Frontiers in Psychology
March 6, 2026
Neil Dagnall, Andrew Denovan, Claire Murphy-Morgan et al.
Scientific scepticism, as an epistemic orientation, remains under-researched. This study investigated the interplay between belief in science, supernatural credence, and cognitive processing styles in a sample of 300 participants ( M age = 45.95, SD = 14.32). Traditional (TPB) and New Age (NAP) paranormal beliefs correlated positively with intuitive-experiential measures and negatively with...
The Innovation
March 1, 2026
Álex Escolà-Gascón, Kenneth Drinkwater, Andrew Denovan et al.
If consciousness can operate under quantum principles, then the boundaries between life, death, and cognition are far more permeable than current science allows. In the first large-scale, randomized, double-blind, multicenter trial to test this possibility, conducted across 13 hospitals in the UK and Spain, we investigated whether the human mind can access information during clinical death—but...
Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews
December 1, 2025
Álex Escolà-Gascón, Kenneth Drinkwater, Andrew Denovan et al.
Explaining when neural activity supports conscious processing remains an unresolved question in neuroscience. Current frameworks describe correlates of consciousness but rarely provide thresholds to predict its emergence or recovery. We introduce the Attribution Consciousness Index (ACI), a metric that estimates the generative potential of consciousness by balancing measures of dynamic...
Spiritual Psychology and Counseling
June 1, 2025
Neil Dagnall, Kenneth Drinkwater, Giovanni Caputo et al.
1 citation
Haunted People Syndrome (HP-S) characterizes recurrent ‘ghostly episodes’ as an interactionist phenomenon emerging from people with heightened somatic-sensory sensitivities that are stirred by dis-ease states, contextualized with paranormal belief, and reinforced via perceptual contagion and threat-agency detection. We tested the applicability of this psychological model via a three-part,...
Frontiers in Psychology
April 10, 2025
Luca Simione, Camilla Pagani, Andrew Denovan et al.
Since paranormal beliefs provide insights into cognitive biases, personality traits, and existential concerns, they have long been a subject of psychological research. Studies have demonstrated that such beliefs are associated with intuitive thinking, reduced analytical reasoning, and susceptibility to cognitive illusions (Lindeman & Aarnio, 2007). Additionally, researchers report correlations...
Journal of Scientific Exploration
March 31, 2025
Ciarán O’keeffe, Brandon Massullo, Brian Laythe et al.
1 citation
Auerbach et al. (2023) proposed an AECKO model to describe the features and dynamics of a poltergeist-like disturbance they investigated with virtual technology during the COVID-19 pandemic. A two-part exercise nonetheless shows that their findings fundamentally support Laythe, Houran, Dagnall et al.’s (2021) grounded theory of Haunted People Syndrome (HP-S), which was independently developed...
PLoS One
November 13, 2024
Kenneth Drinkwater, Andrew Denovan, Neil Dagnall
1 citation
Recent research indicates that paranormal belief, in the absence of allied cognitive-perceptual and psychopathology-related factors, is not associated with negative wellbeing outcomes. However, investigators have historically reported relationships between specific facets of belief (e.g., superstition) and stress vulnerability. These typically derive from the Revised Paranormal Belief Scale...
Frontiers in Psychology
2022
Kenneth Graham Drinkwater, Neil Dagnall, Stephen J Walsh et al.
12 citations
This study investigated personal perceptions (involvements) and comprehensions (interpretations) of self-ascribed paranormal abilities. Twelve participants with supposed supernatural powers took part in semi-structured interviews exploring the origin, phenomenology, and nature of their powers. Interview transcripts were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis (RTA), a qualitative method that...
Frontiers in Psychology
July 16, 2021
Álex Escolà-Gascón, Neil Dagnall, Josep Gallifa
This paper presents the English adaptation of the Multivariable Multiaxial Suggestibility Inventory-2 (MMSI-2), a questionnaire developed specifically for psychological assessment and prediction of anomalous phenomena. The sample consisted of 613 respondents from England (47.6% were women and 52.4% men). All of them were of legal age (mean = 34.5; standard deviation = 8.15). An exploratory...
Spirituality in Clinical Practice
March 18, 2021
Brian Laythe, James Houran, Neil Dagnall et al.
27 citations
Evidence suggests that subjective and objective anomalies associated with ghostlyepisodes form a unidimensional Rasch scale and that these interconnected“signs orsymptoms”arguably describe a syndrome model. This view predicts that symptomperception—that is, the phenomenology of these anomalous episodes—can be markedlyskewed by an experient’s psychological set. This is impacted, in turn, by...
Frontiers in Psychology
2020
Kenneth Drinkwater, Andrew Denovan, Neil Dagnall
23 citations
Focusing on lucid dreaming, this paper examined relationships between dissociated experiences related to rapid eye movement (REM) sleep (lucid dreaming, nightmares, and sleep paralysis), reality testing, and paranormal experiences/beliefs. The study comprised a UK-based online sample of 455 respondents (110 males, 345 females, Mean age = 34.46 years, SD = 15.70), who had all previously...