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THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR PSYCHICAL RESEARCH, INC.
OFFICERS
DR. C. B. SCOTT JONES
President
First Vice-President
Second Vice-President
Treasurer
Secretary
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Dr. Irvin L. Child
Dr. Hoyt L. Edge
(April* 1992)
Dr. John A. Palmer
(April* 1991)
Eleanor Friede
(April* 1992)
Abram Samuels
(April* 1991)
(April* 1991)
Dr. Nancy Sondow
(April* 1991)
(April* 1991)
Ian Stevenson, M.D.
(April* 1991)
(April* 1990)
..
* The month may differ.
STAFF
Interim Executive Director, Howard Zimmerman
Director of Administration; Newsletter Editor, Donna L. McCormick
Director of Public Information & Education, Patrice Keane
Journal Editor, Rhea A. White
Statistical Editor, Dr. Jessica Utts
Emeritus Chester F. Carlson Research Fellow, Dr. Karlis Osis
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paranormal physical phenomena such as psychokinesis and poltergeists; the study of
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processes insofar as they may be related to paranormal processes; in short, all types
of phenomena called parapsychological or paranormal.
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The Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research (ISSN 0003-1070) is
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Copyright @ 1989 by the American Society for Psychical Research, Inc. Annual sub-
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THE JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN
SOCIETY FOR PSYCHICAL RESEARCH
VOLUME 83
OCTOBER ~ 1989
NUMBER 4
Possible Role of Intuitive Data Sorting in
Electrodermal Biological Psychokinesis (Bio-PK)
WILLIAM G. BRAUD AND MARILYN J. SCHLITZ1
ABSTRACT: Forty volunteers participated in a study designed to test a hypothesis derived
from an intuitive data sorting (IDS) interpretation of the biological psychokinesis (bio-PK)
effect. Each of 8 influencers attempted to exert a distant mental influence upon the physio-
logical activity of 4 subjects in a distant room, isolated from all conventional sensorimotor
communication. Each laboratory visit consisted of two 15-minute sessions, and each session
was divided into 12 influence epochs during which the subject's electrodermal activity
(EDA) was monitored and computer-scored. The influencer attempted to decrease the EDA
of the distant subject during six of the epochs and increase the EDA during the remaining six
epochs. One session was conducted under a new condition in which the influencer was
provided with multiple opportunities for intuitive data sorting. In the other session, the in-
fluencer had only a single opportunity for epoch-initiation and intuitive data sorting. An
"informational" (IDS) interpretation of the bio-PK effect would predict better psi scoring
under the multiple than under the single opportunity condition, whereas a "causal" (psycho-
kinetic) interpretation would predict equivalent scoring under the two conditions. The ob-
tained results (significant psi hitting in the single condition, nonsignificant scoring in the
multiple condition, and an almost significant scoring superiority of the single over the mul-
tiple condition) were more consistent with the causal (PK) than with the informational (IDS)
interpretation of the bio-PK effect. Possible artifacts were analyzed and discounted, and the
issue of multiple "levels" of IDS potential was treated.
For a number of years, researchers at the Mind Science Foundation
have been engaged in studies of the distant mental influence of biological
systems (i.e., "biological psychokinesis" or "bio-PK"). Although the
biological target systems for some of these studies have included the spa-
tial orientation of fish, the locomotor activity of small animals, and the
rate of hemolysis of human red blood cells, the system with which we
have worked most often has been the electrodermal activity of another
1 An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 30th annual convention of the
Parapsychological Association, August 5-8, 1987, at Edinburgh University, Edinburgh,
Scotland.
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Dr. Robert G. Jahn
Dr. C. B. Scott Jones
Dr. Stanley Krippner
(April* 1991)
Marilyn Male
(April* 1990)
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DR. HOYT L. EDGE
DR. STANLEY KRIPPNER
MARILYN MALE
ELEANOR FRIEDE

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Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research
person. The experimental protocol of a typical electrodermal bio-PK ex-
periment is as follows. The subject sits in a comfortable room watching a
random colored-lights display and listening to random tones through head-
phones while his or her electrodermal activity is monitored via palmar
electrodes. Concurrently, an "influencer" in another room (isolated from
all possible conventional sensorimotor interactions with the subject) at-
tempts to mentally influence the ongoing electrodermal activity of the
subject according to a predetermined schedule unknown to the subject.
