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ABSTRACT:Content analysis of 3 samples of introductory psychology textbooks published in the 1980s (N = 64), in the 1990s (N = 52), and for fall 2002 (N = 57) revealed changes in coverage of ESP and parapsychology. Sixty-three percent of the 1980s sample, 54% of the 1990s sample, and 58% of the 2002 sample discussed ESP or parapsychology as a specific topic. The nature of this coverage varied over time. Authors during the 1980s focused on Rhine's Zener card research. During the 1990s, there was increased emphasis on ganzfeld research and Honorton's claim to have developed a replicable experiment. Textbooks in 2002 focused on skeptical themes, noting failures to replicate ganzfeld studies and criticizing parapsychological research. In general, the 2002 coverage of parapsychology was inadequate because there was no discussion of nonganzfeld experiments except when referring to fraud and methodological inadequacy.
Content analysis of introductory psychology texts provides insights into academic attitudes toward parapsychology. This study compares findings derived from analyses of introductory texts from three time periods: 1980-1989, 1990-1999, and 2000-2002. Findings reveal changing patterns in the information that introductory psychology students learn about ESP and parapsychology.
The typical introductory psychology student believes in, and is likely to have experienced, ostensible psychic phenomena. More than half of the general public and about two thirds of U.S. college students believe in ESP (Clarke, 1991; McClenon, 1994). The majority of people in the United States report anomalous experiences such as apparitions, ESP, precognitive dreams, and "contacts with the dead" (McClenon, 1994; Messer & Griggs, 1989). Although the majority of scientists teaching at U.S. colleges or universities reported they believed ESP to be a "fact" or a "likely possibility," psychologists and elite scientists tended to be more skeptical than other scientists (McClenon, 1982, 1984; Wagner & Monnet, 1979).
Because of the prevalence of paranormal belief and experience, we would expect most introductory psychology textbooks to discuss this topic. A sample of instructors of psychology classes evaluated "ESP" as 30th in importance among 158 topics pertaining to consciousness and 173rd among 286 topics pertaining to "sensation and perception" (Landrum, 1993).
Previous surveys of the discussion of parapsychology in psychology textbooks include Rogo (1980), Lamal (1989), Roig, Icochea, and Cuzzucoli (1991), and Cormack (1991). Rogo's (1980) survey concluded...