Parapsychology: Dictionary of Parapsychology Q-S
A dictionary of Parapsychology. Please note that words in grey are hyperlinked to a corresponding archive with articles related to that particular topic. Q Qualitative Method A research method involving the collection of non-quantitative data (e.g., observations, interviews, subjective reports, case studies). Cf. quantitative method. Quantitative Method A research method involving the collection and statistical analysis of numerical data. Cf. qualitative method. R Radiesthesia Theories based on the assumption that living organisms emit some kind of radiation or emanation that is capable of being detected using instruments or by dowsing. See also aura, radionics. Radionics Use of instruments to detect radiation from living organisms. See also radiesthesia. Random Refers to events that are, in principle, haphazard and unpredictable. See also chance. Random Event Generator (REG) An electronic device which uses a random physical process (e.g., radioactive decay) to generate random events or random numbers. Random Number Generator (RNG) See random event generator. Random Numbers Numbers generated in an unpredictable, haphazard sequence. Random Number Tables A printed table of random numbers, usually made up of several rows and columns of computer-generated numbers. To use the table a starting value is chosen by randomly selecting a row and column (e.g., by throwing a dice). Successive numbers are then chosen by working through the table using any previously chosen systematic rule. Suitable rules might be (1) moving horizontally to the right, skipping alternate numbers, or (2) moving vertically down, selecting every fifth number. The selected random numbers may then be used, for example, to determine target sequences. Raps The name given to unexplained knocking sounds associated with physical mediumship and poltergeist activity. Raudive Voices Intelligible voices recorded on magnetic tape under conditions of silence or white noise which are heard only when the tape is played. A phenomenon discovered by Konstantin Raudive. Reading Information given by a psychic or medium to a sitter. See also cold reading, hot reading. Rebirth In Buddhism, the belief that there is some continuty of mind from one life to the next. Buddhism, however, does not accept the existence of the individual soul and therefore does not view rebirth as the soul's literal re-incarnation. Cf. reincarnation. See also bardo. Receiver See percipient. Recurrent Spontaneous Psychokinesis (RSPK) A technical term for poltergeist activity. Regression (a) a statistical technique that enables predictions to be made from a set of data. (b) a technique used in hypnosis, involving suggesting to hypnotized persons that they are returning to an earlier time. Sometimes the regression occurs spontaneously, without suggestion. See also past-life regression. Reincarnation The belief that some aspect of a person's being (e.g., consciousness, personality, or soul) survives death and can be reborn in a new body at some future date. Reincarnation is often seen as a repeating cycle of death and rebirth in which future lives are influenced by past and present actions through the law of karma. Cf. rebirth. Remote Viewing (RV) An ESP procedure in which a percipient attempts to become aware psychically of the experience of an agent who is at a distant, unknown target location. Response An action made by a subject in an experiment. Response Bias Tendency of a subject to prefer particular responses. Retroactive Psychokinesis Paranormal influence that an agent can have on an experiment after it has been completed. Retrocognition Paranormal knowledge of past events. Ritual Magic Magical activity involving rites and ceremonies. RSPK See recurrent spontaneous psychokinesis. Run A set of trials in a psi test. S Santeria A Cuban spiritist religion. See also Voodoo. Sceptic A person inclined to discount the reality of the paranormal and to be critical of parapsychological research. Generally seeks rational or scientific explanations for the phenomena studied by parapsychologists. Score Number of hits obtained by a subject in a psi test. Scoring The process of determining a subject's score. Screen Touch Matching (STM) A card-guessing procedure in which the subject and experimenter sit on opposite sides of a screen which has a small gap at the bottom. Key cards are hung on the screen in front of the subject (the faces may be seen or unseen). Underneath each key card is a blank card that can be seen by both subject and experimenter. The experimenter holds the target cards and the subject indicates the guess on each trial by pointing to the