The subject's spontaneous electrodermal activity (skin resistance re-
sponse) is objectively assessed during each of the ten 30-second influence
periods and each of ten 30-second noninfluence control periods by means
of an analog-to-digital converter interfaced with a microcomputer. By
chance, the average electrodermal activity during influence epochs should
equal that during control epochs. A statistically significant excess of elec-
trodermal activity in the prescribed direction (i.e., higher influence than
control scores under an "activate-aim" condition or lower influence than
control scores under a "calm-aim" condition) provides evidence for a psi
effect in the experiment.
The protocol just described has been used in a series of 11 electrodermal
bio-PK experiments in which a total of 174 subjects have participated. An
appropriate method for assessing the statistical significance of the entire
series is the z-score addition method described by Rosenthal (1978, 1979,
1984, p. 89). Here, one converts the studies' obtained p values into z
scores, sums these z scores, and divides by the square root of the number
E of studies being combined; the result is itself a z score that can be evalu-
: ated by means of an associated p value. This method, when applied to the
present data, yields an overall z = 3.98, which has an associated p =
.000034. Thus, the observed psi effect is a reliable and robust one.
We have been interpreting the obtained psi effect as a psychokinetic
(causal) influence of the subject's autonomic nervous system activity by
the distant, isolated influencer. An alternative possibility, however, is that
the effect may be contributed totally or partially by an "intuitive data
sorting" (IDS) process. The influencer or experimenter psychically, yet
unconsciously, scans the future electrodermal activity stream of the sub-
ject and begins an experimental session at a time that maximizes the de-
gree of fit between the ongoing electrodermal activity and the prescribed
schedule of influence and control epochs. Stated somewhat differently, the
experimenter might psychically and unconsciously sort the subject's elec-
trodermal data into two "bins" so that significantly more of the activity in
the prescribed direction falls in the influence bins than in the control bins
(see May, Radin, Hubbard, Humphrey, & Utts, 1985). According to this
"informational" model, psi functioning is still in evidence, but it is of an
informational rather than a causal (psychokinetic) sort.
The present study was designed to test a hypothesis suggested by the
IDS model. According to that hypothesis, the effectiveness of intuitive
data sorting is proportional to the number of opportunities provided for
291
Intuitive Data Sorting and Bio-PK
such sorting. It was hypothesized that a single opportunity to psychically
sort a future data stream may not be as effective as multiple opportunities
for such sorting. Thus, the scoring rate might be greater if the person who
initiates the sampling epochs in a bio-PK session is given the freedom to
initiate each epoch at whim (and have, for example, 20 opportunities for
intuitive data sorting) than it would be if the person were allowed only a
single data-sorting opportunity. On the other hand, according to a causal,
psychokinetic interpretation of the bio-PK effect, the scheduling of the
sampling epochs should not influence the results; that is, the PK effect
should be the same whether the influencer or experimenter has many or
few degrees of freedom in deciding when to initiate sampling epochs.
A pilot study was conducted to test the above hypothesis. Twenty-five
individuals participated in that study, with 5 serving as influencers an 20
serving as subjects. Each influencer worked with 4 subjects. Each visgto
the laboratory consisted of two bio-PK sessions in which the influetger
attempted to increase and to decrease the subjects' electrodermal actingy,
mentally and at a distance, according to a prespecified schedule. Forone
of these two sessions, the influencer was able to initiate all 20 elecso-
dermal activity sampling epochs by means of button presses, and thug he
or she had multiple opportunities for intuitive data sorting. For the Cher
session, only one opportunity for IDS was made available to the
in-
fluencer. In that pilot study, the scoring rate did not differ significantly-for
the two conditions, although performance was slightly better in the nail-
tiple opportunities condition.
· The absence of an overall psi effect in the pilot study may have been
due to negative psychological factors attributable to the extreme length of
the sessions (often approaching 21/2 hours for the entire two-session pro-
cedure). In an effort to counter this negative factor, a number of changes
were instituted in order to shorten the length of the sessions for this fogal
study. We originally had planned to have the best two influencers ofshe
pilot study serve as the influencers for the formal study, each working
with 16 subjects. We decided, instead, to ask 8 influencers to work w@ 4
subjects each. This greatly lessened the workload of the influencers.We
also drastically reduced the length of each session by (a) reducing@the
number of sampling epochs from 20 to 12, (b) eliminating the 5-mimite
adaptation period at the beginning of each session, (c) reducing the range
of the variable delay between button press and sampling epoch initiation
(see below) to 30-40 seconds, and (d) reducing the duration of the bisak
between the subject's two sessions to one minute. As a result of these
changes, the new session lengths for the formal trials were approximagely
15 minutes each, and the entire two-session procedure could be accgm-
plished in approximately 40 minutes, rather than the 21/2 hours requireg in
the pilot study. It was our hope that these new conditions would renderghe
sessions less trying and would produce more optimal moods in all experi-
mental participants.
