Glossary of paranormal study & research terms used both on and off this site.
There are 133 entries in this glossary.P
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| paranormal |
Beyond the range of normal experience or scientific explanation: such paranormal phenomena as telepathy; a medium's paranormal powers. |
| Parapsychology |
Term coined by J.B. Rhine to refer to the experimental and quantitative study of paranormal phenomena. Now generally used instead of "psychical research" to refer to all scientific investigation of the paranormal. |
| Pareidolia |
Psychological tendency to interpret a random stimulus (especially a sound or visual pattern) as meaningful. |
| Percipient |
Person who receives impressions in an ESP test. |
| Phenomenology |
An approach to research that aims to describe and clarify a person's own experience and understanding of an event or phenomenon. |
| Pilot Study |
A preliminary study, generally of modest scale. |
| Placebo |
An inactive treatment often given to a control group. |
| Placement Test |
A test for PK in which the subject attempts to influence the place in which dice or other objects land. See also dice test. |
| Preferential Matching |
Technique in which a judge ranks a subject's free responses in terms of their similarity to various possible targets. |
| Process Research |
Research that aims to investigate factors affecting psi. |
| Proof Research |
Research that aims to demonstrate the existence of psi. |
| Pseudo-Random Numbers |
Numbers generated by an electronic calculator or computer using a complex mathematical algorithm that simulates a random process. Although the numbers generated are essentially unpredictable, they are not strictly random. |
| psi |
Parapsychological phenomena or abilities considered as a group. |
| Psi-Hitting |
Significantly better than chance performance on a psi test. |
| Psyche |
Generally refers to the mind. |