Michael Thalbourne
Encyclopedia
Michael Anthony Thalbourne, Ph.D., (born 24 March 1955; died 4 May 2010, Adelaide, South Australia) was an Australia
n psychologist
and parapsychologist. He was educated at the University of Adelaide
and the University of Edinburgh
. His books include: A glossary of terms used in parapsychology
(2003), The common thread between ESP and PK (2004), and Parapsychology in the Twenty-First Century: Essays on the future of Psychical Research (2005).
He was first cousin twice removed on his mother's side of Supreme Court of South Australia judge George Coutts Ligertwood
.
From 1980 through 1987 when it closed Thalbourne researched at the McDonnell Laboratory for Psychical Research
at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri
.
Thalbourne was a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Adelaide
from 1992 until 2007, and was President of the Australian Institute for Parapsychological Research. He was editor of the Australian Journal of Parapsychology.
; his early work suggesting that this could be a trait linking such personality variables as belief in the paranormal, creative personality, mystical experience and psychopathology led him to describe this as a "common thread" linking these variables. His later work looked at the relationship between religiosity, dream-interpretation and transliminality and also how transliminality may relate to traits such as psychoticism
.
Thalbourne constructed a questionnaire which, as with Hood's M-Scale, assesses mystical experience called the Mystical Experience Scale. Thalbourne also collaborated on empirical research projects with Erlendur Haraldsson
.
Thalbourne also conducted research into kundalini
. He published a scale to assess the kundalini experience with the world-renowned expert on panic attacks, Bronwyn Fox. More recently, he used a random number generator in connection with kundalini. In his paper of 2006, he stated that he understands the term "Kundalini" to mean "the coiled one", and he refers to research into the near-death experience in connection with kundalini, and also refers to the Physio-Kundalini Scale, the 19-item scale devised by Bruce Greyson
to assess kundalini experience.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n psychologist
Psychologist
Psychologist is a professional or academic title used by individuals who are either:* Clinical professionals who work with patients in a variety of therapeutic contexts .* Scientists conducting psychological research or teaching psychology in a college...
and parapsychologist. He was educated at the University of Adelaide
University of Adelaide
The University of Adelaide is a public university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third oldest university in Australia...
and the University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
. His books include: A glossary of terms used in parapsychology
Parapsychology
The term parapsychology was coined in or around 1889 by philosopher Max Dessoir, and originates from para meaning "alongside", and psychology. The term was adopted by J.B. Rhine in the 1930s as a replacement for the term psychical research...
(2003), The common thread between ESP and PK (2004), and Parapsychology in the Twenty-First Century: Essays on the future of Psychical Research (2005).
He was first cousin twice removed on his mother's side of Supreme Court of South Australia judge George Coutts Ligertwood
George Ligertwood
Sir George Coutts Ligertwood was a Judge of the Supreme Court of South Australia .- Early life and legal career :Ligertwood was born on 15 October 1888, in Maylands, a suburb of Adelaide, South Australia....
.
Education and career
Thalbourne obtained his B.A. (Hons) at the University of Adelaide, South Australia, in 1976, and his Ph.D. in parapsychology at Edinburgh University in 1981.From 1980 through 1987 when it closed Thalbourne researched at the McDonnell Laboratory for Psychical Research
at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
.
Thalbourne was a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Adelaide
University of Adelaide
The University of Adelaide is a public university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third oldest university in Australia...
from 1992 until 2007, and was President of the Australian Institute for Parapsychological Research. He was editor of the Australian Journal of Parapsychology.
Research
Thalbourne extensively researched the psychology of belief in the paranormal, as well as attempted to elicit the paranormal itself under laboratory conditions. In the 1990s he wrote on the concept of transliminalityTransliminality
Transliminality was a concept introduced by the parapsychologist Michael Thalbourne, an Australian psychologist who is based at the University of Adelaide...
; his early work suggesting that this could be a trait linking such personality variables as belief in the paranormal, creative personality, mystical experience and psychopathology led him to describe this as a "common thread" linking these variables. His later work looked at the relationship between religiosity, dream-interpretation and transliminality and also how transliminality may relate to traits such as psychoticism
Psychoticism
Psychoticism is one of the three traits used by the psychologist Hans Eysenck in his P-E-N model model of personality. Psychoticism refers to a personality pattern typified by aggressiveness and interpersonal hostility.High levels of this trait were believed by Eysenck to be linked to increased...
