Adrian Parker
Om Adrian Parker
Bakgrund
2015 News Release from Dr Adrian Parker, Professor in Psychology, University of Gothenburg Current projects concern hypnosis, twin studies, and lucid dreams - as well as an involvement in the 2015 Gothenburg University Science Festival. I am also giving an invited lecture at the study day of the Society for Psychical Research, London 25 April on the effect of experimenter expectation on results in parapsychological and psychological research. In the Autumn I have been working on two papers concerning hypnosis and psychic phenomena, which will be published this Spring. Last year as part of our collaboration with David Luke at Greenwich University and the joint doctoral student Goran Brusewitz, we started what will be a series of studies looking at exceptional experiences amongst twins. We have shown previously how these apparently telepathic and synchronistic events can be studied in the lab where normal explanations can (at least in principle) be excluded. By doing this it is believed we may learn something important about the nature of these fascinating phenomena. We are also looking at the special bonding and attachment between identical twins - an area which is largely unresearched. Some of our publications from previous studies are available on my website and at https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Adrian_Parker3/contributions The work with Danish television is seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqCx9NQY-IE and with ABC nightline: http://abcnews.go.com/US/photos/primetime-nightline-belief-twin-tuition… We have also discovered from our surveys that lucid dreams are reported rather frequently amongst students and there is a small percentage of individuals who have developed a degree of control over inducing them. This opens the possibility of exploring the meaning of these altered states and evaluating some of the extraordinary claims associated with them – for example the shared content of some lucid dreams. My partner dr Annekatrin Puhle is recruiting such participants who are skilled at lucid dreaming. http://annekatrinpuhle.de/blog/?page_id=625&lang=English Despite the fact that lucid dreaming can be regarded as one of the very few real discoveries in psychology, this is an area much neglected by psychological science. In 2014, I was awarded the competitive Gothenburg Student Education Prize. One of the most rewarding courses I teach is the Consciousness and Psychical Research Course, a course which has been enormously successful in attracting students from allover the world and with a diversity of backgrounds. http://kursplaner.gu.se/english/PC1142.pdf The course has included invited lectures by a number of internationally well-known researchers such as Engelbert Winkler, Deborah Delanoy, Chris Roe, Erlendur Haraldsson, David Luke and Richard Broughton. Dr Winkler is Austria’s most well known clinical psychologist and together with neurologist Dirk Proeckl, he has developed a form of stroboscope called Lucia. This invention has won several awards and proved to be for many individuals an effective way of inducing altered states. Last month Engelbert and Dirk kindly invited us to visit them on our way from Salzburg to St Moritz and gain more of the enlightening Lucia experience. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6I8C412J7Bo I have previously been one of the joint innovators of another technique for inducing altered consciousness and studies ESP, called the Ganzfeld. Prof. Jens Allwood is reputed to be one of the most critical and yet open-minded persons at Gothenburg University and I was very pleased when he invited me to give a talk on this to his unit. The talk was also an update of the current “psi-wars” where many skeptics have become radicalized militants who oppose any research on these topics such as ESP. He kindly recorded this lecture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsBpJuq9rmE I will be taking part in the Science Festival at Gothenburg 15-19 April. A high point is the talk by neuropsychiatrist Dr Peter Fenwick about Near Death Experiences and what happens when you die. I will be talking about the psychological aspects of near death experiences. Invited by University Science Festival and the John Björkhem Fund, Peter will be giving talks in Gothenburg (19 April) and Stockholm (20 April). At Gothenburg there will be debate with Dan Larhammar of the Swedish Skeptics. I see myself as an open-minded skeptic, who wishes to use skepticism in the originally positive way which would encourage more research on these topics, so I look forward to future forums and constructive exchanges. http://vetenskapsfestivalen.se/in-english/ Thanks are due to the BIAL foundation, the John Björkhem Fond, the Society for Psychical Research and the J Kleijne-Frankfort Foundation for supporting our research
- Professor i psykologi, Göteborgs universitet 2007 - ; gästforskare vid Kings College, University of London.
- Specialist i klinisk psykologi (Sverige Psykologförbundet, leg psykolog, leg psykoterapeut).
- Mastersutbildning i psykologi från universitetet i Edinburgh, utbildning i klinisk psykologi från Tavistock Clinic, London, i psykologi, Perrot-Warrick Stipendium i Psychical Research, Trinity College Cambridge universitet, doktorsexamen i psykologi från universitet i Edinburgh.
