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| name = Charles Henry Honorton
| name = Charles Henry Honorton
| birth_place = [[Deer River, Minnesota]]
| birth_place = [[Deer River, Minnesota]]
| birth_date = February 5, 1946
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1946|02|05|df=y}}
| death_date = November 4, 1992
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1992|11|04|1946|02|05|df=y}}
| death_place =
| occupation = [[parapsychologist]]
| occupation = [[Parapsychologist]]
}}
}}


'''Charles Henry Honorton''' (February 5, 1946 - November 4, 1992) was an American [[Parapsychology|parapsychologist]] and was one of the leaders of a collegial group of researchers who were determined to apply established scientific research methods to the examination of what they called "anomalous information transfer" ([[extrasensory perception]]) and other phenomena associated with the "mind/body problem"--the idea that mind might, at least in some respects, have a physical existence independent of the body.<ref name="obit">{{cite news|author = Emily Williams Cook|title = Obituary: Charles Honorton|quote = |publisher = The Independent |date = November 19, 1992|url = |accessdate = October 29, 2010}}</ref>
'''Charles Henry Honorton''' (February 5, 1946 – November 4, 1992) was an American [[Parapsychology|parapsychologist]] and was one of the leaders of a collegial group of researchers who were determined to apply established scientific research methods to the examination of what they called "anomalous information transfer" ([[extrasensory perception]]) and other phenomena associated with the "mind/body problem"—the idea that mind might, at least in some respects, have a physical existence independent of the body.<ref name="obit">{{cite news|author = Emily Williams Cook|title = Obituary: Charles Honorton|work = The Independent |date = November 19, 1992}}</ref>


==Biography==
== Biography ==


Over several decades, Honorton conducted many experiments, the most famous and significant of which involved the use of the [[Ganzfeld experiment]] technique for creating a state of sensory deprivation. His hypothesis was that the information "channel," or transfer mechanism, in ESP was "weak" and easily diluted or drowned out by normal sensory input.
Over several decades, Honorton conducted many experiments, the most famous and significant of which involved the use of the [[Ganzfeld experiment]] technique for creating a state of sensory deprivation.<ref>Philip John Tyson, Dai Jones, Jonathan Elcock. (2011). "Psychology in Social Context: Issues and Debates". Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 199-200.</ref> His hypothesis was that the information "channel," or transfer mechanism, in ESP was "weak" and easily diluted or drowned out by normal sensory input.


Honorton rejected the term [[parapsychology]], instead preferring to approach extra-sensory perception as one would any other area of psychophysics, "for the first time in history, we have begun to forge an empirical approach to one of the most profound and ancient of mysteries, the nature of mind and its relationship to the physical world."<ref name="obit"/>
Charles Honorton had been interested in parapsychology from an early age<ref name=Henry1992>{{cite journal | title=Interview: Charles Honorton | author=Henry, J|journal=The Psi Researcher | year=1992 | issue= 5 }}</ref>. His first peer-reviewed paper was published in the [[Journal of Parapsychology]] in 1966 when he was still a high school student.<ref name=Honorton1966>{{cite journal | title=A Further Separation of High- and Low-Scoring ESP 
Subjects Through Hypnotic Preparation | author=Honorton, C|journal=The Journal of Parapsychology | year=1966 | issue= 3 }}</ref>


Honorton was a research fellow at the Institute for Parapsychology in [[Durham, North Carolina]], from 1966 to 1967, a research associate, then senior research associate, then director of Research Division of Parapsychology and Psychophysics at [[Maimonides Medical Center]] in [[Brooklyn]], [[New York (state)|New York]], from 1967 to 1979. After that he became the director of Psychophysical Research Laboratories in the Forrestal Research Center located in Princeton, [[New Jersey]], from 1979 to 1989,<ref>{{cite news|author = John Palmer|title = Why Is Science Spooked by 'psi'?|newspaper = The Washington Post|date = March 8, 1987}}</ref> and from there he moved on to become a researcher at [[Edinburgh University]] from 1991 until his death.<ref>{{cite news|author = Susan Watts|title = The American Association for the Advancement of Science: Magician presents evidence of ESP|work = The Independent|date = February 15, 1993}}</ref>
Charles Honorton dropped out of the [[University of Minnesota]] to study paprapsychology at the [[Rhine Research Center|Foundation for Research on the Nature of Man]].After 18 months, he left there and joined the [[Maimonides Medical Center|Maimonides Dream Laboratory ]] in 1967, working on research investigating precognitive dreams. Later he had the idea of adapting the ganzfeld effect to test for psi. In 1974 he was a co-author of the first published example of a psi experiment using the ganzfeld protocol.<ref>{{cite journal | title=Psi-mediated imagery and ideation in an experimental procedure for regulating perceptual input | author=Honorton & Harper | journal=Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research | year=1974 | issue=68 | pages=156–168}}</ref> This method was to become one of the mainstays of parapsychological research for the next forty years.


