The grants competition for the 2014 Parapsychological Association Research Endowment (PARE) has come to a close, and three grant proposals have been awarded. The Parapsychological Association (PA) will be providing funds to support an examination of historical research archives on haunting and poltergeist activity in the United Kingdom, experiments on synchronous physiological responses between twins, and a replication of previous experiments on morphic resonance. Each research initiative will explore areas that have far-reaching implications for furthering the science of parapsychology and understanding the nature of consciousness.

Simon Sherwood, PhD will examine archival material located at the University of Cambridge library on the Census of Hallucinations, the haunting of Borley Rectory, and the Enfield Poltergeist. The Census of Hallucinations is a report compiled by Henry Sidgwick et al. in the late nineteenth century; the report was reviewed by the Society for Psychical Research and discussed public reports of hallucinations and apparitions. The haunting of Borley Rectory and the Enfield poltergeist are historical cases that occurred in the United Kingdom during the twentieth century. Dr. Sherwood plans to examine the archival material of the Census of Hallucinations and gather data that may lend itself to computational analysis. He also hopes to examine material relating to an unpublished book on the Borley haunting, as well as archival material from the Enfield poltergeist case.

Göran Brusewitz (Doctoral Candidate, Greenwich University) will conduct a study that measures the occurrence of telepathy using the psychophysiological measurement of electrodermal activity in Swedish twins. Brusewitz plans to use the data to check if twins who report having had many telepathic experiences, also can demonstrate this capacity in controlled experiments. The results will also be compared with the degree and type of attachment that they report having to each other. This study will be conducted in Sweden and will build on information learned during a similar study of sets of twins in the United Kingdom.

Chris Roe, PhD (Professor of Psychology, Research Leader for the Division of Psychology, Director of the Centre for the Study of Anomalous Psychological Processes) will lead research on Rupert Sheldrake’s theory of morphic resonance, which postulates anomalous communication among genetically similar organisms. Sheldrake’s theory describes how the thoughts or behaviors of physically isolated individuals might converge in a manner that is reminiscent of ESP because they are able to draw on a “morphic field” that acts as a record of an organism’s or species’ previous behaviors. Dr. Roe intends to replicate previous experiments on morphic resonance, imposing a laboratory-based structure that is designed to meet stringent scientific standards. Dr. Roe will be supported by two research assistants, Ms. Laura Hickinbotham and Mr. Jonathan Ryan.

Funding for PARE awards was made possible through a generous donation by Dr. Gertrude Schmeidler, who was a leading researcher and educator in the field of parapsychology. The awards are administered annually by the Board of the Parapsychological Association. One or more awards are made each year to cover the direct costs of conducting scientific research.

Donations to support the mission of the PA, including the funding of research initiatives, can be made by contacting Executive Director Annalisa Ventola at business@parapsych.org.