Abstract

In discussing some of the conceptual and methodological problems experienced by parapsychologists, it is argued that while these professionals are convinced of the reality of psi, a basic issue in the field, many publications simply ignore its existence, and researchers conduct duplicate experiments to verify its existence. Such research has risks, it is argued, one of which is a break in the historical continuity of the investigations; the emphasis on a fresh discovery tends to undermine the value of previous findings by implying that in some sense the present research is superior to that done before. The available literature is reviewed, and it is suggested that (a) there is a lot more evidence of psi than is necessary for belief in its existence; (b) during the century of inquiry, many techniques have been developed to study psi and several concepts have been proposed to understand it; and (c) in spite of repeated attempts to explain psi, individuals still hardly know what it is and only rarely recognize it even when it is present. (27 ref)