Abstract

Discusses historical circumstances surrounding the development of the experimental paradigm in psychic research. It is argued that J. B. Rhine and L. E. Rhine (1927) reported an experience with a medium published in the Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology. This report was presumably first rejected by the Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research (ASPR). Documents in the ASPR archives show that J. B. Rhine met with critics of the medium before the seance, and that the paper submitted to the ASPR Journal was accepted for publication several days before Rhine withdrew it. It is suggested that Rhine's actions heightened tensions between the ASPR who supported the medium and the Boston Society for Psychic Research and delayed the merger of these societies.