Parapsychology is the study of mental awareness or influence of external objects without interaction from known physical means. Most objects of study fall within the realm of “mind-to-mind” influence (such as extra-sensory perception, folie a deux and telepathy), “mind-to-environment” influence (such as psychokinesis) and “environment-to-mind” (such as hauntings). Collectively, these abilities are often referred to as “psionics”.
The scientific validity of parapsychology research is a matter of frequent dispute and criticism. It is widely regarded as a pseudoscience, but, obviously, supporters of parapsychology reject this term. A number of academic institutions now conduct research on the topic employing the scientific method, and the field of psi research is not without high-level support, with a number of eminent scientists being of the belief that the field is worthy of analysis, such as Wolfgang Pauli, Hans Eysenck, Robert G Jahn, and Rupert Sheldrake.