The Gertrude R. Schmeidler Papers span the period 1943-1983. The bulk of the collection consists chiefly of Research Files but also includes Correspondence and Writings. The research data located in the Research Files consists primarily of information which Schmeidler gathered through her work with students and colleagues as an experimental psychologist and parapsychologist. This data formed the basis of her published journal articles and books about how various factors and traits affect a person's extrasensory perception (ESP) abilities. There are very few personal papers located in the collection.
The value of the collection may be viewed from several perspectives. One is able to see how researchers collaborate with each other; to evaluate the value of networking and mentoring; to study the role of women in parapsychology; and to become aware of groups and institutes interested in the study of ESP, such as the American Society for Psychical Research, the Duke University Parapsychology Laboratory, and the Parapsychology Foundation, Inc.
Reflected in much of the research is the work for which Schmeidler is most notable, the development of the metaphor of the sheep and goats. She determined through several cycles of ESP card-guessing experiments that "sheep" (persons who believed that success was possible in ESP tasks) scored higher than "goats" (those who rejected the possibility of success). Later documentation in the sheep/goat research includes data and correspondence by Murray Melnick and Christopher Scott pertaining to their study of earlier tabulations of Schmeidler's sheep/goat research.
The following correspondents, researchers, and subjects are generally represented throughout the Correspondence and Research Files Series. Included are: Gardner Murphy, Schmeidler's mentor and the person who first interested her in psychical research; Ingo Swann, who studied PK (psychokinesis) effects on temperature; Caroline Chapman, a psychic with whom Schmeidler conducted proxy settings; Eileen Garrett, a psychic who was president of the Parapsychology Foundation Inc., and with whom Schmeidler conducted proxy settings; Steve Heyman, who studied the effect of time and impatience on ESP abilities; Betty Humphrey, who worked in the Duke Parapsychology Laboratory in the late 1940s and early 1950s and used drawings as her ESP targets; Larry Lewis, who attempted to find out if ESP hones into a target like sonar; and Thelma Moss, who studied a house haunting. Schmeidler collaborated with Swann, Heyman, Lewis, and Moss on the research topics listed above and co-authored journal articles which were published as a result of their research. Schmeidler also published an article about her proxy settings with Chapman. The research data relating to the Garrett settings was never published. There is scattered correspondence between Schmeidler and J. B. and Louisa Rhine, but not a substantial amount. There are several letters between J. G. Pratt, who was working at the Duke University Parapsychology Laboratory, and Schmeidler pertaining to the Chapman proxy settings in the mid 1950s. There are numerous letters between Schmeidler and Humphrey, some describing the working environment at the Duke University Parapsychology Laboratory; others relate to Humphrey's research. Other topics are represented primarily in the Research Files Series, including data about how various attitudes, conditions, traits, and surroundings affect ESP abilities. Among them are frustration, utilizing Saul Rosenzweig's Picture Frustration Study; Rorschachs and ESP scores of patients suffering from cerebral concussions; background stimuli; Rorschachs and ESP scores in maternity patients; ESP and memory; ESP scores following psychotherapy; and mood and attitude as predictors of ESP performance; telepathic rapport based on personality traits; and others such as long distance experiments in telepathy, precognition, poltergeists, and clairvoyant medical diagnosis based on the Silva Mind Control method.
The data for experiments, both successful as well as unsuccessful, are in the collection. The results of some were never reported in the literature. Because of the amount of data in the collection, it is possible that some of the experiments could be replicated and/or studied for new results.
The Writings Series primarily consists of information pertaining to the work she co-authored with Robert A. McConnell, ESP and Personality Patterns.
Folders throughout the collection contain Schmeidler's typed notes which describe the data, list the name of the researcher with whom she collaborated, and in some cases the article or articles which resulted from the research. Others indicate the nature and subject of the correspondence and include information pertaining to her various writings.
Through Schmeidler's correspondence with colleagues world-wide and her collaboration with fellow scientists, one is able to gain an understanding of the vast range of experiments and topics studied in the parapsychological field. One is also able to study the difference in research styles between Americans and Europeans. Since the research files span a period of forty years, the collection also reflects the various methods, materials, and equipment used for research in the field.
Related collections in the Department include the Parapsychology Laboratory Records and the Louisa Rhine Papers.
