Approved For Release 2000/08/08
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Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research
The subject was also told that the
first period would be preceded by an
8-minute progressive relaxation and guided imagery exercise designed
o
help the subject reduce distractions and focus attention upon the desired
goal event, that
is, decreased hemolysis during the protect periods. The
exercise was accompanied by low-volume, ambient music and ocean
sounds. Low-volume ambient music was also presented through the sub-
ject’s headphones throughout the four periods of the experiment and was
interrupted only for the four-period signaling tone presentations. The con-
clusion of the experiment was indicated to the subject by the cessation of
the music. At that time, the subject was to sign and date his or her period
sequence sheet and then be escorted back
to the apparatus room by an
assistant.
^
The experimenter returned to the apparatus room, where the equipment
had already been readied
for use.
Just before entering
this room and
closing the door, he indicated to an assistant that the experiment was about
to begin. The assistant gave him a sealed envelope that contained infor-
mation about his 2- versus 8-tube sequence for that session, and then de-
livered another sealed envelope
to the subject; this
latter envelope con-
tained the subject’s protect versus control period sequence for that session.
The experimenter started the audiotape that presented the preliminary ex-
ercises to the subject. He then conducted the 20 hemolysis measurements
for the session. From his point of view, there were also four
periods of measurements; two of the periods (indicated on
his envelope) were to involve measurements of two tubes^and two of the
periods were
to involve measurements of eight tubes. Tins number of
measurements factor was included to provide data forad^ermialtesto
the IDS and RA predictions of psi performance (see below). The subjects
remained blind regarding the tube number schedule for the ^ssion.
Each of 20 identical 10-ml glass spectroscope tubes had been filled be-
forehand with 6.0 ml of 0.425% saline, and these had been kept in the
refrigerator at 4° C. The saline for all tubes for all sessions came from the
same stock solution of 0.85% normal physiological sa^e. purchased in
20-liter quantity from Fisher Scientific Supply Company and diluted with
distilled water to 0.425% by the experimenter before
b®£-
This use of solution from the same stock eliminated variability that other
wise might have been contributed by that factor. The experimenter re-
moved the main blood collection (Vacutainer) tube bearing that subject s
name from the refrigerator, inverted the tube eight times in order to assure
a homogeneous suspension of its blood cells, opened the tube
and placed
it in a test tube rack on the equipment table. He then removed die first o
the hypotonic saline tubes from the refrigerator and allowed
it to stand at
room temperature and warm slightly so that moisture from the warmer
room-temperature air no longer condensed on the tube after the latter was
wiped with tissue. He placed the now frost-free saline tube: into the> holder
of the spectrophotometer and adjusted the controls of the device so that a
digital reading of precisely 100.0% light transmission was obtained for
Approved For Release 2000/08/08
: CIA-RDP96-00789R002200620001-9
Approved For Release 2000/08/08
: CIA-RDP96-00789R002200620001-9
Distant Mental Influence of Hemolysis Rate
this blank tube. He pressed a computer keyboard key to initiate a subrou-
tine that signaled the subject in the distant room that a 15 -minute period
was about to begin. He next removed the tube from the holder and added
to the tube 100
p,l of whole blood from the main Vacutainer tube. He
quickly stoppered the saline tube with a rubber stopper, inverted the tube
twice to assure homogeneity of its contents, and quickly replaced the tube
in the spectrophotometer holder. When the holder cover was closed, the
chart recorder pen moved to indicate minimal light transmittance;
at the
point of greatest excursion of the pen, the experimenter pressed a key-
board key to initiate the
1 -minute sampling epoch for that tube. The Vacu-
tainer blood collection tube was then returned to the refrigerator, and the
next hypotonic
saline tube was placed in the
test tube holder so that
it
might warm slightly for the next trial. The precise timing of all procedural
events was controlled by the experimenter through the use of several pro-
cedural cues and by means of extreme stereotypy of responding.
Throughout the sampling epoch, the chart recorder and the digital readout
of the spectrophotometer were shielded so that they could not be observed
by the experimenter. This was done in order to eliminate immediate feed-
back to the experimenter in the hope that this might reduce the latter s own
psi contribution to the experimental outcome.
Percent light transmittance measures
at a wavelength of 660 mp. (an
absorbance minimum for hemoglobin) relative to the blank tube con-
taining saline alone were taken by means of a Sequoia-Turner Model 39
spectrophotometer with digital and chart recorder readouts. The spectro-
photometer provided an analog output that varied from 0 to 1.0 v DC and
was linearly related to percent light transmittance (with 0 v DC — 0%
and 1.0 v DC = 100% T). This output was increased by a factor of 10 by
means of a differential amplifier, and the resulting 0 to 10-°v DC signal
was fed into an analog-to-digital converter installed
in an IBM PC-X
compatible computer. The A/D converter (CGRS Microtech PC DIADAC
1) uses an industry standard AD 574A 12-bit A/D chip with 0.0024 volt
accuracy and 35 ixsec conversion speed. A software program was written
that sampled the A/D converter at the end of each second of the
1 -minute
trial period. Thus, the system automatically provided 60 measurements of
the time course of hemolysis (i.e., percent transmittance) during each
1-
minute trial. The 60 values were written to a floppy disk file and were also
printed out at the end of the trial. In addition to this digital data collection,
an analog chart record was obtained for each trial (using a Markson Model
1202 pen recorder).
.
At the end of the
1 -minute sampling epoch, the expenmenter removed
the tube from the holder and began his preparations for the remainder of
the
trials. Approximately one minute elapsed between trials.
If a period
called for the measurement of two tubes, those two tubes were measured
at the middle of the 15-minute period, that is,
at times corresponding to
the measurement of tubes 4 and 5 of an eight-tube period. The main Va-
cutainer blood collection tube and the hypotonic saline tubes remained in
Approved For Release 2000/08/08
: CIA-RDP96-00789R002200620001-9