Discovery Lab Answers

Richard S. Broughton, PhD

Richard S. Broughton is a parapsychologist whose research has centered on experimental design, computational methodology, and the investigation of anomalous cognition and psychokinesis. His career bridged classical parapsychological protocols with computerized automation, and he is the author of Parapsychology: The Controversial Science, a comprehensive examination of the field’s history, methods, and debates.

Research focus and methodology

Broughton’s early work explored cerebral hemisphere laterality and ESP performance, investigating whether differential brain dominance patterns correlated with psi ability ^[4]. He pioneered the use of computerized random number generators and automated experimental control in psychokinesis research, helping to establish standardized computational approaches to psi testing ^[6].

Much of his empirical work centered on the autoganzfeld, the automated testing system designed and built by Rick E. Berger and led by Charles Honorton at the Psychophysical Research Laboratories (PRL). Broughton conducted multiple ganzfeld studies examining factors such as hemisphere dominance in receiver scoring ^[4] and attempted independent replication of the PRL autoganzfeld protocols ^[6].

Contributions to ganzfeld meta-analysis

Broughton co-authored two influential meta-analyses of ganzfeld ESP experiments. With John Palmer, he published an updated meta-analysis of post-PRL ganzfeld studies, examining how the “standardness” of experimental procedures—their adherence to established protocols—affected reported effect sizes ^[3]. Earlier, with Daryl J. Bem and Palmer, he contributed to updating the ganzfeld database, a synthesis effort that tracked the cumulative evidence from automated psi testing ^[2].

He also collaborated with Dick Bierman and Rick E. Berger on a methodological audit of the randomization properties of the PRL autoganzfeld target sequences, distinguishing between the random selection procedure itself and the statistical properties of the resulting target sequences ^[5].

Institutional affiliations

Broughton has held positions at the Institute for Parapsychology and the Rhine Research Center (both in Durham, North Carolina) and the University of Northampton in the United Kingdom.

For a fuller profile, see Richard S. Broughton, PhD on ESP-Nexus.