Introduction to Anomalistic Psychology

Yesterday we looked at what we mean by the following terms:

• The paranormal 
• Psi / Psychic 
• Parapsychology 
• Anomalistic psychology 
• Pseudoscience

Essentially, parapsychologists study people with psi or psychic abilities - those that are paranormal, meaning they cannot be explained with our scientific understanding of the universe / brain - with an open mind as to whether such abilities exist. Sometimes they actively seek to find evidence which shows that such abilities are real.

This kind of search for supporting evidence, rather than attempting to falsify a hypothesis, is one of the reasons that parapsychology is often accused of being a pseudoscience - a 'false science'.

Anomalistic psychologists are generally more skeptical, mainstream psychologists, who assume that psi abilities don't actually exist, but who are interested in why so many people believe in them, and in why parapsychologists often produce positive findings in their studies.

While we are covering the Anomalistic content we will also be dealing with a section of the Unit 4 research methods spec, on the scientific method and on the process of validating research through peer reviews and journals. Your homework was to make notes on five features of science, relating each one to some study or theory you have encountered in AS or A2 psychology:

• Replicability 
• Falsifiability 
• Objectivity 
• Experimental method 
• Consistent paradigm