Hines Chapter 4 Laboratory Psychology
PSI Phenomena - Collective term for:
1. ESP (telepathy) - ability to receive or send information mentally.
2. Clairvoyance (precognition) - ability to know the future.
3. Psychokinesis (PK) - ability to physically influence the environment via non
physical (mental) processes.
Cheating and Fraud - Hines notes that these have been much more common in
parapsychology than in more traditional sciences (thought there is no shortage of
them there either).
Methodological Flaws as Explanation for the Findings - Hines suggests that
when positive results ARE found in parapschology experiements, they are
frequently the result of "subtle methodological flaws" (as described below).
J. B. Rhine and the Center of Duke University - The most famous researcher
and the center he founded. Rhine:
1. Coined the term ESP in 1934.
2. Popularized the Use of the now famous Zener Cards.
3. Considered the founder of laboratory psychology in the U.S.
Carl Zener - An associate of Rhine's at Duke. He came up with the idea of
having "simpler" stimuli (with only one variable).
PSI Hitting and PSI Missing - Hit rates significantly above chance are PSI
hitting, and significantly below chance PSI missing.
Lack of Replicability - Hines views this as the biggest problem in
parapsychology research, a sure sign that the original finding was an "artifact."
PSI are Elusive Jealous Phenomena - The most common excuse offered by
parapsychologists when results cannot be replicated. The claim, according to
Hines, is that PSI phenomena are "elusive" or "jealous" phenomena. I.E., they
go away when "skeptics" are present (bad vibes and all that).
Early Studies by Rhine - Hines points out a number flaws in Rhine's early
studies that likely accounted for the positive findings:
1. Because of poor embossing (stamping), the Zener designs could sometimes
be seen on the backs of the cards.
2. Sitting facing each other (as in the picture with Pearce), the subject might
actually see reflections of the cards in the experimenter's eyeglasses or corneas.
3. Hearing the sound of a pencil writing the target numbers or watching the top of
the pencil move could give clues to the subject.
4. Cues given off by the "agent" or "sender" (the experimenter) (e.g., facial
expressions, tone of voice) could give the subject clues. Hines cites the case of
"Clever Hans," a horse who picked up clues from his handler as an example.
S. G. Soal in England and Fraud - In his first efforts, he failed to replicate
Rhine's results and boasted that he had proved Rhine to be in error.
The Displacement Effect - After reanalyzing his data, looking for hits with
targets both before and after as well as with the actual targets, Soal claimed
positive findings with Basil Shackelton and Gloria Stewart.
Basil Shackelton - Soal's most talented and studied subject, with whom many
impressive results were recorded.
Medford (1971) and Others - Examined Soal's records and found that
Shackelton's "hits" were often on "5"s and "4"s. Also, an absence of "1"s as
targets was also noted. Soal used lists of numbers, not Zener Cards. It was
concluded that Soal had placed extra "1"s in the target lists and when Shackelton
guessed a 4 or 5, on a trial with 1 as the target, Soal, changed the 1 already in
the target column to a 4 or 5.
The Uri Geller Episode - Israeli psychic Geller was a sensation during the
1970s, appearing on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson at the height of his
popularity. He did "mind" tricks but his specialty was bending metal objects (PK)
with the power of his mind.
The Stanford Research Institute (SRI) - Was established by Targ and Puthoff
next to prestigious Stanford University. It, in fact, had nothing to do with the
University however.
Russel Targ and Harold Puthoff (who James Randi refers to as the "Laurel
and Hardy of PSI) - Tested Geller extensively at SRI and in 1974 published an
article supporting Geller's abilities in the prestigious journal "Nature." It later
came out that the research was "chaotic" and "poorly conducted."
Randi's 1982 Book "The Truth About URI Geller" - was a scathing expose of
Geller. Posing as a member of the staff of Time Magazine, he exposed Geller's
"sleight of hand" tricks.
Two of Geller's Favorite Stage Tricks:
1. Having the audience think of one simple geometric figure inside another
(square excluded) and then guessing them.
2. Having the audience think of an odd two digit number less than 50 with the two
digits not the same and guessing it.
