Journal of Anomalous Experience and Cognition, 2022
The philosophical school of Evidentialism holds that people should form, amend, and relinquish a ... more The philosophical school of Evidentialism holds that people should form, amend, and relinquish a belief wholly in accordance with the available evidence for that belief. This paper reviews the extent to which believers in paranormal phenomena respect Evidentialism’s so-called “ethics of belief.” The analysis focuses on several common violations of evidentialist principles, namely, those pertaining to belief formation as a moral issue, belief inflexibility, belief inconsistency, confirmation bias, and disconfirmation effects. Despite some gaps and methodological shortcomings in the available data, the empirical literature documents an association between paranormal beliefs and a broad lack of sympathy with evidentialist ethics, although the effect sizes of these relations typically are small. The possible basis of this characteristic is briefly explored.
An online survey was undertaken to examine the relationship between the intensity of beliefs in p... more An online survey was undertaken to examine the relationship between the intensity of beliefs in paranormal phenomena and one's worldview. A sample of 141 Australian university students participated in the survey. Statistical analysis showed that paranormal belief is significantly related to various worldviews when these are considered collectively, but no single worldview made an independently significant contribution to the relationship. The collective relationship also was not a strong one, casting doubt on the sufficiency of the worldview hypothesis of paranormal belief.
Little research has been conducted on the contribution of environmental
factors to the developmen... more Little research has been conducted on the contribution of environmental factors to the development of alexithymic tendencies. Ninety-two university students were surveyed to determine if features of the childhood family environment could predict the level of alexithymic tendencies. The 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale was used to measure alexithymic tendencies. Also surveyed retrospectively were dimensions of the childhood family environment such as the family’s level of cohesion, expressiveness, conflict, disengagement, sociability, enmeshment, organization, and parenting style. Multiple-regression analysis showed that the set of family environment variables did predict alexithymia scores. The sole family variable independently predictive of global alexithymic tendencies was expressiveness, although other family variables were predictive of individual components of alexithymia. The findings are consistent with the view that the childhood family environment has a bearing on the development of alexithymic tendencies, although other explanations by no means are excluded.
Although belief in paranormal phenomena has long been studied as if it were a psychological trait... more Although belief in paranormal phenomena has long been studied as if it were a psychological trait, many commentators recently have preferred to define beliefs as a psychological state. Somewhat surprisingly, the psychometric decomposition of a belief into state and trait components has yet to be undertaken. To this end a sample of 239 American adults completed a questionnaire measure of paranormal and traditional religious beliefs on four occasions at monthly intervals. An application of latent state-trait models to the data showed both paranormal belief and traditional religious belief to be predominantly trait-like constructs, with a small but significant state-like component. These findings may have specific implications for the assessment of paranormal beliefs, as well as general implications for a state theory of beliefs.
During sensory experiences and imaginal ideation the person is primarily aware of the contents of... more During sensory experiences and imaginal ideation the person is primarily aware of the contents of the experience, but at the same time there is normally an appreciation also that these experiences are being apprehended by the “self”, endowing the experiences with a sense of ownership. This sense of an experiential self or “minimal self” may become dysfunctional prior to the development of schizotypal tendencies. Ongoing stress also may be associated with the development of such tendencies. These factors are of interest in light of reported links between the occurrence of parapsychological experiences and schizotypy. The study reported here therefore investigated two variables as potential correlates of the occurrence of parapsychological experiences: stress sensitivity, and dysfunctions in the sense of a minimal self. The study also took account of two discriminable facets of parapsychological experiences, namely, a tendency to anomalous experiences and an inclination to attribute such experiences to paranormal factors. A convenience sample of 141 Australian adults was surveyed with questionnaire measures of anomalous experiences, perceived stress, and minimal-self dysfunctions. A tendency to anomalous experiences was found to be related to stress sensitivity and to minimal-self dysfunctions, but the inclination for paranormal attribution was unrelated to these variables. The findings are discussed in terms of the construction of psychological models of the development of parapsychological experiences.
A growing body of evidence suggests that in the general population the development of beliefs in ... more A growing body of evidence suggests that in the general population the development of beliefs in paranormal phenomena relies in part on the cognitive processes involved also in the formation of delusions. One early sign of the development of delusions is a disorder of or vulnerability in the minimal self, an awareness that one’s thoughts, perceptions and feelings are experienced by the self. This study sought to investigate the hypothesis that belief in paranormal phenomena may be associated with minimal-self dysfunction. The hypothesis was investigated with an online questionnaire survey of 141 Australian adults. Findings support the hypothesis and indicate also that the relation between minimal-self dysfunction and paranormal belief is partially mediated by schizotypal tendencies. These relations nevertheless are not strong.
