The ESP Channel — Open or Closed?

Reprinted from the Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research Volume 66 — July 1972 — Number 3 THE ESP CHANNEL—OPEN OR CLOSED? BY KARLIS OSIS anp MARY LOU CARLSON

Reprinted from the Journal of the American Society for Prychical Research Volume 66 — July 1972 — Number 3 The ESP Channel—Open or Closed? Karuis Osis AND Mary Lou CarLson tted to awareness. The channel enables the percipient to perform remarkable feats of orientation in unknown territory; ¢.g., distinguishing clairvoyance targets halfway around the world from billions of other existing objects (8). Despite this precision of orientation, as a rule only a small fraction of the desired information actually gets transmitted. It may be that much of this information loss occurs in the channel; that the ESP channel is a “leaky” one. In the Osis, Turner, and Carlson long distance experiments (8) one possible source of information loss in the channel was identified: the influence of persons in the vicinity of the targets, There is much anecdotal evidence for this sort of effect; ¢.g., that the presence of aggressive, skeptical persons suppresses ESP, while the presence of warm, accepting persons facilitates it. A differential effect between two experimenters (Es), Pratt and Price (9), was shown in the 1930s. Woodruff and Dale (14) found indications that E’s temporary state of mind could affect subject In these studies, Zs interacted directly with Ss, and the effects could have been due to S reaction to sensory cues. However, in an experiment by West and Fisk (13), E effects occurred despite the fact that it was conducted entirely by mail. Total S scoring was significant on targets prepared by Fisk, the more genial and out- going of the two Es, and not on targets prepared by West. In ESP Channel—Open or Closed? 311 study, Feather and Brier (2) found £ effects across the time in precognition tests: Scoring depended upon which E did ¢ checking and also upon which one the Ss expected to do the checking, a sort of social psychic effect. i experiments, voluntary influence on scoring was tried. Bateman (11) had telepathic agents work cither in conjunc- ing the same targets), or in opposition (sending different is). Ss in both conditions apparently chose one agent and ored the other. Schmeidler (10) had persons rated as compatible tible with Ss wish for S’s success or failure in a clair- test. A wish for failure by an incompatible person resulted In our last two distance experiments (8), a traveler (7°) took the targets to their stations and remained with them during the ESP ‘eae Ss had been given psychometric objects from him, and his photograph and description. They were instructed to reach the targets, from their homes, using the psychometric objects. Although the task was a clairvoyance one, the 7’s moods during the sessions ey weemed to affect S scoring. A similar effect was found ater in a small-scale experiment at the A.S.P.R. (1), where K.O. _ What part of the ESP system might be affected by the moods of ‘& person near the targets? Since the distance experiments used ‘clairvoyance tests, we can climinate the possibility that the target information itself was affected. The remaining alternatives are an influence on the channel or on Ss’ internal ESP processing. __ In the report on the distance experiments, it was suggested that there were at least three possible types of mood influence on the channel. Two of th ing the noise level or changing the Strength of the signal—should be reflected in the amount of ESP Scoring on a variety of measures. The third, the introduction of ene i ion, should result in a shift of scoring from ; hits to displacements. Rather than influencing the channel, the mood of a person with the targets could affect Ss’ internal ESP ing if Ss encountered pee thatthe total amount of ES reacted to this. If so, it is that the total amount of ESP scoring would be affected, the authors gave reasons why it seems more likely that in the distance experiment the direction of scori i-hitting or eee woud be changed. Scoring shifted to psi-hitting if Ss T in a positive mood, and to psi-missing if 7’s mood was found to be unpleasant. On the basis of the results it was concluded: tentative impression is that gating is more affected by 7’s mood, than the amount of psi information” (8, p. 280). By focusing Ss’ attention on the 7, we had made such an

