The paper presents an experiment that is a conceptual replication of two earlier experiments which demonstrate entanglement correlations between a quantum physical random process and certain psychological variables of human observers. In the present study button‐pushes were used as psychological variables. The button‐pushes were performed by the subject with his or her left or right hand in order to “control” (according to the instruction) a random process that could be observed on a display. Each button‐push started the next random event which, however, in reality, was independent of the button‐pushes. The study consists of three independent sets of data (n = 386) that were gained with almost fee same apparatus in three different experimental situations. The first data set serves as reference. It was an automatic control‐run without subjects. The second set was produced mainly by subjects who asked for taking part in a para‐psychological experiment and who visited the “Parapsychological Counseling Office” in Freiburg especially for this purpose. Most of them were highly motivated persons who wanted to test their “psi ability”. In this case the number of runs could be selected by the subjects before the experimental session. The third set of data (of the same size) was collected during two public exhibitions (at Basel and at Freiburg) where the visitors had the opportunity to participate in a “PK experiment”. In this case the number of trials and runs was fixed in advance, but the duration of the experiment was dependent of the speed of button‐pushes. The results corroborate the previous studies. The specific way how the subjects pushed the buttons is highly significantly correlated with the independent random process. This correlation shows up for the momentarily generated random events as well as for the previous and the later runs during the experimental session. In a strict sense, only the correlations with the future random events can be interpreted as non‐local correlations. The structure of the data, however, allows the conclusion, that all observed correlations can be considered as entanglement‐correlations. The number of entanglement‐correlations was significantly higher for the highly motivated group (data set 2) than for the unselected group of the exhibition participants (data set 3). The latter, however, where not completely unsuccessful: A subgroup who showed “innovative” behavior also showed significant entanglement‐correlations. It could further be shown, that the structure of the matrix of entanglement‐correlations is not stable in time and changes if the experiment is repeated. In comparison with previous correlation‐experiments, no decline of the effect size was observed. These results are in agreement with the predictions of the “Weak Quantum Theory (WQT)” and the “Model of Pragmatic Information (MPI)”. These models interpret the measured correlations as entanglement‐correlations within a self‐organizing, organizationally closed, psycho‐physical system that exist during a certain time‐interval (as long as the system is active). The entanglement‐correlations cannot be considered as a causal influence (in the sense of a PK‐Influence) and thus are called “micro‐synchronicity”. After a short introduction (1.), the question is discussed how non‐local correlations can be created in psycho‐physical systems (2.). In chapter (3.) the description of the experimental setting is given and the apparatus (4.) and randomness test of the random event generator (5.) are described. Additionally, an overview of the structure of the data is given (6.) and the analysis methods are described (7.). In chapter (8.) the experimental hypotheses are formulated and the results are reported (9.). After the discussion of the results (10.) the conclusions (11).) of the study are presented.
The paper presents an experiment that is a conceptual replication of two earlier experiments which demonstrate entanglement correlations between a quantum physical random process and certain psychological variables of human observers. In the present study button‐pushes were used as psychological variables. The button‐pushes were performed by the subject with his or her left or right hand in order to “control” (according to the instruction) a random process that could be observed on a display. Each button‐push started the next random event which, however, in reality, was independent of the button‐pushes. The study consists of three independent sets of data (n = 386) that were gained with almost fee same apparatus in three different experimental situations. The first data set serves as reference. It was an automatic control‐run without subjects. The second set was produced mainly by subjects who asked for taking part in a para‐psychological experiment and who visited the “Parapsychological Counseling Office” in Freiburg especially for this purpose. Most of them were highly motivated persons who wanted to test their “psi ability”. In this case the number of runs could be selected by the subjects before the experimental session. The third set of data (of the same size) was collected during two public exhibitions (at Basel and at Freiburg) where the visitors had the opportunity to participate in a “PK experiment”. In this case the number of trials and runs was fixed in advance, but the duration of the experiment was dependent of the speed of button‐pushes. The results corroborate the previous studies. The specific way how the subjects pushed the buttons is highly significantly correlated with the independent random process. This correlation shows up for the momentarily generated random events as well as for the previous and the later runs during the experimental session. In a strict sense, only the correlations with the future random events can be interpreted as non‐local correlations. The structure of the data, however, allows the conclusion, that all observed correlations can be considered as entanglement‐correlations. The number of entanglement‐correlations was significantly higher for the highly motivated group (data set 2) than for the unselected group