This study constitutes an initial exploration of the view that paranormal disbelief is part of th... more This study constitutes an initial exploration of the view that paranormal disbelief is part of the same unidimensional continuum as paranormal belief, at least in regard to people's cognitive predispositions. A convenience sample of 203 British residents was surveyed for their belief in paranormal phenomena and for previously documented cognitive correlates of such belief, namely, thinking style, aberrant salience, emotion-based reasoning, reality testing deficits, and the " unusual experiences " component of schizotypal tendencies. Based on participants' appraisal of an account of research on a potentially paranormal phenomenon, the sample was then divided into believers and disbelievers. Most of the cognitive variables correlated with intensity of group membership to an equal degree for believers and disbelievers, but with the direction reversed. Implications of these findings are discussed in relation to unidimensionality of a paranormal belief-disbelief continuum and the use of questionnaire measures of paranormal belief that incorporate a bipolar response scale.
An online survey was undertaken to examine the relationship between the intensity of beliefs in p... more An online survey was undertaken to examine the relationship between the intensity of beliefs in paranormal phenomena and two facets of a scientific worldview, namely, an appreciation of the values of science and a disposition to presumptive scepticism. A sample of 202 British residents participated in the survey. The findings indicate that paranormal believers have both a relatively low regard for the values of science and weak dispositional scepticism. These findings are discussed in terms of the worldview hypothesis of paranormal belief.
Using mostly undergraduate student data (N = 560), factor analysis con®rmed the existence of seve... more Using mostly undergraduate student data (N = 560), factor analysis con®rmed the existence of seven factors in Tobacyk's Revised Paranormal Belief Scale (RPBS). However, this replication proved to be of dubious value since (1) the factor structure was signi®cantly aected by age and gender; (2) the items in Tobacyk's original factors were signi®cantly non-additive; (3) the items showed pervasive dierential item functioning (DIF) related to respondents' ages, gender, or both; and (4) simulations indicated that the factor structure are the result of DIF. The removal of DIF vià`top-down puri®cation'' yielded two correlated clusters of items dubbed``New Age Philosophy'' and``Traditional Paranormal Beliefs''. Both clusters obey an Andrich rating-scale model with person reliabilities of 0.90 and 0.74, respectively. Principal component analysis con®rmed that these two clusters are unidimensional and without signi®cant age or gender DIF (p > 0.10). While the Traditional Paranormal Beliefs cluster continued to show a signi®cant main eect of age, neither cluster showed a signi®cant gender eect, thereby calling into question some traditional ®ndings regarding paranormal beliefs. We strongly suspect that the dearth of DIF studies indicates that age and gender biases due to DIF have largely gone unnoticed in the extant personality and assessment literature. 7
This paper examines the beliefs and expectations that a sample of 508 people hold about the first... more This paper examines the beliefs and expectations that a sample of 508 people hold about the first five minutes after death. A substantial minority believed that they wilt experience the main elements of the neardeath experience (NDE). In general these elements were cited more frequently than were Biblical images. Six percent of the sample said that postmortem survival for them will be a negative and disturbing experience. We discuss these results in terms of their methodological implications for other survey work and their theoretical contribution toward our understanding of negative NDEs.
ABS TRACT: Although the considerable majority of reported near-death experiences (NDEs) are assoc... more ABS TRACT: Although the considerable majority of reported near-death experiences (NDEs) are associated with positive affect, there are occasional cases of so-called negative NDEs that are dominated by fear and anguish. The phenomenological status of the negative experiences and their relationship to the more typical positive NDEs have been the subject of increasing speculation. In that light, the NDE described in this paper is of interest because it began to unfold as a positive experience but then changed course to become a negatively toned one. We present the details of this case and note its principal theoretical implications.
The theoretical significance of out-of-body experiences in blind people is explored. In this cont... more The theoretical significance of out-of-body experiences in blind people is explored. In this context I report results of a survey of a small sample of blind adults. It is concluded that we have yet to locate a case of an out-ofbody experience in the blind that has critical implications for the interpretation of the experience among the general population.