In 1971, Felicia Parise, an American psychic, allegedly moved a pill bottle across a kitchen counter by [[psychokinesis]]. Her feats were endorsed by Honorton. Science writer [[Martin Gardner]] wrote Parise had "bamboozled" Honorton by moving the bottle by an invisible thread stretched between her hands.<ref>[[Kendrick Frazier]]. (1991). "The Hundredth Monkey: And Other Paradigms of the Paranormal". Prometheus Books. p. 163. {{ISBN|978-0-87975-655-0}}</ref><ref>[[Gordon Stein]]. (1996). "The Encyclopedia of the Paranormal". Prometheus Books. p. 384. {{ISBN|978-1573920216}} "Felicia Parise thoroughly bamboozled parapsychologist Charles Honorton by using invisible thread stretched between her hands when she pushed a pill bottle across her kitchen counter. Had Honorton known anything about thread magic (books about it are sold in magic supply houses, along with strong thread so fine that it cannot seen in bright daylight) he would have examined Felicia’s hands while the bottle was gliding."</ref>
In 1979 he set up the Psychophysical Research Laboratories with funding from  [[James S. McDonnell]], the head of McDonnell-Douglas Aircraft. At PRL, he devised the autoganzfeld method, where the process was automated as much as possible. Computers chose the random targets (either video clips or pictures) and displayed them during the sending and judging periods. The laboratory closed in 1989 due to a lack of funding.<ref>{{cite journal | title=Charles Honorton: A Savant of his own kind | author=Rao, K.R. | journal=Journal of Parapsychology | year=1993 | issue=57 | }}</ref>


A review published by [[Daryl Bem]] and Honorton (posthumously), "Does Psi Exist? Replicable Evidence for an Anomalous Process of Information Transfer"<ref>Bem, D. J., & Honorton, C. (1994). Does psi exist? Replicable evidence for an anomalous process of information transfer. Psychological Bulletin, 115, 4-18.</ref> in 1994 provided a discussion of the pairs evaluation of Ganzfeld research, criticisms, refinements and implications. The review was criticized by [[Richard Wiseman]], [[Terence Hines]], [[Ray Hyman]] among others who identified a number of errors in the piece which cast considerable doubt on the scholarship and conclusions argued.<ref>{{cite journal | title=Does Psi Exist? Lack of Replication of an Anomalous Process of Information Transfer | author=Milton, Wiseman|journal=Psychological Bulletin | year=1999 | volume= 125 | issue= 4 | pages=387–391 | doi=10.1037/0033-2909.125.4.387 | pmid=10414223 | last2=Wiseman | first2=R}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.csicop.org/si/show/new_analyses_raise_doubts_about_replicability_of_esp_findings/| title=New Analyses Raise Doubts About Replicability of ESP Findings | author=Scott O. Lilienfeld | journal=Skeptical Inquirer |date=November–December 1999}}</ref><ref>[[Terence Hines]]. (2003). "Pseudoscience and the Paranormal". Prometheus Books. p. 138.</ref><ref>[[Ray Hyman]]. "Evaluating Parapsychological Claims" in Robert J. Sternberg, Henry L. Roediger, Diane F. Halpern. (2007). "Critical Thinking in Psychology". Cambridge University Press. pp. 216-231.</ref>
In 1985 he was involved in a written debate in the pages of The Journal of Parapsychology between himself and Ray Hyman regarding the ganzfeld experiments. After two papers putting forward their opposing views<ref name=Honorton1985>{{cite journal | title=Meta-Analysis of Psi Ganzfeld Research: A Response to Hyman | author=Charles Honorton | journal=Journal of Parapsychology | year=1985 | issue=49 }}</ref>, the two of them collaborated on a paper, The Joint Communique, describing how future ganzfeld work should be conducted in order to avoid the methodlogical problems of the past.<ref name=HymanHonorton1986>{{cite journal | title=A joint communiqué: the psi ganzfeld controversy | author=Hyman, Honorton | journal=Journal of Parapsychology | issue=50 | year=1986}}</ref>


Honorton died in on November 4, 1992, of a heart attack.<ref name="obit"/>
Honorton was studying for a doctorate at [[Edinburgh University]] when he passed away in 1992 due to a heart attack.<ref name=Morris1993>{{cite journal | title=Charles Honorton (1946-1992) | author=Morris, R.L. | journal=Journal of the Society for Psychical Research | volume=59 | issue=830 | year=1993}}</ref>

⚫
== References ==


⚫
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}


==Further reading==
{{Parapsychology}}
*[[Paul Kurtz]]. (1985). ''A Skeptic's Handbook of Parapsychology''. Prometheus Books.
*[[Koneru Ramakrishna Rao]]. (1994). ''Charles Honorton and the Impoverished State of Skepticism: Essays on a Parapsychological Pioneer''. McFarland.