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METHOD
293
Subjects
Forty individuals participated in this formal study. Eight persons served
as influencers and 32 persons served as subjects; each influencer worked
with 4 subjects. The first author served as experimenter for 16 sessions,
and the second author served as experimenter for the remaining 16 ses-
sions. One of the 8 influencers was the person who had had the highest
performance record in the pilot study; this was also the person who had
been least bothered by the lengths of the pilot sessions and who had been
most enthusiastic about participating in further experiments. The second
influencer had participated successfully in prior electrodermal bio-PK ex-
periments. The third influencer was a psi researcher who had a history of
successful psychokinesis performances in his own experiments. The
fourth and fifth influencers had participated successfully in several pre-
vious psi experiments at the Foundation. The sixth and seventh influencers
were very interested in psychic healing and had had ostensible psi healing
interactions in their everyday lives. The eighth influencer had participated
in previous psi experiments at the Foundation as a subject and as a student
experimenter and had expressed an interest in the bio-PK formal experi-
ment. Four influencers were male and 4 were female.
The 32 subjects were selected from a pool of persons expressing interest
in participating in bio-PK and other psi experiments. Some participants
had previously enrolled in workshops presented by the two authors. Others
were undergraduate students from a local college who participated as part
of a course requirement. Eight (one-fourth) of the subjects had participated
in prior psi experiments conducted at the Foundation; 24 (three-fourths) of
the subjects were first-time participants. Twenty-two of the subjects were
female and 10 were male.
Apparatus
Experimental apparatus consisted of silver/silver chloride palmar elec-
trodes, a skin-resistance amplifier, an analog-to-digital converter inter-
faced with a microcomputer, and audio equipment. This equipment was
identical to that described in previous reports (Braud & Schlitz, 1983;
Schlitz & Braud, 1985), with a single exception: A momentary contact
push button was added so that the influencer could initiate sampling
epochs.
Procedure
The procedure was similar to that described in Braud and Schlitz
(1983). The experimenter met with the influencer and the subject in a
Intuitive Data Sorting and Bio-PK
comfortable office, explained the purpose and procedure of the experi-
ment, and provided consent forms and general information questionnaires
for the influencer and subject to complete. The experimenter then escorted
the two participants to the influencer's room and showed the subject where
the influencer would be stationed during the experiment. The influencer
remained in one room while the experimenter escorted the subject to the
subject's room, which was located in an entirely different suite area across
an outside corridor and 20 meters away from the influencer's room. Con-
ventional sensorimotor communication between these two rooms was not
possible.
The subject was seated in a comfortable recliner chair (which remained
in an upright position throughout the experiment), and the experimenter
attached two silver/silver chloride electrodes (7 mm diameter) filledwith
partially conductive electrode gel to the subject's right palm by megis of
adhesive electrode collars. The subject was told that he or she should
make no deliberate effort to relax or to be especially active, but should try
to maintain a moderate level of autonomic activation throughout toe ex-
periment. This was to be accomplished by watching randomly chaging
patterns of colored squares of light on a 12-inch display screen 2 Reters
away and by listening to prerecorded computer-generated randomoiones
through headphones. The subject was asked to allow his or her mind to be
as "random" as possible-observing thoughts, images, and feelings as
they spontaneously arose, without clinging to any of them. Theyowere
asked to make themselves open to and accepting of a distant mentabinflu-
.
ence by the influencer, but not to try to consciously guess when inf@ence
attempts might be made. The subject was, of course, unaware of the
number, timing, or scheduling of the various influence attempts.
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The experimenter returned to the influencer's room and consulted a
sealed envelope to learn the influence epoch sequence for the session. A
set of these sequence envelopes had been prepared beforehand byan as-
sistant who was not otherwise involved in the experiment. The envelopes
had been prepared using a table of random numbers with a methe that
minimized the preparer's degree of freedom in making arbitrary de@sions
about where to enter the table and how to assign conditions to the random
numbers (see Stanford, 1981, for the rationale underlying this method).
The envelope indicated whether the influence epoch sequence wasto be
calm-activate-activate-calm (CAAC) or its opposite (ACCA). Thiscoun-
terbalanced sequence was used for the 12 sampling epochs of a session.