- Forskare hos Medical Research Council, Psykiatriska Kliniken, Edinburghs universitet 1979.
- Psykolog och sedan samordnande psykolog på Barnpsykiatriska kliniken i Göteborg.
- Docent i psykologi, Göteborgs universitet, 1992.
Undervisning
Kursledare för:
- International Course on Consciousness Studies and Psychical Research
- Grundkursen i Psykologi: Bioloigskoch kogntiv Psykologi
Handledning på masters- and doktorandnivå.
Forskning
Mina forskningsområden berör förändrade medvetandetillstånd och psi (s.k. paranormala) upplevelser. Jag har ett brett intresse för medvetandeforskning, som omfattar hypnos, dissocierade tillstånd, psykos-likande tillstånd, dröm- och sömnstillstånd. När det gäller s.k. paranormala upplevelser undersöks dessa med ett skeptiskt men open-minded förhållningssätt.
Min undervisning har en biologisk bas. Inom medvetande- och psi-forskning syftar den på att motverkar naiv skepticism såväl som övertro på fenomen och att utbilda allmänheten om ev. normala förklaringsmodeller och dess begränsningar. Min forskningsverksamhet utvecklade den metodologi (ganzfeldtekniken) som numera används för att studera dessa upplevelser under kontrollerade former. Med hjälp av anslag från Riksbankens Jubileumsfond vidare utvecklades ganzfeldtekniken för att i labb-et framkalla förändrade medvetandetillstånd. Digitalinspelningar användes för att förbättra metodologisk säkerhet. Min aktuella forskning är inriktad på att utvärdera påståenden om tvillingstelepati och att studera klardrömmar (lucid dream states).
Inom anglo-amerikansk psykologi inspirerades jag främst av psykologen William James och min f. d. handledare John Beloff. En viktig svenska företrädare för mig är Martin Johnson som var professor i parapsykologi. Även svensken Ingmar Bergman bör omnämnas här, inte minst för att ha beskrivit de förutsättningar för sina egna paranormala upplevelser. Dessa förutsättningar ingår i den (ganzfeld) teknik som utvecklades i Edinburgh och Göteborg för att utvärdera sådana upplevelser.
Valda publikationer
Parker, A. (2012) Professor Adrian Parker om parapsykologin: Tangerande fenomen redan fakta i läroböckerna. Newsvoice 2012-11-19.
Parker, A. (1999) Imaginal experiences and perceptual defence. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 72, 447-8.
Parker, A. (2000) A review of the Ganzfeld work at Gothenburg University. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, 1-15.
Parker, A., Persson, A., & Haller, A. (2000) Using qualitative Ganzfeld research for theory development: top down processes in psi-mediation. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, 64, 65-81
Parker, A. (2001) What can psychology and parapsychology tell us about near-death experiences? Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, 225-240.
Parker, A. (2003a) Psi and altered states. Chapter 10 in Parapsychology in the 21st Century Edit.s Lance Storm and Michael Thalbourne. Jefferson, NC: McFarland.
Parker, A. (2003b) We ask does psi exist? But is this the right question and do we really want an answer anyway. Chapter 7 in Psi Wars. Edit.s J. Alcock, J. Burns., & A. Freeman. Exeter, UK: Imprint Academic. Special issue of the Journal of Consciousness Studies.
Parker, A. & Brusewitz, G. (2003) A compendium of evidence for psi. European Journal of prapsychology, 18, 33-52.
Paulsson, T. & Parker, A. (2006) The Effects of a two week reflection-Intention training program on lucid dream Recall. Dreaming: the Journal of the Association for the Study of Dreams. 16 (1), 22-35.
Parker, A. (2010) Mysterious minds: The Neurobiology of psychics, mediums, and other extraordinary people- Ed.s S. Krippner & H. L. Friedman Sana Barbara: Praeger.
Jensen, C. & Parker, A. (2012) Entangled In The Womb? – A Pilot Study on the Possible Physiological Connectedness Between Identical Twins with Different Embryonic Backgrounds. Accepted for publication in Explore
Parker, A. & Jensen (2012) Further Possible Physiological Connectedness Between Identical Twins: The London Study, Accepted for publication in Explore