Target ARA'SURSLF Ble RAIBBAE:APO2/5/17 : CIA-RDP96-00789R003200%2000A Faust 1994 Target and Sender Dependencies in Anomalous Cognition Experiments" by Nevin D. Lantz, Ph.D Wanda L. W. Luke and Edwin C. May, Ph.D. Science Applications International Corporation Cognitive Sciences Laboratory Menlo Park, CA Abstract The ganzfeld experiments as summarized by Bem and Honorton (1994) suggest that using dynamic tar- gets produces stronger results than using static ones. Bem and Honorton, however, only analyzed ganz- feld studies that included the use of a sender. Since it is known that a sender is not a necessary require- ment in forced-choice trials (Honorton, 1975), we designed and carried out a study to see if a sender is required in non-ganzfeld, free-response trials. In the first of two experiments, five experienced receiv- ers participated in 40 trials each, 10 in each condition of a 2 x2 design to explore sender and target type. We observed significant effects for static targets (i.e., exact sum-of-rank probability of p < 0.0073, ef- fect size = 0.248, n=100), chance results for dynamic targets (i.e., p < 0.500, effect size = 0.000, n = 100), and no interaction effects between sender and target-type conditions. One receiver slightly fa- vored the no sender condition (F(1,36) = 4.43, p < 0.04), while another slightly favored static targets (F (1,36) = 5.47, p <= 0.04). We speculate that these surprising results (i.e., favoring static over dynamic targets) arose, in part, because of the difference between a topically unbounded dynamic target pool and a topically restrictive static pool. In a second experiment, we redesigned the dynamic pool to match more closely the properties of the static pool. Four of the receivers from the first study participated in at least 20 trials each, 10 in each target-type condition. No senders were used throughout this experiment. We observed a significant increase in anomalous cognition for the new dynamic targets (t = 3.06, df = 143, p< 1.3 x 10-4), and a significant increase in anomalous cognition for the static targets (t = 1.68, df = 143, p < 0.047). We conclude that a sender is not a necessary requirement for free-response anoma- lous cognition. A rank-order analysis showed no target-type dependencies in the second study. Based on an analysis by May, Spottiswoode, and James (1994b), we believe a fundamental argument suggests that in free-response anomalous cognition experiments, dynamic targets should be better than static ones. * This paper has been accepted for publication in the September 1994 issue of the Journal of Parapsychology. Approved For Release 2002/05/17 : CIA-RDP96-00789R003200220001-2 1
Target/ARA'S3iRabF Blo ekeBRGIg02O5/17 : CIA-RDP96-00789R00320022090/ Aust 1904 Introduction The ganzfeld database has received considerable attention since Bem and Honorton’s (1994) publica- tion. They report a significant difference between static and dynamic targets, although they do not re- port significant hitting with static targets.” None of the 355 ganzfeld trials analyzed by Bem and Honor- ton were done in a clairvoyant mode—all of these trials used senders. These data inspired two questions: (1) Is a sender a necessary or sufficient participant in the process? (2) Is target type dependency real? The answer to the first question is settled for forced-choice. Clairvoyant ESP card studies (Honorton, 1975) show significant hitting—senders are not necessary. But what is the situation for free-response? As part of a cooperative effort between Psychophysical Research Laboratories and the Cognitive Sciences Laboratory, we asked Honorton to conduct a meta-analysis of the ganzfeld database to deter- mine the answer (Honorton, 1992). In that review, Honorton examined the ganzfeld studies that were published in the English-language parapsychology literature between 1974 and 1991. Besides pub- lished reports, the meta-analysis also included doctoral theses and abstracts of otherwise unpublished studies. Honorton found that only 12 of 73 studies reported not using a sender, and their combined results did not reach statistical significance (Z = 1.31, p < 0.095). The difference was in favor of the sender protocol (Zag = 1.49, p < 0.137). We agree with Honorton’s criticism that the studies do not attempt a differential comparison between sender and no sender. As a result, none of the studies were blind to the sender condition. In parallel to the experiments we report here, we asked Honorton to design and conduct such a study. Dr. Robert Morris and the research group in the Psychology department at the University of Edinburgh have taken over that task. This paper reports on two non-ganzfeld experiments that we conducted in 1992 and 1993 to address sender and the target dependencies. The 1992 Experiment We used a 2x2 design to study the effects of sender vs no sender and static vs dynamic target type, on the quality of anomalous cognition (Ac)t, The details of the design, results, and conclusions from the study are described in this section. * It may be that this difference will vanish when other factors are accounted for. In private communication with Professor Jessica Utts, she reports that she did not find a significant difference between target condition when receivers brought their own sender. t The Cognitive Sciences Laboratory has adopted the term anomalous mental phenomena instead of the more widely known psi. Likewise, we use the terms anomalous cognition and anomalous perturbation for ESP and PK, respectively. We have done so because we believe that these terms are more naturally descriptive of the observables and are neutral in that they do not imply mechanisms. These new terms will be used throughout this paper. Approved For Release 2002/05/17 : CIA-RDP96-00789R003200220001-2 2
Target ARPEQKER ASS BRA RR APO 2/05/17 : CIA-RDP96-00789R003200720804 Gust 4994 Target-pool Selection The static targets were 50 of the 100 National Geographic magazine photographs that have been used in our laboratory for many years. By design these targets had the following characteristics: ® Topic homogeneity. The photographs contained outdoors scenes of settlements (e.g., villages, towns, cities, etc.), water (e.g., coasts, rivers and streams, waterfalls, etc.), and topographical features (e.g., mountains, hills, desserts, etc.). © Size homogeneity. Target elements are all roughly the same size. That is, there are no size surprises such as an ant in one photograph and the moon in another. @ Affectivity Homogeneity. As much as possible, the targets include only material which invokes neutral affectivity. This set was divided into 10 sets of five photographs that were determined to be visually dissimilar by a fuzzy set analysis (May, Utts, Humphrey, Luke, Frivold, and Trask, 1990) and fine-tuned by inspection. For the dynamic targets, we digitized and compressed 30 video clips from a variety of popular movies or documentaries. With the exception of cartoons and sexually-oriented material, the clips contained nearly anything. Examples included an indoor motor bike race and a slow panoramic scan of the statues on Easter island. | The overall intent of these dynamic targets was to control for cognitive surprise, to provide target ele- ments that are easily sketched, and to mimic the content of the successful ganzfeld dynamic targets. Receiver, Sender, and Monitor Selection We chose five experienced receivers that had produced significant AC effect sizes in previous investiga- tions. The sender for all of the trials was the principal investigator (PI), located in Lititz, Pennsylvania. All trials were unmonitored. Protocol Each of the five receivers contributed 10 trials in each of the conditions shown in Table 1. Although 10 trials seems too few for such a study, we computed that the statistical power within a cell was 80%, given the “known” historical effect sizes of approximately 0.8 for these receivers. Table 1. Experiment Conditions Approved For Release 2002/05/17 : CIA-RDP96-00789R003200220001-2