Abstract: Subjects were asked to carry out a clairvoyance task as a study of the effect of belief and its modulation on psi performance. The task was to guess hidden symbols on Zener cards. Subjects stated whether they believed in the existence of psi, after which the belief was either supported or contradicted by written and verbal arguments. After this, the subjects carried out the clairvoyance task. A total of 12 subjects were each asked to guess the content of 100 hidden Zener cards. The p-value for believers given pro-psi arguments was .028(two-tailed), which is substantially different (p=.039) and better than the values for the nonbelievers who were given anti-psi arguments. This supports the concept that successful psi performance results from beliefs in psi and not the reverse.

-Dagnall,Neil (2007). Paranormal belief and reasoning. Personality and Individual Differences, 43(6),1406-1415.

Abstract: This paper examined whether belief in the paranormal is linked to a general weakness in probabilistic reasoning, or whether belief in the paranormal is directly linked to the perception of randomness (misrepresentation of chance). Previous research investigating probabilistic reasoning errors and belief in the paranormal has assessed errors only on a limited number of types of probabilistic reasoning problem. This study used a range of probabilistic reasoning tasks (perception of randomness, use of base rate information, the conjunction fallacy, and the derivation of expected value). Participants were given the four types of probabilistic reasoning problem and were asked to complete the paranormal belief scale (PBS) (Tobacyk, 1988 and Tobacyk and Milford, 1983). The results indicate that only perception of randomness predicted paranormal belief. In addition to this median splits revealed that high and low believers in the paranormal differed only on the ability to correctly answer perception of randomness problems. These results suggest that paranormal belief is not associated with a general weakness in probabilistic reasoning but arises from a specific deficit associated with perception of randomness (misrepresentation of chance).

-Simmonds-Moore, C. and Holt, N.J.( 2007). Trait, state and psi: a comparison of psi performance between clusters of scorers on schizotypy in a ganzfeld and waking control condition, Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, 71.4,197-217.

Abstract:This study compared psi performance in the ganzfeld and a methodologically matched waking ESP condition. It also explored the ideas that (a) individual differences exist in the baseline waking state of consciousness, and (b) there may be individual differences in the state of consciousness for optimal psi performance. In this investigation, it was expected that there would be an interaction between personality trait (schizotypy), state of consciousness (manipulated by experimental condition) and psi performance. The direction of the interaction was not predicted. Twenty-six pairs of participants took part in this investigation. Each pair completed both experimental conditions in a counter-balanced order. All receivers completed the four subscales of the O-LIFE (measuring the schizotypy construct) and a scale measuring temporal lobe lability (Persinger & Makarec, 1987). A sum of ranks analysis failed to find a significant psi effect for either the ganzfeld (z = 0.35, p = 0.72, two-tailed) or waking control condition (z = 0.70, p = 0.48, two tailed). These reflect effect sizes of r = 0.07 annd r = 0.14, respectively. These did not differ significantly between the two conditions. No significant correlations were demonstrated between scores on personality scales and psi performance, in either condition. None of the correlations between personality and psi performance differed significantly from one another beteween the two experimental conditions. A cluster analysis of scoring on the personality scales and comparison of psi-scoring between groups indicated a possible but non-significant interaction pattern reflecting marginally better psi performance among negative schizotypes in the gazfeld compared with the waking state and marginally better psi performance among positive and low scoring schizotypes in the waking state. Although it is acknowledged that these patterns may reflect random noise, the discussion includes the suggestion that future studies should be undertaken to address whether these effect sizes might be replicated. If so, participants could be preselected according to cluster group membership for personality scoring.

- Rogers, P., Davis, T. and Fisk, J, (2009).Paranormal Belief and Susceptibility to the Conjunction Fallacy, Applied Cognitive Psychology, 23: 524–542.

Numerous studies have shown paranormal believers misperceive randomness and are poor at judging probability. Despite the obvious relevance to many types of alleged paranormal phenomena, no one has examined whether believers are more susceptible to the ‘conjunction fallacy’; that is to misperceiving co-occurring (conjunct) events as being more likely than singular (constituent) events alone. The present study examines believer vs. non-believer differences in conjunction errors for both paranormal and non-paranormal events presented as either a probability or a frequency estimation task. As expected, believers made more conjunction errors than non-believers. This was true for both event types, with both groups making fewer errors for paranormal than for non-paranormal events.
Surprisingly, the response format (probability vs. frequency) had little impact. Results are discussed in relation to paranormal believers’ susceptibility to the conjunction fallacy and more generally, to their propensity for probabilistic reasoning biases.

