A Three Part Study Exploring Psi-Conduciveness And Psi-Defensiveness In Groups

Abstract

The current study examined three separate experiments, conducted during the Spring semester of 2006, designed to explore variables related to telepathy performance. The common theme which runs through all studies in the parapsychology laboratory including the three experiments covered in this document is the exploration of variables related to psi-defensiveness and psi-conduciveness within groups of participants. In Part I, groups of participants were rated by research assistants on the dimensions of friendliness and enthusiasm. It was hypothesized that as friendliness and enthusiasm ratings increased or decreased for a session, hit rates would correspondingly increase or decrease. Results indicated that as friendliness ratings increased for a session, overall hit rates for that session also increased. During Part II, the main focus revolved around instructions to miss targets. More specifically, it was hypothesized that certain subgroups would hit targets when instructed to miss and miss targets when instructed to hit. Indeed, results indicated that low belief participants had significantly higher scores than would be expected by chance while high belief participants scored significantly below chance when instructed to miss. In Part III, a large group was divided into four subsets with each subset acting as receivers once and senders three times, with a final run in which a group of men acted as senders while women constituted the receivers. In turn, women acted as senders while men acted as receivers. It was predicted that a difference in hit rates would be apparent between the sexes. It was found that women obtained higher hit rates than men in all sets. Results also indicated that men scored significantly below chance expectation when women were acting as senders.

Date of Award	2009
Original language	American English
Awarding Institution	Eastern Illinois University
Supervisor	Russell Gruber (Supervisor)