312 Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research encounter more likely. Research on influence of task-set, or Aufgabe (3, 12), and on incidental learning (4) indicates that Ss are little concerned with peripheral stimuli; i.e., stimuli on which their attention has not been lichiad by instructions or other means. A better test of whether persons near clairvoyance targets produce channel effects on scoring would feature a person unknown to Ss, whose presence they did not expect. The experiments here featured two Es present with the targets during the ESP sessions. One of them (M.L.C.) was unknown to Ss; they had no contact with her and were not informed that she would be with the during the sessions, For p of comparison, the other (K.O.) took the role previously filled by the traveler in the distance experiments, and served as the focus of Ss’ attention. If K.O. was able to exert a mood effect on scoring, it would give some indication that the ESP channel is a closed system, not susceptible to the influence of persons near the and that his mood effect was probably the result of Ss’ encounter with him and took place in their processing of the ESP information. An effect by M.L.C. on scoring, whether or not K.O. had such an effect, would give some indication that the channel itself is open to the influence of persons near targets. The two Es did not switch roles because K.O. was already well known to the Ss. The physical arrangement of the targets (four columns of postcards on the floor) enabled a test of the role of short distance in such mood effects, K.O. sat nearest the first column and M.L.C. nearest the fourth, so we tested the relationship of scoring on these columns, as well as total ESP scoring, to the moods of both £s. The to affect the channel may be limited to a few feet around the y, and this could be linked with the tradition of an aura extending at most only a few feet around the body. Procepure The experiments in which the above oo were tested also served the purpose of screening Ss for a later long-distance experiment. The procedure followed closely that described for the preliminary tests in the report on the Osis and Turner long- distance experiment (7). Ss were A.S.P.R. members who had volunteered in their membership questionnaires to take part in research, and other interested persons known to these members and to the staff. There were 107 Ss in Experiment I, 139 in Experiment II, and 49 in 4 III. Ss first completed several different ESP tests at home for practice. Targets were five types of nature postcards. The ESP Channel—Open or Closed? 313 Next they got impressions, from their homes, of the order in which the same target cards were set out in K.O.’s office at the A.S.P.R. were laid out face down on the floor in four columns of =five cards each. “‘Closed decks” were used; i.e., there were equal numbers of cach type of target in each column. M.L.C. ‘randomized the targets and usually set them out. Ss were told that K.O. would be sitting in his office during a fe | aroma and that they could begin making their calls at any time during that period. S was given four index cards K.O. had carried with him for some time, and was instructed ‘to use them in reaching the four target columns. Ss were told that K.O. would not act as a sender, but that the psychometric objects cards) from him would aid their ESP in reaching the targets. =a received a picture and a brief biographical sketch of K.O. Both K.O. and M.L.C. rated their moods during the sessions once per hour, on four scales on the dimensions of Relaxation, Elation, Vitality, and Freedom from Anxiety, These scales are reprinted as scales 4, 6, 7, and 8 in Appendix I of the report on the last distance experiments (8). Ss also completed a ten-item question- naire about their moods and task attitudes after finishing their task; the results will not be reported here. was planned to carry out two experiments of four sessions (Ss usually took part in only one session). However, K.O. unable to come to his office for the third session of Experiment that session, one set of targets was laid out at his home, -L.C. sat with another set of targets in identical order at ta from that session were analyzed separately, and it ee There was a different target order session, Thus, for Experiments I and IT paeedertee, 4 enough number of targets to minimize possible stacking effects. any event, a stacking effect would be more likely to distort the overall level of ESP rather than correlations with independent measures; only the latter are of interest here. 4 BB ar BEPoS i EVALUATION METHODS As in the distance experiments, six ESP measures were used: psi-hitting and psi-missing scores for direct hits (0), forward displacements (+1) and backward displacements (—1). The i-hitting score for a run was its positive deviation from chance there was no deviation from chance, or a negative one, the score Was zero). Likewise, the psi-missing score for a run was the negative deviation. The psi-hitting and psi-missing scores for the session

