parapsychology

[ par-uh-sahy-kol-uh-jee ]

noun

1. the branch of psychology that deals with the investigation of purportedly psychic phenomena, as clairvoyance, extrasensory perception, telepathy, and the like.

parapsychology

/ ˌpærəsaɪkəˈlɒʒɪkəl; ˌpærəsaɪˈkɒlədʒɪ /

noun

1. the study of mental phenomena, such as telepathy, which are beyond the scope of normal physical explanation

parapsychology

1. The study of extrasensory perception (ESP), communications with the dead, telekinesis (using mental energy to cause distant objects to move), and other mental phenomena that have not been explained or accepted by scientists. ( See psychic research .)

Derived Forms

• ˌparapsyˈchologist, noun
• parapsychological, adjective

Other Words From

• para·psycho·logi·cal adjective
• para·psy·cholo·gist noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of parapsychology¹

First recorded in 1925–30; para- ¹ + psychology

Example Sentences

Towards the end of her studies she switched to parapsychology from forensic psychology, which concentrates on criminal behaviour.

From BBC

The dubious field of parapsychology, for instance, owes its existence to the decades of pseudoscholarship churned out at Duke and Harvard University–and financed by wealthy private patrons.

From Scientific American

In a first-person story for the Times, Mr. Toth called the pretext for his arrest “laughable,” saying a source he believed was a scientist had handed him a paper on parapsychology, not military secrets.

From Washington Post

“She didn’t want parapsychology talking to itself as a field.”

From New York Times

And I do not mean books on U.F.O.s, psychology or parapsychology, or even what passes for “medicine.”

From New York Times