Varieties of Anomalous Experience: Examining the Scientific Evidence (Dissociation, Trauma, Memory, and Hypnosis)

A well-researched, well-balanced survey of academic research on anomalous experiences that is destined to become a basic resource for students and researchers in this emerging field.
Max Velmans, Professor, Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London

The fascination of psychology is not only in understanding the complexities of normal and abnormal aspects of human nature, but even more so in exploring all those phenomena that are anomalous. It is a joy to read this second edition of Cardeña, Lynn, and Krippner s brilliant compilation of research and theories focused on the side of human nature that does seem to challenge some current tenets of biology and physics. Varieties of Anomalous Experience provides an authoritative, international overview of an area that, besides its intrinsic interest for the clinician, researcher, and layperson, has vast implications for our fuller understanding of human nature. --Phillip Zimbardo, PhD, Professor Emeritus, Stanford University, and Past President of the American Psychological Association

This book brings home the importance of understanding human anomalous experience as a developmental phenomenon that goes beyond a potential form of mental illness. As psychologists, if we truly wish to understand the human experience, we need to explore the causes, effects, and cultural legacies of AEs. The editors of this book have taken the first steps to pull this information together for us using the methods that honor the outer truth of scientific evidence but do not disrespect the inner phenomenological truth of individual anomalous experience. --PsycCRITIQUES

In this revised and updated edition of a classic text, contributors present a wide range of research on anomalous experiences, from commonly documented sensations like synesthesia, lucid dreaming, out-of-body experiences and auditory and visual hallucinations, to rarer and more seemingly inexplicable experiences such as anomalous healing, past-lives, near-death experiences, mystical experiences, and even alien abductions. The book makes a compelling case for the inclusion of these marginalized and under-recognized experiences as not merely incidental, but essential to our understanding of human psychology.