... Login to save citations to My List. Citation. Database: PsycINFO. [Journal Article]. Extrasen... more ... Login to save citations to My List. Citation. Database: PsycINFO. [Journal Article]. Extrasensory experiences and the need for absorption. Irwin, Harvey J. Parapsychology Review, Vol 20(6), Nov-Dec 1989, 9-10. Abstract. 124 university ...
Journal of Anomalous Experience and Cognition, 2022
The philosophical school of Evidentialism holds that people should form, amend, and relinquish a ... more The philosophical school of Evidentialism holds that people should form, amend, and relinquish a belief wholly in accordance with the available evidence for that belief. This paper reviews the extent to which believers in paranormal phenomena respect Evidentialism’s so-called “ethics of belief.” The analysis focuses on several common violations of evidentialist principles, namely, those pertaining to belief formation as a moral issue, belief inflexibility, belief inconsistency, confirmation bias, and disconfirmation effects. Despite some gaps and methodological shortcomings in the available data, the empirical literature documents an association between paranormal beliefs and a broad lack of sympathy with evidentialist ethics, although the effect sizes of these relations typically are small. The possible basis of this characteristic is briefly explored.
An online survey was undertaken to examine the relationship between the intensity of beliefs in p... more An online survey was undertaken to examine the relationship between the intensity of beliefs in paranormal phenomena and one's worldview. A sample of 141 Australian university students participated in the survey. Statistical analysis showed that paranormal belief is significantly related to various worldviews when these are considered collectively, but no single worldview made an independently significant contribution to the relationship. The collective relationship also was not a strong one, casting doubt on the sufficiency of the worldview hypothesis of paranormal belief.
Little research has been conducted on the contribution of environmental
factors to the developmen... more Little research has been conducted on the contribution of environmental factors to the development of alexithymic tendencies. Ninety-two university students were surveyed to determine if features of the childhood family environment could predict the level of alexithymic tendencies. The 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale was used to measure alexithymic tendencies. Also surveyed retrospectively were dimensions of the childhood family environment such as the family’s level of cohesion, expressiveness, conflict, disengagement, sociability, enmeshment, organization, and parenting style. Multiple-regression analysis showed that the set of family environment variables did predict alexithymia scores. The sole family variable independently predictive of global alexithymic tendencies was expressiveness, although other family variables were predictive of individual components of alexithymia. The findings are consistent with the view that the childhood family environment has a bearing on the development of alexithymic tendencies, although other explanations by no means are excluded.
Although belief in paranormal phenomena has long been studied as if it were a psychological trait... more Although belief in paranormal phenomena has long been studied as if it were a psychological trait, many commentators recently have preferred to define beliefs as a psychological state. Somewhat surprisingly, the psychometric decomposition of a belief into state and trait components has yet to be undertaken. To this end a sample of 239 American adults completed a questionnaire measure of paranormal and traditional religious beliefs on four occasions at monthly intervals. An application of latent state-trait models to the data showed both paranormal belief and traditional religious belief to be predominantly trait-like constructs, with a small but significant state-like component. These findings may have specific implications for the assessment of paranormal beliefs, as well as general implications for a state theory of beliefs.
During sensory experiences and imaginal ideation the person is primarily aware of the contents of... more During sensory experiences and imaginal ideation the person is primarily aware of the contents of the experience, but at the same time there is normally an appreciation also that these experiences are being apprehended by the “self”, endowing the experiences with a sense of ownership. This sense of an experiential self or “minimal self” may become dysfunctional prior to the development of schizotypal tendencies. Ongoing stress also may be associated with the development of such tendencies. These factors are of interest in light of reported links between the occurrence of parapsychological experiences and schizotypy. The study reported here therefore investigated two variables as potential correlates of the occurrence of parapsychological experiences: stress sensitivity, and dysfunctions in the sense of a minimal self. The study also took account of two discriminable facets of parapsychological experiences, namely, a tendency to anomalous experiences and an inclination to attribute such experiences to paranormal factors. A convenience sample of 141 Australian adults was surveyed with questionnaire measures of anomalous experiences, perceived stress, and minimal-self dysfunctions. A tendency to anomalous experiences was found to be related to stress sensitivity and to minimal-self dysfunctions, but the inclination for paranormal attribution was unrelated to these variables. The findings are discussed in terms of the construction of psychological models of the development of parapsychological experiences.
