PSYCHIC ABILITY HAS been the subject of more scientific studies than any other type of paranormal phenomena. The word psychic comes from the Greek psyche, which means mind, and refers to information received by the mind without the aid of the recognized senses (sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell). Some people suggest that an unrecognized sense must be involved in this apparent mental transmission of information. Hence psychic abilities are often referred to as extrasensory perception, or ESP.

The most commonly reported type of ESP is telepathy, which is the direct communication of a thought or image from one human mind to another in real time. The second most common is clairvoyance, which occurs when the mind receives an extrasensory image of a place, object, or event without the involvement of a human "transmitter."

Early frauds

Telepathy and clairvoyance were the focus of the...