The experimenter entered the proper sequence into the computer, recorded
the subject's initial basal skin resistance, started the computer program
that controlled the experiment, and then started playing the audiocassette
that presented the subject's random tones.
The new element that had been added to this experiment to test the IDS
hypothesis was described to the influencer by the experimenter. The in-
fluencer was to press a button at what he or she intuitively felt to be the
optimal time for beginning the next sampling epoch. The influencer was
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Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research
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told that it might be possible to psychically, yet unconsciously, scan the
future autonomic activity data stream of the subject and press the button
so as to optimally sort the subject's activity into the appropriate sampling
epochs-thereby increasing the scoring rate. The addition of this IDS op-
tion is, of course, accompanied by psychological factors such as beliefs
and expectations that might obscure its true effectiveness. Therefore, a
procedure was designed that would allow us to control for such psycholog-
ical factors. This procedure required a contrast condition in which the
influencer appeared to be initiating sampling epochs by means of his or
her button pressing, but in reality was not. This was accomplished in the
following manner. In the condition that we expected would optimize IDS,
the influencer's button presses initiated sampling epochs after randomly
@termined variable delays. In this condition (the MULTIPLE SEEDS
condition), the precise times of occurrence of the button presses were cru-
Gal in determining the delay periods, because the button presses selected
Be clock values that served as the different seeds for the pseudorandom
algorithm that generated the values of the delays. Thus, button presses
Stually could be efficacious in determining sampling scheduling. In the
Contrast condition (the SINGLE SEED condition), all random delay pe-
gods were determined by the first of the influencer's 12 button presses.
The computer's clock value at the time of this first button press seeded the
Beudorandom algorithm once and only once, and all other button presses
fetched" their random delays from the already determined outcome of
fat first seeding.
da se 2000/08/98-2 GIA-RD
The use of randomly varying delays between button presses and sam-
ting epoch initiations accomplished two things: (a) They allowed the in-
tuencer and the experimenter to remain blind as to whether a SINGLE
SEED or MULTIPLE SEEDS condition was in effect for a given session
che., whether the last 11 button presses were really influencing sampling
@och scheduling or not), and (b) their unpredictable nature prevented the
Efluencer from simply observing the subject's electrodermal chart tracing
&d making sensorially and logically informed guesses about the optimal
ENnes to press the button and initiate sampling (i.e., to initiate sampling on
the basis of knowledge of the likely time course of the subject's autonomic
¿tivity, based upon observation of the chart tracing). The delays between
bitton press and sampling epoch initiation varied within a 30- to 40-
Second range.
5 Each of the 12 30-second sampling epochs was signaled by a contin-
tous, low-frequency tone that was audible only to the experimenter and
the influencer. During the six calm-aim (C) epochs, the influencer at-
tompted to psychically decrease the distant subject's sympathetic nervous
søstem activity. Three types of strategies were used to accomplish this
gpal: (a) calming and relaxing oneself and intending for the subject to
respond similarly, (b) visualizing the subject in tranquil and relaxing situa-
tions and settings, and (c) attending to the polygraph feedback and visual-
izing and intending for a flat tracing. During the six activate-aim (A)
Intuitive Data Sorting and Bio-PK
295
epochs, the influencer attempted to increase the distant subject's sympa-
thetic nervous system activity. Three types of strategies were used to ac-
complish this goal: (a) activating oneself and intending for the subject to
respond similarly, (b) visualizing the subject in exciting, active situations
and settings, and (c) attending to the polygraph feedback and visualizing
and intending for a tracing filled with frequent and large pen deflections.
The influencer was given the option of whether or not to view the chart
tracings. Some influencers found this real-time feedback helpful, whereas
others found it distracting and preferred to simply close their eyes and
visualize the subject responding appropriately.
In order to minimize participant-scheduling difficulties and to minimize
variability, a within-subject design was used in which each subject's Visit
to the lab involved two sessions, one under the SINGLE SEED condigon
and one under the MULTIPLE SEEDS condition. The influencer andghe
experimenter (and, of course, the subject) remained unaware of which
conditions were in effect in the two respective sessions until the end ofghe
second session, at which time a computer printout revealed the condicion
sequence. The order of the two conditions was determined randomly by a
computer algorithm that was seeded before the first session-based upon
the timing of a carriage return that occurred while the experimenter @as
entering keyboard information about the subject's name, the date and time
of the session, etc. Each of the two sessions required approximately 15
minutes for completion. The two sessions were separated by a brief bogak
of approximately one-minute duration.
