Brian Laythe

Iudicium LLP

This study examines a body of engaged “ritual magic practitioners” to understand their methods and techniques for facilitating putative parapsychological outcomes in everyday life, as well as outcomes on a computerized test of putative psi. We hypothesized that the combination of meditation, visualization, and related mental exercises at the core o...

Previous survey evidence suggests that situational-enchantment is a mental state conducive for psi-related experiences. In this conceptual replication and exploration, we used a preregistered research design to examine hit rate on a mobile application ('app') test of putative psi that was administered after participant exposure to two competing con...

Objective: We used the ChatGPT-3.5 artificial intelligence (AI)-based language program to compare twelve types of mystical, supernatural, or otherwise anomalous entity encounter narratives constructed from material in the publicly available corpus of information, and compared their details to the phenomenology of spontaneous accounts via the Survey...

The grounded theory of Haunted People Syndrome (HP-S) contends that spontaneous 'ghostly episodes' recurrently experienced by certain people are an interactionist phenomenon involving heightened somatic-sensory sensitivities which are stirred by disease states, contextual-ized with paranormal belief, and reinforced via perceptual contagion and thre...

We used a multiteam system approach (MTS) to map the critical and constructive feedback from four invited Commentaries on Rock et al.’s (2023) probabilistic analysis of purported evidence for postmortem survival. The goal was to mine actionable insights to guide future research with the potential for important learnings or breakthroughs about the n...

This participatory team science project extended Laythe and Houran’s (2022) prior application of a famous probabilistic argument known as the "Drake equation" to the question of postmortem survival. Specifically, we evaluated effect sizes from peer-reviewed, empirical studies to determine the maximum average percentage effect that ostensibly suppor...

We conducted two preliminary studies to test the hypothesis that 'haunted, sacred, or enchanted' spaces are characterized by certain environmental Gestalt variables that define their space syntax or architectural phenomenology and thus help to consciously or non-consciously shape people's associated impressions or perceptions. Study 1 involved the...

A new computerized test for ‘extrasensory perception’ (ESP) is designed for use in everyday environments and draws on principles in occultism to promote better results. Results suggest that induction techniques and focus contribute to ESP trial success, but are in need of larger sample replication. Abstract The current study engaged in a pilot da...

A lay- and student- friendly summary of our team's 5+ year research program on ghostly episodes and the phenomenon of Haunted People Syndrome (HP-S). Available at: https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/ghosted/

Haunted People Syndrome (HP-S) denotes individuals who recurrently report various “supernatural” encounters in everyday settings ostensibly due to heightened somatic-sensory sensitivities to dis-ease states (e.g., marked but sub-clinical levels of distress), which are contextualized by paranormal beliefs and reinforced by perceptual contagion effec...

The idea of ‘life after death’ transcends philosophy or religion, as science can test predictions from claims by both its advocates and skeptics. This study therefore featured two researchers with opposite views, who jointly gathered hundreds of research studies to evaluate the maximum average percentage effect that seemingly supports (i.e., anomal...

Reports of childhood imaginary companions (IC) sometimes contain "creepy or spooky" perceptions or themes that suggest such occurrences could be overlooked or disguised forms of a "ghostly episode" or "entity encounter experience." This idea was explored via a content analysis of vetted narratives from the Reddit website involving ICs with haunt-ty...

Evidence suggests that subjective and objective anomalies associated with ghostly episodes form a unidimensional Rasch scale and that these interconnected “signs or symptoms” arguably describe a syndrome model. This view predicts that symptom perception—that is, the phenomenology of these anomalous episodes—can be markedly skewed by an experient’s...

Situational-enchantment is a hypothesized arousal state encompassing a potent sense of connection or oneness with a “transcendent power or ultimate reality.” Qualitative research previously suggested that this individual difference involves dissonance around ideations with competing “Emotional, Sensorial, Timeless, Rational, and Transformative” the...

Tourism-hospitality businesses sometimes market consumer experiences in terms of “enchantment,” although this phrase is often used vaguely or variously. Therefore, we approached the issue conceptually by examining prior research on the experience economy, extraordinary architectural experiences, and accounts of paranormal tourism. Our critical over...

Research suggests a Haunted People Syndrome (HP-S) is defined by the recurrent perception of anomalous subjective and objective events. Occurrences are traditionally attributed to supernatural agencies, but we argue that such interpretations have morphed into themes of “surveillance and stalking” in group-stalking reports. We tested a series of rel...

This paper contains a narrative overview of the past 20-years of environmental research on anomalous experiences attributed to “haunted house.” This exercise served as a much-needed update to an anthology of noteworthy overviews on ghosts, haunts, and poltergeists (Houran and Lange, 2001b). We also considered whether new studies had incorporated ce...

