We propose that the comparative psychological principle of “levels” be used as a new research methodology to investigate psi in humans. Rather than investigate psi in animals, as is sometimes done, we propose to investigate psi in humans using animals as a receptor. Our approach is to start with simple organisms such as protozoans and progress to planarians and honey bees. The behavior of these organisms is well characterized and easily manipulated. Deviations from standard behavior patterns during an experiment on telekinesis can suggest psi effects. A major advantage of using invertebrates for psi research is that if a psi effect is found, the underlying mechanism of the effect can be analyzed using molecular and genetic tools. We provide suggestions on how telekinesis can be studied using this approach and suggest that Observation Oriented Modeling be used to analyze psi data.
Abramson, C.I. (2015) A Crisis in Comparative Psychology: Where Have All the Undergraduates Gone? Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 1500. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01500
Abramson, C.I. (2018) Let Us Bring Comparative Psychology Back. International Journal of Comparative Psychology, 31, 1-15. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/81j662cd
Morris, R.L. (1977) Parapsychology, Biology, and ANPSI. In: Wolman, B.B., Ed., Handbook of Parapsychology, McFarland & Company, Inc., Jefferson, 687-715.
Abramson, C.I. (1990) Invertebrate Learning: A Laboratory Manual and Source Book. American Psychological Association, Washington DC. https://doi.org/10.1037/10078-000
Craig, D.P.A. and Abramson, C.I. (2015) A Need for Individual Data Analysis for Assessment of Temporal Control: Invertebrate Fixed-Interval Performance. International Journal of Comparative Psychology, 28, 1-39. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2015.08.006
Dinges, C.W., et al. (2013) Aversive Conditioning in Honey Bees (Apis mellifera anatolica): A Comparison of Drones and Workers. Journal of Experimental Biology, 216, 4124-4134. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.090100
Dinges, C.W., Varnon, C.A., Cota, L.D., Slykerman, S. and Abramson, C.I. (2017) Studies of Learned Helplessness in Honey Bees (Apis melliferaligustica). Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Learning and Cognition, 43, 147-158. https://doi.org/10.1037/xan0000133
Craig, D.P.A. and Abramson, C.I. (2018) Ordinal Pattern Analysis in Comparative Psychology—A Flexible Alternative to Null Hypothesis Significance Testing Using an Observation Oriented Modeling Paradigm. International Journal of Comparative Psychology, 31, 1-20.
Dutton, D. and Williams, C. (2009) Clever Beasts and Faithful Pets: A Critical Review of Animal Psi Research. Journal of Parapsychology, 73, 43-70.
Hyman, R. (1986) Parapsychological Research: A Tutorial Review and Critical Appraisal. Proceedings of the IEEE, 74, 823-849. https://doi.org/10.1109/PROC.1986.13557
Carter, C. (2012) Science and the Psychic Phenomena: The Fall of the House of Skeptics. Inner Traditions, Rochester.
Open Science Collaboration (2015) Estimating the Reproducibility of Psychological Science. Science, 349, aac4716. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aac4716
Pisula, W. (1998) Integrative Levels in Comparative Psychology—The Example of Exploratory Behavior. European Psychologist, 3, 62-69. https://doi.org/10.1027/1016-9040.3.1.62
Razran, G. (1971) Mind in Evolution: An East-West Synthesis of Learned Behavior and Cognition. Houghton Mifflin, Boston.
Schneirla, T.C. (1949) Levels in the Psychological Capacities of Animals. In: Sellars, R.W., McGill, V.J. and Farber, M., Eds., Philosophy for the Future, Macmillan, New York, 243-286.
Schneirla, T.C. (1953) The Concept of Levels in the Study of Social Phenomena. In: Sherif, M. and Sherif, C., Eds., Groups in Harmony and Tension, Harper, New York, 54-75.
Brown, E.A. and Abramson, C.I. (2019) Aristotelean-Thomistic Approach to Comparative Psychology. International Journal of Comparative Psychology, 32, 1-10.
Penchenik, J.A. (2015) Biology of the Invertebrates. McGraw-Hill, New York.