CAPITOLO 5

Percezione extrasensoriale in stato di coscienza ordinario:

-Sheldrake, R. and Lambert, M. (2007). An automated online telepathy test. Journal of Scientific Exploration, 21,3,511-522.

Abstract: This paper describes an automated online telepathy test in which each receiver had four senders. In a series of 10 trials the computer picked one of the senders at random and asked her to wrote a short message to the receiver. At the end of the one-minute trial period, the receiver was asked to guess which sender had written a message and she received the message only after this guess had been recorded by the computer. The receivers chose their own senders when they registered for the test. If they chose only two or three, the computer applyed virtual senders so that there were four senders altoghether. In a total of 1980 trials there were 581 hits (29.3%), significantly above the chance expectation of 25% (p=.000006). In tests with two real and two virtual senders, there were significantly higher hits rate with family members than with nonfamily members. Cheating seems unlikely, but it could not be ruled out and for evidential purposes the hit rates can be regarded as suggestive only. Telepathy could provide one possible explanation for the above-chance results, but other forms of ESP could not be eliminated.

-Sheldrake, R. and Smart, P. (2005). Testing for Telepathy in Connection with E-mails. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 101, 771-786.

Abstract:This study investigated possible telepathic communication in connection with e-mails. On each trial, there were four potential e-mailers, one of whom was selected at random by the experimenter. One minute before a prearranged time at which the e-mail was to be sent, the participant guessed who would send it. 50 participants (29 women and 21 men) were recruited through an employment web site. Of 552 trials, 235 (43%) guesses were hits, significantly above the chance expectation of 25%. Further tests with 5 participants (4 women, 1 man, ages 16 to 29) were videotaped continuously. On the filmed trials, the 64 hits of 137 (47%) were significantly above chance.

-Sheldrake, R. and Smart, P. (2003). Experimental Tests for Telephone Telepathy. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, 67, 184-199.

Abstract:Many people claim to have known who was calling before they picked up the telephone, or to have thought for no apparent reason about someone who then called. We carried out a series of experiments to test whether or not people really could tell who was telephoning. Each participant had four potential callers, and when the telephone rang had to guess who was calling before the other person spoke. By chance the success rate would have been 25%. In a total of 571 trials, involving 63 participants, the overall success rate was 40%, with 95% confidence limits from 36% to 45%. This effect is hugely significant statistically (p = 4x10^-16). We obtained similar significant positive effects both when the calls were made at randomly chosen times and when the calls were made at fixed times known to the subject in advance. With 37 participants, we compared the success rates with familiar and unfamiliar callers and found a very striking difference. With familiar callers, 53% of the guesses were correct (n=190; p = 1x10^-16). With unfamiliar callers, only 25% of the guesses were correct, exactly at the chance level. This difference between the responses with familiar and unfamiliar callers is highly significant (p = 3x10^-7). We also investigated the effects of distance between the callers and participants. With overseas callers at least 1,000 miles away, the success rate was 65% (n=43; p = 3x10^-8). With callers in the UK, the success rate was lower (35%). In most cases, the overseas callers were people to whom the participants were closely bonded. For the successful identification of callers, emotional closeness seemed to be more important than physical proximity.

-Sheldrake, R. and Smart, P. (2003). Videotaped Experiments on Telephone Telepathy, Journal of Parapsychology 67, 187-206.

Abstract: The authors tested whether participants (N = 4) could tell who was calling before answering the telephone. In each trial, participants had 4 potential callers, one of whom was selected at random by the experimenter. Participants were filmed on time-coded videotape throughout the experimental period. When the telephone began ringing, the participants said to the camera whom they thought the caller was and, in many cases, also how confident they felt in their guesses. The callers were usually several miles away, and in some cases thousands of miles away. By guessing at random, there was a 25% chance of success. In a total of 271 trials, there were 122 (45%) correct guesses (p = 10^-12). The 95% confidence limits of this success rate were from 39% to 51%. In most trials, some of the callers were familiar to the participants and others were unfamiliar. With familiar callers there was a success rate of 61% (n = 100; p = 10^-13). With unfamiliar callers the success rate of 20% was not significantly different from chance. When they said they were confident about their guesses, participants were indeed more successful than when they were not confident.

Percezione extrasensoriale in stato di coscienza alterato:

-Beischel, J . Schwartz,G.(2007). Anomalous Information Reception by Research Mediums Demonstrated Using a Novel Triple-Blind Protocol. EXPLORE: The Journal of Science and Healing, 3,1,23 – 27.