At the conclusion of the second session, the computer generated
a
printout of the subject's average electrodermal activity during each of The
12 sampling epochs of each of the two sessions, along with an indication
of the order of the two (SINGLE or MULTIPLE SEEDS) conditions. The
experimenter returned to the subject's room, removed the headphones nd
palmar electrodes, then returned with the subject to the experimentar's
office where the influencer was now waiting. The influencer and the Sub-
ject discussed their experiences during the sessions while the experimenter
calculated the experimental results, based upon the printout. The three
participants discussed the outcome of the experiment and then concluded
their visit.
All procedural details that have not been mentioned explicitly may be
found in Braud and Schlitz (1983). That paper provides information about
specific equipment, electrodermal sampling, etc.
Three a priori statistical analyses were planned:
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1. A comparison of the psi scores (calm-aim percentage scores; @see
below) for the two SEEDS conditions. This analysis would involg a
matched (dependent) t test performed on the 32 pairs of scores. Because
no directional prediction was made in this case, a two-tailed test @vas
planned, with alpha set at .05.
2. A determination of whether a psi effect occurred in the SINGLE
SEED condition. For this analysis, a single-mean t test would be used to
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Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research
297
compare the 32 psi scores with a mean chance expectation (MCE) of 50%.
Because a directional (i.e., psi hitting) prediction was made in this case, a
one-tailed test was planned, with alpha set at .05.
3. A determination of whether a psi effect occurred in the MULTIPLE
SEEDS condition. For this analysis, a single-mean t test would be used to
compare the 32 psi scores with an MCE of 50%. Because a directional
(i.e., psi hitting) prediction was made in this case, a one-tailed test was
planned, with alpha set at .05.
RESULTS
For each session, a total score was calculated for all 12 recording
epochs (6 calm-aim and 6 activate-aim). This total score was divided into
the sum of the mean electrodermal activity scores for the 6 calm-aim
epochs; the process was repeated for the activate-aim epochs. In the ab-
sence of a psi effect, these two ratios [C/(A + C), A/(A + C)] should
approximate 50%. A psi effect would be evidenced by a set of calm-aim
percentage scores that were significantly lower than 50%.
An analysis (independent samples t test) was performed to determine
whether there was a scoring difference in the runs conducted by the two
different experimenters. The scores were found not to differ significantly
for the two experimenters. Therefore, scores were pooled across experi-
menters for the following analyses.
Our first analysis was a determination of whether the 32 subjects'
SINGLE-SEED calm-aim percentage scores differed significantly from
their MULTIPLE-SEEDS calm-aim percentage scores. Because our prior
research has indicated that the percentage scores in these bio-PK experi-
ments do not depart significantly from a normal distribution, we tested the
SINGLE SEED versus MULTIPLE SEEDS within-subjects contrast by
means of a matched t test. The mean calm-aim percentage score was lower
(i.e., more in the direction of psi hitting) in the SINGLE SEED (X =
42.62%, SD = 19.20) than in the MULTIPLE SEEDS (X = 52.06%, SD
= 21.59) condition. This difference very closely approached statistical
significance (t[31] = 1.75, p = . 08, two-tailed).
Our second analysis tested for the presence of a psi effect in the
SINGLE SEED condition. This effect was assessed by means of a single-
mean t test in which the 32 calm-aim percentage scores were compared
with a mean chance expectation of 50%. The mean calm-aim percentage
score was significantly below chance (i.e., in the expected psi hitting
direction), yielding the following summary statistics: X = 42.62%, SD =
19.20, [[31] = 2.14, p = . 019, one-tailed.
Our third analysis tested for evidence of a psi effect in the MULTIPLE
SEEDS condition. This effect was assessed by means of a single-mean t
test in which the 32 calm-aim percentage scores were compared with MCE
= 50%. The mean calm-aim percentage score was slightly and nonsigni-
Intuitive Data Sorting and Bio-PK
ficantly above chance (i.e., in the unexpected missing direction), yielding
the following summary statistics: X = 52.06%, SD = 21.59, {[31] =
-0.53, p = . 70, one-tailed.
In summary, the above three formal, a priori analyses provided strong
evidence for a psi effect in the SINGLE SEED condition (p = . 019), no
evidence for a psi effect in the MULTIPLE SEEDS condition (p = . 70),
and a psi score superiority of the SINGLE SEED over the MULTIPLE
SEEDS condition that very closely approached significance (p = . 08,
two-tailed).
