Paranormal laboratory research is generally classified into two types; Extra Sensory Perception (ESP), and whether people can influence people or objects (Psychokinesis or PK for short).

ESP is the alleged ability for people to sense information across time and space (before or in the future). Research is divided into testing everyday experiences (is there a telepathic link between twins? Can you think about a person before they call? Can dogs read people’s minds?). Other types of research are purely laboratory-based into telepathy such as precognition and the Ganzfeld Experiment. Researchers have found significant results for ESP experiments.

The second type of paranormal laboratory work is whether people have the ability to influence other people or objects beyond normal means (PK). There are wide-ranging topics examined by paranormal researchers including sensing whether someone is staring at you, whether by focusing on helping a person, you can help the person’s concertation. There are positive findings for these experiments. Another variation is research into distance healing. There is a lack of quality studies within distance healing, and the link between quality studies and findings means it difficult to accept there is any evidence for distance healing.

Perhaps the more exciting aspect of the research is the commonalities of psychological, neurological profiles and environmental factors relating to ESP and PK findings. There are individuals who can perform better than others, such as researchers who believe in the phenomena are more likely to produce significant results, those who meditate or those with temporal lobe injury. All these points to some genuine phenomena.

In the 21st Century, some researchers are developing a link between quantum mechanics research and paranormal research. At the center of both hypothesis is that consciousness can influence the environment around them. In Quantum Mechanics experiments there is the interference pattern experiment (double slit). It states that if someone observes an electron, it behaves differently from when it’s not observed. New paranormal research started to explore individual differences with positive effects, i.e., people who meditate are likely to produce a higher inference pattern. Although not yet firmly established as an explanation, quantum mechanics offers a theoretical framework to study paranormal.