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Which psychic abilities did researchers study alongside mediumship?
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Spiritualism
A Harry Houdini poster promoting a theatrical performance to discredit Spiritualism.
Researchers studying the claims of the Spiritualist movement developed the discipline of psychic research to investigate a variety of phenomena alongside mediumship and spirit contact. These studies primarily focused on the following psychic abilities:1
- Extrasensory Perception (ESP): Researchers examined cognitive phenomena where individuals were believed to acquire knowledge without using ordinary sensory channels. This included:23
- Telepathy: The direct transference of thought between individuals.24
- Clairvoyance: The acquisition of knowledge about facts or objects without sensory input.2
- Precognition: The ability to perceive future events.2
- Physical Phenomena: Researchers also investigated physical manifestations, often categorized under psychokinesis, such as the movement of objects, the levitation of items, or the materialization of spirit entities.213
While many researchers hoped to find scientific evidence for these abilities, these efforts were frequently complicated by the discovery of fraudulent practices, as many mediums employed techniques similar to those used by stage magicians to simulate psychic powers.1