Abstract: Context: Investigating the information reported by mediums is ultimately important in determining the relationship between brain and consciousness in addition to being of deep concern to the public.

Objective: This triple-blind study was designed to examine the anomalous reception of information about deceased individuals by research mediums under experimental conditions that eliminate conventional explanations.

Participants: Eight University of Arizona students served as sitters: four had experienced the death of a parent; four, a peer. Eight mediums who had previously demonstrated an ability to report accurate information in a laboratory setting performed the readings.

Methodology:To optimize potential identifiable differences between readings, each deceased parent was paired with a same-gender deceased peer. Sitters were not present at the readings; an experimenter blind to information about the sitters and deceased served as a proxy sitter. The mediums, blind to the sitters’ and deceased’s identities, each read two absent sitters and their paired deceased; each pair of sitters was read by two mediums. Each blinded sitter then scored a pair of itemized transcripts (one was the reading intended for him/her; the other, the paired control reading) and chose the reading more applicable to him/her.

Results:The findings included significantly higher ratings for intended versus control readings (p = 0.007, effect size = 0.5) and significant reading-choice results (p = 0.01).

Conclusions:The results suggest that certain mediums can anomalously receive accurate information about deceased individuals. The study design effectively eliminates conventional mechanisms as well as telepathy as explanations for the information reception, but the results cannot distinguish among alternative paranormal hypotheses, such as survival of consciousness (the continued existence, separate from the body, of an individual’s consciousness or personality after physical death) and super-psi (or super-ESP; retrieval of information via a psychic channel or quantum field).

-Schwartz, G.E.R.Russek,L.G.S. and Barentsen,C. (2002). Accuracy and replicability of anomalous information retrieval: replication and extension, Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 66 3, 144–156.

Abstract:The study investigated the ability of three research mediums to obtain information regarding the deceased loved ones of five research "sitters" (subjects). The mediums were kept completely blind to the identity of the sitters. The mediums sat behind a floor to ceiling screen, with their backs to the screen facing video cameras. The mediums were not allowed to ask any questions, and the sitters never spoke. Transcripts were made from the recordings. The sitters scored all initials, names, historical facts, personal descriptions, and temperament descriptions (n=528 items for 15 readings) using a -3 (definite miss) to +3 (definite hit) rating scale. When the sitters rated their own readings, the average percentage of +3 scores was 40%. When the sitters rated the readings of the other sitters (control readings), the value was 25% (p<0.03). The findings appear to confirm the hypothesis that information and energy, and potentially consciousness itself, can continue after physical death.

-O’Keeffe,C. and Wiseman,R. (2005) Testing alleged mediumship: Methods and results, British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 96, 2, 165–179.

Abstract:Mediums claim to be able to communicate with the deceased. Such claims attract a considerable amount of public interest and, if valid, have important implications for many areas of psychology. For over 100 years, researchers have tested alleged mediums.
This work has obtained mixed results and provoked a considerable amount of methodological debate. This paper reviews the key issues in this debate, describes how the authors devised a method of testing that aimed to prevent the many problems that have hindered past research, and how they then used this method to test several professional mediums. The results of this work did not support the existence of genuine mediumistic ability. Competing interpretations of these results are discussed, along with ways in which the methodology presented in the paper could be used to assess conceptually similar, but non-paranormal, claims made in clinical, occupational and forensic contexts.

-Radin Dean and Lobach Eva (2007). Toward Understanding the Placebo Effect: Investigating a Possible Retrocausal Factor. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine,13, 7, 733–739.

Abstract:

Objective: Conventional models of placebo effects assume that all mind–body responses associated with expectation can be explained by ordinary causal processes. This experiment tested whether some placebo effects may also involve retrocausal, or time-reversed, influences.

Design: Slow cortical potentials in the brain were monitored while adult volunteers anticipated either a flash of light or no flash, selected with equal probability by a noise-based random number generator. Data were collected in individual sessions of 100 trials, contributed by 13 female and 7 male adult participants.

Outcome measures: Ensemble median slow cortical potentials 1 second prior to a light flash were compared with the same measures prior to no flash. A nonparametric randomized permutation technique was used to statistically assess the observed difference. Electroencephalographic data were analyzed separately by gender.

