Abstract

This article is a review of conceptual and research trends regarding the relationship between altered states of consciousness and ESP, and its connection to cultural developments from the middle of the 1800s to the 1990s, with an emphasis on the 20th century. It is argued that interest in these topics has been shaped in part by their social context. In later periods, developments in the relationship between altered states of consciousness and ESP were affected by popular culture\'s interest in the exploration of consciousness and was shared, to some extent, by psychology, as seen in studies of hypnosis, dream, the psychedelic state, and other topics. During the modern periods, researchers have conducted systematic research on the subject more than ever before, as is clear from dream, hypnosis, relaxation, and ganzfeld studies. Although it is sometimes assumed that techniques such as the ganzfeld induce alterations of consciousness that affect ESP performance, it is argue!d that this is not necessarily the case, and that recent research has abandoned the exploration of the interaction between altered states and ESP.