Researchers, mediums study communication with the dead

Nicholas Valenzuela Arizona Daily Wildcat Gary Schwartz, psychology professor and co-founder of the University of Arizona Human Energy Systems Lab speaks about his work at the UA. Schwartz and co-founder Linda Russek are conducting research on the "Russek paradigm" which involves some of the most famous mediums in the world.

A team of UA scientists and students conducted a unique experiment this weekend, probing the possibility of an afterlife by studying how mediums commune with the dead.

Researchers at the University of Arizona Human Energy Systems Lab invited a panel of mediums to meet with 10 people whose loved ones recently died. The mediums tried to receive information from the deceased without prior knowledge about the deceased and while under observation.

"The first responsibility of a scientist is to ask questions," said Gary Schwartz, psychology professor and co-founder of the lab.

What happens to consciousness after death is one of the most important questions a scientist can ask, he said.

Schwartz invited four mediums to participate in the study, including famous "superstars" of the psychic world such as author John Edwards, and unknowns such as California housewife Laurie Campbell.

The research design, which Schwartz dubbed the "Russek paradigm," was mostly the work of the lab's co-founder Linda Russek.

The medium sat facing a wall while a researcher looked on. A "sitter", who had recently lost a relative or friend, would then enter the room and sit six feet behind the medium.

Schwartz acknowledged that a few of the sitters were acquaintances of the mediums.

For up to 10 minutes, the medium and the sitter would sit in silence. The medium, who could not see the sitter, would concentrate on receiving psychic impressions.

A question and answer session followed, in which the sitter was allowed only to answer "yes" or "no."

Schwartz said that the mediums did not play "20 questions" with the sitter in an attempt to weed out personal information. Instead, they tried to clarify impressions they were receiving.

"They often try to get confirmatory information," he said.

Schwartz said that the study was set up to minimize communication between the medium and the sitter, avoiding conscious or subconscious prompting between the two.

"It's complicated to determine what is psychological and what is spiritual," he said.

While the final results have not been written up, Schwartz said he was impressed with the mediums performance.

On several occasions the mediums were able to pick out the names and personal information of the deceased, he said.

There were also several "jawdroppers" when the mediums revealed highly personal information or facts so obscure that the sitters themselves didn't know them, he said.

In one case, the medium revealed that the sitter had an uncle who had been killed during World War II. The sitter hadn't known about the uncle, but later confirmed the story with relatives, Schwartz said.

In other cases, the mediums were able to pick up facts such as the breed of a long-dead pet, he said.

Gary Mechler, an astronomy instructor at Pima Community College and co-founder of the Tucson Skeptics, is not convinced by such stories.

Mechler is a local representative of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, an organization of scientists he said is "ready to strike out for truth and light at a moments notice."

He said that professional mediums are very skilled at misleading the public.

"I've seen so many stories fall apart," Mechler said. "That's where (my) skepticism comes from."

But Schwartz insisted that such claims need to be investigated scientifically.

"Is it proof? Of course not," Schwartz said. "Is it interesting? Definitely."

The success of the mediums often depended on the sitters and their belief in life after death. All the mediums were able to get good information while working with a woman who had lost six loved ones in the past nine years, Schwartz said.

The best sitter was a UA undergraduate who had lost two relatives but felt connected to them, he said.

The worst sitter was a man who called himself a skeptic, Schwartz said, adding that none of the mediums could connect with his deceased relatives.

The researchers have noticed a link between belief and performance in other tests.

In one experiment, people had to guess whether researchers standing behind them were looking at their heads or backs. The subjects guessed correctly nearly 60 percent of the time on average, as opposed to the 50 percent that would be expected from mere guesswork, Schwartz said.

Those who believed in psychic phenomena guessed correctly more often than those who didn't, he said.

"It isn't really paranormal phenomena," said Patty Harada, one of Schwartz's assistants. "We are really trying to study energy."

"The energy from our bodies is actually going somewhere," she said. "It's actually doing something."

Many of the researchers expressed similar beliefs, and Schwartz added that a person's energy may survive after death.

Schwartz admits that the research into human energy systems is in beginning stages, and that many details remain a mystery.

"Because this is frontier work, as soon as you do one study you ask 20 questions," he said, "That's what makes it fun."