TOP SOVIET PSYCHOLOGISTS CALL FOR SERIOUS RESEARCH IN PARAPSYCHOLOGY

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The declassified document discusses a paper written by Soviet psychologists, V. P. Zinchenko, A. N. Leont'yev, B. F. Lomov, and A. R. Luriya, on the topic of parapsychology. The psychologists argue that many Soviet parapsychologists lack the necessary qualifications in scientific psychology and are instead engineers, mathematicians, or physicists. They suggest that serious scientific organizations should get involved in parapsychology research to differentiate between genuine phenomena and charlatans. The paper highlights the need for rigorous scientific research to provide adequate explanations for paranormal phenomena.

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Body:  Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/01: NSA-RDP96XO079OR000100010048-5(b)( )
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 iuieiice and
 ieuliiiology
 items of interest in the
 fields of science and
 technology
 Top Soviet Psychologists Call For
 Serious Research I n Parapsychology (U)
 In a paper entitled "Parapsychology: Fiction or Reality,
 V. P. Zinchenko, A. N. Leont'yev, B. F. Lomov, and A. R. Luriya
 indicate that many Soviet parapsychologists are engineers, mathe-
 maticians, and physicists rather than biologists or psychologists.
 In addition, many parapsychologists have gravitated to medical,
 physiological, and psychological posts for which they are unqualified.
 Although qualified in their own field but lacking qualifications in
 scientific psychology, these are people who have succeeded in ob-
 serving only "astonishing" psychological phenomena, or they have
 become the victims of charlatans.  In the opinion of the authors the
 attention of serious scientific organizations will aid in revealing the
 true nature of parapsychological phenomena, close the door to
 charlatans, and disperse the myths about the existence of a "para-
 psychological movement" in the USSR.
 This paper probably signals the entry of Soviet academic
 psychologists into the field of paranormal research.  It is also the
 first attempt by leading Soviet psychologists to caution against the
 sensational results of ill-conceived parapsychological experiments
 lacking stringent experimental controls.  The authors are of the
 opinion that the secret and mystic aspects of such concepts as psychQ-
 tronics, "bioinformation transfer, " psychokinesis, hypnotism, and
 yoga are inappropriate as a basis for combining all these concepts
 into a single special field when their only common denominator is
 the fact that they are unexplainable phenomena.  They do not discount
 the existence of such phenomena and indicate that rigorous scientific
 research must be applied to achieve truly adequate explanations.
 (CIA)
 (C                L
 WIR 14/74  5 Apr 74
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/01: NSA-RDP96XO079OR000100010048-5
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/01: NSA-RDP96XO079OR000100010048-5
 (b)(3)
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/01: NSA-RDP96XO079OR000100010048-5