OBE Research Study at Nottingham Trent University

Have you had one or more Out-of-Body Experiences (OBEs) in which it seems as if your sense of self or consciousness has become separated from your physical body? These experiences can occur under a variety of conditions. If you have experienced one or more OBEs researchers at Nottingham Trent University  are interested in hearing from you.

The aim of their research is to develop an OBE ‘screening’ scale which will be able to more precisely identify whether someone has had an OBE. At present no such tool exists for OBEs. Their research is not testing your experience in relation to psychological variables as is commonly done in OBE research, but instead explores the content of the experience itself to better understand it and differentiate it from other experiences.

To do this they would like your help by asking you if you would fill in an online questionnaire anonymously about the individual aspects of one of your OBEs. Your inclusion of this experience is important as it will contribute to the development of the scale. You can access the questionnaire by clicking on the link below.

The questionnaire includes full information on the study to enable you to decide whether or not to participate and offers a general definition of the OBE.

The inclusion criteria for this study (aside from your experience fitting our definition) are:

• You have no known organic condition which causes you to be prone to visual hallucinations
• You are able to provide informed consent
• You are over 18 years old
• You are able to provide a short written account of your OBE in English
• You are able to recall all of the OBE you wish to tell us about (i.e. not just give a partial account of it)

You won’t need to note these down but please only participate if you can agree with these criteria.

The survey can be completed by clicking the link below:

https://www.survey.bris.ac.uk/ntupsychology/obequestionnaire

Closing date of the survey is: 31st July 2014

If you wish to find out more about the survey, or wish to take part and have any queries, please contact Andrew Hodrien at: andrew.hodrien@ntu.ac.uk.

Exceptional Experiences Survey

Dr. Christine Simmonds-Moore (Assistant Professor of psychology in the psychology department, University of West Georgia)  is currently undertaking a survey investigation into exceptional experiences. The survey is looking to understand more about factors influencing when people have and do not have exceptional experiences. She would love to hear from you whether you have had any exceptional experiences or not: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/UWGexperiences

Historical Research at the University of British Columbia

Have you experienced objects that repeatedly moved on their own with no apparent explanation? If so, Christopher Laursen, a Ph.D student at the University of British Columbia, would like to hear from you - particularly if you had such experiences prior to 1990.

Visit his Extraordinarium website for more details.

Call for Participants: University of Central Lancashire

Ann Winsper, a PhD student at the University of Central Lancashire, is currently carrying out research investigating what people report hearing when listening to sound clips where it is unclear what is being heard. She is looking at connections between a number of different personality measures and characteristics and seeing if these affect what people report hearing.

Participants must be over 18 years of age.

She is currently recruiting for the first part of this study, which requires filling out a questionnaire pack that she can email or post to you. The questionnaires should take no longer than 15 minutes to complete. The questionnaires in the pack do cover a broad range of topics which include attitudes and belief in the paranormal and life after death, and other possibly sensitive subjects. While the study covers paranormal themes, participants are invited from a wide range of beliefs and experiences (including skeptics).

Once you have completed the questionnaire, you will be able to take part in further elements of the study, if you so wish.

Please contact arwinsper@uclan.ac.uk if you wish to take part in this study, or if you require more information.