Abstract

Traditionally, spontaneous parapsychological phenomena have been studied following proof and process considerations. These approaches are discussed with examples from the literature published by the Society for Psychical Research. The issue here is not necessarily one of competing approaches. Rather, it is shown that both approaches coexist and can inform each other. Nonetheless, it is argued that parapsychology needs more process research in order for the study of spontaneous phenomena to achieve scientific progress. It is important for psychical research to move beyond questions of evidence, and to explore more fully the relationship of spontaneous phenomena to other variables so as to deepen our understanding of these occurrences.