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.
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.
The thesis explores whether mind can interact directly with matter, i.e., with a physical system, without the use of any known physical interaction. The concept, called psychokinesis, is yet an unexplained phenomenon. The study of paranormal manifestations has been arduous due to the difficulty in replicating its findings. To address the problem Walter von Lucadou developed a method called Correlation Matrix Method (CMM) that endeavours to explain i t. CMM is supported by the Model of Pragmatic Information (MPI) and Generalised Quantum Theory. These theories based on principles from quantum physics were translated by analogy into a general quantum theory to be applied to the field of psychology. Links established between physics, psychology and parapsychology are then explored in the thesis. The CMM method consists of correlating psychological behaviours produced by participants with the behaviour of a random number generator, to investigate whether participants can mentally influence the random number generator. Previous experiments conducted by von Lucadou and Walach showed significant results. This thesis replicate s the former experiments in five studies to test the reliability of CMM. The first two studies were exact replications of the original studies by Lucadou and Walach. The s ame random number generator (RNG), software program and protocol were used in the replications. Study 3, whether the number of participants was relevant against the number of sessions produced. In study 4 and 5 a new type of RNG, was introduced to compare with the performance of the original RNG. A new method for control and for data analysis were introduced and compared with the orig inal.
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.
We report a theory-relevant post hoc analysis of 2 Dutch retro-priming experiments that were part of a large replication project of the retro-priming experiment by Bem and colleagues. This replication project sought to investigate the role of the experimenter in psi studies. The results of the retro-priming experiments performed by student research groups at the University of Amsterdam (N=61) and of the University Groningen (N=222) however did not replicate Bem’s earlier findings of an anomalous interference of a future stimulus on response times. We report the results of these two studies here, but the over-all results will be reported elsewhere. Both Dutch studies used the exact same software as Bem and colleagues. However, both studies used different questionnaires. The questionnaires asked for information that in previous research had been associated with success in psi tasks and could help us to deal with individual differences but, above all, could be used as selection criteria for participants in future studies. In the Amsterdam study, there were 14 questions, while in the Groningen there were 55. A correlation analysis revealed several significant correlations between the psi-effect in the Bem task and questionnaire items. In this paper we focus on the post-hoc research question: Is this global composition of the correlation matrix anomalous, as suggested by Generalized Quantum Theory? Rather than using the subjective number of ‘significant’ correlations as a dependent variable, we introduced 2 objective measures directly representing the correlation values in the cells to characterize the ‘Connectivity’ in the matrix. Our analysis revealed ‘Connectivity’ to be marginally significant larger (p<0.075) in Groningen and significantly larger in the Amsterdam study (p<0.025). These results are discussed in the framework of the ‘Consciousness Induced Restoration of Time-symmetry’ (CIRTS) and ‘Generalized Quantum Theory’ (GQT) that predict that as soon as there are reasons to expect replicability (or control) the extra chance psi scores will disappear or reverse. The conclusion is that these results can be seen as support, though statistically not strong, for the GQT.
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.
A vivid discussion revolves around the role of the human mind in the quantum measurement process. While some authors argue that conscious observation is a necessary element to achieve the transition from quantum to classical states during measurement (Wigner, 1963), some go even further and propose a more active influence of the human mind on the probabilities of quantum measurement outcomes (e.g. Atmanspacher, Römer, & Walach, 2002; Penrose & Hameroff, 2011). This proposition was tested in micro-psychokinesis (micro-Pk) research were intentional observer effects on quantum random number generators (RNGs) were investigated. In the studies presented here we extended this line of research and tested the impact unconscious goals on micro-Pk. Our focus was cigarette addiction as an unconscious drive and hypothesized that regular cigarette smokers would influence the outcome of a quantum RNG that determined whether the participant was going to see a smoking-related or a neutral picture. Study 1 revealed strong evidence for micro-Pk (BF = 66.06) supporting the H1. As expected, no deviation from chance was found with non-smokers. In Study 2, a pre-registered highly powered replication attempt, failed to reproduce this result and showed strong evidence for H0 (BF = 11.07). When the data from both studies are combined a remarkable change in effect across time (resembling a combination of appearance followed by decline) can be seen only in the smoker’s subsample. Appearance-and-decline effects were absent in the non-smokers sample and in a simulation. Based on von Lucadou’s Model of Pragmatic Information we suggest that (micro-)Pk effects follow a systematic pattern comparable to a dampened harmonic oscillation. This concept may shed new light on past and future Pk research.
