Current Research:
Research Program: Survival of Consciousness

Introduction
Throughout history, people have attempted to provide answers to questions about an afterlife through religion and spirituality. Relatively recently (since the late 1800's), researchers began using science to address the survival of consciousness hypothesis ("survival" for short) which proposes that at least part of an individual's personality, identity, or consciousness continues to survive after the death of the physical body.

The Windbridge Institute is interested in all areas of survival research but is, at this time, primarily focused on studying mediums and the information they report, investigating technologies that may be useful in enhancing interaction and communication with the deceased (i.e., instrumental transcommunication or ITC), and addressing reports of haunting and apparition phenomena using both field and laboratory methods

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Mediumship Studies

Instrumental Transcommunication (ITC) Studies

Other Survival Research Studies

Mediumship Studies

Mediumship research at the Windbridge Institute has several foci:

Proof-focused studies of mediums' communication with the deceased

Process-focused studies of mediums' experiences of that communication

Applied research regarding the practical applications of mediumship readings

Psychological and physiological characteristics of mediums

For a general description of studies with mediums at the Windbridge Institute, see The Reincarnation of Mediumship Research by Dr. Julie Beischel, Director of Research.

Status: Completed

Description: This study collects evidence during quintuple-blinded readings regarding Windbridge Certified Research Mediums' reception and reporting of accurate and specific information about discarnates in the absence of any feedback; without prior knowledge about the discarnates (beyond their first names) or about the living sitters associated with them; and without using deception, fraud, or cold-reading. It is an extension of a previously published study involving claimant mediums and triple-blind readings.

Funded by: Portions of this study have been funded by Peter Hayes, the Bial Foundation, and Windbridge Institute Members.

Resulting Publications/Presentations:
The following paper describes the research methods used during this study:

Beischel, J. (2007). Contemporary methods used in laboratory-based mediumship research. Journal of Parapsychology, 71, 37-68.

The following presentation features study data collected to date:

Beischel, J., Biuso, M., Boccuzzi, M., & Rock, A. (2011, June). Anomalous information reception by research mediums under quintuple-blind conditions: Can the mind exist without the body? 30th Annual Meeting of the Society for Scientific Exploration, Boulder, Colorado.

Additional Publications In Progress.

Process-focused Research:

Status: Completed

Description: During this study, certified research mediums completed the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory (PCI), a 53-item questionnaire that quantifies 26 dimensions of consciousness, after a mediumship reading and after a control condition in which no discarnates were contacted. Significant differences between the two conditions were demonstrated for several dimensions of consciousness establishing that the mediumship condition is an altered state of consciousness.

Funded by: Peter Hayes; Windbridge Institute Members

Resulting Publications/Presentations:

Rock, A. J., & Beischel, J. (2008, March). Quantitative phenomenological analysis of mediums' purported communication with discarnates. Presented at the 28th Annual Society for the Anthropology of Consciousness Spring Conference, New Haven, Connecticut.

Rock, A. J., & Beischel, J. (2008). Quantitative analysis of mediums' conscious experiences during a discarnate reading versus a control task: A pilot study. Australian Journal of Parapsychology, 8, 157-179.

Status: Completed

Description: In this study, certified research mediums were asked to describe their experiences during mediumship readings for the deceased and psychic readings for the living. We found a number of similarities among different mediums' responses as well as differences between their descriptions of the two types of readings.

Funded by: Windbridge Institute Members

Resulting Publications/Presentations:

Rock, A. J., Beischel, J., & Cott, C. C. (2009). Psi vs. survival: A qualitative investigation of mediums' phenomenology comparing psychic readings and ostensible communication with the deceased. Transpersonal Psychology Review, 13, 76-89.

Status: Completed

Description: During this study, claimant mediums completed the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory (PCI; see above) after a mediumship reading and after a control condition in which no discarnates were contacted. This study was run concomitantly with Phenomenology IV (see below).

Funded by: Bial Foundation

Resulting Publications/Presentations: Pending

Status: Completed

Description: During the eight-step certification screening procedure, prospective Windbridge Certified Research Mediums (WCRMs) completed the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory (PCI; see above) after each of their Step 5 test readings. Correlation analyses determine possible relationships between their PCI results and the accuracy scores blinded sitters gave the respective readings. This study was run concomitantly with Phenomenology III (see above).

