Michael Persinger

Psychology is one of the most fascinating fields of study. A field as broad as psychology, which stretches from the study of brain cells to that of prison cells, is an active, argumentative, and exciting adventure that offers opportunities in science, practice, and social policy. Most of the pressing economic and social issues of our generation, such as the environment, health needs, poverty, and violence, will only be alleviated if we understand the ways in which people create or creatively solve the problems that we bring upon ourselves. Psychological testing, assessment and treatment is the discipline of scientific psychology devoted to the study of a given human subject (or group of subjects) in a specific applied field (clinical, educational, work, etc.) by means of scientific tools (tests and other measurement instruments), with the purpose of answering clients' demands that require scientific operations such as describing, diagnosing, predicting, explaining or changing the behaviour of that subject. We hope this encyclopedia will provide useful information that will help psychologists, psychiatrists, counselor & others understand this fascinating field and its opportunities.

Psychology is one of the most fascinating fields of study. A field as broad as psychology, which stretches from the study of brain cells to that of prison cells, is an active, argumentative, and exciting adventure that offers opportunities in science, practice, and social policy. Most of the pressing economic and social issues of our generation, such as the environment, health needs, poverty, and violence, will only be alleviated if we understand the ways in which people create or creatively solve the problems that we bring upon ourselves. Psychological testing, assessment and treatment is the discipline of scientific psychology devoted to the study of a given human subject (or group of subjects) in a specific applied field (clinical, educational, work, etc.) by means of scientific tools (tests and other measurement instruments), with the purpose of answering clients' demands that require scientific operations such as describing, diagnosing, predicting, explaining or changing the behavior of that subject. We hope this encyclopedia will provide useful information that will help psychologists, psychiatrists, counselor & others understand this fascinating field and its opportunities.

Recent emphasis upon the importance of the physical environment has made science and the public even more cog­ nizant of the many components of the biosphere. While much attention has been given to ionizing electromagnetic stimuli which causes blatant and unalterable changes in biological systems, relatively little research has been concerned with those electromagnetic signals whose frequencies overlap with time-varying processes in living organisms. Extremely low frequency (ELF) electromagnetic fields can occur as waves between about I Hz to 100 Hz or as short pulses within this range of very low frequency (VLF) and higher frequency sources. The natural occurrence of ELF signals is associated with weather changes, solar disturbances and geophysical­ ionospheric perturbations. Man-made sources have also been reported. Certain physical properties of ELF signals make them excellent candidates for biologically important stimuli. Unlike many other weather components, ELF signals have the capacity to penetrate structures which house living organ­ isms. ELF wave configurations allow long distance propaga­ tional capacities without appreciable attenuation of inten­ sity, thus making them antecedent stimuli to approaching weather changes. Most importantly, ELF signals exhibit the frequencies and wave forms of bio-electrical events that occur within the brain and body. Thus resonance inter­ actions between animal and nature become attractive possi­ bilities.

In this study, the scientific principles of learning and brain functions are applied to the God Experience. The author skillfully blends modern neurophysiology with critical behavioral psychology to offer an objective explanation for why people believe in God. This provocative and scholarly work will interest psychologists, neuroscientists, clergy, and anyone studying mystical experience.