PSYCHOKINESIS

also called Telekinesis, in parapsychology, the action of mind on matter, in which objects are caused to move or change as a result of mental concentration upon them. The physical nature of psychokinetic (PK) effects contrasts with the cognitive quality of extrasensory perception (ESP), the other major grouping of parapsychological phenomena. Levitation is said to result from powers of psychokinesis; such displays are common, though fraudulent, in theatrical magic. In PK tests, the subject attempts by thinking or willing to influence thrown dice, causing a certain die face to turn up or causing the die to land in a certain area. Experimental results, as with other parapsychological phenomena, have been inconclusive.