Semi-naturalistic Study of Anomalous Information Reception in Mediumship | Alexander Moreira-Almeida

Alexander Moreira-Almeida is Chair of the Sections on Spirituality of the Latin American (APAL) and the Brazilian (ABP) Psychiatric Associations. He is former chair of the Section on Religion, Spirituality and Psychiatry of the World Psychiatric Association (2014-17 and 2017-2020). He obtained a medical degree at UFJF and was trained in psychiatry at the Institute of Psychiatry of the University of São Paulo, Brazil, where he also obtained his PhD in Health Sciences. He was formerly a postdoctoral fellow in religion and health at Duke University.

Recently, there has been a resurgence of research on mediumship, including investigating anomalous information reception (AIR) by mediums. In the last two decades, research has been carried out using blind and controlled methods, with conflicting results. However, the use of controls that are too artificial can impair the manifestation of genuine skills.

The first paper describes and presents the results of a semi-naturalistic methodological proposal combining ecological validity and control (of fraud or information leakage) to evaluate information produced in psychographed letters allegedly written by deceased people.

The second paper presents two letters psychographed by two mediums to two sitters. In both cases, the mediums produced confirmed information, not leaked and that could hardly be attributed to guess or fraud, suggesting the occurrence of AIR.

The semi-naturalistic method used proved to be feasible, well accepted, and promising, opening space for the renewal of research in this field. As positive aspects, participating mediums said they were comfortable to operate their mediumship under the research protocols. As negative points, the method does not allow blind assessment by the consultants. New cases are under investigation to assess the potential of the method and how it can be improved.

Presented at the online PA Symposium “Advances in Mediumship Research” on February 27,2021; program chaired by Helané Wahbeh, Director of Research at IONS. Download the Abstract at https://parapsych.org/articles/66/537/abstracts_advances_in_mediumship.aspx

The Parapsychological Association is an international professional organization of scientists and scholars engaged in the study of psi (or ‘psychic’) experiences, such as telepathy, clairvoyance, psychokinesis, psychic healing, and precognition. The primary objective of the PA is to achieve a scientific understanding of these experiences.

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Published on May 8, 2021

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