Psychology, psi, and the web: An exploratory study

Journal/Book: J Amer Soc Psychical Res. 1998; 92: 5 West 73Rd Street, New York, NY 10023, USA. Amer Soc Psychical Res Inc. 256-278.

Abstract: The exploratory study outlined in this paper aimed to uncover some of the factors that may be relevant in conducting forced-choice parapsychology experiments on the World Wide Web. One experiment's focus was on the effect of questionnaire type on subsequent psi tasks. It was found that although both numerical and intuition type questionnaires produced nonsignificant results over 180 trials each, those who indicated a positive attitude toward the numerical questionnaire did achieve significant results at the .05 level. A second experiment revealed that first trials consistently provided better results than subsequent trials and, when both clairvoyant and precognitive trials were taken together, first trials achieved significance at the .01 level. Nevertheless, given the large number of analyses performed and given that sometimes variables were confounded, the results here must be treated with caution. Suggestions for further adaptations of methodology for psi experiments on the Web are made. It is advised that those conducting Web experiments should bear in mind that factors such as background color, response type, and the number of trials permitted may influence results. Replications of the current findings using more rigorous conditions are recommended.

Note: Article Steinkamp F, Univ Edinburgh, Dept Psychol, 7 George Sq, Edinburgh EH8 9NJ, Midlothian, SCOTLAND

Keyword(s): PRECOGNITION; ESP

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