Toward a postmaterialist psychology: Theory, research, and applications

Philippine parapsychology

The many well-documented cases of paranormal phenomena in the Philippines may be interpreted as manifestations of the intuitive and deeply empathic interpersonal dynamics of Filipinos and the seemingly transpersonal nature of their individual psyches. A heightened sense of cultural empathy may explain various telepathic or prophetic experiences that are very common to the point of being an ordinary experience. The spirits of folklore, which are said to have observable effects in the physical world, indicate a continuum from material to spiritual, and implies that the individual mind goes beyond the self and recognizes separate, sentient expressions of their own psyche in nature. This paper aims to be a general overview of Philippine parapsychology. A novel framework is suggested, and represented via the Sarili-Mundo model, which may be applied to future research on any variation of paranormal phenomena across the thousands of islands belonging to the multi-ethnic Philippine archipelago.

An evidence-based critical review of the mind-brain identity theory

In the philosophy of mind, neuroscience, and psychology, the causal relationship between phenomenal consciousness, mentation, and brain states has always been a matter of debate. On the one hand, material monism posits consciousness and mind as pure brain epiphenomena. One of its most stringent lines of reasoning relies on a 'loss-of-function lesion premise,' according to which, since brain lesions and neurochemical modifications lead to cognitive impairment and/or altered states of consciousness, there is no reason to doubt the mind-brain identity. On the other hand, dualism or idealism (in one form or another) regard consciousness and mind as something other than the sole product of cerebral activity pointing at the ineffable, undefinable, and seemingly unphysical nature of our subjective qualitative experiences and its related mental dimension. Here, several neuroscientific findings are reviewed that question the idea that posits phenomenal experience as an emergent property of brain activity, and argue that the premise of material monism is based on a logical correlation-causation fallacy. While these (mostly ignored) findings, if considered separately from each other, could, in principle, be recast into a physicalist paradigm, once viewed from an integral perspective, they substantiate equally well an ontology that posits mind and consciousness as a primal phenomenon.

Dualistic and Trichotomic Approaches in Psychological Enquiry

Abstract. While the trichotomy of body, soul, and spirit has been part of different folk-psychological and contemplative traditions over the millennia, more recently these concepts have ceded to a dualistic approach by which the physical world is distinguished from a more broadly conceptualized mental realm. In the current paper, we propose a renewed trichotomic distinction on the basis of epistemological considerations about the nature of thinking – which we will apply to the question about the “true self” as a paradigmatic case-study. We differentiate between a representational and an immersive type of thinking – a distinction which we argue can help illuminate facets of the (true) self that remain elusive to a dualistic perspective. We sketch a roadmap toward an empirical enquiry of the self on the basis of a trichotomic distinction and discuss implications of this approach for the study of psychological phenomena in more general terms.

A computer-automated, multi-center, multi-blinded, randomized control trial evaluating hypothesized spirit presence and communication

The gold standard in biomedical research is the multi-center, multi-blinded, randomized control trial (RCT). In pharmacological research the RCT is termed a Phase III clinical trial. This paper presents the core goals and RCT methods developed to investigate automated spirit presence and communication. The goals are: (1) to use currently available, reliable, and affordable technology (total hardware cost per system less than $4,000; these systems will be provided free to collaborating laboratories), (2) to automate data collection and real-time analyses employing specially designed software, (3) to only require a quiet space (used at night) in collaborating laboratories, (4) to not necessitate human subjects committee approvals at collaborating institutions (because the participants are hypothesized spirit participants), and (5) to enable international collaboration regardless of the investigator's personal beliefs about the hypothesis. The research design and methods meet a phrase popularized by Carl Sagan: "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence." The design minimizes false positives and false negatives. University affiliated investigators in established laboratories who regularly publish in peer reviewed journals, and are interested in collaborating in this RCT, are invited to contact the author.

Bias in the evaluation of psychology studies: A comparison of parapsychology versus neuroscience

Research suggests that scientists display confirmation biases with regard to the evaluation of research studies, in that they evaluate results as being stronger when a study confirms their prior expectations. These biases may influence the peer review process, particularly for studies that present controversial findings. The purpose of the current study was to compare the evaluation of a parapsychology study versus a neuroscience study. One hundred participants with a background in psychology were randomly assigned to read and evaluate one of two virtually identical study abstracts (50 participants per group). One of the abstracts described the findings as if they were from a parapsychology study, whereas the other abstract described the findings as if they were from a neuroscience study. The results revealed that participants rated the neuroscience abstract as having stronger findings and as being more valid and reliable than the parapsychology abstract, despite the fact that the two abstracts were identical. Participants also displayed confirmation bias in their ratings of the parapsychology abstract, in that their ratings were correlated with their scores on transcendentalism (a measure of beliefs and experiences related to parapsychology, consciousness and reality). Specifically, higher transcendentalism was associated with more favorable ratings of the parapsychology abstract, whereas lower transcendentalism was associated with less favorable ratings. The findings suggest that individuals with a background in psychology need to be vigilant about potential biases that could impact their evaluations of parapsychology research during the peer review process.

A proposed mechanism for mind-brain interaction using extended Bohmian quantum mechanics in Avicenna's monotheistic perspective

In quantum approaches to consciousness, the authors try to propose a model and mechanism for the mind-brain interaction using modern physics and some quantum concepts which do not exist in the classical physics. The independent effect of mind on the brain has been one of the challenging issues in the history of science and philosophy. In some recent mind-brain interaction models, the direct influence of mind on matter is either not accepted (as in Stapp's model) or not clear, and there have not been any clear mechanism for it (as in Penrose-Hameroff's model or in Eccles's model). In this manuscript we propose a model and mechanism for mind's effect on the matter using an extended Bohmian quantum mechanics and Avicenna's ideas. We show that mind and mental states can affect brain's activity without any violation of physical laws. This is a mathematical and descriptive model which shows the possibility of providing a causal model for mind's effect on matter. It is shown that this model guarantees the realistic philosophical constraints and respects the laws of nature. In addition, it is shown that it is in agreement with the Libet style experimental results and parapsychological data.

To propose this model, we obtained a modified (non-unitary) Schrödinger equation via second quantization method which affects the particle through a modified quantum potential and a new term in the continuity equation. At the second quantized level, which is equivalent to quantum field theory level (QFT), we can use the path integral formalism of Feynman. We show that there are three methods to extend Bohmian QM via path integral formalism, which has different interpretations. By numerical simulation of trajectories in the two-slits experiment, we show their differences and choose one of these methods for our mind-brain model which can be the basis for explaining some phenomena which are not possible to explain in the standard Bohmian QM.