Evaluating Evidence for Reincarnation

Ryan Hammons claimed to have been an agent in Hollywood in his previous life.

In almost three-quarters of cases studied, the 'previous personality' died at an old age.

Modern researchers do not carefully analyze the accuracy of children’s accounts of their previous lives.

Cyndi was able to immediately identify the person in the still from an old movie called Night After Night as the previous personality of Ryan.

Jim Tucker is a professor of neurosurgery at the University of Virginia.

The idea of reincarnation initially sat well with the author.

Dr. Ian Stevenson was a psychiatrist at Harvard University School of Medicine.

The children who reported details of a past life were typically between the ages of 6 and 8.

Around 2500 reports of children's past-life memories have been studied by researchers other than Dr. Ian Stevenson.

The evidence for reincarnation is based solely on anecdotal accounts with no verification.

Research has shown that normally the children’s reported previous lives ended prematurely and unnaturally, often involving ______, suicide, or an accident.

In almost three-quarters of cases, the 'previous personality' died relatively young. A quarter died before the age of ______.

Modern researchers meticulously check the accuracy of children’s accounts, analyzing any possibility that they gained information through more ______ ways or were fantasizing, or that their parents may be embellishing their stories.

The most well-known contemporary researcher in this field is Jim Tucker, professor of psychiatry and neurobehavioral science at the University of ______.

At school, when asked to draw pictures of his home, Ryan would always draw four people—himself, his parents, and “the old ______.”

Dr. Ian Stevenson, a psychiatrist at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, spent much of his career collecting and examining cases of children who reported very specific details of a past ______

Typically, between the age of 2 and 4, such children start talking about their previous ______

In some cases, Stevenson was able to identify the person the child claimed to be and to verify the information by speaking to relatives of the ______

Now around 2500 reports of children’s past-______ memories have been studied

Research in this area was pioneered by Dr. Ian Stevenson, a psychiatrist at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, who spent much of his career collecting and examining such ______