Funded by: Bial Foundation

Resulting Publications/Presentations: Pending

Status: Completed

Funded by: Bial Foundation

Resulting Publications/Presentations: Pending

Other Publications and Presentations discussing Proof- and Process-focused Research:

Beischel, J., & Rock, A. J. (2009). Addressing the survival vs. psi debate through process-focused mediumship research. Journal of Parapsychology, 73, 71-90.

Beischel, J. & Rock, A. J. (2010, April). A phenomenological pathway to an empirically driven distinction between survival psi and somatic psi by research mediums. Presented at Toward a Science of Consciousness 2010, Tucson, Arizona.

Beischel, J. & Rock, A. J. (August, 2009). Addressing the survival vs. psi debate through process-focused mediumship research. Presented at the 52nd Annual Convention of the Parapsychological Association, Seattle, WA.

Beischel, J. & Rock, A. J. (August, 2008). Toward a process-focused approach to mediumship research. Presented at the 3rd Annual Alternative Expressions of the Numinous Conference, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland.

Applied Research:

Status: Crowd Funding

Description: Researchers at the Windbridge Institute, LLC are raising funds in order to perform a randomized clinical trial examining the potential clinical benefits of personal mediumship readings. The project is called the BAM (Bereavement And Mediumship) Study.

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Status: Completed

Description: The absence of effective treatments for grief and the trends from exploratory survey data warrant further study into the potential therapeutic benefits of mediumship readings.

Funded by: Windbridge Institute Members

Resulting Publications/Presentations:

Mosher, C., Beischel, J., & Boccuzzi, M. (April, 2010). The potential therapeutic benefit of mediumship readings in the treatment of grief. Poster presented at Toward a Science of Consciousness 2010, Tucson, Arizona.

Psychological and Physiological Research:

Status: In Progress

Funded by: Bial Foundation

Status: Completed

Description: During the eight-step certification screening procedure, prospective Windbridge Certified Research Mediums (WCRMs) complete several personality and psychological questionnaires (Step 2). This study compares their results to published norms and looks for relationships between personality/psychological characteristics and mediumistic ability (determined during Step 5 test readings).

Funded by: Windbridge Institute Members

Resulting Publications/Presentations:

Beischel, J. (2008, March). Distinctive traits of those who 'speak with spirit': analysis of claimant mediums' unique personality characteristics using three standard questionnaires. Presented at the 28th Annual Society for the Anthropology of Consciousness Spring Conference, New Haven, Connecticut.

Status: Completed

Funded by: Bial Foundation

Collaborating Organizations: Institute of Noetic Sciences; University of California, San Diego

Resulting Publications/Presentations: Pending

Instrumental Transcommunication (ITC) Studies

Status: In Progress

Description: The goals of this ongoing research and development project are (1) to evaluate methods of capturing ITC under highly controlled conditions and (2) to develop new applications for ITC. The outcome of this project will be an Open Source ITC appliance.

Funded by: Windbridge Institute Members

Status: In Progress

Description: The project is to replicate and extend of Ostensible Discarnate Interactions with Electronic Equipment Part I. The new study will focus on completing more trials, collecting more information about the source of the effects, and will also test an Infrared Absorption Detector (IRAD).

Funded by: Helene Reeder Memorial Fund for Research into Life after Death

Status: Completed

Description: This study attempted to objectively detect ITC in sessions collected by an experienced operator using EVPMaker software producing a random stream of allophones (short speech elements). Several aspects of Active Sessions were examined: (1) the distribution of the allophones generated; (2) independent, blinded listening panel interpretations of session samples; (3) content analysis of questions posed by the operator and her perceived responses; and (4) automated interpretation of session samples using speech recognition software (SRS). For analyses (1) and (2), ITC-free Control Sessions collected by the investigators were used for comparison, and it was determined that no differences existed between the Active and Control Sessions regarding: (a) the allophones present and (b) the proportions of participants who recognized words in the samples. Analysis (3) revealed that the responses perceived by the operator did not consistently contain information that logically matched her questions, and analysis (4) demonstrated that SRS was unable to detect the phrases perceived by the operator. Future studies may wish to focus on the psychology and motivation of ITC operators; the impact of the perceived communication; and the potentially psi-conducive effects of using EVPMaker to acquire veridical information.