Results: Females' slow cortical potentials significantly differentiated before stimulus onset (z = 2.72, p = 0.007, two-tailed); males showed a suggestive effect in the opposite direction (z = −1.64, p = 0.10, two-tailed). Examination of alternative explanations indicated that the significant effect in females was not caused by anticipatory strategies, equipment or environmental artifacts, or violation of statistical assumptions.

Conclusions: This experiment, in accordance with previous studies showing similar, unconscious “presentiment” effects in humans, suggests that comprehensive models seeking to explain placebo effects, and in general how expectation affects the mind and body, may require consideration of retrocausal influences.

-Hinterberger, T., Studer, P., Jäger.M. Haverty-Stacke, C. and Walach, H. (2007).Can a slide-show presentiment effect be discovered in brain electrical activity?, Journal of the Society for Psychical Research,71,3,148-166.

Abstract:The presentation of pictures evokes clearly detectable responses in the electroencephalogram (EEG). Here, the question is addressed whether people show an anomalous pre-stimulus response prior to a sudden appearance of pictures. Therefore, twenty participants were exposed at randomised times to affective and non-affective pictures, and to checkerboard stimuli. In a non-parametric statistical analysis the one-second pre-stimulus epochs were compared with arbitrarily chosen non-exposed pre-stimulus epochs. In a second step, the contrasts between the pre-stimulus responses of different conditions were tested for significance. Checkerboard stimulation revealed no effect, whereas the picture stimuli resulted in a significant increase of the EEG activity. For affective pictures as well as for the difference between affective and neutral pictures, significant z-scores greater than z = 2.0 were found. A control condition with a covered monitor did not show such an effect. The delta band power was only decreased before presentation of pictures. The results support the possible existence of an abnormal presentiment effect. As it is not visible in the averaged EEG curves, this effect may not be time-locked to the stimulus and may be different for each participant. The non-significant results for neutral pictures and checkerboard stimuli suggest that emotional affectivity is important for a pre-stimulus effect in the EEG.

CAPITOLO 6

Interazione mente-materia.

-Radin, D., Hayssen, G. and Walsh, J. (2007). Effects of Intentionally Enhanced Chocolate on Mood. EXPLORE: The Journal of Science and Healing 3:485-492.

Abstract: Objective: A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled experiment investigated whether chocolate exposed to “good intentions” would enhance mood more than unexposed chocolate. Design: Individuals were assigned to one of four groups and asked to record their mood each day for a week by using the Profile of Mood States. For days three, four and five, each person consumed a half ounce of dark chocolate twice a day at prescribed times. Three groups blindly received chocolate that had been intentionally treated by three different techniques. The intention in each case was that people who ate the chocolate would experience an enhanced sense of energy, vigor, and well-being. The fourth group blindly received untreated chocolate as a placebo control. The hypothesis was that mood reported during the three days of eating chocolate would improve more in the intentional groups than in the control group. Subjects: Stratified random sampling was used to distribute 62 participants among the four groups, matched for age, gender, and amount of chocolate consumed on average per week. Most participants lived in the same geographic region to reduce mood variations due to changes in weather, and the experiment was conducted during one week to reduce effects of current events on mood fluctuations. Results: On the third day of eating chocolate, mood had improved significantly more in the intention conditions than in the control condition (P = .04). Analysis of a planned subset of individuals who habitually consumed less than the grand mean of 3.2 ounces of chocolate per week showed a stronger improvement in mood (P = .0001). Primary contributors to the mood changes were the factors of declining fatigue (P = .01) and increasing vigor (P = .002). All three intentional techniques contributed to the observed results. Conclusion: The mood-elevating properties of chocolate can be enhanced with intention.

- Radin, D. (2008).Testing nonlocal observation as a source of intuitive knowledge, EXPLORE: The Journal of Science and Healing, 4:25-35.

Abstract:This study explored the hypothesis that in some cases intuitive knowledge arises from perceptions that are not mediated through the ordinary senses. The possibility of detecting such nonlocal observation was investigated in a pilot test based on the effects of observation on a quantum system. Participants were asked to imagine that they could intuitively perceive a low-intensity laser beam in a distant Michelson interferometer. If such observation were possible, it would theoretically perturb the photons’ quantum wave functions and change the pattern of light produced by the interferometer. The optical apparatus was located inside a light-tight, double-steel walled, shielded chamber. Participants sat quietly outside the chamber with eyes closed. The light patterns were recorded by a cooled digital camera once per second, and average illumination levels of these images were compared in counterbalanced mental blocking versus nonblocking conditions. By design, perturbation would produce a lower overall level of illumination, which was predicted to occur during the blocking condition. Based on a series of planned experimental sessions, the outcome was in accordance with the prediction (z = −2.82; P = .002). This result was primarily due to nine sessions involving experienced meditators (combined z = −4.28; P = 9.4 × 10⁻⁶); the other nine sessions with nonmeditators were not significant (combined z = 0.29; P = .61). The same experimental protocol run immediately after 15 of these test sessions, but with no one present, revealed no hardware or protocol artifacts that might have accounted for these results (combined control z = 1.50; P = .93). Conventional explanations for these results were considered and judged to be implausible. This pilot study suggests the presence of a nonlocal perturbation effect that is consistent with traditional concepts of intuition as a direct means of gaining knowledge about the world, and with the predicted effects of observation on a quantum system.