corresponding blank card. The experimenter then places the card in a pile on his or her side of the screen in a position corresponding to that of the indicated blank card. See also blind matching, open matching. Scrying See crystal gazing. Seance A mediumistic session. Second Sight Another name for clairvoyance. Sender Another name for agent. Sensitive Another name for a psychic. Sensory deprivation Conditions of greatly restricted sensory input. See also ganzfeld. Series A sequence of runs in a psi experiment. Serpent Power See Kundalini. Shaman A witchdoctor or medicine (wo)man who communicates with spirits while in trance and who has the power of healing. May also show other paranormal abilities. Shape-Shifting Paranormal ability to assume the form of another person, an animal or other entity. See also lycanthropy, therianthropy, werewolf. "Sheep" Name given to a subject in a psi test who believes in the phenomenon. See also "goat", sheep-goat effect. Sheep-Goat Effect Effect, discovered by the parapsychologist Gertrude Schmeidler, in which "sheep" score higher than mean chance expectation (MCE) on psi tests, while "goats" score lower than MCE. Siddhis Name given to paranormal powers associated with the practice of Yoga. Significance Results of an experiment are said to be statistically significant when they are very unlikely to be due to chance (and hence, in a psi test, are more likely to be due to psi). The chance probability is reported as the "significance level". To be considered significant, the chance probability must generally be less than 1 in 20 (5%, or 0.05). Simultaneous Dream A dream whose elements correspond closely with those in the dream of another person. Sitter A person who has a session with a medium. Sitting A seance. Sixth sense Popular term for ESP. Skeptic See sceptic. Slate-Writing Writing that appears on a slate during a seance. Often produced by fraudulent mediums and mentalists. Sleep Paralysis An (often frightening) state of seeming to being awake but unable to move. See also false awakening. Somnambule (a) a person who performs physical activity while asleep (e.g., sleep-walking). (b) a person in a deep hypnotic state. Sorcery Black magic Sortilege Divination by lots. Soul The spiritual element of a person, generally believed to be immortal. See also Ba, spirit, survival. Space Brothers Extraterrestrial entities, channeled by some mediums. See also discarnate entity. Speaking in Tongues See glossolalia SPE See subjective paranormal experience. Spectre A ghost or apparition. Spell Written or spoken words believed to have magical power. Spirit (a) a discarnate entity. (b) soul (c) Divine essence. Spirit Communication See communication. Spirit Cure Healing that is believed to result from the intervention of spirits. Spiritism See spiritualism. Spirit Photography Photographs of figures or faces, believed by some to be those of deceased persons. These photographs are generally revealed as fraudulent. Spiritualism (Spiritism) Religious doctrines that advocate communication betwen the living and the spirits of the dead using a medium as intermediary. Spontaneous Cases Paranormal phenomena that occur in everyday life, unsought and unexpected. Spontaneous Human Combustion (SHC) Refers to cases in which a badly burned human body has been discovered in circumstances suggesting that the fire originated spontaneously in or on the body of the victim. Statistics Mathematical techniques for analysing and interpreting numerical data. Stigmata Unexplained markings on a person's body that correspond to the wounds of Christ. Stimulus See target. Subject A person whose psi ability is being investigated. Subjective Paranormal Experience (SPE) Or Subjective Psi Experience. An experience that the person who has it believes to be paranormal. Subjective Psi Experience (SPE) See subjective paranormal experience. Subliminal Perception Perceiving without conscious awareness. Super-ESP Hypothesis The suggestion that people are capable of unlimited ESP. The super-ESP hypothesis is often presented as an alternative to the survival hypothesis in explaining mediumistic phenomena (the medium is believed to obtain information using super-ESP powers and not directly from the spirit of a deceased person). Supernatural Paranormal Survey A method of data collection that involves interviewing (or giving questionnaires to) a representative and often large group of people. Survival The belief that some aspect of the person (e.g., consciousness, mind, personality, soul) lives on after death of the body. Synchronicity A term used by C.G. Jung to refer to coincidental events that are meaningfully but not causally connected. | 
