Tart, Charles T(heodore) (1937-)

Psychophysiologist and parapsychologist. He was born on April 29, 1937, in Morrisville, Pennsylvania. He studied for two years at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) before moving to the University of North Carolina (B.A., 1960; M.A., 1962; Ph.D., 1963). During his student years he also was a research assistant at the Psychophysiology Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry, Duke University Hospital (1958-60). Following his graduation he became a lecturer at Stanford University (1964-65) and at the University of Virginia, School of Medicine (1965-66). This was prior to joining the faculty at the University of California, Davis in 1966. He is currently a professor of psychology at Davis, and the publisher of a quarterly The Open Mind.

Tart's interest in parapsychology manifested while a student in North Carolina when he became a frequent visitor at the Parapsychology Laboratory at nearby Duke University. He became a member of the American Society for Psychical Research and in the 1970s associated with Russell Targ and Harold E. Puthoff in their research at the Stanford Research Institute. He was elected president of the Parapsychology Association in 1977.

Tart's research has ranged across the field of parapsychological concerns and been the subject of numerous papers, but he is possibly most respected for his studies of states of consciousness and transpersonal psychology. This research resulted in two classic volumes Altered States of Consciousness (1969) and Transpersonal Psychologies (1975). Less known, Tart proposed an instrument for automatic testing of ESP, which was constructed at the University of Virginia and named the "ESPATEACHER." It was set up in the Research Laboratory of the American Society for Psychical Research.

Sources:

Berger, Arthur S., and Joyce Berger. The Encyclopedia of Parapsychology and Psychical Research. New York: Paragon House, 1991.

Pleasants, Helene, ed. Biographical Dictionary of Parapsychology. New York: Helix Press, 1964.

Tart, Charles T., ed. Altered States of Consciousness: A Book of Readings. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1969.

——. The Application of Learning Theory to Extrasensory Perception. 1975.

——. Learning to Use Extrasensory Perception. 1976.

——. On Being Stoned: A Psychological Study of Marijuana Intoxication. Palo Alto, Calif.: Science & Behavior Books, 1971.

——. Psi, Scientific Studies of the Psychic Realm. N.p., 1977.

——. States of Consciousness. N.p., 1975.

——. Transpersonal Psychologies. New York: Harper & Row, 1975.

——. Waking Up: Overcoming the Obstacles to Human Potential. N.p., 1986.

Tart, Charles T., and Harold E. Puttoff. Mind at Large. New York: Praeger, 1979.