Funded by: Sarah Estep Memorial Research Fund of the Association TransCommunication (ATransC) [formerly the American Association of Electronic Voice Phenomena (AA-EVP)]

Resulting Publications/Presentations:

Boccuzzi, M., & Beischel, J. (2011). Objective analyses of reported real-time audio instrumental transcommunication and matched control sessions: A pilot study. Journal of Scientific Exploration, 25, 215-235.

Status: Completed

Description: This laboratory study is an outgrowth of research Mark Boccuzzi has been conducting during field investigations of allegedly haunted locations since 1999.

Funded by: Helene Reeder Memorial Fund for Research into Life after Death

Resulting Publications/Presentations:

Pulication in progress.

Boccuzzi, M., Beischel, J., & Gebhart, R. (2012, August). Invited ostensible discarnate interactions with electronic equipment: A pilot study. Paper presented at the 55th Annual Convention of the Parapsychological Association, Durham, North Carolina.

ABSTRACT
Humanity's eons-old concern regarding what happens when we die has currently manifested as a saturation of the United States' popular culture with the topics of ghosts and hauntings. This, in turn, has led to an explosion in the occurrence of hobbyist groups of "ghost hunters" who, during investigations of allegedly haunted locations, often utilize environmental monitors to attempt to detect ghosts. And while the equipment used, including electromagnetic field meters and temperature sensors, can be logically associated with historical reports of haunting phenomena and experiences, the use of this equipment to detect and interact with discarnate entities has not been scientifically demonstrated. Furthermore, individuals' experiences with ghosts or apparitions are often discounted as the result of fraud, psi, hallucinations, the misinterpretation of normal events, and abnormalities in normal physical forces resulting in neurological anomalies. The design of this pilot study removed the percipient and, accordingly, these factors as explanations for haunting phenomena. The study, instead, relied on commonly used ghost hunting sensors and equipment (as well as some atypical devices) to investigate the ability of two specific deceased individuals (discarnates) to affect the objective output of this equipment. The design then acquired feedback from the discarnates (via a credentialed medium) regarding the success of the attempts. This protocol expanded upon previous studies by other investigators in which sensors were placed in environments where discarnates were contacted by sitters as well as those in which discarnates were asked to interact with objects being monitored by equipment. In addition, the study design attempted to address both conscious psychokinesis by the living (by using blinding and randomization) and normal ambient environmental fluctuations (by employing environmental shielding) as explanations for the results. Findings from this pilot study included a statistically significant difference in active and control sessions for one of the discarnates with one of seven devices [i.e., an electrical lighting circuit (p = 0.048)], a difference that approached significance for that discarnate with a second device [i.e., a random event generator (p = 0.066)], and relevant and specific information from the medium regarding several of the devices and events occurring at the laboratory.

Other Survival Research Studies and Projects

Status: In Progress

Description: This exploratory project utilizes existing reports of haunt activity combined with data collected from certified field teams to create a comprehensive database of global haunt related phenomena. Data are analyzed thematically, temporally, and geographically then compared to other existing datasets (i.e. social, economic, environmental, etc).

Funded by: Windbridge Institute Members

Status: In Progress

Description: This study employs established, published methods from mediumship research to determine if Windbridge Certified Research Mediums can report accurate and specific information (that is, accomplish anomalous information reception or AIR) about the deceased companion animals of living sitters.

Funded by: Survival Research Committee of the Society for Psychical Research (SPR)

Status: Completed

Description: Although the photographic artifacts known as 'orbs' are most likely the result of reflections or dust very close to the lens, discarnate interaction may occur elsewhere as part of this phenomenon. To test whether the deceased can move dust into positions that would result in orbs when photographed, we photographed a green laser beam in a darkened room during active periods in which the deceased were invited to push dust into the beam as well as during control periods. Software was then used to quantify the amount of dust highlighted by the laser in the photographs. We found that there was significantly more dust in the beam during control periods than active periods; this is the reverse of what was requested. The possible explanations for these results include: the dust was moved out of the target area by the deceased; the dust was moved out of the target area through psychokinesis by the experimenters; decision augmentation affected experimental design and/or timing; and artifact or chance. The study is currently being replicated.

Funded by: Windbridge Institute Members

Resulting Publications/Presentations:

Boccuzzi, M. & Beischel, J. (2010, June). Empirically addressing a proposed mechanism behind orbic photographic artifacts. Poster presented at the 20th Annual Conference of the International Society for the Study of Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine (ISSSEEM), Westminster, Colorado.

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