A growing body of evidence suggests that in the general population the development of beliefs in ... more A growing body of evidence suggests that in the general population the development of beliefs in paranormal phenomena relies in part on the cognitive processes involved also in the formation of delusions. One early sign of the development of delusions is a disorder of or vulnerability in the minimal self, an awareness that one’s thoughts, perceptions and feelings are experienced by the self. This study sought to investigate the hypothesis that belief in paranormal phenomena may be associated with minimal-self dysfunction. The hypothesis was investigated with an online questionnaire survey of 141 Australian adults. Findings support the hypothesis and indicate also that the relation between minimal-self dysfunction and paranormal belief is partially mediated by schizotypal tendencies. These relations nevertheless are not strong.
This study constitutes an initial exploration of the view that paranormal disbelief is part of th... more This study constitutes an initial exploration of the view that paranormal disbelief is part of the same unidimensional continuum as paranormal belief, at least in regard to people's cognitive predispositions. A convenience sample of 203 British residents was surveyed for their belief in paranormal phenomena and for previously documented cognitive correlates of such belief, namely, thinking style, aberrant salience, emotion-based reasoning, reality testing deficits, and the " unusual experiences " component of schizotypal tendencies. Based on participants' appraisal of an account of research on a potentially paranormal phenomenon, the sample was then divided into believers and disbelievers. Most of the cognitive variables correlated with intensity of group membership to an equal degree for believers and disbelievers, but with the direction reversed. Implications of these findings are discussed in relation to unidimensionality of a paranormal belief-disbelief continuum and the use of questionnaire measures of paranormal belief that incorporate a bipolar response scale.
An online survey was undertaken to examine the relationship between the intensity of beliefs in p... more An online survey was undertaken to examine the relationship between the intensity of beliefs in paranormal phenomena and two facets of a scientific worldview, namely, an appreciation of the values of science and a disposition to presumptive scepticism. A sample of 202 British residents participated in the survey. The findings indicate that paranormal believers have both a relatively low regard for the values of science and weak dispositional scepticism. These findings are discussed in terms of the worldview hypothesis of paranormal belief.
Using mostly undergraduate student data (N = 560), factor analysis con®rmed the existence of seve... more Using mostly undergraduate student data (N = 560), factor analysis con®rmed the existence of seven factors in Tobacyk's Revised Paranormal Belief Scale (RPBS). However, this replication proved to be of dubious value since (1) the factor structure was signi®cantly aected by age and gender; (2) the items in Tobacyk's original factors were signi®cantly non-additive; (3) the items showed pervasive dierential item functioning (DIF) related to respondents' ages, gender, or both; and (4) simulations indicated that the factor structure are the result of DIF. The removal of DIF vià`top-down puri®cation'' yielded two correlated clusters of items dubbed``New Age Philosophy'' and``Traditional Paranormal Beliefs''. Both clusters obey an Andrich rating-scale model with person reliabilities of 0.90 and 0.74, respectively. Principal component analysis con®rmed that these two clusters are unidimensional and without signi®cant age or gender DIF (p > 0.10). While the Traditional Paranormal Beliefs cluster continued to show a signi®cant main eect of age, neither cluster showed a signi®cant gender eect, thereby calling into question some traditional ®ndings regarding paranormal beliefs. We strongly suspect that the dearth of DIF studies indicates that age and gender biases due to DIF have largely gone unnoticed in the extant personality and assessment literature. 7
This paper examines the beliefs and expectations that a sample of 508 people hold about the first... more This paper examines the beliefs and expectations that a sample of 508 people hold about the first five minutes after death. A substantial minority believed that they wilt experience the main elements of the neardeath experience (NDE). In general these elements were cited more frequently than were Biblical images. Six percent of the sample said that postmortem survival for them will be a negative and disturbing experience. We discuss these results in terms of their methodological implications for other survey work and their theoretical contribution toward our understanding of negative NDEs.
ABS TRACT: Although the considerable majority of reported near-death experiences (NDEs) are assoc... more ABS TRACT: Although the considerable majority of reported near-death experiences (NDEs) are associated with positive affect, there are occasional cases of so-called negative NDEs that are dominated by fear and anguish. The phenomenological status of the negative experiences and their relationship to the more typical positive NDEs have been the subject of increasing speculation. In that light, the NDE described in this paper is of interest because it began to unfold as a positive experience but then changed course to become a negatively toned one. We present the details of this case and note its principal theoretical implications.
