Knowing the unknown: Participants' insight in three forced-choice ESP studies

Journal/Book: J Amer Soc Psychical Res. 1996; 90: 5 West 73RD Street, New York, NY 10023. Amer Soc Psychical Res Inc. 97-114.

Abstract: Three studies were conducted in which participants were asked to indicate for each forced-choice ESP trial whether their call was based upon an impression or a guess. Each study had 12 emotionally unpleasant and 12 neutral targets for a total of 24 trials, thus participants had a simple binary choice with a 50% MCE hit-rate. Experiment 1 had a GESP design and 48 novice participants. It found nonsignificantly higher ESP scoring on impression calls (51% hit-rate) compared to guess calls (48% hit-rate). Experiment 2 had a clairvoyance design and 14 experienced participants who had undergone training in procedures reputed to enhance psi functioning. These participants scored significantly on impression calls (56% hit-rate, Z = 1.89, p = .03, one-tailed) compared to a near-chance hit-rate of 51% for guess calls; the difference in scoring between impressions and guesses was not statistically significant. Experiment 3 had a clairvoyance design and 75 novice participants who reversed the trend seen in Experiments 1 and 2, with nonsignificantly lower scoring for impression calls (49% hit-rate) compared to guesses (51% hit-rate). It is concluded that participants may have some degree of insight into the accuracy of their forced-choice ESP impressions, particularly if these participants have had previous experience that may have facilitated the recognition of the characteristics of accurate ESP impressions. The importance of the phenomenological experiences underlying participants' laboratory ESP mentations and calls is stressed.

Note: Article CA Watt, Univ Edinburgh, Dept Psychol, 7 George Sq, Edinburgh EH8 9JZ, Midlothian, Scotland

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