of the exhibition participants (data set 3). The latter, however, where not completely unsuccessful: A subgroup who showed “innovative” behavior also showed significant entanglement‐correlations. It could further be shown, that the structure of the matrix of entanglement‐correlations is not stable in time and changes if the experiment is repeated. In comparison with previous correlation‐experiments, no decline of the effect size was observed. These results are in agreement with the predictions of the “Weak Quantum Theory (WQT)” and the “Model of Pragmatic Information (MPI)”. These models interpret the measured correlations as entanglement‐correlations within a self‐organizing, organizationally closed, psycho‐physical system that exist during a certain time‐interval (as long as the system is active). The entanglement‐correlations cannot be considered as a causal influence (in the sense of a PK‐Influence) and thus are called “micro‐synchronicity”. After a short introduction (1.), the question is discussed how non‐local correlations can be created in psycho‐physical systems (2.). In chapter (3.) the description of the experimental setting is given and the apparatus (4.) and randomness test of the random event generator (5.) are described. Additionally, an overview of the structure of the data is given (6.) and the analysis methods are described (7.). In chapter (8.) the experimental hypotheses are formulated and the results are reported (9.). After the discussion of the results (10.) the conclusions (11).) of the study are presented.
We have reported previously on positive effects found in the matrix experiment. This is a setup where a random event generator (REG) drives a display, which participants are instructed to “influence” at will, i.e., in a psychokinesis (PK) setup. The difference of this matrix experiment from standard micro-PK REG experiments was that the deviation from randomness was not measured, but a large array of 2025 correlations between the behavior of the participant and the behavior of the REG was tested. This previous experiment was significant, and we devised a consensus protocol, which was deposited before commencement, according to which we conducted two independent replications with the same experimental setup and equipment. In the first experiment 64 participants conducted the experiment in one location under the experimental guidance of KK, in the second experiment 40 participants conducted the experiment in another location under the experimental guidance of HV. The analysis used a non-parametric randomization test with 10,000 iterations. None of the two experiments was significant. While in the first experiment a very small, but non-significant effect was found, in the second experiment no effect whatsoever was detectable. Sensitivity analyses did not suggest that the effect was in fact there but overlooked by our analysis. We discuss the findings in the context of the larger debate around replicability of parapsychological (PSI) research results and our theoretical model. This starts from the assumptions that such PSI effects are likely effects of a generalized form of entanglement correlations, and a consequence of this model is that such effects must not be used for the transfer of signals. Classical experiments, however, are detectors or extractors of signals in or from systems. This seems to be prohibited. Thus, the replication problem and this failed replication is likely part of the systematic nature of these effects. This makes it unlikely that experimental research alone will be successful in the long run demonstrating PSI effects. Our conclusion is that the matrix experiment is not a replicable paradigm in PSI research.
This article describes two experimental replications of a new methodological paradigm called Correlation Matrix Method (CMM) (Lucadou, 1987). The CMM was developed by Walter von Lucadou in an effort to offer a solution to the problems of replicability and decline effect in parapsychological experiments, namely in ‘psychokinesis’. Supported by von Lucadou's Model of Pragmatic Information (MPI) and von Lucadou, Walach and Romer's (2007) Generalised Quantum Theory (GQT), the model correlates physical variables produced by a Markov-chain random number generator with psychological variables measured from the participant before the PK task. The method claims that correlations produced between psychological and physical variables during the experimental session considered as statistically significant should be interpreted as non-local entanglement correlations. The two experiments used the same method and were pre-registered at the KPU registry at the University of Edinburgh. Each experimental session took on average 20 to 30 minutes depending on the rhythm of the participant. Forty-four participants completed 213 sessions in the first experiment, and 105 participants contributed 200 sessions in the second experiment. In both experiments participants were asked to influence solely by intention, a physical target shown on a computer screen which was controlled by the output of the random number generator. The psychological data was derived from button presses to reflect the subject’s intention as well to fulfil the CMM requirement of organisational closure, i.e. to maintain the participant interacting with the physical process so the experimental session is a whole structure. As a control analysis, a permutation method was used to generate new correlations using data from each experimental variable separately. The permutation also cleanses dependencies between the existing variables. A non-parametric correlation coefficient, Spearman’s Rho, was calculated across all subjects and sessions to calculate the number of significant correlations at p<0.05. In both experiments the number of significant correlations produced between participant influence and values produced by random number generator were very significantly more than the ones produced by the control method. Limitations in the method, and in the analyses are discussed, also suggestions for further experiments are explored.
