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 StanfordUniversity. 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 isone 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!