DISCUSSION
In the pilot study that preceded this experiment, no evidence of
psi
effect was found in the data. We hypothesized that the absence of psinay
have been contributed by negative moods in all participants (subject
in-
fluencers, and experimenters) due to the extreme length of the experi-
mental sessions (often 21/2 hours long). Therefore, we drastically Cort-
ened the session lengths, hoping to eliminate this negative factor Our
modifications (described earlier) appear to have been successful begause
evidence for psi did emerge in the present experiment.
The major hypothesis that was being tested in this study, derivedBrom
an IDS conceptualization of the bio-PK effect, was that greater psi scoring
would occur in the condition in which there were multiple opportunities
for intuitive data sorting (i.e., the MULTIPLE SEEDS condition) than in
the condition in which there was only one such opportunity (i.e. the
SINGLE SEED condition). The outcome of this experiment was not con-
sistent with this informational interpretation of the bio-PK effect. Signifi-
cant psi scoring occurred in the "older" condition that had been in @effect
in all of our prior bio-PK research-namely, a SINGLE SEED condition.
Significant psi scoring failed to emerge in the new condition that w@ hy-
pothesized to favor enhanced intuitive data sorting (i.e., the MUL SPLE
SEEDS condition). In fact, the superiority of the SINGLE SEED Andi-
tion over the MULTIPLE SEEDS condition closely approached statistical
significance. Had the conditions comparison actually reached signifi-
cance, that finding of superior SINGLE SEED condition performance
would have been quite difficult to explain in IDS terms. As it iz, the
absence of MULTIPLE SEEDS condition superiority is not consistent
with an informational interpretation, but is more congruent with a lcausal
or psychokinetic interpretation of the bio-PK effect.
The reason for the absence of a significant bio-PK effect in the MUL-
TIPLE SEEDS condition is not clear. One might speculate that the grovi-
sion of a second, potentially effective, psychic task in that condition may
have resulted in a form of "distraction" that could have disrupted the
influencer's PK performance, mediated perhaps by an increased diffusion
or "spreading thin" of the influencer's attention (see Braud, 1978, for an
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elaboration of this "spreading-thin possibility"). If this were indeed the
case, it would constitute a remarkable finding, because the potential effec-
tiveness of the multiple button presses in the MULTIPLE SEEDS but not
in the SINGLE SEED condition is not discernible at a conventional senso-
rimotor level (due to the double-blind stratagem by which the effective-
ness of button presses was disguised for both influencer and experi-
menter). The potential efficacy of button presses in the MULTIPLE
SEEDS but not in the SINGLE SEED condition would have to be dis-
cerned at another level, viz., via psi functioning. This issue certainly war-
rants additional investigation.
Artifact Analyses
In all of our previous bio-PK experiments that did not involve an ex-
plicit IDS element, the scheduling of the sampling epochs was completely
predetermined and entirely beyond the normal sensorimotor control of the
influencer. In the IDS bio-PK experiment reported here (as well as in its
pilot study), however, the initiation of sampling epochs came under the
control of the influencer. It is important, therefore, to rule out the possi-
bility that the influencer could have initiated sampling epochs on the basis
of knowledge of the time course of the subject's electrodermal activity,
derived through observation of the polygraph tracing.
Two possibilities of artifactual inflation of scoring rate must be ruled
out. The first possibility to be considered is whether the influencer might
have observed the chart tracing, waited until an electrodermal response
burst was beginning to occur, then quickly pressed the button in order to
capture that burst within the next sampling epoch. The possibility of this
particular artifact may be ruled out completely because of the relative du-
rations of electrodermal response bursts and the button press sampling
epoch interval. Response bursts were typically a few seconds in duration
and rarely, if ever, as long as 10 seconds. The button press sampling
epoch interval, on the other hand, was 30 to 40 seconds in duration. Thus,
even if the influencer could have noted the onset of a lengthy response
burst and pressed the button immediately, the burst would have been over
long before the sampling epoch began. In fact, this was the rationale for
selecting the particular button press sampling epoch interval used in this
study.