Guarigione a distanza:

- Master, K.S. and Spielmans, G.I. (2007). Prayer and Health: Review, Meta-Analysis, and Research Agenda.Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 30:329–338.

Abstract

This article reviews the empirical research on prayer and health and offers a research agenda to guide future studies. Though many people practice prayer and believe it affects their health, scientific evidence is limited.
In keeping with a general increase in interest in spirituality and complementary and alternative treatments, prayer has garnered attention among a growing number of behavioral scientists. The effects of distant intercessory prayer are examined by meta-analysis and it is concluded that no discernable effects can be found. The literature regarding frequency of prayer, content of prayer, and prayer as a coping strategy is subsequently reviewed. Suggestions for future research include the conduct of experimental studies based on conceptual models that include precise operationally defined constructs, longitudinal investigations with proper measure of control variables, and increased use of ecological momentary assessment techniques.

- Hodge, D.R. (2007). A Systematic Review of the Empirical Literature on Intercessory Prayer. Research on Social Work Practice,17; 174-187.

Abstract:

Perhaps surprisingly, many social workers appear to use intercessory prayer in direct practice settings. To help inform practitioners’ use of this intervention, this article evaluates the empirical literature on the topic using the following three methods: (a) an individual assessment of each study, (b) an evaluation of intercessory prayer as an empirically supported intervention using criteria developed by Division 12 of the American Psychological Association (APA), and (c) a meta-analysis. Based on the Division 12 criteria, intercessory prayer was classified as an experimental intervention. Meta-analysis indicated small, but significant, effect sizes for the use of intercessory prayer (g = –.171, p = .015). The implications are discussed in light of the APA’s Presidential Task Force on Evidence-based Practice.

- Walach, H. et al. (2008). Effectiveness of Distant Healing for Patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Randomised Controlled Partially Blinded Trial (EUHEALS). Psychotherapy and Psychosomathic,77:158–166.

Abstract
Background: Distant healing, a form of spiritual healing, is widely used for many conditions but little is known about its effectiveness. Methods: In order to evaluate distant healing in patients with a stable chronic condition, we randomised 409 patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) from 14 private practices for environmental medicine in Germany and Austria in a two by two factorial design to immediate versus deferred (waiting for 6 months) distant healing. Half the patients were blinded and half knew their treatment allocation.
Patients were treated for 6 months and allocated to groups of 3 healers from a pool of 462 healers in 21 European countries with different healing traditions. Change in Mental Health Component Summary (MHCS) score (SF-36) was the primary outcome and Physical Health Component Summary score (PHCS) the secondary outcome. Results: This trial population had very low quality of life and symptom scores at entry. There were no differences over 6 months in post-treatment MHCS scores between the treated and untreated
groups. There was a non-significant outcome (p =0.11) for healing with PHCS (1.11; 95% CI –0.255 to 2.473 at 6 months) and a significant effect (p = 0.027) for blinding; patients who were unblinded became worse during the trial (–1.544; 95% CI –2.913 to –0.176). We found no relevant interaction for blinding among treated patients in MHCS and PHCS. Expectation of treatment and duration of CFS added significantly to the model. Conclusions: In patients with CFS, distant healing appears to have no statistically significant effect on mental and physical health but the expectation of improvement did improve outcome.

Effetti a distanza

- Bamcel, P., Nelson. R. (2008). The GCP Event experiment: design, analytical methods, results. Journal of Scientific Exploration, 22,3, 309-333.