"Spoon Bending" - Gellers "main attraction" and his gift to the world. He is still
around.
John Taylor and Mini Gellers - A mini Geller is one of several children
identified by London mathematics professor JohnTaylor. Like Geller, they
purportedly could bend metal objects with mind power.
James Randi's Project Alpha - To demonstrate how easily even trained
parapsychologists could be taken in by trickery, Randi sent two magicians, Shaw
and Edwards, to the McDonnell Laboratory for Psychical Research to be studied
for psychic ability. He gave instructions to the McDonnell staff regarding controls
that should have been used but his suggestions were ignored. The staff were all
fooled by the two magicians.
Targ and Puthoff at SRI - Developed the technique of Remote Viewing. A
subject (receiver) remains in the lab. A "demarcation team" (senders) visit a
number of different locations and try to communicate information telepathically to
the "receiver" back at the lab. Judges then compare transcripts of what the
receiver said with the order in which the locations were visited. They claimed
impressive results.
Marks and Kahneman (1980) - Were skeptical and were able to obtain
transcripts of some of the SRI trials. They found that the transcripts that were
given to the judges contained many "clues" which allowed the judges to correctly
match the subjest's descriptions with the locations at a better than chance rate
when the judge visited the locations. When the clues are removed, performance
falls to chance rates (see example in Hines).
Remote Viewing and the Military - Both the Soviet Union and the United States
Governments conducted remote viewing research. Large amounts of U.S. funds
were spent with Targ and Puthoff at SRI. The U.S. effort was known as "Project
Stargate." In these variations the subject merely tried to draw pictures of distant
selected objects (like military installations).
Ganzfeld Studies - Strive to enhance ESP ability by reducing sensory input to
sub-normal levels. In the basic method described by Hines, half ping pong balls
are placed over the eyes (with backlight) to reduce visual stimulation and
produce a "blank field. "Irwin provides a more detailed explanation.
Schmidt's Random Event Generators (REGS) - In the 1970s Helmut Schmidt
designed devices in which emitted radioactive particles determine the outcomes
of events. The methodology was an improvement over dice rolling. However,
Ray Hyman pointed out two major problems with Schmidt's precognition and
clarirvoycance studies conducted in the 1980s:
1. The devices were tested for randomness using long trial runs. However, the
actual experimental runs were much shorter. Thus, there may have been
termporary departures from "randomness" during the shorter experimental runs
that were mistaken for positive results.
2. Schmidt's subjects were left largely alone and unsupervised.
Hines and "Reaction Time" Studies - This is a little complicated. Basically,
Hines and his students used a method that Hines felt might be more "sensitive"
to PSI phenomenon than accuracy of verbal responses (which is normally used).
The idea appears to have been inspired by studies into "cognitive" processes
such as "priming" (see example in book). Results from the reaction time studies
were no more impressive than from other types of PSI studies. Hines is pretty
much a lab parapsychology skeptic at this point.
Psi Theory and Belief (Irwin will deal with this in greater detail):
1. The Transmission Hypothesis - Suggests that in some way, information is
actually transferred in PSI phenomena. He cites as example, the theory of
Dobbs (1967) who posits that PSI phenomena result from particles with
"imaginary" mass and energy which given off by the brain. Dobbs calls these
mysterious particles "Psitrons."
2. Synchronicity - One simple and "acausal" theory of psychic phenomena
involves the concept of "synchronicity" introduced by Carl Jung. Events are
connected by "meaningful coincidence" yet information is NOT exchanged and
one event does NOT cause the other.
Characteristics of Believers - Hines, in his summary of laboratory
parapsychology, describes three characteristics of "believers."
1. Susan Blackmore found that they are poorer than skeptics at making
judgments about probabilities.
2. They have been shown to be poorer at assimilating new information that is
contrary to their belief system.
3. They are more closed minded, being unwilling to change their opinions even in
the face of evidence to the contrary.
Hines cites The "Hot Hand" cognitive illusion - As an example of how people
are poor at understanding probabilities. According to Tversky, this is "the belief
that the performance of a player during a particular period is significantly better
than expected on the basis of the player's overall record." I DISAGREE with
Hines on this!