The second artifact possibility to be considered is whether the influencer
may have taken advantage of feedback-discerned trends in electrodermal
activity in order to initiate sampling at optimal times. This would require a
consistent relationship between electrodermal activity at time t and elec-
trodermal activity occurring more than 30 to 40 seconds later. The pres-
ence or absence of such a relationship could be determined by means of
299
Intuitive Data Sorting and Bio-PK
autocorrelation procedures carried out at increasing lag lengths. Ideally,
continuous records would be available that could be divided into a large
number of adjacent sampling intervals of short duration. The records could
be examined by autocorrelation techniques for lags corresponding to frac-
tions of a second to several seconds or minutes, in order to determine the
presence and temporal characteristics of possible trends. Such fine-
grained, continuous records were not available in these studies. However,
electrodermal activity had been sampled, averaged, and printed for the
30-second intertrial or rest periods immediately preceding each of the 12
sampling epochs. The influencer typically pressed the button almost im-
mediately after one sampling epoch in order to begin the next interval as
quickly as possible; the latter interval consisted of the 0- to 10 second
random delay yielded by the seeded algorithm, a 30-second interbial or
rest period, and the 30-second sampling epoch itself. Thus, in the gesent
experiment, mean electrodermal activity data were available fog what
closely approximated 24 successive 30-second periods. An autocor@lation
coefficient calculated for Lag 2 would provide a good estimate ofa pos-
sible trend for electrodermal activity at time t to be related to @tivity
shortly after 30 to 40 seconds had elapsed. Such Lag 2 autocorrelation
coefficients were calculated for each of the 32 sessions of the SEIGLE
SEED condition and for each of the 32 sessions of the MULTIPLE
SEEDS condition. The autocorrelations were found to be quitesmall
and were not significantly different from zero for either the SEIGLE
SEED condition (X = 0.059, [[3]] = 1.51, p = . 14, two-tailed@or the
MULTIPLE SEEDS condition (X = 0.027, [[31] = 0.78, p
.44,
two-tailed).2
As an additional check of the trend artifact possibility, we calculared the
overall correlation between the 64 Lag 2 autocorrelation coefficients and
the 64 bio-PK scores (i.e., the calm-aim percentage scores) of the @resent
experiment. The correlation was nonsignificant and was extremely close
to zero (r = -. 00278); it indicated no relationship between psi;
Scoring
and electrodermal temporal trend at the appropriate time interva
Thus,
both artifact possibilities may be effectively ruled out for this experiment.
2 Autocorrelation coefficients (rx) were calculated according to the formula:
n-k
>(z, - Z) (z(+) - Z)
=
E(2, - 2)2
Where k = the lag number
n = total number of values being correlated
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z, = raw score at time
z · = mean score
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.
300
Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research
A Final Issue
Finally, it could be argued that the SINGLE SEED condition itself may
have provided sufficient opportunity for effective intuitive data sorting to
occur, particularly if one ascribes a "goal-oriented" (see Schmidt, 1974,
pp. 190-191) or "diametric" (see Foster, 1940; Nash, 1986, pp.
202-203) property to the psi process. There is a danger, however, in
positing increasingly higher levels at which intuitive data sorting and
goal-directedness may operate, and that danger is that both of those no-
tions ultimately become untestable. Testability of the intuitive data sorting
and goal-orientation concepts requires an operational specification of de-
grees of those possibilities; otherwise, the concepts become empirically
intractable. The present study, in fact, represented an initial attempt to
operationalize and test those concepts.
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It might be argued that the provision to our influencers in both SEED
conditions of freedom to initiate sampling events by button presses may
have effectively washed out the difference in IDS potential between the
two conditions and rendered them, from an IDS perspective, indistin-
guishable. To such a criticism, we respond that (a) despite this freedom
factor that is common to both conditions, the two conditions continued to
differ in quantity or degree of freedom and, hence, intuitive data sorting
possibility, and (b) had such freedom not been provided, a serious psycho-
logical difference between the two SEED conditions would have been es-
tablished that would have rendered any experimental outcome uninterpret-
able. In our tests of the IDS model, we wished the experimenters, the
influencers, and the subjects to be unaware of how much control the in-
fluencers could exert over the sorting process. Thus it was important to
create in the influencers (and experimenter) the illusion of control. This
required the use of events that the influencers could initiate by button
presses. Influencers pressed a button to initiate events in both the SINGLE
SEED and MULTIPLE SEED conditions. If this had not been done, and if
events had started automatically for the influencers in the "less-opportu-
nity-to-data-sort" condition, the influencers would have known that they
had less control of events in that condition, and this would have intro-
duced a major psychological confounding factor into the experiment. In
the experiment as actually conducted, the influencers felt they had equiva-
lent control over events in the two conditions, and the psychological con-
found was eliminated. This, of course, added an extra element of data
sorting for the influencers throughout the study. However, we were still
able to provide different degrees of data-sorting opportunity to the in-
fluencers in the various conditions, and we assumed that such degrees
should correlate with psi scoring if IDS played a major role in our bio-PK
effect. Several levels of IDS were possible for the influencers and experi-
menters throughout the experiment, but the influencers had one extra level
of IDS potential in the MULTIPLE SEEDS condition, and this extra level
did not appear to help scoring. We can think of no alternative method of
301
Intuitive Data Sorting and Bio-PK
testing the IDS notion in this manner that would solve this particular
problem without violating the necessary blind condition for the influencers
and experimenters.
