Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R002200620001-9 8 Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research 4°C and would be removed from the refrigerator only briefly, before each hemolysis trial. 4. Hemolysis trials would be conducted between 14 and 42 hours fol- lowing a blood draw. The ACD anticoagulant permits cold storage of blood cells for as long as 3 to 4 weeks with minimal deterioration of red blood cells. 5. The temperature increase of the spectrophotometer would be mini- mized by means of an external cooling fan, the use of shorter sampling epochs, and allowing the apparatus to remain on only during hemolysis measurement periods. 6. A session would consist of four 15-minute periods—two control (C) periods and two protect (P) periods. For half of the subjects, these periods would be scheduled in a CPPC order; for half of the subjects, a PCCP order would be used. This block-counterbalancing design was employed in order to assure that any reasonably linear potential progressive error (such as changes in hemolysis rate due to slight progressive warming of the apparatus) would contribute equally to the two (C and P) conditions and therefore not introduce a systematic bias. Whether a given subject’s sequence was CPPC or PCCP would be randomly determined by an asso- ciate (M.S.) through use of the RAND table of random numbers. The experimenter doing the hemolysis measurements would, of course, be blind regarding these sequences. A subject would learn his or her proper sequence by consulting a sealed envelope delivered to the subject after the experimenter’s interactions with the subject had been completed and the experimenter had returned to the equipment room. 7. The beginning of each 15-minute period would be signaled by an appropriate number of tones delivered to the subject’s headphones. The subject would have been instructed to attempt to mentally decrease the rate of hemolysis of the distant red blood cells during the two 15-minute protect periods. During the two 15-minute control periods, the subject would attempt not to think about the experiment and would allow the cells to hemolyze at their normal, rapid rate. During the two protect periods, the subject would view a projected color slide of healthy, intact red blood cells as an aid to visualization and intention. During the two control pe- riods, the subject would close his or her eyes and think about matters unconnected with the experiment. 8. During each 15-minute period, either two or eight hemolysis tubes (samples) would be measured. Monte Carlo analyses conducted at SRI International indicated that curves derived from 2 versus 8 tubes (samples) would be sufficient for an adequate test of the IDS versus RA interpreta- tions of any obtained psi effect. The subject would be blind regarding the number of tubes being measured during any 15-minute period and would be instructed to apply mental effort as steadily and as consistently as pos- sible throughout the entire 15-minute protect periods. The experimenter would learn whether to measure 2 or 8 hemolysis tubes during each 15- minute period by consulting a sealed envelope delivered to him just before 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 9 the beginning of the measurement session. This random, balanced tube sequence would have been determined earlier by M.S., again using the RAND table of random numbers. 9. Because the subjects must remain blind regarding the number of tubes being measured during each 15-minute period, it would not be pos- sible to provide them with real-time auditory feedback of the progress of hemolysis, as we had hoped to do. Such feedback would provide subjects with information about the number of tubes and would therefore violate the blindness requirement and add a psychological confound to the experi- ment. However, the subject would receive numerical feedback about he- molysis outcomes at the conclusion of the session. 10. The subject’s session would be preceded by 8 minutes of tape-re- corded instructions for relaxation and guided imagery, designed to help reduce distractions and focus attention upon the desired goal event—viz., decreased hemolysis during effort (protect) periods. 11. Hemolysis measurements would be accomplished with a procedure identical to that used in the pilot study, with the following exceptions: (a) the recording epochs would be 1 minute rather than 2 minutes in duration, and (b) the subject would not hear tones signaling the beginning and end of each tube measurement (as in the pilot study), but rather would hear tones signaling the beginning of each of the four 15-minute periods. 12. Hemolysis scores would be analyzed in a manner identical to that described in the pilot study. A similar ANOVA would be used to assess the presence of a psi effect. In addition, all hemolysis percent change scores would be normalized for purposes of additional IDS versus RA analyses. METHOD Subjects Thirty-two subjects participated in the study. Participants were selected from a pool of normal, healthy individuals and were screened to eliminate those with known allergic or immunological disorders or other illnesses and those currently taking medication (other than oral contraceptives and/ or occasional cold medicines). Twenty-one of the subjects had already participated in the pilot investigation and were asked to participate again because of their familiarity with the procedure. Eleven subjects were first- time participants who substituted for pilot study subjects who were unable to take part in the formal study. The final sample consisted of 17 females and 15 males, ranging in age from 23 to 53 years. Each subject was paid $20 as a token of appreciation for the inconvenience and slight discomfort of donating a blood sample and for participating in the subsequent 11- hour laboratory session. Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R002200620001-9
Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R002200620001-9 10 Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research Procedure On a Monday evening, the experimenter met with a group of four par- ticipants in order to explain the experiment in detail and to have the sub- jects complete an Informed Consent Form, donate a 10 mi venous blood sample, and schedule an appointment for an experimental session for later that same week (i.e., on either the next day [Tuesday] or the day after [Wednesday]). An attempt was made to schedule two experimental ses- sions on Tuesday (at 10:00 a.m. and at 2:00 p.m.) and two sessions on Wednesday (at 10:00 a.m. and at 2:00 p.m.). On the Monday evening, the participant was given a two-page written description of the procedure and was asked to read the description at home and become familiar with it. The four blood samples were drawn by a registered nurse.” The blood collection tubes (Becton Dickinson Vacutainer tubes containing acid- citrate-dextrose anticoagulant) were labeled with the names of the blood donors and were placed in a small refrigerator immediately after the blood draws. The refrigerator was maintained at 4° C throughout the experiment. When all four blood samples had been drawn, the nurse switched the name labels on two of the tubes, using a randomizing schedule that had been prepared ahead of time by an associate of the experimenter (M.S.). This schedule was always kept by the nurse (and a copy kept by M.S.) and was unknown to the experimenter until the study had been completed. The purpose of switching the labels of two tubes was to permit two subjects to attempt to influence their own blood and two to attempt to influence an- other person’s blood that week, and to keep the subjects and the experi- menter blind regarding the blood source until all 32 sessions of the study had been completed.? Following his or her arrival for the experimental session on Tuesday or Wednesday, the experimenter showed the subject the equipment at the target site, emphasized the spectrophotometer tube holder in which the target tubes later would be placed sequentially, and then escorted the sub- ject to the distant subject room, located in another part of the building (see floor plan in the Figure). The subject sat in a comfortable armchair and was told that shortly after the experimenter left the subject’s room, an assistant would slip an envelope under the subject’s door. The subject was 2 The order in which the subjects’ blood was drawn, and hence their subject numbers for the blood source factor (i.e., whether they subsequently attempted to influence their own or another person’s blood) was determined by the alphabetical sequence of the surnames of the four subjects who assembled on any given Monday evening blood-drawing session. 3 On one Monday evening, a last-minute cancellation by a subject resulted in three, rather than the usual four, blood draws that evening. The next week, the subject who had cancelled for the previous week appeared; there also appeared an additional subject who was not ex- pected, resulting in six subjects that evening. For the two subjects who did not conform to the schedule that evening, blood tubes were inadvertently switched, when they should not have been. This resulted in a total of 18 subjects in the ‘‘another’s blood’’ condition and 14 subjects in the ‘‘own blood’’ condition. Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R002200620001-9