Paranormal - Above or outside the natural order of things as presently understood.

Parapsychology - The branch of science that studies psychic phenomena. (term coined by J.B. Rhine)

Percipient - A person who sees (i.e., perceives) an apparition or ghost.

Phenomenology - An approach to research that aims to describe and clarify a person's own experience and understanding of an event or phenomenon.

Poltergeist - A German word meaning 'noisy or rowdy ghost' (see also RSPK).

Probability - The likelihood that results in a test were due to chance.

Process Research - Research that aims to investigate factors affecting psi.

Proof Research - Research that aims to demonstrate the existence of psi.

Psychical Research - Term coined in the late 19th century to refer to the scientific study of the paranormal. Now largely superseded by 'parapsychology'.

PK - Psychokinesis - (expressive psychic) the power of the mind to affect matter without physical contact.

PK (bio) - Psychokinetic influence of biological systems e.g. changing the physiological activity of a living system (see DMILS).

PK (deliberate) - Psychokinesis that occurs as a result of conscious effort by the person causing it.

PK (macro) - The effect of psychokinesis on objects in general.

PK (micro) - The effect of psychokinesis on random events such as random event generators (REGs).

PK (spontaneous) - Psychokinesis that occurs without conscious effort by the person who causes it.

PK (time-displaced) - The concept of psychokinesis going backward in time to affect events that have already taken place.

Place memory - Information about past events that apparently is stored in the physical environment.

Precognition - The ability to predict things beyond present knowledge.

Psi - A letter in the Greek alphabet that denotes psychic phenomena.

Psi hitting - A test performance significantly higher than expected by chance.

Psi missing - A test performance significantly lower than expected by chance.

Psyche - The Greek word for “self�? “mind�? or “soul�?

Psychic - A person with above average ESP abilities.

Psychic healing - A mode of healing affected by the psychic abilities of the healer.

Psychic surgery - The supposed ability to paranormally perform invasive surgery using no conventional medical tools.

Psychometry - ESP of events associated with inanimate objects.

Qualitative Method - A research method involving the collection of non-quantitative data (e.g., observations, interviews, subjective reports, case studies).

Quantitative Method - A research method involving the collection and statistical analysis of numerical data.

Radio voice phenomenon (RVP) - Receiving the voice of a deceased human being over a regular radio.

REG - Random event generator. A target selection machine that operates in a way that should be impossible to predict creating random events or random numbers. (same as Random Number Generator - RNG)

Remote viewing - (1)Another term for clairvoyance.(2)An ESP procedure in which a percipient attempts to become aware psychically of the experience of an agent who is at a distant, unknown target location.

REMs - Rapid eye movement during sleep that indicates dreaming.

Repressed psychokinetic energy - A theoretical psychic force produced, usually unconsciously, by an individual undergoing physical or mental trauma. When released, the power causes paranormal occurrences such as poltergeist activity.

Response - An action made by a subject in an experiment.

Response bias - Tendency of a subject to prefer particular responses.

Retroactive Psychokinesis - Paranormal influence that an agent can have on an experiment after it has been completed.

Retrocognition - A ‘time warp�?in which one finds themself in the past, seeing or experiencing events of which they had no prior knowledge.

RSPK - Recurrent spontaneous psychokinesis. A possible cause of apparent poltergeist activity.

Run - A set of trials in a psi test.

Sceptic (skeptic) - A person inclined to discount the reality of the paranormal and to be critical of parapsychological research. Generally seeks rational or scientific explanations for the phenomenon studied by parapsychologists.

Score - Number of hits in a psi test.

Scrying - A term used to cover a wide range of divination techniques which parapsychology would tend to classify as types of ESP. Most scrying techniques involve some degree of fixation on a surface with a clear optical depth (crystal ball, a pool of ink or deep water) or on an area which shows random patterns (flames in a fire, smoke), the idea being that subconscious information available to the scrying will be manifested in their interpretation of the imagery or random patterns they see.

Séance - A group of people who gather in an effort to communicate with the dead.

Series - A sequence of runs in a psi experiment.

Shaman - A ‘wizard�?in tribal societies who is an intermediary between the living, the dead, and the gods.

Sheep - A subject in an experiment who believes in the ability for which he or she is being tested.

Spirit photography - A spirit photograph captures the image of a ghost on film. Many of these are supposedly intended as a mere portrait of a living human being, but when the film is developed, an ethereal ghostly face or figure can be seen hovering near the subject. This may also incorporate orbs, vortexes, and mists to some degree.

Spirit theater - A term used by modern-day magicians to describe shows, acts, or tricks in which ghosts or other spirit activity are apparently produced.

Spiritualism - A belief system that ‘spirits�?of the dead can (and do) communicate with living humans in the material world. (Usually through a intermediary known as a medium).

Subjective apparitions - Apparitions or phenomena that are hallucinations created by our minds.

Supernatural - Something that exists or occurs through some means other than any known force in nature. As opposed to paranormal, the term ‘supernatural�?often connotes divine or demonic intervention.

Statistics - Mathematical techniques for analyzing and interpreting data.

Stigmata - Unexplained markings on a person's body that correspond to the wounds of Christ.

Survey - A method of data collection that involves interviewing (or giving questionnaires to) a representative and often large group of people.

Target object - In ESP, the object or event the subject attempts to perceive; in PK, the object or event the subject attempts to influence.

Telekinesis - Paranormal movement of objects.

Telepathy - The direct passing of information from one mind to another.

Teleportation - A kind of paranormal transportation in which an object is moved from one distinct location to another, often through a solid object such as a wall.

Temporal Lobe Activity - Electrical activity in the temporal lobes of the brain. Often associated with strange sensations, time distortions and hallucinations. Sometimes used as an explanation for seemingly paranormal experiences such as apparitions.

Thought form - An apparition produced by the power of the human mind.

Trance - A sleeplike state in which there is a change of consciousness.

Trial - In psi tests, a single attempt to demonstrate paranormal ability (e.g., one attempt to guess a card or one attempt to influence the fall of the dice).

Up Through Technique - An experimental test for clairvoyance in which the subject guesses the order of a stacked series of target symbols (cards) from bottom to top.

Vortex (vortice) - A photographed anomaly that appears as a funnel or rope-like image (sometimes creating a shadow) that is not seen at the time of the photograph that supposedly represents a 'ghost'. Other theories include; a collection of orbs, a 'gateway' to where orbs originate or travel to or a wormhole in time-space. No substantial evidence has been found for any of these theories.

White noise - A hiss-like sound, formed by compiling all audible frequencies (used in Ganzfield experiments).

Zener Cards - Set of 25 cards (5 each of circle, square, Greek cross, five-pointed star, three wavy lines) designed by the perceptual psychologist Karl Zener for use in card-guessing tests of ESP. (also known as ESP cards).

This by no means is a complete dictionary of terminology. This is meant to provide you with pertinent words to aid in the basic understanding of parapsychology and the ghost hunting world.

Information for this glossary taken from Michael Daniels, PhD., Psychic Connections: A Journey Into the Mysterious World of Psi by Lois Duncan and William Roll, PhD.(Bantam Doubleday Dell Books, 1995), Variations second edition Wayne Weiten (Brooks/Cole Publishing 1989)