J B Rhine (Joseph Banks Rhine) is widely considered to be the "Father of Modern
Parapsychology." Along with his wife Dr Louisa E. Rhine, Dr J B Rhine studied
the phenomena now known as parapsychology at Duke University in Durham, North
Carolina. J B Rhine collaborated with Professor William McDougall who served as
the Chairman of the Department of Psychology. Dr. J B Rhine coined the term
"extrasensory perception" (ESP) to describe the apparent ability of some people
to acquire information without the use of the known (five) senses). He also
adopted the term "parapsychology" to distinguish his interests from mainstream
psychology.
The Duke experiments on telepathy, clairvoyance and precognition used
specially designed cards called Zener cards. About the size of regular playing
cards, these cards were composed of decks of 25 cards, with each card having one
of five symbols on one size: a cross, star, wavy lines, circle and square. Zener
cards Under various experimental conditions, subjects would attempt to guess
these cards. Out of each deck of 25 cards, 5 correct guesses were expected by
chance. Using exact binomial probability calculations, it is possible to
determine how "improbable" it would be to guess an excess number of cards
correctly. In one set of experiments, 2400 total guesses were made and an excess
of 489 hits (correct guesses) were noted. The statistical probability of this
outcome is equivalent to odds of 1,000,000 to 1 (against chance) and thus show
significant evidence that "something occurred." Skeptics will argue that factors
other than ESP account for the deviations (some claim cheating by the subjects,
sloppiness by the experimenters, etc.)
J B Rhine's work was summarized in a now-famous book Extra-Sensory Perception
After Sixty Years (Rhine, J.B., Pratt, J.G.; Smith, Burke M; Stuart, Charles E;
and Greenwood, Joseph A. Extra-Sensory Perception After Sixty Years, Holt: New
York, 1940; Humphries: Boston, 1966)
What conclusions can we draw about Rhine's overall research program? By 1940,
33 experiments had accumulated, involving almost a million trials, with
protocols which rigorously excluded possible sensory clues (e.g., by introducing
distance and/or barriers between sender and receiver, or by employing
precognition protocols (i.e., where the target has not yet been selected at the
time subjects make their responses).
Twenty seven (27) of the 33 studies produced statistically significant
results -- an exceptional record, even today. Furthermore, positive results were
not restricted to Rhine's lab. In the five years following Rhine's first
publication of his results, 33 independent replication experiments were
conducted at different laboratories. Twenty (20) of these (or 61%) were
statistically significant (where 5% would be expected by chance alone).
A meta-analysis was done specifically for precognition experiments conducted
between the years 1935 - 1987. (Honorton, C., & Ferrari, D. [1989].
Meta-analysis of forced-choice precognition experiments 1935 - 1987. Journal of
Parapsychology, vol 53, 281 - 308). This included 309 studies, conducted by 62
experimenters. The cumulative probability associated with the overall results
was p = 10-24 (that is equivalent to .000000000000000000000001 where .05 is
considered statistically significant). The scientific evidence for precognition,
the most provocative of all parapsychological phenomena, stands of firm
statistical grounds.
The Rhine Research Center in Durham still continues to be a thriving center
for parapsychological research.
Selected Publications of J B & Louisa Rhine:
Rhine, J. B. (1934). Extra-sensory perception. Boston: Boston Society
for Psychic Research.
Rhine, J. B. (1937). New Frontiers of the Mind. New York: Farrar & Rinehart.
Rhine, J. B. (1941). Terminal salience in ESP performance. Journal of
Parapsychology, 5, 183—244.
Rhine, J. B. (1946a). Hypnotic suggestion in PK tests. Journal of
Parapsychology, 10, 126—40.
Rhine, J. B. (1946b). The psychokinetic effect: a review. Journal of
Parapsychology, 10, 5—20.
Rhine, J. B. (1947a). Pierre Janet’s contribution to parapsychology.
