psi by Chuck Honorton contributed to Palmer's getting a direct hit in a ganzfeld session at Honorton's lab.  Palmer experienced an uncharacteristic degree of imagery in this session compared to ganzfeld sessions with other experimenters.  Further, for personal reasons, he was not in a relaxed, comfortable state as normally expected for success with the ganzfeld.

The accumulating evidence has not altered the basic impression that the ability to obtain consistently significant results on psi experiments is largely an innate characteristic and not something that can be learned or developed.  The evidence also (a) raises doubts about whether unselected subjects in psi experiments are the source of psi, and (b) raises the likelihood that experiments by psi-conducive experimenters do not provide true insights into the nature of psi because the experimenters obtain the results they are looking for.

Studies of twins have demonstrated that genetic factors have a substantial role in personality.  A common estimate is that about half of the variation in personality is due to genetic factors (Heath, Cloninger, & Martin, 1994; Stallings, Hewitt, Cloninger, Heath, & Eaves, 1996; Tellegen et al., 1988).  

These genetic factors include characteristics that are related to reports of psi experiences.  The personality characteristics of absorption and hypnotic susceptibility have been found to be associated with psi experiences (Glickson, 1990;  Kennedy, Kanthamani, & Palmer, 1994; Nadon & Kihlstrom, 1987; Richards, 1990; Wilson & Barber, 1983).  Research with twins found that genetics accounted for 50% of the variation among people in absorption (Tellegen et al., 1988) and 64% of the variation in hypnotic susceptibility (Morgan, 1973).  Perhaps more surprising, recent studies have found that genetics accounts for about 30% to 50% of the variation in spirituality factors such as interest in religion (Waller, Kojetin, Bouchard, Lykken, & Tellegen,  1990), personal devotion (Kendler, Gardner, & Prescott, 1997), self-transcendence (Kirk, Eaves, & Martin, 1999), and intrinsic religiosity (Bouchard, McGue, Lykken, & Tellegen, 1999).

These results provide a basis for the hypothesis that psi ability (whether as experimenter or subject) has a substantial innate or genetic component.