⚫
{{Authority control}}


⚫
{{Authority control|VIAF=26288714}}
{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->
| NAME =Honorton, Charles
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = February 5, 1946
| PLACE OF BIRTH =
| DATE OF DEATH = November 4, 1992
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Honorton, Charles}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Honorton, Charles}}
[[Category:1946 births]]
[[Category:1946 births]]
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[[Category:Duke University faculty]]
[[Category:Duke University faculty]]
[[Category:Academics of the University of Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Academics of the University of Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Parapsychologists]]
[[Category:Psychonautics researchers]]

Latest revision as of 19:19, 14 September 2023

Charles Henry Honorton
Born(1946-02-05)5 February 1946
Deer River, Minnesota
Died4 November 1992(1992-11-04) (aged 46)
OccupationParapsychologist

Charles Henry Honorton (February 5, 1946 – November 4, 1992) was an American parapsychologist and was one of the leaders of a collegial group of researchers who were determined to apply established scientific research methods to the examination of what they called "anomalous information transfer" (extrasensory perception) and other phenomena associated with the "mind/body problem"—the idea that mind might, at least in some respects, have a physical existence independent of the body.[1]

Biography

[edit]

Over several decades, Honorton conducted many experiments, the most famous and significant of which involved the use of the Ganzfeld experiment technique for creating a state of sensory deprivation.[2] His hypothesis was that the information "channel," or transfer mechanism, in ESP was "weak" and easily diluted or drowned out by normal sensory input.

Honorton rejected the term parapsychology, instead preferring to approach extra-sensory perception as one would any other area of psychophysics, "for the first time in history, we have begun to forge an empirical approach to one of the most profound and ancient of mysteries, the nature of mind and its relationship to the physical world."[1]

Honorton was a research fellow at the Institute for Parapsychology in Durham, North Carolina, from 1966 to 1967, a research associate, then senior research associate, then director of Research Division of Parapsychology and Psychophysics at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York, from 1967 to 1979. After that he became the director of Psychophysical Research Laboratories in the Forrestal Research Center located in Princeton, New Jersey, from 1979 to 1989,[3] and from there he moved on to become a researcher at Edinburgh University from 1991 until his death.[4]

In 1971, Felicia Parise, an American psychic, allegedly moved a pill bottle across a kitchen counter by psychokinesis. Her feats were endorsed by Honorton. Science writer Martin Gardner wrote Parise had "bamboozled" Honorton by moving the bottle by an invisible thread stretched between her hands.[5][6]

A review published by Daryl Bem and Honorton (posthumously), "Does Psi Exist? Replicable Evidence for an Anomalous Process of Information Transfer"[7] in 1994 provided a discussion of the pairs evaluation of Ganzfeld research, criticisms, refinements and implications. The review was criticized by Richard Wiseman, Terence Hines, Ray Hyman among others who identified a number of errors in the piece which cast considerable doubt on the scholarship and conclusions argued.[8][9][10][11]

Honorton died in on November 4, 1992, of a heart attack.[1]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c Emily Williams Cook (November 19, 1992). "Obituary: Charles Honorton". The Independent.
  2. ^ Philip John Tyson, Dai Jones, Jonathan Elcock. (2011). "Psychology in Social Context: Issues and Debates". Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 199-200.
  3. ^ John Palmer (March 8, 1987). "Why Is Science Spooked by 'psi'?". The Washington Post.
  4. ^ Susan Watts (February 15, 1993). "The American Association for the Advancement of Science: Magician presents evidence of ESP". The Independent.
  5. ^ Kendrick Frazier. (1991). "The Hundredth Monkey: And Other Paradigms of the Paranormal". Prometheus Books. p. 163. ISBN 978-0-87975-655-0
  6. ^ Gordon Stein. (1996). "The Encyclopedia of the Paranormal". Prometheus Books. p. 384. ISBN 978-1573920216 "Felicia Parise thoroughly bamboozled parapsychologist Charles Honorton by using invisible thread stretched between her hands when she pushed a pill bottle across her kitchen counter. Had Honorton known anything about thread magic (books about it are sold in magic supply houses, along with strong thread so fine that it cannot seen in bright daylight) he would have examined Felicia’s hands while the bottle was gliding."
  7. ^ Bem, D. J., & Honorton, C. (1994). Does psi exist? Replicable evidence for an anomalous process of information transfer. Psychological Bulletin, 115, 4-18.
  8. ^ Milton, Wiseman; Wiseman, R (1999). "Does Psi Exist? Lack of Replication of an Anomalous Process of Information Transfer". Psychological Bulletin. 125 (4): 387–391. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.125.4.387. PMID 10414223.
  9. ^ Scott O. Lilienfeld (November–December 1999). "New Analyses Raise Doubts About Replicability of ESP Findings". Skeptical Inquirer.
  10. ^ Terence Hines. (2003). "Pseudoscience and the Paranormal". Prometheus Books. p. 138.
  11. ^ Ray Hyman. "Evaluating Parapsychological Claims" in Robert J. Sternberg, Henry L. Roediger, Diane F. Halpern. (2007). "Critical Thinking in Psychology". Cambridge University Press. pp. 216-231.

Further reading

[edit]
  • Paul Kurtz. (1985). A Skeptic's Handbook of Parapsychology. Prometheus Books.
  • Koneru Ramakrishna Rao. (1994). Charles Honorton and the Impoverished State of Skepticism: Essays on a Parapsychological Pioneer. McFarland.
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