Raffa, R.B. and Rawls, S.M. (2008) Planaria: A Model for Drug Action and Abuse. Landes Bioscience, Austin. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781498713597
Tautz, J. (2009) The Buzz about Bees: Biology of a Superorganism. Springer, Berlin. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-78729-7
Fraenkel, G.S. and Gunn, D.L. (1961) The Orientation of Animals: Kineses, Taxes and Compass Reactions. Dover Publications, Inc., New York. (Originally Published 1940)
Alipour, A., Dorovash, M., Yaganeh, Y. and Hatam, G. (2008) Paramecium Learning: New Insights and Modifications. Journal of Protozoology Research, 28, 22-32.
Boisseau, R.P., Vogel, D. and Dussutour, A. (2016) Habituation in Non-Neural Organisms: Evidence from Slime Moulds. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 283, Article ID: 20160446. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2016.0446
Abramson, C.I. (1994) A Primer of Invertebrate Learning: The Behavioral Perspective. American Psychological Association, Washington DC. https://doi.org/10.1037/10150-000
Grice, J.W. (2011) Observation Oriented Modeling: Analysis of Cause in the Behavioral Sciences. Academic Press, New York.
Grice, J.W. (2014) Observation Oriented Modeling: Preparing Students for Research in the 21st Century. Innovative Teaching, 3, 1-27. https://doi.org/10.2466/05.08.IT.3.3
Costa, R.E. and Shimp, C.P. (2011) Methods Courses and Texts in Psychology: “Textbook Science” and “Tourist Brochures”. Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, 31, 25-43. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0021575
Wallace, W.A. (1996) The Modeling of Nature. Catholic University Press, Washington DC.
Dougherty, J. (2013) The Nature of Scientific Explanation. Catholic University of America Press, Washington DC.
Rychlak, J. (1988) The Psychology of Rigorous Humanism. 2nd Edition, New York University Press, New York.
Falcon, A. (2012) Aristotle on Causality. In: Zalta, E.N., Ed., The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2012 Edition. http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2012/entries/aristotle-causality
Grice, J.W., Barrett, P.T., Schlimgen, L.A. and Abramson, C.I. (2012) Toward a Brighter Future for Psychology as an Observation Oriented Science. Behavioral Sciences, 2, 1-22. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs2010001
Grice, J.W. (2015) From Means and Variances to Persons and Patterns. Frontiers in Psychology, 6. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01007
Grice, J.W., Cohn, A., Ramsey, R.R. and Chaney, J.M. (2015) On Muddled Reasoning and Mediation Modeling. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 37, 214-225. https://doi.org/10.1080/01973533.2015.1049350
Grice, J.W., Yepez, M., Wilson, N.L. and Shoda, Y. (2017) Observation-Oriented Modeling: Going beyond “Is It All a Matter of Chance”? Educational and Psychological Measurement, 77, 855-867. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013164416667985
Grice, J.W., et al. (2017) Four Bad Habits of Modern Psychologists. Behavioral Sciences, 7, 53. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs7030053
Grice, J.W., Medellin, E., Jones, I.T., Horvath, S., McDaniel, H., O’lansen, C. and Baker, M. (Unpublished) Persons as Effect Sizes. Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science.
Bem, D.J. (2011) Feeling the Future: Experimental Evidence for Anomalous Retroactive Influences on Cognition and Affect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100, 407-425. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0021524
Bem, D.J., Utts, J. and Johnson, W.O. (2011) Must Psychologists Change the Way They Analyze Their Data? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101, 716-719. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0024777
Wagenmakers, E., Wetzels, R., Borsboom, D. and van der Maas, H.L.J. (2011) Why Psychologists Must Change the Way They Analyze Their Data: The Case of Psi: Comment on Bem (2011). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100, 426-432. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0022790
Alcock, J. (2011) Back from the Future: Parapsychology and the Bem Affair. Skeptical Inquirer, 35, 31-39. https://skepticalinquirer.org/exclusive/back-from-the-future
Varnon, C.A. and Abramson, C.I. (2013) The Propeller Experiment Controller: Low-Cost Automation for Classroom Experiments in Learning and Behavior. Innovative Teaching, 2, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.2466/07.08.IT.2.2
Varnon, C.A. and Abramson, C.I. (2018) The Propeller Experiment Controller. Journal of Mind and Behavior, 39, 1-153.