Abstract : It is generally assumed that experiments involving statistical processes can always be designed in such a way that the outcome is independent of the experimenter. In order to test this basic assumption a series of experiments was performed with carefully designed apparatus whose central feature is a device utilizing a quantum process to generate random numbers modulo 4. The random number generator is connected to four lamps and four corresponding pushbuttons. Pressing any one of the four buttons triggers a quantum process and produces a random number, which is indicated by the lighting of one of the four lamps. The system is designed such that there should be no correlation between the number (1..4) of the button pressed and the number (1..4) of the lamp lighted, and furthermore, no correlation between successively generated random numbers. A large number of human subjects were asked to press the buttons manually with the objective in mind of obtaining a high number of coincidences (hits), i.e., events where the lamp next to the pressed button lights. From the results, it is tentatively concluded that there exists a weak but significant correlation between the statistical processes operative in these experiments and the experimenter who initiates the processes.
A psychokinetic (PK) effect--a mental influence on the outcome of chance processes--was first reported by Louisa and J. B. Rhine (Rhine & Rhine, 1943) from experiments with dice. Through the introduction of electronic random number generators based on quantum randomness (Schmidt, 1971), the experiments became more easily accessible and even more challenging to physicists. Today, a large number of successful PK experiments with random number generators have been reported (Radin & Nelson, 1989). It has not yet been possible, however, to stabilize and strengthen the statistically weak effects so that they can be easily demonstrated on demand. The discovery of PK effects on prerecorded random events (Schmidt, 1976) did not make the gathering of data less arduous, but it permitted the inclusion of independent observers who, with little investment of time and effort, could obtain first-hand evidence for any PK effects that might occur. All five experiments to be discussed here included such independent observers. PK Tests with Prerecorded Events and Independent Observers In a typical PK experiment, a random number generator produces a binary random sequence that the subject tries to bias in a certain manner. Let us take, for example, the case where the random generator produces in each test run a sequence of 100 binary events displayed as a sequence of 100 red (for a 0-bit) and green (for a 1-bit) light flashes, while the subject is instructed to mentally enforce the appearance of more red than green flashes. The sequence of red and green signals is stored on floppy disk, and a score that is measured by the difference between the numbers of red and green signals is displayed and recorded at the end of the run. The arrangement for an experiment with prerecorded random events is similar, but there is a time delay between the generation of the random events and their display to the subject. First, the random signals for a large number of test runs are generated and recorded on floppy disk. Days or months later, the stored signals are translated by the computer into a corresponding sequence of red and green light flashes while the subject tries to mentally enforce the appearance of more red than green signals. Experiments have shown that selected subjects can succeed in this arrangement (Schmidt, 1976, 1987), provided that the prerecorded events have not been inspected by anybody before the subject makes the PK effort. To let an independent observer participate in the experiment, we prerecord the bit sequences for all test runs planned for the experiment, and we let a computer make a printout of the scores for all the test runs. Being careful that nobody can observe the scores, we send a sealed copy of the printout to the independent observer. Leaving the printout sealed, the independent observer randomly specifies for each test run whether the subject's PK effort should be aimed at a high score (excess of red signals in the example) or a low score (excess of green signals). In the subsequent PK test sessions, the subject follows for each test run the independent observer's assignments, aiming for an excess of red or green signals, respectively. At the end of the experiment, the independent observer opens the sealed printouts. If the subject's effort was successful, the independent observer can confirm this first-hand by a tendency of the scores to point in the directions (positive or negative) that he had randomly specified. Because the independent observer had randomly assigned the directions, he or she can be certain that no such systematic tendency should occur (in the absence of the claimed anomaly). Using an appropriate statistical method, the independent observer can assess the significance of such a tendency without having to consider the reliability of the experimenter and his procedures. Test Arrangement with Distant Subjects The five experiments under discussion followed this general outline with minor variations. …
Intentional effects of human observerson the output of quantum-based random number generators (tRNG) have been studied for decades now. This research has been known as micro-psychokinesis (micro-PK) and many studies in the field reported evidence for mentally induced non-random deviations from chance. A most recent meta-analysis from Bösch, et al. (2006) revealed a very small and heterogeneous overall effect size that indicated a significant deviation from chance across studies. There remains doubt among the scientific community on the existence of micro-PK given: (i) the small and heterogenous effect; and (ii) the fact that several independent replication attempts of prominent studies failed to confirm the original results. The study presented here was intended to provide decisive evidence for or against the existence of micro-PK. An online experiment with 12,571 participants was conducted. The Bayesian analysis revealed strong evidence for H0 (BF01= 10.07). Thus, micro-PK did not exist in the data. A closer inspection of the temporal change of the effect seemed to suggest a non-random oscillative structure with a higher frequency than observed in simulated data. The possible role of entropy and the relation to the model of pragmatic information from von Lucadou (2015) is discussed.
