Parapsychology is the study of alleged psychic phenomena and other paranormal claims. It is a field of study that investigates paranormal or “psychic" phenomena, including purported mental abilities such as telepathy and precognition. Parapsychology research rarely appears in mainstream scientific journals; instead, most papers about parapsychology are published in a small number of niche journals. The term parapsychology was coined in 1889 by philosopher Max Dessoir as the German parapsychologie. It was adopted by J. B. Rhine in the 1930s as a replacement for the term psychical research in order to indicate a significant shift toward experimental methodology and academic discipline.

Parapsychologists study a number of ostensible paranormal phenomena, including but not limited to telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, and psychokinesis. Parapsychology research has also included other sub-disciplines of psychology, such as transpersonal psychology, which studies transcendent or spiritual aspects of the human mind, and anomalistic psychology, which examines paranormal beliefs and subjective anomalous experiences in traditional psychological terms.

Contrary to popular belief, the field of parapsychology is not concerned with solving the bizarre questions of mysterious phenomena and fringe topics like astrology, witchcraft, alchemy, vampires, aliens, paganism, or the search for Bigfoot. Instead, it is a systematic, scholarly study of psychic phenomena and other paranormal occurrences that have no apparent scientific explanation.

Parapsychology is a controversial and criticized branch within the diverse field of psychology. The hypotheses and theories of parapsychology have not been proven and are in bad shape. However, some researchers argue that parapsychology deserves more attention and funding, and that it could lead to new discoveries and a better understanding of the human mind.