.
Thalbourne constructed a questionnaire which, as with Hood's M-Scale, assesses mystical experience called the Mystical Experience Scale. Thalbourne also collaborated on empirical research projects with Erlendur Haraldsson
Erlendur Haraldsson
Erlendur Haraldsson is a Professor emeritus of psychology at the Faculty of social science at the University of Iceland who, despite having retired from his former post at the University of Iceland, continues to be an active academic. He has published work in various parapsychology journals, and...
.
Thalbourne also conducted research into kundalini
Kundalini
Kundalini literally means coiled. In yoga, a "corporeal energy" - an unconscious, instinctive or libidinal force or Shakti, lies coiled at the base of the spine. It is envisioned either as a goddess or else as a sleeping serpent, hence a number of English renderings of the term such as 'serpent...
. He published a scale to assess the kundalini experience with the world-renowned expert on panic attacks, Bronwyn Fox. More recently, he used a random number generator in connection with kundalini. In his paper of 2006, he stated that he understands the term "Kundalini" to mean "the coiled one", and he refers to research into the near-death experience in connection with kundalini, and also refers to the Physio-Kundalini Scale, the 19-item scale devised by Bruce Greyson
Bruce Greyson
Bruce Greyson, M.D. , is Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Virginia. He is co-author of Irreducible Mind and co-editor of The Handbook of Near-Death Experiences...
to assess kundalini experience.
Books
- Thalbourne, M.A. (1982). A glossary of terms used in parapsychologyParapsychologyThe term parapsychology was coined in or around 1889 by philosopher Max Dessoir, and originates from para meaning "alongside", and psychology. The term was adopted by J.B. Rhine in the 1930s as a replacement for the term psychical research...
. London: Heinemann. - Thalbourne, M.A. (2003). A glossary of terms used in parapsychologyParapsychologyThe term parapsychology was coined in or around 1889 by philosopher Max Dessoir, and originates from para meaning "alongside", and psychology. The term was adopted by J.B. Rhine in the 1930s as a replacement for the term psychical research...
. 2nd ed. Charlottesville, VA: Puente Press. - Thalbourne, M.A. (2004). The common thread between ESP and PK. New York: Parapsychology Foundation.
- Thalbourne, M.A., & Storm, L. (Eds).(2005). ParapsychologyParapsychologyThe term parapsychology was coined in or around 1889 by philosopher Max Dessoir, and originates from para meaning "alongside", and psychology. The term was adopted by J.B. Rhine in the 1930s as a replacement for the term psychical research...
in the Twenty-First Century: Essays on the future of Psychical Research. Jefferson, NC: McFarland. ISBN 0786419385 (pbk.) - Storm, L., & Thalbourne, M.A. (Eds.). (2006). The survival of human consciousness: Essays on the possibility of life after death. Jefferson, NC: McFarland. ISBN 0786427728 (pbk.)
Selected articles
Thalbourne has been published in all the major English-speaking parapsychological journals:- Thalbourne, M.A. (2009). Things that go bump, by day and by night: An expectancy effect? Australian Journal of Parapsychology, 9, 97-109.
- Thalbourne, M.A. (2009). Some notes on consciousness and claims of psi. Paranormal Review, No. 51, 21-22.
- Campos, R.C., Gonçalves, B., & Thalbourne, M.[A.] (2009). Preliminary psychometric data for a Portuguese scale to assess history of depressive symptomatology with a college student sample. Psychological Reports, 104, 1015-1018.
- Goretzki, M., Thalbourne, M.A., & Storm, L. (2009). The questionnaire measurement of spiritual emergency. Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 41, 81-97.
- Thalbourne, M.A. (2009). Reports of paranormal experiences: Can transliminality tell us anything about them? Archive for the Psychology of Religion, 31, 375-386.
- Thalbourne, M.A. (2009). Transliminality, anomalous belief and experience, and hypnotizability. Australian Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 37, 45-56.
- Thalbourne, M. A. (2009). Book review of Michael A. Jawer's The Spiritual Anatomy of Emotion. How Feelings Link the Brain, the Body, and the Sixth Sense. Australian Journal of Parapsychology, 9, 215-219.
- Thalbourne, M. A. (2009). Book review of Harvey J. Irwin's The Psychology of Paranormal Belief. A researcher's handbook. Australian Journal of Parapsychology, 9, 219-223.