PK experiments with prerecorded targets (Schmidt, 1976) are interesting because they suggest a variety of new test arrangements to study the basic PK mechanism. In addition, they permit the inclusion of independent observers who, with little time investment, can obtain first-hand evidence of any anomalous effects that may occur. Four such experiments with different independent observers, different subject populations, and minor variations have been performed previously (Schmidt & Braud, 1993; Schmidt, Morris, & Hardin, 1990; Schmidt, Morris, & Rudolph, 1986; Schmidt & Schlitz, 1988) with the first author as main experimenter and the other one or two authors acting as independent observers. The results of PK experiments with prerecorded random events appear most interesting and most puzzling because the subject's mental effort is made long after the random events to be affected have occurred. One tentative viewpoint (Schmidt, 1978; Walker, 1979) is that the subject's mental effort could act backward to the time when the random events were generated and recorded. This would imply a noncausal mechanism in the sense that the effect (the biasing of the random events) occurs before the cause (the mental effort). It might be this element of noncausality that makes psychic phenomena so intuitively implausible and at odds with the known principles of physics. Another viewpoint (Schmidt, 1982) is based on the quantum theoretical notion that there is no if there is no observer. Thus, the decisions of the random generator might become reality only when the subject observes the outcome during the test session. The subject's effort would not have to act into the past because the decision on the outcome would not yet be made until the subject received feedback during the PK test session. In this case, a preobservation of the recorded events should inhibit the subject's success, because the preobservation would make the random decisions real so that the subject's subsequent mental effort would come too late. For this reason it seemed particularly interesting to conduct an experiment in which half of the prerecorded random events had been preinspected so that one could compare the possible PK effects on the preobserved and not-observed events. One previous study (Schmidt, 1985) has indicated an inhibition of the PK effect by preobservation. In view of the central role of the question, however, further studies of the preobservation effect seem most important. In this and the four previous studies, the question of highest priority was whether a PK effect could be demonstrated under tightly controlled conditions. Because preobservation might inhibit the PK effect, we decided in advance to base the possible evidence for the existence of PK only on the results from the not-preobserved events. Although the independent observer was somewhat skeptical about the existence of PK, he was very interested in a possible preobservation effect because of its possible implications for quantum theory. Our subject pool consisted primarily of martial arts students as a matter of practical convenience. This population was relatively easily accessible and one that the experimenter had not yet explored. No attempt was made, however, to compare martial arts training and skill with PK performance systematically. METHOD The study was structured into 20 units such that a unit could be considered as a mini-experiment. Each unit was subdivided into 100 blocks of binary data. The sequence of binary data in each block determined two partial results, an even result and an odd result, arising from the even- or odd-numbered bits in the sequence. The partial results were defined so that by inverting the bits in the sequence (interchanging 1s and 0s) the signs of the partial results were inverted. In following the procedure for each unit, the experimenter used a true random generator to record the random bit-sequences for the 100 blocks on floppy disk. …