nt Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R003200140001-1 With these considerations in mind, Braud, et al (1990) designed an experimental procedure based on the hypothesis that remote observation may be detected at the level of sympathetic autonomic nervous system activity. In a series of three experiments (Braud, Shafer, and Andrews 1990, 1992), a person stared at a distant subject through the use of a closed-circuit television system while the autonomic nervous system activity of the subject was being monitored via chart recorder and computer. The experimental design, like previous studies involving remote mental influences on human physiology (e.g., Braud and Schlitz 1989, 1992; Schlitz and Braud, 1986) allowed a within- subjects evaluation of RO versus non-RO (control) periods. The researchers reported that the electrodermal properties of receivers correlated significantly ‘with the intense attention of the isolated and remote experimenter (ie., p=0.009, effect size per session=0.59). Results were bi-directional, depending on the attitude of the Observer. In addition to the main effects, Braud et al (1992) reported a positive correlational trend between social avoidance and the degree of change in the subject's electrodermal activity. This was measured by administering the Social Avoidance and Distress (SAD) scale (see below). Increasing degrees of social avoidance/distress/anxiety were also found to positively correlate with introversion. The present experiments were designed as conceptual replications of the work by Braud, Shafer, and Andrews. Further, we extended previous studies of remote influence on autonomic nervous system activity by Braud and Schlitz (1989, 1992). Two formal predictions were made. First, we anticipated a significant difference in the mean rate of autonomic activity in experimental compared with control conditions across subjects. Second, we predicted the direction of the effect by instructing the remote Observers to activate the distant person. As such, we predicted an increase in autonomic activity during remote observation as compared with control conditions. In addition to the primary hypotheses, we anticipated a significant correlation between social avoidance and the remote observation effect. On an exploratory basis, we also examined the social relationship between Remote Observers and Observees; this included the interaction of gender and cross- gender pairs. METHODS Apparatus The equipment utilized in this research included silver/silver chloride palmar electrodes, a skin-conductance amplifier, an analog-to digital converter interfaced with an IBM microcomputer, a SUN computer with modem, and a Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-ARDP96-00789R003200140001-1
a Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R003200140001-1 closed circuit television, that included a color video camera, two VCR's, two video monitors, and a tripod to hold the video camera. The camera's radio frequency output was boosted by a 10 dB amplifier then conveyed via shielded cable to the color monitor in the Remote Observer's room. Assessments During Experiment 1, each experimental participant completed four forms/assessments. The first was a consent form. The second was used in preliminary screening and consisted of general biographical information as well as a health condition assessment. Third was a psychological inventory measuring introversion/extroversion through the use of the NEO Personality Inventory (Costa & McRae 1985). This instrument measures six facets of extroversion, including (1) Warmth, (2) Gregariousness; (3) Assertiveness; (4) Activity; (5) Excitement Seeking; (6) Positive Emotions. The fourth assessment was the Social Avoidance and Distress scale (SAD), which measures social-evaluative anxiety (the experience of distress, discomfort, fear, and anxiety in social situations) and deliberate avoidance of social situations. This self-report scale emphasizes subjective experience, and it excludes physiological signs as well as times related to impaired performance. In Experiment 2, the NEO Personality Inventory was not used, due to the fact that participants generally disliked the assessment based on redundancy of questions and length of time needed to complete the form. ~ Subjects Each of the two experiments involved 24 trials. In Experiment 1, this consisted of one person per trial as the experimental "target" or “Observee" and 4 remote "Observers," each working with different target persons during 6 sessions. In Experiment 2, 16 subjects participated, with 5 subjects contributing two or three sessions each. This was done on the basis of the expressed interest and availability of some volunteers. Under the null hypothesis, this repeated use of participants does not violate statistical assumptions about the remote observation effect (Utts, n.d). Further, no claims are made about the generalizability of the effect in the general population, since all participants were self-selected on the basis of their interest in the study or their relationship to the experimenters. Volunteers were recruited by MJS through notices that were handed out or posted in the greater San Francisco Bay area, as a result of lectures at neighboring universities and professional societies, as well as through personal contacts. Observers were drawn from the subject pools of the Cognitive Sciences Laboratory and from the same community as used for recruiting Observees. The age of all participants ranged from 16 to 60. They were in good health based on the health assessment. Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R003200140001-1
Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R003200140001-1 Experimental Procedure The basic experimental design was the same for both experiments; exceptions to this are outlined following the general description. Subjects were greeted by the experimenter in the Cognitive Sciences Laboratory at Science Applications International Corporation. They were treated in a warm and friendly way. Following a brief "get acquainted" period, the experiment was explained to them. They were encouraged to ask any questions and to understand the nature of the study. They were introduced to the "Observer" with whom they would be working and were told that the "Observer" would try to get their attention or “wake them up" during randomly selected periods. Efforts were made during this period to ascertain the types of images or , thoughts that might be useful to the Observer in order to startle or excite the Observees. Hence, the participants were aware of the hypothesized direction of the effect, although they were blind as to the order, number and duration of the sampling periods. This differed from the Braud, et. al studies during which no direction of effect was hypothesized and Observers were instructed to simply look at the distant person's image--rather than trying to influence the person directly. Rather, the goal of influencing the distant person in a pre specified direction was based on previous research on remote mental influences reported by Braud and Schlitz (1989). Three rooms were used for the experiment (see Figure 1). During an experimental session, each volunteer was taken to an experimental room, where they were seated in a chair and the skin electrodes attached to the palm of their non-dominant hand. As was the case in the Braud, et al studies, they were asked to complete the experimental forms with their dominant hand, keeping their non-dominant hand as still as possible. A video tape called Illuminations, which provides amorphous colors accompanied by a musical sound track, was played for the volunteer on the VCR and headphones in the experimental room. The presentation timing of this video was held constant throughout the experiment. This VCR was not in any way connected to the experimental equipment used to measure the remote observation effect. The Observee was told that the video camera would be on throughout the session, but that the remote Observer would be watching them through the monitor in the distant room only at certain randomly determined times. The Observee was asked not to try to guess consciously when those periods (of which the Observee was kept “blind") might be occurring, and was told that we were exploring whether unconscious physiological reactions might be associated with RO. The experimenter (MJS) left the subject alone in the experimental room and moved to the computer, which was set up in the adjacent control room. The experimenter checked the electrode conductance. Following this, she returned to the Experimental Room, started the Illuminations videotape, and closed the door. The audio track on the video controlled for the possible Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R003200140001-1
~ Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R003200140001-1 influence of extraneous sounds that might influence the Observee. She passed through the computer room, crossed the hallway, and entered the Observer's room, advising the Observer that the session was about to begin and wished the Observer luck, and reminded them to activate the distant person when their image appeared on the experimental monitor. She then closed the Observer's Room door and returned to the Computer Room. At this point, the experimenter started the microcomputer that controlled the session events, including timing of the physiological sampling periods and recording of data during 32 30-second periods. As such, the experimenter was completely blind as to the sampling periods during any interactions with the participants. Each of the 16 recording periods during the experimental (RO) conditions of the experiment was signaled to the remote Observer when the distant person's image appeared on the monitor in the Observer's Room. During these periods, the Observer stared intently at the television image throughout the 30-second recording period. During control periods, the Observer read a book or otherwise tried to shift their attention from the distant person. The Remote Observer received no feedback during the session about the Observee's physiological activity. The equipment sampled the Observee's spontaneous phasic skin conductance responses (SCR) once a second for the 30 seconds of a recording period. A random pause of 0 to 5 seconds was inserted in order to eliminate potential artifacts due to possible guessing of the experimental sequences and to rule out possible cycles that might occur in the Observee's physiology. The experimental sampling then continued with the next block. The subjects were randomly assigned to one of two experimental sequences that were counter-balanced for time effects across the experiment. The randomization sequence was generated by the second author (SB) through the use of a random number generator. These consisted of blocks of four conditions: control, observation, observation, control or observation, control, control, observation. These sequences were randomized in blocks of 6, with equal numbers of the two conditions across the experiment. This was done to assure a balance of two conditions and to control for any temporal drift in the autonomic activity of the participant. Digitized data were stored on disk for later analysis and copied over to the SUN system for backup security and transport via modem to the second author. The mean value of skin conductance activity for each 30-second period was used in the analyses. RESULTS For each experimental session, a total score was calculated for all 32 recording periods (16 observation and 16 control). A chi-square goodness of fit test indicated that the scores of these sessions did not differ significantly from normality; therefore, parametric statistics were used in their evaluation. A single mean t-test was calculated with 23 degrees of freedom for each of the 7 Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R003200140001-1