Abstract (English) Generalized Quantum Theory (GQT) and the Model of Pragmatic Information (MPI) seek to account for non-local correlations in macroscopic systems by positing formal isomorphisms with quantum-mechanical structures. Drawing on a narrative literature review (72 cited sources selected from more than 90 screened), this article evaluates the isomorphism approach in relation to quantum cognition, Contextuality-by-Default, and random matrix theory. The Correlation Matrix Method (CMM) is re-evaluated in light of Grote's critique, the non-significant replications in Nailing Jelly, and newer positive but methodologically mixed CMM findings, and candidate dependence-aware multiplicity procedures whose applicability remains to be checked. Two burden-of-proof criteria are formulated, but not executed on the target datasets in this paper; they specify analyses that any GQT-favourable reading must clear beforehand: a classical instrument baseline, following Tull & Ozawa's result that fixed-length sequential decision data satisfying no-signalling from the future admit a simple classical Markov instrument model, so that order, context, and measurement-disturbance effects carry no evidential weight of their own; and a schematic partition-logic ledger, following Svozil, which asks whether incompatible modes of inquiry over a value-definite latent state space can explain complementarity without genuine contextuality. In philosophy-of-science terms, GQT is provisionally positioned as a degenerating research programme in Lakatos's sense: the Non-Transmission Axiom generates a falsification gap that neither proponents nor critics have yet closed. One testable hypothesis proposed here is that the decline effect may reflect a statistical artifact that can be checked by re-analyzing existing CMM data with appropriately specified multiplicity methods. A productive future direction lies in convergence with quantum cognition and in falsifiable tests of macroscopic complementarity. Zusammenfassung (Deutsch) Die Generalisierte Quantentheorie (GQT) und das Modell der Pragmatischen Information (MPI) zielen darauf ab, nicht-lokale Korrelationen in makroskopischen Systemen durch formale Isomorphie mit quantenmechanischen Strukturen zu erklären. Auf Grundlage eines narrativen Literaturüberblicks (72 zitierte Quellen aus über 90 gesichteten Quellen) bewertet dieser Beitrag den Isomorphie-Ansatz unter Integration der Quantenkognition (Quantum Cognition), Contextuality-by-Default und Random-Matrix-Theorie neu. Die Korrelationsmatrix-Methode (CMM) wird im Licht der Grote-Kritik, der nicht signifikanten Replikationen in Nailing Jelly sowie neuer positiver, aber methodisch gemischter CMM-Befunde und möglicher abhängigkeitsbewusster Mehrfachtestverfahren mit noch zu prüfender Anwendbarkeit neu bewertet. Es werden zwei Beweislast-Kriterien formuliert, aber in diesem Beitrag nicht an den Zieldatensätzen ausgeführt; sie benennen Analysen, die jede GQT-freundliche Lesart zuvor passieren muss: eine klassische Instrument-Baseline nach dem Ergebnis von Tull & Ozawa, wonach sequentielle Entscheidungsdaten fester Länge mit No-Signalling aus der Zukunft ein einfaches klassisches Markov-Instrumentmodell zulassen, sodass Reihenfolge-, Kontext- und Messstörungseffekte für sich genommen keine Beweiskraft besitzen; sowie ein schematisches Partition-Logik-Ledger nach Svozil, das prüft, ob inkompatible Erhebungsmodi über einem wertdefiniten latenten Zustandsraum Komplementarität ohne echte Kontextualität erklären können. Die GQT wird wissenschaftsphilosophisch vorläufig als degenerierendes Forschungsprogramm im Lakatos'schen Sinne eingeordnet: Das Non-Transmission-Axiom erzeugt eine Falsifikationslücke, die weder Befürworter noch Kritiker bislang schließen konnten. Als zentrale testbare Hypothese wird formuliert, dass der Decline-Effekt ein statistisches Artefakt darstellen könnte, das durch Reanalyse mit passend festgelegten Mehrfachtestverfahren überprüfbar ist. Die produktivste Zukunftsperspektive liegt in der Konvergenz mit der Quantenkognition und falsifizierbaren Tests makroskopischer Komplementarität. Current scope and improvements The paper specifies a classical-instrument baseline and partition-logic ledger; neither has been executed on the target data. The fixed-length no-signalling theorem is stated with prefix-marginal equality. Restricted model comparisons and parallel Bell evidence have separate inferential roles. The proposed interferometer uses a positive-semidefinite Gram statistic with a matched finite-sample null; an asymptotic Marchenko–Pastur bulk edge alone is not a significance threshold. The CMM record retains positive but method-dependent findings. Dependence-aware multiplicity methods are candidates for future reanalysis, subject to their assumptions and error targets. Limits: This is a narrative methods review and prospective test design. It does not establish generalized entanglement, an NT-Axiom mechanism, or empirical validity of the proposed interferometer.