An interview, a fantastic music program, and a reminder...
1) For Swedish speakers: I was interviewed for an online magazine www.onyxmagasin.se/overnaturligt.html along with a skeptic. I spoke about specific references (including the latest ganzfeld meta-analysis, for which there is a link in the article) and he wrote that it is a "myth" that psi phenomena can be replicated. When i wrote to him, he wrote back that meta-analysis have problems with the file drawer effect (i.e., negative studies not being published). After I replied to him that the meta-analysis actually discussed and corrected for that effect and asked him whether he had actually read the paper, I never heard back. I have found the majority of psi skeptics (actually "deniers" is a better word) to have failed to follow the literature that they are commenting on...
2) There was in Swedish TV a fantastic program on the inception of one of the great symphonies of all times, Shostakovich's 5th, in which he might have been betting, literally, his life. Michael Tilson. Thomas, the extraordinary conductor of the SF Symphony orchestra, conducts the program and the music. The program is repeated in Swedish TV on the 18th at 14.50, svt 2, or can be seen online at http://video.pbs.org/video/1295305133/
3) And a reminder, as per my previous posting, that next week we have 3 fascinating events, on the 22nd at 10, a conference on consciousness, that same day at 1400, the dissertation defense of my student Devin Terhune on hypnosis, and the following day at 10 a conference on hypnosis. Details on times and places are in earlier blogs.
2) There was in Swedish TV a fantastic program on the inception of one of the great symphonies of all times, Shostakovich's 5th, in which he might have been betting, literally, his life. Michael Tilson. Thomas, the extraordinary conductor of the SF Symphony orchestra, conducts the program and the music. The program is repeated in Swedish TV on the 18th at 14.50, svt 2, or can be seen online at http://video.pbs.org/video/1295305133/
3) And a reminder, as per my previous posting, that next week we have 3 fascinating events, on the 22nd at 10, a conference on consciousness, that same day at 1400, the dissertation defense of my student Devin Terhune on hypnosis, and the following day at 10 a conference on hypnosis. Details on times and places are in earlier blogs.
1) For Swedish speakers: I was interviewed for an online magazine www.onyxmagasin.se/overnaturligt.html along with a skeptic. I spoke about specific references (including the latest ganzfeld meta-analysis, for which there is a link in the article) and he wrote that it is a "myth" that psi phenomena can be replicated. When i wrote to him, he wrote back that meta-analysis have problems with the file drawer effect (i.e., negative studies not being published). After I replied to him that the meta-analysis actually discussed and corrected for that effect and asked him whether he had actually read the paper, I never heard back. I have found the majority of psi skeptics (actually "deniers" is a better word) to have failed to follow the literature that they are commenting on...
2) There was in Swedish TV a fantastic program on the inception of one of the great symphonies of all times, Shostakovich's 5th, in which he might have been betting, literally, his life. Michael Tilson. Thomas, the extraordinary conductor of the SF Symphony orchestra, conducts the program and the music. The program is repeated in Swedish TV on the 18th at 14.50, svt 2, or can be seen online at http://video.pbs.org/video/1295305133/
3) And a reminder, as per my previous posting, that next week we have 3 fascinating events, on the 22nd at 10, a conference on consciousness, that same day at 1400, the dissertation defense of my student Devin Terhune on hypnosis, and the following day at 10 a conference on hypnosis. Details on times and places are in earlier blogs.
Here is an update for the lecture on the 23rd, 10-12, mentioned in my earlier posting:
Towards a biological marker of the hypnotic state
Graham Jamieson PhD
University of New England, Australia
The field of hypnosis has long been split between those who advocate the critical role of a fundamental alteration in the organization of psychophysiological processes underlying conscious experience (a hypnotic state) and those who seek explanations within the psychology of mundane experience. Pivotal to this debate is the identification of neurophysiological markers for the presence of a hypnotic state and for a psychobiological trait underlying individual differences in hypnotic responsiveness. After a century of investigation many have concluded this research program to be fruitless if not futile. However progress depends on asking the right questions. Developments in systems level neuroscience and the understanding of functional connectivity in brain networks is generating real breakthroughs. Evidence is presented which suggests a biological marker for trance states may be found in increased EEG theta band functional connectivity of centro-parietal regions, itself closely related to the psychobiological trait of absorption.
There are two lectures on consciousness by world-class authorities here at Lund co-organized by CERCAP in September:
a) "Consciousness: The Radical Plasticity Thesis" by Axel Cleeremans, Consciousness, Cognition & Computation Group @ ULB, from 10-12 on the 22nd of September in Eden 119.
b) A topic on hypnosis TBD, by Graham Jamieson, University of New England, from 10-12 on the 23rd of September in Eden 121.