A related issue involves our use of a computer keypress to seed a pseu-
dorandom algorithm to determine the order of the two SEEDS conditions
for an experimental session. Could such a maneuver have provided the
experimenter with an important additional opportunity for intuitive data
sorting? In response to a possible criticism along these lines, we argue that
no alternative was possible. Any choice of order for the two conditions
would have been susceptible to IDS, regardless of how or when it was
done. In the present experiment, it was necessary for everyone to be blind
with respect to the order of conditions. Therefore, it was necessary that the
order assignment be done by computer, in an unpredictable manner @This
necessitated a randomizing method of the type employed.
The possible role of intuitive data sorting in biological psychok Resis
and in other manifestations of psi clearly deserves further study. Al@na-
tive strategies for testing the IDS model are already being explored & the
Mind Science Foundation, and we hope to develop still other meth@s in
the future.
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BRAUD W. [G.], & SCHLITZ, M. (1983). Psychokinetic influence on'elec-
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FOSTER, A. A. (1940). Is ESP diametric? Journal of Parapsycholog
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Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research
SCHMIDT, H. (1974). Psychokinesis. In E. D. Mitchell et al. (J. White,
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Mind Science Foundation
8301 Broadway, Suite 100
San Antonio, Texas 78209
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Age and Stimulus in Past Life Memory Cases: A
Study of Published Cases
JAMES G. MATLOCK1
ABSTRACT: Ninety-five published past life memory cases in which the previous person was
identified were analyzed for the relationship between the subject's age at the time of first
speaking of the previous life and the presence of a stimulus to the memories on that occasion.
These factors also were analyzed in subseries of 30 Indian and 65 non-Indian cases, and the
results of the analyses were compared. The proportion of stimulated to unstimulated cases
was found to vary significantly between younger and older age groups in the main series (p
= . 00005), the Indian subseries (p = . 0014), and the non-Indian subseries (p = . 0079),
using chi-square tests. In a two-factor ANOVA with age as the dependent variable, the main
effect of type of case (stimulated vs. unstimulated) was significant (p = . 0006), Et the
interaction between type of case and culture (Indian vs. non-Indian) was not significant.
Research on reincarnation during the almost 30 years since Iar Ste-
venson (1960a, 1960b) published his seminal paper, "The Evidence for
Survival from Claimed Memories of Former Incarnations," inthis
Journal, has been mainly proof-oriented: that is, it has been largely@con-
cerned with the investigation of past life memory cases and with the estab-
lishment of reincarnation as the best available interpretation of then?
Analyses of process-related variables have been reported from tige to
time (e.g., see Stevenson, 1970), but process-oriented studies have Begun
to appear only recently. Chadha and Stevenson (1988) identified twarcor-
relates of violent death in past life memory cases, and I (Matlock, 1988a,
1988b) have related the age of the subject at the time of first speaking of
the previous life to the strength of the claimed memories.
That the subject's age may play a crucial role in past life memory ases
is suggested by the sharp contrast between the reports of adults andochil-
dren. Children's cases may include not only numerous verifiable state-
ments, but also recognitions of persons associated with the previo@ life
and behavioral and even physical correspondences between the subject
and the previous person (Stevenson, 1987).
Children often begin to speak about previous lives spontaneously,
without apparent stimulus,2 and continue to do so for several years tofore
" I would like to thank the several persons-too many to mention by name-who gave
advice and assistance on this paper in the various stages of its development.
2 In their phenomenology, past life memories seem to resemble what psychologigs call
"involuntary" autobiographical memories (see Neisser, 1982; Rubin, 1986). Involantary
memories need not be entirely spontaneous, but may be stimulated by a variety of environ-
mental cues, often quite subtle ones (Salaman, 1970). Examples of stimuli (cues) to post life
memories are given below.
The Journal of the American Society for
Psychical Research Vol. 83, October 1989
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