Rhine, J. B. and Pratt, J. G. (1957). Parapsychology: Frontier Science of the
Mind. Springfield, Illinois: Charles Thomas.
Rhine, J. B. and Pratt, J. G. (1961). A reply to the Hansel critique of the
Pearce-Pratt series. Journal of Parapsychology, 25, 92—8.
Rhine, J. B., Pratt, J. G., Stuart, C. E., Smith, B. M. and Greenwood, J. A.
(1966). Extra-sensory Perception after Sixty Years. Boston: Bruce Humphries.
(Original work published 1940.)
Rhine, J. B., Smith, B. M. and Woodruff, J. L. (1938). Experiments bearing on
the precognition hypothesis: II. The role of ESP in the shuffling of cards.
Journal of Parapsychology, 2, 119—31.
Rhine, L. E. (1951). Conviction and associated conditions in spontaneous
cases. Journal of Parapsychology, 15, 164—91.
Rhine, L. E. (1957). Hallucinatory psi experiences: III. The intention of the
agent and the dramatizing tendency of the percipient. Journal of Parapsychology,
21, 186—226.
Rhine, L. E. (1962). Psychological processes in ESP experiences. Part I.
Waking experiences. Journal of Parapsychology, 26, 88—ill.
Rhine, L. E. (1965). Hidden Channels of the Mind. New York: William Morrow.
Rhine, L. E. (1967). ESP in Life and Lab. New York: Macmillan. (Paper, New
York: Collier, 1969.)
Rhine, L. E. (1969). Case study review. Journal of Parapsychology, 33,
228—66.
Rhine, L. E. (1970). Mind over Matter. New York: Macmillan.
Rhine, L. E. (1981). The Invisible Picture. Jefferson, North Carolina:
McFarland.
Rhine, L. E. and Rhine, J. B. (1943). The psychokinetic effect: I. The first
experiment. Journal of Parapsychology, 7, 20—43.Journal of Parapsychology, 11,
155—9.
Rhine, J. B. (1947b). The Reach of the Mind. New York: Sloane.
Rhine, J. B. (1948). The value of reports of spontaneous psi experiences.
Journal of Parapsychology, 12, 231—5.
Rhine, J. B. (1954). The science of nonphysical nature. The Journal of
Philosophy, 51, 801—10.
Rhine, J. B. (1969). Position effects in psi test results. Journal of
Parapsychology, 33, 136—57.
Rhine, J. B. (1972). Parapsychology and man. Journal of Parapsychology, 36,
101—21.
Rhine, J. B. (1973). Extrasensory Perception (rev. edn). Boston: Bruce
Humphries. (Original work published 1934.)
Rhine, J. B. (1974). Comments: a new case of experimenter unreliability.
Journal of Parapsychology, 38, 215—25.
Rhine, J. B. (1977). History of experimental studies. HB (pp. 25—47).
Rhine, J. B. and associates (1965). Parapsychology from Duke to FRNM. Durham,
North Carolina: Parapsychology Press.
Rhine, J. B. and Feather, S. R. (1962). The study of cases of psi-trailing in
animals. Journal of Parapsychology, 26, 1—22.
Rhine, J. B. and Humphrey, B. M. (1944a). The PK effect: special evidence
from hit patterns. I. Quarter distributions of the page. Journal of
Parapsychology, 8, 18—60.
Rhine, J. B. and Humphrey, B. M. (1944b). The PK effect: special evidence
from hit patterns. II. Quarter distributions of the set. Journal of
Parapsychology, 8, 254—71.
Rhine, J. B., Humphrey, B. M. and Pratt, J. G. (1945). The PK effect: special
evidence from hit patterns. III. Quarter distributions of the half-set. Journal
of Parapsychology, 9, 150—68.
Rhine, J. B. and Pratt, J. G. (1954). A review of the Pearce-Pratt distance
series of ESP tests. Journal of Parapsychology, 18, 165—77. We thanks the Parapsychological Association Board (www.parapsych.org) for the permission to publish the above material.
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