The theoretical significance of out-of-body experiences in blind people is explored. In this cont... more The theoretical significance of out-of-body experiences in blind people is explored. In this context I report results of a survey of a small sample of blind adults. It is concluded that we have yet to locate a case of an out-ofbody experience in the blind that has critical implications for the interpretation of the experience among the general population.
... Login to save citations to My List. Citation. Database: PsycINFO. [Journal Article]. Extrasen... more ... Login to save citations to My List. Citation. Database: PsycINFO. [Journal Article]. Extrasensory experiences and the need for absorption. Irwin, Harvey J. Parapsychology Review, Vol 20(6), Nov-Dec 1989, 9-10. Abstract. 124 university ...
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Papers by Harvey J Irwin
factors to the development of alexithymic tendencies. Ninety-two university students were surveyed to determine if features of the childhood family environment could predict the level of alexithymic tendencies. The 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale was used to measure alexithymic tendencies. Also surveyed retrospectively were dimensions of the childhood family environment such as the family’s level of cohesion, expressiveness, conflict, disengagement, sociability, enmeshment, organization, and parenting style. Multiple-regression analysis showed that the set of family environment variables did predict alexithymia scores. The sole family variable independently predictive of global alexithymic tendencies was expressiveness, although other family variables were predictive of individual components of alexithymia. The findings are consistent with the view that the childhood family environment has a bearing on the development of alexithymic tendencies, although other explanations by no means are excluded.
an appreciation also that these experiences are being apprehended by the “self”, endowing the experiences with a sense of ownership. This sense of an experiential self or “minimal self” may become dysfunctional prior to the development of schizotypal tendencies. Ongoing stress also may be associated with the development of such tendencies. These factors are of interest in light
of reported links between the occurrence of parapsychological experiences and schizotypy. The study reported here therefore investigated two variables as potential correlates of the occurrence of parapsychological experiences: stress sensitivity, and dysfunctions in the sense of a minimal self. The study also took account of two discriminable facets of parapsychological experiences, namely, a tendency to anomalous experiences and an inclination to attribute such experiences to paranormal factors. A convenience sample of 141 Australian adults was surveyed with questionnaire measures of anomalous experiences,
perceived stress, and minimal-self dysfunctions. A tendency to anomalous experiences was found to be related to stress sensitivity and to minimal-self
dysfunctions, but the inclination for paranormal attribution was unrelated to these variables. The findings are discussed in terms of the construction of
psychological models of the development of parapsychological experiences.
factors to the development of alexithymic tendencies. Ninety-two university students were surveyed to determine if features of the childhood family environment could predict the level of alexithymic tendencies. The 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale was used to measure alexithymic tendencies. Also surveyed retrospectively were dimensions of the childhood family environment such as the family’s level of cohesion, expressiveness, conflict, disengagement, sociability, enmeshment, organization, and parenting style. Multiple-regression analysis showed that the set of family environment variables did predict alexithymia scores. The sole family variable independently predictive of global alexithymic tendencies was expressiveness, although other family variables were predictive of individual components of alexithymia. The findings are consistent with the view that the childhood family environment has a bearing on the development of alexithymic tendencies, although other explanations by no means are excluded.
an appreciation also that these experiences are being apprehended by the “self”, endowing the experiences with a sense of ownership. This sense of an experiential self or “minimal self” may become dysfunctional prior to the development of schizotypal tendencies. Ongoing stress also may be associated with the development of such tendencies. These factors are of interest in light
of reported links between the occurrence of parapsychological experiences and schizotypy. The study reported here therefore investigated two variables as potential correlates of the occurrence of parapsychological experiences: stress sensitivity, and dysfunctions in the sense of a minimal self. The study also took account of two discriminable facets of parapsychological experiences, namely, a tendency to anomalous experiences and an inclination to attribute such experiences to paranormal factors. A convenience sample of 141 Australian adults was surveyed with questionnaire measures of anomalous experiences,
perceived stress, and minimal-self dysfunctions. A tendency to anomalous experiences was found to be related to stress sensitivity and to minimal-self
dysfunctions, but the inclination for paranormal attribution was unrelated to these variables. The findings are discussed in terms of the construction of
psychological models of the development of parapsychological experiences.