Early Life & Entry into Parapsychology

Charles Henry Honorton was born on February 5, 1946, in Deer River, Minnesota. From teenagehood, he immersed himself in parapsychology—corresponding with J. B. Rhine and spending summers in Rhine’s Duke University lab (sources: Wikipedia, Center for Inquiry). He enrolled at the University of Minnesota but left early to work under Rhine at the Institute for Parapsychology (formerly the Foundation for Research on the Nature of Man) (source: Gale).

Career Milestones & Contributions

Maimonides Medical Center (Late 1960s–1979)

He joined Montague Ullman and Stanley Krippner in the “Dream Lab” at Maimonides, eventually becoming director of its Division of Parapsychology and Psychophysics (sources: Amazon, Gale, Psi Encyclopedia).

Pioneering the Ganzfeld Technique

Honorton is best known for adapting the ganzfeld sensory deprivation method—originally used in Gestalt psychology—for ESP testing. His hypothesis: reducing ordinary sensory input might enhance weak psi signals (sources: Gale, Wikipedia, Psi Encyclopedia).

In 1974, he published the first full ganzfeld experiment with Sharon Harper in the Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research (sources: ProQuest, Wikipedia, rainbow.ldeo.columbia.edu).

By 1979, he established the Psychophysical Research Laboratories (PRL) in Princeton to advance his automated ganzfeld work (sources: alice.id.tue.nl, Psi Encyclopedia, Gale).

Methodological Rigor & Joint Standards

Honorton’s 1982 meta-analysis of 42 ganzfeld studies suggested ESP might be real—but Ray Hyman’s critique revealed serious flaws in randomization, sensory leakage, and documentation. In a rare moment of collaboration, Honorton and Hyman co-authored a 1986 Joint Communiqué, proposing standardized, automated protocols to remedy the problems (sources: Gale, Wikipedia).

The resulting autoganzfeld experiments (1982–1989) implemented computerized controls to minimize experimenter bias, achieving a modest yet statistically significant hit rate (around 32% versus the 25% expected). Still, Hyman and others noted residual weaknesses in randomization and potential sensory cues (source: Wikipedia).

Later Years & Premature Passing

In 1991, Honorton moved to the University of Edinburgh, likely pursuing further advanced research or a degree (sources: alice.id.tue.nl, Psi Encyclopedia, Wikipedia). Tragically, he died of a heart attack on November 4, 1992, at age 46—right in the midst of a promising career (sources: Gale, Center for Inquiry, rainbow.ldeo.columbia.edu).

Posthumously, Daryl Bem and Honorton’s review Does Psi Exist? Replicable Evidence for an Anomalous Process of Information Transfer appeared in Psychological Bulletin (1994), seeking to establish empirical credibility for psi—but it drew substantial criticism for methodological overreach and weaknesses (sources: Amazon, Wikipedia).

Impact & Legacy

• Boundary-pushing pragmatism: Honorton reframed parapsychology as a rigorous psychophysics discipline aiming to treat psi phenomena experimentally, not rebelliously (sources: Psi Encyclopedia, Wikipedia).
• Institutional leadership: He served as secretary, vice-president, and president (1975) of the Parapsychological Association, and sat on the Board of Trustees for the American Society for Psychical Research (source: Encyclopedia.com).
• Enduring influence: His ganzfeld innovations, autoganzfeld protocols, and cooperative empirical framework remain the most structured efforts within psi research and are still referenced in both parapsychological and skeptical analyses (sources: ProQuest, Psi Encyclopedia, Wikipedia).

Summary Timeline

Bottom Line

Honorton was not a showman or mystic—he was a frustrated empiricist attempting to bring standardized, repeatable testing to a notoriously slippery research domain. His legacy is one of methodological ambition rather than confirmed psi realities.