Displacement effects, role of the agent, and mentation catagories in relation to ESP performance

Abstract

The three experimental studies in this dissertation investigated a number of aspects of 'general extrasensory perception' (GESP) in a free-response task, using the ganzfeld technique to promote the occurrence of ESP in a laboratory setting.

In the first such study, the role of the agent's attention in affecting target-related scoring and in contributing to the occurrence or prevention of displacement was of primary interest. Although overall scoring tended to be above chance (significantly so according to a post-hoc analysis of the data of one of two independent judges, (p(one-tailed)<0.025)), scoring with an agent was only slightly higher than without an agent, and the inclusion of the control pictures with the target picture in the agent's presence did not result in discernible evidence of displacement, although in that condition the highest mentation-picture correspondence ratings assigned on each trial correlated significantly and positively with high motivation for one judge (p(two-tailed)<0.05) and with bad mood for the other judge (p(two-tailed)<0.05). No measures of the percipients' attitude to the various pictures in the target set related to target or displaced ESP scoring, although there was strong evidence (p<0.0002) that percipients were swayed in their judgement of correspondence by their liking for pictures. Finally, in accordance with prediction, scoring was significantly (p(one-tailed)<0.025) higher on surprising than on unsurprising mentation.

In the second experiment, the effects on the percipient of two agent 'strategies' were compared. In the 'Hoping' condition, agents concentrated upon hoping for the percipient's success; in the 'Experiencing' condition, agents tried to experience the scene depicted in the target as realistically, and in as many modalities as possible. Overall, scoring was non-significantly below chance. Although more percipients experienced, as predicted, more mentation which was unstructured and irrational during the 'Hoping' strategy, the difference was not significant. Scoring did not differ significantly between the two conditions and there was no indication that percipients experienced imagery in the same sensory modalities as the agents when the agents employed such imagery. Both percipient and agent psychological measures were subjected post-hoc to factor analysis. For one independent judge there was a significant (p(two-tailed)<0.01) negative correlation between ESP Z-scores and a factor composed of the percipients' good mood, pleasantness of ganzfeld experience, and post-ganzfeld relaxation. For the other judge, a factor representing in the 'Hoping' condition, the agents' enjoyment of the strategy, time spent hoping for success, and high motivation, correlated positively with ESP Z-scores (p(two-tailed)<0.05). One judge was able, to a significant degree (p(one-tailed) < 0.05) to identify successful trials. Scoring on fleeting mentation, according to a post-hoc two-tailed test, was significantly worse than on non-fleeting mentation (p<0.02), according to one judge's data.

In the third study, the present author acted as independent judge for data from another ganzfeld study, in order to investigate ways of improving scoring by means of identifying target-related mentation before feedback. Overall, scoring was non-significantly above chance. None of the various types of picture-mentation correspondence examined (literal, formal, conceptual, associative) proved more accurate than any other, nor did any particular kind of mentation yield better scoring than the rest. No significant difference was found between scoring on the basis of weak and of strong correspondence ratings. There was some indication that the occurrence of spectacular matches between individual mentation items and a single picture, and of the occurrence of an unusually high overall match between one picture and the mentation, was a useful basis for making trial-by-trial confidence calls, and that the occurrence of unusually good matches to more than one picture in the target set indicated the occurrence of displacement, although none of these results was significant.

Although a number of significant findings were obtained, these must be regarded as inconclusive in the context of the large number of analyses performed. However, some progress was made in establishing which lines of research most merit future investigation.

The question of displacement, both in a free-response and a forced-choice setting, has received extensive, but mostly casual attention over the last forty years. Accordingly, a review of the displacement literature is given, with an account of matters of analysis which are necessary considerations for the interpretation of apparent displacement effects. It was concluded that there is far less evidence for displacement as an established phenomenon than has been assumed to be the case, but that this lack of evidence could be attributable to the use of ambiguous analyses and a lack of systematic research, rather than to the non-existence of displacement. Specific suggestions for a more productive research strategy are proposed.