The VAPUS model (Hill et al., 2018, 2019) characterizes the powerful "brand personality" of ghost narratives in terms of their Versatility, Adaptability, Participatory Nature, Universality, and Scalability. This suggests that these narratives act as cultural memes that partly reflect interpersonal or group dynamics. We use these themes in a review...

Fieldwork studies of "haunted houses" can offer ecologically valid insights for model-building or theory-formation in consciousness studies from parapsychological and conventional perspectives. The interactionist hypothesis asserts that these anomalous episodes are a phenomenon rooted in environment-person bidirectional influences. Although prior r...

Research suggests a “Haunted People Syndrome (HP-S)” defined by recurrent and systematic perceptions of anomalous subjective and objective anomalies. Such signs or symptoms are traditionally attributed to “spirits and the supernatural,” but these themes are hypothesised to morph to “surveillance and stalking” in reports of “group-(or gang) stalking...

We documented 10 instances of anomalous movements ("PK events") of two objects under quasi-controlled conditions at a reported haunt and time-synced to readings of electromagnetic fields (EMFs). Using a series of published binomial tests, we analyzed each axis of a "target" meter (within two-feet of the affected objects) for deviant EMF activity, a...

Using a sample of self-reported “spontaneous” accounts (ostensibly sincere and unprimed, N = 426), we calibrated a 32-item, Rasch-based “Survey of Strange Events (SSE)” to quantify the phenomenology of ghostly episodes while assessing response biases related to experients’ age and gender. This inventory included psychological experiences typical of...

We review conceptualizations and measurements of base (or core) experiences commonly attributed to haunts and poltergeists (i.e., “ghostly episodes”). Case analyses, surveys, controlled experiments, and field studies have attempted to gauge anomalous experiences in this domain, albeit with methods that do not cumulatively build on earlier research....

We extend Laythe, Houran, and Ventola's (2018) psychometric study of 'ghost and haunt' percipients by examining transliminality in relation to focus persons in poltergeist disturbances. The classic pathology (or disease) model of presumed agents is barely supported by empirical research and may be inaccurate. However, we identified eight psychologi...

We continue our integrative review of nearly 20 years of sociocultural research and popular trends on ghosts, haunted houses, and poltergeists (collectively termed "ghostly episodes") that commenced in Part I (Hill, O'Keeffe, Laythe, Dagnall, Drinkwater, Ventola, & Houran, 2018). That analysis characterized the powerful brand personality of ghost n...

A review of nearly 20 years of sociocultural research and trends on "ghostly episodes" (ghosts, haunted houses, and poltergeists) suggests that personal accounts, group investigations, and popular depictions of anomalous experiences function as active, meaningful, and potent cultural memes. These, in part, reflect interpersonal or group dynamics gr...

Haunt and poltergeist' experiences tend to occur around certain individuals ('person-focusing'). To study this phenomenon, a convenience sample of college students (N = 313) completed measures of trait Anxiety and Depression, Vulnerability, Intellect, Paranormal Belief (New Age Philosophy and Traditional Paranormal Beliefs), Locus of Control, Fear...

This paper reports on an Owen and Sparrow (1976) genre séance study to examine the relationships among transliminality, psychokinesis (PK), general subjective and external anomalous experiences, contagion effects, and small variations in electromagnetic field activity. Eleven participants in two series of séance sessions were observed and recorded...

Previous research in electromagnetic and geomagnetic fields (EMF and GMF) and their relationship to paranormal phenomena has been performed under the theoretical assumptions of hallucination due to GMFfields. The current study tests the possibility that nonhallucinatory paranormal phenomena are also associated with EMF/GMF fields. EMF and GMF pertu...

The current study examines the specific experiences of individuals who have reported haunt phenomena in the context of common paranormal belief measures. One hundred and sixty nine community college students completed online surveys assessing personality traits, cognitive functioning, Tobacyk's (2004) measure of paranormal belief, Gallagher, Kumar,...

In research on religiosity and prejudice, right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) has been studied alongside variables such as fundamentalism and orthodoxy. Four concerns regarding research on the relationship between RWA and religiosity are identified: (1) the overlap of religiosity and prejudice within the RWA scale; (2) the inflation of relationships...

The present study aims to determine whether the empirical relationship between religious fundamentalism and prejudice can be accounted for in terms of the mutually opposing effects of Christian orthodoxy and right-wing authoritarianism using multiple regression. Three separate samples (total n = 320) completed measures of religious fundamentalism,...

In a study designed to investigate the respective roles of religious fundamentalism and right-wing authoritarianism as predictors of prejudice against racial minorities and homosexuals, participants (47 males, 91 females) responded to a series of questionnaire measures of these constructs. Data were analyzed using multiple regression. Consistent wi...