CIA-RDP96-00792R000700930001-8

Approved For Release 2001/03/07 : CIA-RDP96-00792R000700930001-8
Exceptional Human Experience
Flow in Everyday Life" (8). The last essay may be the most
interesting -- in it Csikszentmihalyi discusses "the future of
flow." - R.A.W.
04037. Privette, G. Dynamics of peak performance. Jour-
nal of Humanistic Psychology, 1981 (Win), 21(1), 57-67.
Are there common elements in experiences of high
level performance in
different
This
activities?
ex-
ploratory study initiates a research basis for understanding
superior use of human potential.
Peak performance,
defined operationally as behavior that exceeds one's predict-
able level of functioning, represents superior use of poten-
tial in any human endeavor. Examined were episodes of
peak performance reported by adult subjects in four groups:
psychology, creative arts, adult education, and graduate coun-
seling. Factor analyses and ANOVA of factor scores were
used to
compare reported
experiences
of
superior
functioning with those of average behavior. Results indi-
cated that peak performance is an independent entity with
distinguishing phenomenological dimensions. These dimen-
sions of peak performance include: (a) absorption and
clarity which comprise clear focus upon both object and
self, (b) spontaneity and unrestrained behavior, and (c) ex-
pression of self. - DA
PLANETARY/COSMIC
THEORETICAL
04038. Pollard, Frank. A theology for the new age. Jour-
nal of Religion and Psychical Research, 1990 (Apr), 13(2),
94-96. 8 refs
The author proposes that "an integration of [several]
concepts could constitute a new system of belief, a new
religion, a new myth, a new directing mechanism in the lives
of the inhabitants of this planet" (p. 94). He discusses five
concepts. - DT
04039. West, Ross Evan. Gaia: The new Mother Earth.
New Realities, 1989 (Sep/Oct), 10(1), 16-23. 3 photos
Unlike Darwin, who believed in the survival of the fit-
test as the biological basis of evolution, British chemist
James Lovelock sees cooperation, not competition, as the en-
gine of biological progress. A look at his Gaia Hypothesis
and its implications for the scientific, ecological, and
spiritual realms. - DA
POLTERGEISTS/HAUNTINGS
CASES
04040
Basterfield, Keith, and Bolten, Steven. Polter-
geist: Warnbro (W.A.). Australian Institute of Psychic
Research (AIPR) Bulletin, 1985 (May/Jun), No. 6, 10-11. 4
refs
In the summer of 1974, 1975 or 1976, Kath and her
daughter, 4, came to live in Barry and Sue's house. Kath
had an affair with Barry. This was known to Sue. Over
three nights, loud knocks were heard on the windows of the
house. The neighbor's children and police could not locate
anyone outside the house. On night four, Barry pretended
to go to work, but crept back to the house. At midnight,
loud knocks sounded on the windows. As the knocks passed
the front door, Barry fired a speargun through the door. He
found no-one outside. The women became hysterical as
more knocks sounded on the windows. All three went to
bed. Later, Barry heard a loud scream.
He found Kath
lying in the hallway with her feet off the ground and her
Vol. 8, Nos. 1/2 December 1990
hair back.
Kath stated she had been dragged out of bed,
after feeling cold hands on her ankles. Kath left the house
at once, and Barry and Sue within the week. - DT/M.J.H.
04041. Frodsham, John. The picture that would not
burn: An unusual haunting. Australian Institute of
Psychic Research (AZPR) Bulletin, 1984 (Aug/Sep), No. 4,
3-5. 5 refs.
.....
"This article is an edited version of an article from
Fate [March 1984, 85-90] Mrs. R believed her house in a
Perth (W.A.) suburb was haunted. She had burnt a morbid
photography of the gravestone of a child who had died in
1856, only to later find the photo back in its album. A
photo of her father vanished from its shelf, only to later
reappear. She saw the apparition of the "gravestone" girl in
a hallway. A neighbor's child also reported a young ghost
in the house. A glass utensil "flew" and smashed onto the
floor. Mrs R suffered insomnia and felt oppressed by the
house, but this was relieved by a Christian exorcism
ceremony. Mrs. R, who is psychic, perhaps created the
ghosts as "thought-forms" to resolve some inner conflict
brought to the surface by the gravestone plot. - DT/M.J.H.
04042.
Hough, Michael. Two haunted brothers.
Australian Institute of Psychic Research (AIPR) Bulletin,
== 1986 (Feb), No. 9, 5-11. 6 illus; 22 refs.
During the first three months in their house, brothers
Patrick and Brian (pseudonyms) had many unusual ex-
periences, mostly upon waking up (hypnagogic imagery).
Patrick reported apparitions of people standing near the bed;
a wind that seemed to lift up the doona; a non-existent
clock ticking; and cupboard doors moving (they were actually
shut). Brian, listening to a relaxation tape, saw a scarty devil
figure. Patrick believed evil was at work; he became ob-
sessed with witchcraft and numerology-a classic example of
the "awareness trap." He set out on a 3000-km car trip in
search of answers. The experiences changed Patrick from an
atheist to a spiritual belief. Patrick, believing the house to
be haunted, researched its history.
However, it is more
likely that, as a result of a traumatic relationship, Brian
created the imagery himself. Patrick became drawn in by
mutual contagion. Six months later, Patrick had lost his ob-
session. He know uses his imagery positively and creatively.
[A reply by one of the brothers, Peter King, appears in
AIPR Bulletin 10, 31-15.] - DA/M.J.H.
04043. Playfair, Guy Lyon, and Grosse, Maurice. En-
field revisited: The evaporation of positive evidence.
Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, 1988 (Oct),
55(813), 208-219. 12 refs
From September 1977 to October 1978 the authors inves-
tigated spontaneous events in a North London house, the
scene of what has become known as the Enfield poltergeist.
Their findings were published in a book and widely
publicized. They reflect here on some of the problems faced
by those who claim to have obtained positive evidence. - DA
04044. Schwalm, Maurice. Psychical and mystical ex-
perience. II. The ghost with two guns and three graves.
Journal of Religion and Psychical Research, 1989 (Jul),
12(3), 155-158.
Case of an apparition of a priest, Fr. Henry David Jar-
dine, about whom Paul Wellman wrote The Chain (1949).
The ghost of the priest is seen at Old St. Luke's Episcopal
Church in Kansas City, MO. - R.A.W.
POPULAR OVERVIEWS
04045.
Time-Life Books. (Editors).
.
Hauntings.
74
Approved For Release 2001/03/07 : CIA-RDP96-00792R000700930001-8
... ..