314 Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research eo ee ee ey ee runs. Two kinds of correlational analysis were performed to relate F mood scores to ESP scores, Pearson Product Moment correlations were computed between E mood scores and S ESP scores for the session and also for the first and fourth columns. A Stepwise Multiple Regression Analysis (SMRA) was also performed, using only the ESP scores for the session as a whole. SMRA is described by Morrison (5), and is also explained in the report on our first distance experiment (7). SMRA lets us deal with the fact that K.O.’s and M.L.C.’s mood scores are intercorrelated. In this experiment, M.L.C.’s mood effects are of primary interest; therefore K.O.’s mood scores were entered into the analysis first so that any overlap between their mood effects would be attributed to him. This gives a more stringent test of whether M.L.C.'s moods had any effect because it is quite possible that some of this overlap was due to her moods. RESULTS None of the total deviations from chance for each experiment on direct hits and forward and backward displacements reached significance. There was suggestive scoring in Experiment III: a deviation of +54 on direct hits (CR = 1.93, P = .054) and a deviation of —52.8 on forward displacements (CR = 1.86,P = .063). Table | gives the correlations between the two E moods and the total ESP scores for the three experiments. The mood scores are intercorrelated among themselves, as are the ESP scores, so it is impossible to determine how many correlations between mood and ESP scores would be expected by chance. In M.L.C.’s data, there are twice as many correlations at the .05 level or above than would be expected by chance if this di were ignored (four times as many correlations at the .0] level). However, there is only one significant correlation in K.O.’s data. Any interpretations of the results of these experiments must be made with caution. The distribution of correlations shows some regularity in the predom- inance of M.L.C.’s mood effects, all but one of which are with forward displacements.’ In Experiment III, where the two Zs were * There is variation from experiment to experiment in the lations or cree tel gan ach The ESP Channel—Open or Closed? Table 1 SIGNIFICANT CORRELATIONS BETWEEN ESP anp Exprnimenter Moon VaARriAsies i 3 6 g 315 "P= 05, **P = Ol.

316 Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research ted by twelve miles, it appears that Ss reached the in K.0.s office, where M.L.C. sat, rather than the tones ick K.O, in his home, Was each £’s influence stronger on the column nearest him than on the farthest column? Excluding K.O.'s data from Experiment Ill, where he sat perpendicular to the columns, we have twenty ignificant correlations between E moods and ESP scores on the first and fourth columns (not reported in the tables). Twelve of these with scores from the nearest column. The E mood effect does not appear to operate only over a very close range. Correlations between K.O.’s moods and M.L.C.’s moods did not reach significance, but were usually positive. Results from the SMRA, which attributed all overlapping influence of the two Es’ moods to K.O., are shown in Tab M.L.C.’s mood effects survive this test, with five significant F ratios, one of which is at the .005 and one at the .001 level.* Discussion To our question as to whether a person unknown to Ss but near to clairvoyance targets can exert a mood influence on scoring, the answer, as far as we can judge from these data, appears to be “yes.”” We found indications of an effect in all three experiments, both in the correlational and SMRA results. This kind of mood effect does not appear to be affected by distances of a few feet. Our interpretations of how such effects could occur must be tentative, especially as regards the ESP channel, about which almost nothing is known. Nevertheless, we think it worth while to Although it is possible that M.L.C.’s moods might have affected Ss’ internal information processing as they reacted to an ESP encounter with her, it seems less likely that they would encounter in this way M.L.C, and not K.O., upon whom their attention had been focused. Studies of sensory perception have found that the independent variable in question and was in the , there poh ri ye aephheed sprergh eo J the from Experiment to Experiment t= 7P= * All ty values from the SMRA are conditional. signs have to the F ratios to show the direction of the ; these were The ESP Channel—Open or Closed? Tuble 2 Stepwise Moitipce Recamsion ANALysis or ESP anp Exremimenter Moop Vasiasies: Sianiicant F Ratios Ae or io. 6.6* 12.2°**° M.L.C. Mood Variable | vi | K.O. Mood Variable y ae —— SS! i++ 66 | 1++ i nal bow I 317 oveep — 001. coop — 005, o*P = 0}. *P = 05.

