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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. His hypothesis was that the information "channel," or transfer mechanism, in ESP was "weak" and easily diluted or drowned out by normal sensory input.


A review published by [[Daryl Bem]] and Honorton, "Does Psi Exist? Replicable Evidence for an Anomalous Process of Information Transfer" provides a thorough discussion of the Ganzfeld research, criticisms, refinements and implications. The review was criticized by the scientific community as it was discovered to contain errors.<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>
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 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 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.


Honorton was a research fellow at the Institute for Parapsychology [[Durham]] [[North Carolina]] from 1966–67, 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. 1967-79. After that he became the Director Psychophysical Research Laboratories in the Forrestal Research Center located in Princeton, [[New Jersey]] from 1979-89<ref>{{cite news|author = John Palmer|title = Why Is Science Spooked by 'psi'?|quote = |publisher = The Washington Post|date = March 8, 1987|url = |accessdate = October 29, 2010}}</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|quote = |publisher = The Independent|date = February 15, 1993|url = |accessdate = October 29, 2010}}</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>


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 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>

==Reception==

Some statisticians argued that the meta-analysis carried out by Honorton that supported an underlying pattern behind parasychological studies was ill-conceived and ignored basic rules of mathematics.<ref name="obit"/><ref>{{cite news|author = John Palmer|title = Pink Noise and Dice|quote = |publisher = The Washington Post|date = March 8, 1987|url = |accessdate = October 29, 2010}}</ref> Bem and Honorton (1994) published a review of studies which concluded [[Psi (parapsychology)|psi]] was operating in the ganzfeld but it was discovered their review contained serious errors.

According to [[Terence Hines]]:

{{quote|There was a serious problem with the Bem and Honorton (1994) review. In 1999 Milton and Wiseman published a critique of that review and an analysis of additional new ganzfeld studies. In their review Bem and Honorton had counted the results of some studies as being statistically significant when they actually were not significant. This error led Bem and Honorton to conclude that the studies they reviewed had shown, overall, that ESP was operating in the ganzfeld situation. Milton and Wiseman then reviewed thirty ganzfeld studies that had been designed to meen the rigorous methodological standards set forth in Hyman and Honorton (1986); these studies showed no effect greater than chance.<ref>[[Terence Hines]]. (2003). "Pseudoscience and the Paranormal". Prometheus Books. p. 138.</ref>}}

Between 1983-1989 Honorton carried out a series of autoganzfeld experiments at his Psychophysical Research Laboratories (PRL). Hyman suspected that a [[Sensory cue|visual cue]] had occurred in the experiments and came to the conclusion the autoganzfeld experiments were flawed because they did not rule out the possibility of [[sensory leakage]].<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>


==References==
==References==

Revision as of 17:57, 23 March 2014

Charles Henry Honorton
BornFebruary 5, 1946
Deer River, Minnesota
DiedNovember 4, 1992
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

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.

A review published by Daryl Bem and Honorton, "Does Psi Exist? Replicable Evidence for an Anomalous Process of Information Transfer" provides a thorough discussion of the Ganzfeld research, criticisms, refinements and implications. The review was criticized by the scientific community as it was discovered to contain errors.[2][3]

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 Durham North Carolina from 1966–67, 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. 1967-79. After that he became the Director Psychophysical Research Laboratories in the Forrestal Research Center located in Princeton, New Jersey from 1979-89[4] and from there he moved on to become a researcher at Edinburgh University from 1991 until his death.[5]

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.[6][7]

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

Reception

Some statisticians argued that the meta-analysis carried out by Honorton that supported an underlying pattern behind parasychological studies was ill-conceived and ignored basic rules of mathematics.[1][8] Bem and Honorton (1994) published a review of studies which concluded psi was operating in the ganzfeld but it was discovered their review contained serious errors.

According to Terence Hines:

There was a serious problem with the Bem and Honorton (1994) review. In 1999 Milton and Wiseman published a critique of that review and an analysis of additional new ganzfeld studies. In their review Bem and Honorton had counted the results of some studies as being statistically significant when they actually were not significant. This error led Bem and Honorton to conclude that the studies they reviewed had shown, overall, that ESP was operating in the ganzfeld situation. Milton and Wiseman then reviewed thirty ganzfeld studies that had been designed to meen the rigorous methodological standards set forth in Hyman and Honorton (1986); these studies showed no effect greater than chance.[9]

Between 1983-1989 Honorton carried out a series of autoganzfeld experiments at his Psychophysical Research Laboratories (PRL). Hyman suspected that a visual cue had occurred in the experiments and came to the conclusion the autoganzfeld experiments were flawed because they did not rule out the possibility of sensory leakage.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Emily Williams Cook (November 19, 1992). "Obituary: Charles Honorton". The Independent. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ Scott O. Lilienfeld (November–December 1999). "New Analyses Raise Doubts About Replicability of ESP Findings". Skeptical Inquirer.
  4. ^ John Palmer (March 8, 1987). "Why Is Science Spooked by 'psi'?". The Washington Post. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  5. ^ Susan Watts (February 15, 1993). "The American Association for the Advancement of Science: Magician presents evidence of ESP". The Independent. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  6. ^ Kendrick Frazier. (1991). "The Hundredth Monkey: And Other Paradigms of the Paranormal". Prometheus Books. p. 163. ISBN 978-0-87975-655-0
  7. ^ 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."
  8. ^ John Palmer (March 8, 1987). "Pink Noise and Dice". The Washington Post. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  9. ^ Terence Hines. (2003). "Pseudoscience and the Paranormal". Prometheus Books. p. 138.
  10. ^ 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.

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