Excellent new publications on research in parapsychology, perhaps foreshadowing a renewed interest in the field and strong support for the reality of psi phenomena under rigorously controlled conditions:
1) Meta-analysis of free-response studies, 1992-2008: Assessing the noise reduction model in parapsychology by Storm, Tressoldi and Di Risio is an excellent re-analysis of psi research since 1992, it supersedes the variously criticized of Milton & Wiseman (1999) and, like it, is being published in one of the most stringent and respected journals in psychology, Psychological Bulletin.
Incidentally, the authors find that alterations of consciousness in selected groups are clearly related to psi performance, which is the research we have been carrying out here at CERCAP.
2) One of the foremost social psychologists of the last few decades, and a psi researcher to book, Daryl J. Bem, has in press a review of his various studies on precognition in one of the most prestigious psychology journals, the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. At CERCAP we used one of Daryl's not-finalized protocols and found rather mixed results (Cardeña, E., Marcusson-Claverz, D., & Wasmuth, J. (2009). Hypnotizability and dissociation as predictors of performance in a precognition task: A pilot study.Journal of Parapsychology, 73, 137-158.).
3) A controlled study of anomalous information among selected mediums conducted by Emily Kelly is in press at the Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease.
a) "Consciousness: The Radical Plasticity Thesis" by Axel Cleeremans, Consciousness, Cognition & Computation Group @ ULB, from 10-12 on the 22nd of September in Eden 119.
b) A topic on hypnosis TBD, by Graham Jamieson, University of New England, from 10-12 on the 23rd of September in Eden 121.
Excellent new publications on research in parapsychology, perhaps foreshadowing a renewed interest in the field and strong support for the reality of psi phenomena under rigorously controlled conditions:
1) Meta-analysis of free-response studies, 1992-2008: Assessing the noise reduction model in parapsychology by Storm, Tressoldi and Di Risio is an excellent re-analysis of psi research since 1992, it supersedes the variously criticized of Milton & Wiseman (1999) and, like it, is being published in one of the most stringent and respected journals in psychology, Psychological Bulletin.
Incidentally, the authors find that alterations of consciousness in selected groups are clearly related to psi performance, which is the research we have been carrying out here at CERCAP.
2) One of the foremost social psychologists of the last few decades, and a psi researcher to book, Daryl J. Bem, has in press a review of his various studies on precognition in one of the most prestigious psychology journals, the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. At CERCAP we used one of Daryl's not-finalized protocols and found rather mixed results (Cardeña, E., Marcusson-Claverz, D., & Wasmuth, J. (2009). Hypnotizability and dissociation as predictors of performance in a precognition task: A pilot study.Journal of Parapsychology, 73, 137-158.).
3) A controlled study of anomalous information among selected mediums conducted by Emily Kelly is in press at the Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease.
1) There are two forthcoming lectures from world-class authorities in their fields in the context of receiving their Lund Honorary Doctorates:
a) Paul Ekman will lecture on "Compassion and Heroism: From Darwinian and Buddhist Perspectives", LTH Aulan Kårhuset, Sölvegatan, Thursday the 27th of May kl 1400 prik. FOR HEALTH REASONS THE CONFERENCE BY PAUL EKMAN WAS CANCELLED.
b) Robert Forman will lecture on ”Riding the Ox Back Home - Experiencing the Divine in Everyday Life”, Thursday the 27th of May, Kl. 10.15, Theologicum, Allhelgona Kyrkogata 8, sal 118.
2) The eminent Australian parapsychologist Michael Thalbourne recently died. We send our sympathies to his relatives, friends, and colleagues. The Parapsychological Association Bulletin Mindfield will carry an In Memory from his student, Lance Storm.
3) Lance Storm and colleagues have also in press in Psychological Bulletin, perhaps the most influential psychology journal, a meta-analysis showing continued significant effects of psi tasks in a ganzfeld context. We are currently conducting research here at Lund using that set-up.
4) Nobel prizewinner Brian Josephson and eminent physicist David Peat were recently disinvited by Prof. Antony Valentini and Dr. Mike Towler from a conference on de-Broglie-Bohm theory for their work on parapsychology and synchronicity, respectively. After the public scandal this decision produced Valentini and Towler rescinded their disinvitation. They would, by the way, have had to disinvite Bohm himself since he endorsed in print the validity of psi phenomena... More information on this attack against intellectual freedom at the Times Higher Education. I will also write on it in my next column in Mindfield.
5) A recent publication on innovation in research has a write-up in English and Swedish on some of Etzel's work. The significance of this lies in taking anomalous psychology as part of normal science, rather than as an esoteric theme. The link is at: www.luinnovation.lu.se/o.o.i.
6) Three adaptation to radio theatre of Poe tales by Etzel (in Spanish) are downloadable now from México's National University at www.descargacultura.unam.mx/app1#fragment-9
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