Approved For Release 2001/03/07 : CIA-RDP96-00788R002000010006-4 an B. Psy hophysiological Correlates 1. Physiological Measures of Psi-Conductive States In recent years, benavioristically oriented scientists have suggested that in addition to obtaining overt responses such as verbalizations or key presses from a subject, it should be possible to obtain objective evidence of psychoenergetic activity by direct measurement of some physiological parameter of a subject. experiments will be formulated where a subject is closeted in an electrically shielded room while his EEG is recorded. Meanwhile, ln; another laboratory, a second person is stimulated from time to tima, and the time of that stimulus is marked on the magnetic tape - recording of the subject's EEG. The subject does not know when the remote stimulus periods are, as compared with the nonstimulus periods. :Vidence for systematic changes in EEG correlated with the remote | stimuli are then sought. | These physiological measures will be used as a potential signaling channel for information transfer, but a more important application of this output would be as feedback to the subject, so that he could learn to recognize his own optimal state of mind for success in a psychoenergetic task. 2. Environmental Factors a. Altered States of Consciousness: Special Environments For the entire history of psychoenergetic research there has been keen interest in optimizing the physical and psychological conditions for a subject during an experiment. Approved For Release 2001/03/07 : CIA-RDP96-00788R002000010006-4
Approved For Release 2001/03/07 : CIA-RDP96-00788R002000010006-4 _ aan Therefore, it is desirable to conduct experiments with trained, high-scoring subjects to examine the effects of other factors which might pravide psychological conditions conducive to high-quality psycnoenergetic functioning (e.g., sensory isolation, free-fall conditions in space, etc.). b. Examine the Part Played by the Experimenter From the work of Professor Robert Rosenthal at Harvard it is clear that there is 3 strong difference in the outcome of some psychology experiments, depending on who conducts the experiment. This so-called experimenter effect has been the subject of investigation for the past 1S years in an attempt to find means to objectify some of the principal findings of conventional perceptual and behaviorial psychology. We are not suggesting that this experimenter effect in psychology is due to paranormal influences, but rather than some of the inability to replicate psychaenergetic experiments of one laboratory, when the experiments are transferred to another laboratory, might be due to subtle experimenter effects of the type known to occur in psychology and behavior experiments in general. It is important to find out if the success or failure of psychoenergetic experiments relate to the experimenter effect through interpersonal interaction, subliminal cueing, or some as-yet uncataloged factor. Approved For Release 2001/03/07 : CIA-RDP96-00788R002000010006-4
Approved For Release 2001/03/07 : CIA-RDP96-00788R002000010006-4 Information from East Bloc researchers, and Soviet researcher I. M. Kogan indicate that the USSR has established a significant nationwide testing program to identify psychically gifted young people. It is now generally agreed that psychic functioning 7s an innate or latent ability, somewhat Similar to musical talent. That is, al] people have it to some degree, but there is a wide range of abilities from the psychically tone deaf, to the virtuoso performer. It would be the goal of a screening program to locate and recruit the most. psychically talented individuals available, both to obtain a measure of the range of abilities that exists, and also to make use of these abilities to further increase our understanding of the phenomenon. (1) Explore Training Techniques with Children, the Blind, and Other Special Subjects “Although there is strong laboratory evidence for psychoenergetic functioning in a great number of individuals, psychic functioning is not yet widely accepted and utilized in the society at large. One conjecture for the reason that there is not more day-to-day evidence of this ability is that it is a forbidden activity, largely suppressed in our society. It is further conjectured that psychic functioning may be easier to elicit from chijdren, who have not yet "unlearned" the use of this otherwise natural ability. Therefore, we would | anticipate that part of any program effort would be directed toward work with children in order to test this hypothesis. Approved For Release 2001/03/07 : CIA-RDP96-00788R002000010006-4
Approved For Release 2001/03/07 : CIA-RDP96-00788R002000010006-4 Similarly, if the hypothesis of societal inhibition against the use af psychic functioning is correct, a group of adults likely to have overcome it to some degree would be the blind, since it would be greatly advantageous to them to have additional means of gaining information about their environment. A remote sensing experiment has been conducted with one blind individual and he was found to be an excellent subject. In addition, work with the blind people may provide an opportunity to observe underlying parameters of paranormal perception at a more primary level, since individuals lacking sight may be less conditioned by the visual learning modalities characteristics of ' Our society. | Investigation with both children and blind subjects would constitute a valuable addition to any continuing effort to screen the population for high-performance subjects. (2) Distance Experiments with Identical Twins ‘Identical twins have become an enigma to modern psycheenergetic research. Although there is copius anecdotal material attesting to. the existence of a paranormal rapport between distantly separated twins, this alleged linkage has resisted laboratory confirmation. Identical twins often express the opinion that they have a sensitivity to the feelings, dangers and traumas experienced by each other, and many such instances have been well documented in the: parapsychological literature. However, it is interesting that these same twins tend to.perform at chance levels when tested with standard testing materials, such as cards and pictures. Meaningful use can Approved For Release 2001/03/07 : CIA-RDP96-00788R002000010006-4
a ee Approved For Release 2001/03/07 : CIA-RDP96-00788R00200001 0006-4 be made of the possible unique psychological and physiological relationship existing between twins, by having them participate in experiments of the remote viewing type in which there is a high yeild of success generally. If an exceptionally high degree of success with twins taking part in remote Viewing experiments was forthcoming, perhaps new measures of the limits of resolution could be obtained from Such an effort. It appears that the lack of accuracy in the remote viewing Protocol comes not so much from the lack of perception by the receiver, but rather from his or her inability to render the Preconscious images without distortion. It is possible that twins - Share a common fond of such images and image-processing mechanisms, and therefore could provide increased resolution and analytic content, as compared with relative Strangers who typically make up the remote viewing duo.’ b. Training (1) Training in Perceptual Tasks Paralleling Ordinary Perception SRI in their laboratory carried out a series of communication experiments involving the transmission, from one laboratory to | another, of simple shapes (e.g., T, 0, A}, which also were of different colors for each shape. These tests were initiated in an effort to assess reports of Soviet work in this area, which include the transmission of decimal numbers via a psychoenergetic channet, with.a claimed yield of. 105 out of 135 decimal digits 0-9 (p~10777),15 Approved For Release 2001/03/07 : CIA-RDP96-00788R002000010006-4