318 Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research incidental stimuli in the periphery of the visual field usually have little influence on Ss’ responses (4). If this could be i to the ESP situation, = ee more likely that M.L.C.’s mood affected the channel itself? In retrospect, perhaps the traveler mood effect in the long-distance experiments was an effect on the ESP aren. Why did K.O.’s mood a tly not influence S scoring, in contrast to the results of the distance experiments? A possible post hoc explanation is that K.O. tried to keep his moods as constant (and favorable) as possible, so that all Ss would have the same opportunity to score well and thus to be selected for the later distance project. M.L.C. did not feel such a reaponasbalisy to keep bier ibcicle iveshant, alsictegh she 4i4 ot diy to sett scori The average SD of M.L.C.'s moods in the first two experiments was 1.30, as contrasted with .80 for K.O. In Experiment III, K.O.’s moods showed as much variability as M.L.C.’s, but the fact that S scoring correlated with her moods and not with his may indicate that more Ss reached the targets set up at K.O.’s office than those at his home. In Experiment III, Ss in ect had conflicting instructions: they were to reach a certain person in a certain place, but the person was elsewhere. If Ss actually tended to reach the correct place rather than the correct person, this seems to contradict our conclusion from the distance experiments that ESP orientation is based on persons rather than scanning an area for landmarks, But in the distance experiments, Ss did not know where the targets were for a particuluar run or session; at most they knew the range of possibilities. It is also quite possible that K.O.’s office might have acted like a psychometric object, impregnated with his psychic influence, and might in itself have served to elicit Ss’ ESP. If this occurred, personal rather than geographical factors are still indicated. An improvement on the present design would feature a person in M.L.C’s role who had no interest in the experiment, and little knowledge about it. Although neither E tried to influence S scoring, an unconscious attempt is ible, It would be interesting to learn the kind of effect a true nder could produce, since * It has been suggested by a colleague that M.L.C."s correlations might dntacnal pdecustieg etbicee touting thea Gs tllitioss of KGa, otea iia have wished M.L.C, to demonstrate a mood effect, and thus have to her. We feel this is unlikely because had the results been i i The ESP Channel—Open or Closed? 319 it is this kind of influence which might affect nonexperimental ESP, and also many experiments. The experiments reported here illustrate an approach to the ESP channel. They give some evidence that it can be affected by interested persons in the vicinity of the targets, an influence which is not affected by distances of a few feet. At least to this extent, it looks as if the ESP channel is open to the influence of its sur- roundings. REFERENCES 1. Cartson, M. L. Subject and “experimenter” moods and scoring on a correspondence ESP test. Journal of Parapsy- chology, 34, 1970, 273-274. (Abstract.) 2. Featuer, S. R., ano Brier, R. The possible effect of the checker in precognition tests. Journal of Parapsychology, 32, 1968, 167-175. 3. Jouannsen, D. E. Perception. Annual Review of Psychology, 18, 1967, 1-40. 4. Mecuanic, A., AND D’Anprga, J. Visual and pronouncing responses, and the relation between orienting task and presen- tations in incidental learning. Journal of Experimental Psychol- ogy, 71, 1966, 343-349. 5. Morrison, D. F. Multivariate Statistical Methods. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1967. 6. Osis, K., anp Boxert, E. ESP and changed states of conscious- ness induced by meditation. Journal A.S.P.R., 65, 1971, 18-65. 7. Osis, K., anp Turner, M. E., Jr. Distance and ESP: A transcontinental experiment. Proceedings A.S.P.R., 27, 1968. 8. Osis, K., Turner, M. E., Jr., anp Carson, M. L. ESP over distance: Research on the ESP channel. Journal A.S.P.R., 65, 1971, 245-288. - { 9. Pratt, J. G., anp Price, M. M. The experimenter-subject relationship in tests for ESP. Journal of Parapsychology, 2, 1938, 84-94. 10. Scumetpter, G. R. Evidence fa ye wag Ey telepathy. International Journal of Parapsyc 3, > ; 11. Soat, S. G., AND BATEMAN, F. Modern Experiments in Telepathy. New York: Doubleday, 1960. 12. Soutey, C. M., anD Murpuy, G. Development of the Perceptual World. New York: Basic Books, 1960. ; ; 13. West, D. J., AND Fisk, G. W. A dual ESP experiment with clock cards. Journal S.P.R., 37, 1953, 185-197.

320 Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research 14. Wooprurr, J. L., anp Date, L. A. Subject and experimenter attitudes in relation to ESP scoring. Journal A.S.P.R., 44, 1950, 87-112. The Chester F. Carlson Research Laboratory A.S.P.R. 5 West 73rd Street New York, N. Y. 10023 Printed by the St Catherine Press Ltd., Tempelhof 37, Bruges, Belgium.