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May and Honorton/2
These were marked with tape.
Further,
we explained two possible
physics -type phenomena that would dramatically alter
the behavior
of the
instrument.
While Mr.
Swann frequently peeied into the open top of the
instrument and took frequent notes,
we took data
for runs
of
trials at a generation rate of
50/sec.
Mr.
Swann operated the
instrument by manually depressing the reset button at the beginning
of each run.
Feedback was provided via a scaler reading of the
run score.
We
informed Mr.
Swann that chance expectation was
500/
run and that
a significant influence on the instrument would be
reflected by consistent deviations
from this mean.
Overall,
29 runs of
10 3 trials were completed.
The mean run
score
of 493
is statistically significant
(t = 2.71,
df,
p =
.011
2-tailed)
.
The mean run score
for
the
first
10 runs was 495.4
(n.s.
for the second set of
9 runs
the mean was
493.1
(n.s.)
.
The
last
set of
runs was taken while Mr.
Swann's EEG was being monitored.
*
During these
runs,
he was
in a sound-attenuated room,
adjacent to
the instrument room.
'These
runs were independently significant,
with a mean of 491.8
(t = 2.63,
9 df ,
p =
.027).
One hour after Mr.
Swann’s departure from the
laboratory,
C.H.
ran
a control series
of
3 x
trials
(i.e.,
30 runs
of
trials)
The control runs showed excellent approximation to theoretical
chance expectation, with
a mean of 499.7
(t = 0.11,
_df,
p =
.91)
.
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May and Honorton/3
We conclude that Mr.
Swann was successful
in exerting
a psycho-
kinetic influence on the
instrument.
We also regard the following
trends as provocative and highly suggestive of directions
for
further collaborative research with Mr.
Swann:
*
Performance improved
(and was
independently significant)
with increased distance from the
instrument.
During the
last
10 runs,
Mr.
Swann was separated from the instrument
by distance and by two double steel walls.
Performance showed steady improvement from the beginning
to end of session.
*
Variability of performance decreased from the
first to
the
last
10 runs of the session
(F 10
1Q =
1.86,
p =
.16).
These
latter two trends,
while not in themselves significant,
%
suggest the advisability of further research relating to Mr.
Swann's
belief that his performance in psi tasks
is susceptible to learning.
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1 *i^t-fc^96-00787R000^1 30005-3
for the New York Meeting of the
American Physical Society
2-5 February 1976
Physics and Astronomy
Classification Scheme
Number 05
Bulletin Subject Heading
in
Which Paper Should Be Placed
General Physics
Possible Detection of Experimenter-Instrument
Interaction with a Selected Subject .
E .
C .
MAY and
C.
HONORTON,
Maimonides Medical Center— An experiment
was performed with an individual who
claims
to influ-
ence remote physical
systems by non-physical means.
Prior experimental tests in
3 other laboratories pro-
vided encouraging results.
In the present experiment
the subject was tested with
a noise driven binary ran-
dom event generator
in which each event is compared to
a "target" alternating between
'O'
and
' 1
'
at a rate
of
50 events/second.
The number of events and the num-
ber of matches
(events corresponding to targets)
were
recorded.
Data were taken for
29 runs of
10 3 events
during which
the subject attempted to influence the
binary output of events.
The results corresponded to a
probability against chance of p<0.011.
Independently
significant results
(p<0.027)
were obtained during the
last 10 runs in which the subject was separated from
the instrument by
feet and by two double steel
walls.
A control experiment was run one hour after the
subject's departure
from the laboratory.
Control data
were taken for 30 runs of
104
events and showed good
approximation to chance expectation
(p<0,91)
.
The
experimental results suggest that some anomalous in-
fluence on the generator occurred.
Submitted by
Signature of APS Member
E.
C. MAY
Same name typewritten
Maimonides Medical Center
Address
Division of Parapsychology
4802 — 10th Avenue
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VOLITIONAL CONTROL IN A PSYCHOKINETIC TASK
WITH AUDITORY AND VISUAL FEEDBACK
Charles
Ilonorton and Edwin C.
May1
Maimonides Medical Center
During the
last
five years,
15 experiments have been reported
dealing with psychokinetic influence on electronic random generators.
Twelve of these studies
(80%)
showed statistically significant
( P 4.05)
evidence of PK influence.
Even if we were to assume that for each re-
ported study there are
five unreported,
nonsignificant studies,
this
—5
result
is still highly significant
(p < 1 x
)
.
The purpose of the present experiment was to replicate and extend
the random generator
(dynamic)
PK work reported principally by Helmut
Schmidt and his associates.
Specifically,
we were interested in the
question of volitional control of dynamic psychokinetic influence.
The random generator used in this experiment has been described
by May
(1975)
.
In order to totally exclude the possibility of generat-
or bias,
all runs were performed in an automatic mode such that the
target
('heads'
or
'tails')
was alternated on each trial.
The generat-
ion rate was
10 bits/sec., with a run length of
100 bits
(i.e.
10 sec.).
%
We decided
in advance to have
Sa complete
5 high-aim runs,
try-
ing to enforce scores
above
50%,
and
5 low-aim runs,
trying to enforce
scores below 50%.
Order of conditions
(high-/low-aim)
was alternated by
S.
Present address:
Physics Department,
City College of San Francisco
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Honorton and May
avo modes
of feedback were used.
Ss received auditory feedback
(tone)
whenever they averaged +1.26
CT
over the
last
10 trials.
Ss
received visual feedback in the form of
a digital chart recording
which registered hits
as deflections above baseline and misses
as de-
flections below baseline
(Fig.
1)
.
All
10 Ss were experienced in some form of internal state explor-
ation.
Nine had participated in previous psi research in our
laboratory;
six had prior experience with dynamic PK tasks;
six had prior experience
with EEG/EMG biofeedback training;
four were meditators.
During the session,
S stood or sat in front of the polygraph with
•<
headphones
for auditory feedback.
For the high-aim condition,
S was
in-
structed
to maintain the pen deflection above baseline
as much as possible
S was
informed that when the pen was above baseline and
the auditory feed-
back was
on,
s/he was
scoring at
a rate of 70% or higher.
Similarly for
the
low-aim condition,
S was
instructed to maintain the pen deflection
bglow baseline
as much as possible,
and was informed that when the pen
was below baseline and
the auditory feedback was
on,
s/he was scoring at
a rate
of 30% or
lower.
The running time for each
S was
less
than
3 min.
The mean run score
for
Ss
in the high-aim condition was
51.92
(t =
* 89 ,
9 M ' E =
*°° 9 '
^tailed)
.
Of the
50 high-aim runs,
8 were signifi-
cantly
(p<.Q5)
above chance
(exact binomial p for 8/50 at p<.05 =
.0032).
Only one of
the
50 high-aim runs was significantly below chance.
The mean run score for Ss
in the low-aim condition was 49.22
( t «
~1#11 '
9 — '
p =
,15)
*
of the
50 low-aim runs,
4 were significantly
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