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ABSTRACT: The traditional view in parapsychology is that ESP and PK are separate and distinct categories of psi. However, M. A. Thalbourne's (1982, in press) theory of psychopraxia is put forward as an alternative interpretation of the paranormal that assumes there is no necessity for making that distinction. Central to this theory are 4 components: the self; the so-called pro attitude, or preference for a particular outcome; the set of necessary conditions which, together with the pro attitude, are sufficient for the outcome; and the outcome, or goal state itself. Psychopraxia may operate endosomaticaly or, as considered in the present case, exosomatically as psi. An examination of 12 major meta-analyses covering 9 paranormal domains is presented as evidence that the mean effect sizes (here taken as "norms") cannot be differentiated by their magnitude alone in terms of ESP and PK categories. The evidence from these meta-analyses supports instead the single paranormal process postulated in the theory of psychopraxia. It is further argued that the absence of perceived complexity (a psychological state) in regard to the mechanical setup of the experiment is a necessary condition conducive to psychopraxia. Theoretical, experimental, and meta-analytic findings support the psychopractic hypothesis that the ESP-PK dichotomy is untenable.
THE THEORY OF PSYCHOPRAXIA
J. B. Rhine (1934) coined the terms extra-sensory perception (ESP) and psychokinesis (PK) as ostensibly useful categories for describing two seemingly different paranormal phenomena. Even though by the 1940s Rhine (1948/1954, p. 112) already regarded ESP and PK as "one single fundamental two-way process," both terms are still used as two basic categories of paranormal phenomena. Around that time, Thouless and Wiesner (1947) proposed a unitary process underlying ESP and PIC They coined a new term, psi, to describe the paranormal effect but, paradoxically, they went on to use the Greek symbols psi^sub gamma^ (psi-gamma) and psi^sub kappa^ (psi-kappa) as labels for ESP and PK, respectively, in order to indicate that ESP and PK were "different aspects of one process" (Thouless & Wiesner, 1947, p. 179). Rhine accepted the term psi, and it has been used ever since in parapsychology to designate "paranormal causation" or "paranormal processes" (Thalbourne, 1982, p. 56).
Thouless and Wiesner (1947), therefore, never quite escaped the dualistic argument that ESP and PK were qualitatively...