Susan Blackmore
Susan Blackmore is a researcher at the University of Plymouth whose work spans parapsychology and near-death experiences. The sources retrieved for this question include her publications on near-death phenomena and a collaborative replication study in psi research.
Research on near-death experiences
Blackmore has published empirical investigations into near-death experiences (NDEs), examining their phenomenology and physiological basis. Her 1998 study examined whether reflex anoxic seizures in children resemble NDEs, investigating the role of anoxia in near-death phenomena [3]. She has also conducted cross-cultural research, soliciting NDE accounts from India and scoring them against established NDE indices [4]. With Tom Troscianko, she developed physiological theories to account for tunnel hallucinations and tunnel experiences reported near death, proposing that various sensory and neural mechanisms could explain the observed phenomenology [5].
Psi research participation
Blackmore was a co-author on a 2021 replication study examining time-reversed (psi) priming effects and the role of expectancy in reaction times, published in the Journal of Scientific Exploration [1]. This represents her participation in contemporary psi methodology research.
Skeptical critiques
A 1989 forensic audit by Rick E. Berger, published in the Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, examined Blackmore’s ESP dissertation experiments from the late 1970s and early 1980s. Berger found significant discrepancies between unpublished dissertation data and published reports, including reordered study chronologies, omitted significant results, and selective application of methodological criticism depending on whether outcomes were significant or null. Berger concluded that these discrepancies were pervasive enough that no conclusions—for or against psi—could be drawn from the database as a whole.
For deeper context on her experimental record and the methodological debates surrounding it, see the ESP-Nexus pages on Skeptical Critiques & Debates and the Ganzfeld Debate.
References
- Schlitz, M. J., Bem, D. J., Marcusson-Clavertz, D., Cardena, E., Lyke, J., Grover, R., Blackmore, S. J., Tressoldi, P. E., Roney-Dougal, S. M., Bierman, D. J., Jolij, J. J., Lobach, E., Hartelius, G., Rabeyron, T., Bengston, W. F., Nelson, S. E., Moddel, G., & Delorme, A. (2021). Two Replication Studies of a Time-Reversed (Psi) Priming Task and the Role of Expectancy in Reaction Times. Journal of Scientific Exploration, 35, pp. 65–90. https://doi.org/10.31275/20211903
- Blackmore, S. J. (1999). Letter to the Editor: Tunnel Vision and Tunnel Experiences. Journal of Near-Death Studies, 17.
- Blackmore, S. J. (1998). Experiences of Anoxia: Do Reflex Anoxic Seizures Resemble Near-Death Experiences? Journal of Near-Death Studies, 17.
- Blackmore, S. J. (1993). Near-Death Experiences in India: They Have Tunnels…. Journal of Near-Death Studies, 11.
- Blackmore, S. J., & Troscianko, T. S. (1989). The Physiology of the Tunnel. Journal of Near-Death Studies, 8.
- Schaefer, M. T., Geraci, J. B., Rhodes, L. S., & Blackmore, S. J. (1988). Letters to the Editor: Counseling After a Near-Death Experience. Journal of Near-Death Studies, 7.
More questions answered
- Pool the effect sizes across every ganzfeld study you hold and compare your number to the published Storm and Tressoldi meta-analyses—do they agree?
- Has the effect size for PK data increased in the last 50 years?
- Tell me about the clairvoyance work of the last 50 years
- What trends can you see in precognition research?
- What trends can you see in ESP research in the last 50 years?
- What are parapsychology's current arguments to justify that the phenomena are real and should be taken seriously?