Abstract
Studies of anomalous correlations between mind and matter usually focus on participating sibjects and isolated target systems. We report on a decade-long experiment which finds that anomalous mind-matter correlations may be a pervasive aspect of reality. The Global Consciousenss Project (GCP) measures the output deviation of a global network of physical random numebr generators (RNGs) at the time of major world events. The project hypothesizes that the coherent attention or emotional response of large populations induced by the events, will correspond to characteristic deviations of the network output. We describe the motivation and scope of the experiment and the analytical procedures employed to test the hypothesis and present the results of 236 events accumulated over the first 9 years of operation. The cumulative significance across all events facvors the hypothesis by more than 4.5 standard deviations. Beyond a test of the basic hypothesis, secondary analyses show that the result is driven by correlation in the RNG network across global distances.

- ORME-JOHNSON, D.W. and OATES, R.M. (2009). A Field-Theoretic View of Consciousness: Reply to Critics. Journal of Scientific Exploration, 23, 2, 139–166.

Abstract—This paper replies to a critique (Fales & Markovsky, 1997) of a study reporting that group practice of the Transcendental Meditation program had a measurable effect on objective measures of the quality of life in Israel and the war in Lebanon (Orme-Johnson et al., 1988). The critics proposed various cultural/political events as alternative explanations for the results. These events could not explain the results, as indicated by (1) simple inspection of the published data; (2) statistical analyses controlling for these events; (3) analyses of reduced data sets that completely eliminated the days of the events from the analyses; and (4) analyses of six random samples of 50% of the data. Although some of the cultural/political events suggested did have a signifi cant effect on a composite index of crime, traffi c accidents, fi res, war intensity, stock market, and national mood, the effects of these events were independent of the effect of the meditators and could not explain it. We argue that Maharishi’s theory of collective consciousness provides a unifying framework that explains these results through a logical structure of clearly defi ned, operationalized terms grounded in physiological and behavioral research, which makes specifi c quantifi able and socially important predictions that have been extensively replicated.

CAPITOLO 7

Risultati senza fattori facilitanti :

- Moulton, S.T and Kosslyn, S.M. (2008). Using Neuroimaging to resolve the Psi debate, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 20:1, pp. 182–192.

Abstract: Parapsychology is the scientific investigation of apparently paranormal mental phenomena (such as telepathy, i.e., “mind reading”), also known as psi. Despite widespread public belief in such phenomena and over 75 years of experimentation, there is no compelling evidence that psi exists. In the present study, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used in an effort to document the existence of psi. If psi exists, it occurs in the brain, and hence, assessing the brain directly should be more sensitive than using indirect behavioral methods (as have been used previously). To increase sensitivity, this experiment was designed to produce positive results if telepathy, clairvoyance (i.e., direct sensing of remote events), or precognition (i.e., knowing future events) exist. Moreover, the study included biologically or emotionally related participants (e.g., twins) and emotional stimuli in an effort to maximize experimental conditions that are purportedly conducive to psi. In spite of these characteristics of the study, psi stimuli and non-psi stimuli evoked indistinguishable neuronal responses—although differences in stimulus arousal values of the same stimuli had the expected effects on patterns of brain activation. These findings are the strongest evidence yet obtained against the existence of paranormal mental phenomena.

Risultati tenendo conto dei fattori facilitanti:

Ryan, A. (2008). New insights into the links between ESP and geomagnetic activity. Journal of Scientific Exploration,22,3,335-358.

Abstract:: A database of 343 free-response ESP trials conducted at centers in the U.K. was constructed in order to test the hypothesis that the relatively fast varying components of geomagnetic activity, geomagnetic pulsations, might be driving the reported associations between ESP, geomagnetic activity and local sidereal time. Local geomagnetic field-strength measurements taken at 1-second intervals during 99 trials, and at 5-second intervals during 244 trials, were converted by fast Fourier transform into power within five frequency bands.
Two patterns were observed: ESP was found to succeed only during periods of enhanced pulsation activity within the 0.2-0.5 Hz band, but ESP effect was absent during the most disturbed periods of activity in the 0.025-0.1 Hz band. The pattern of ESP effect by local sidereal time was similar to that found by Spottiswoode (1997b), and this shape was found to be attributable to the pattern of ESP results by pulsation activity in the 0.2-0.5 Hz band. The observed patterns were demonstrated to have excellent explanatory power in terms of accounting for findings previously reported in the literature.

CAPITOLO 8

Interpretazioni e spiegazioni.

-von Lucadou,W., Romer,H e Walach, H. (2007). Synchronistic Phenomena as Entanglement Correlations in Generalized Quantum Theory. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 14,4,50-74.

Abstract: Synchronistic or psi phenomena are interpreted as entanglement correlations in a generalized quantum theory. From the principle that entanglement correlations cannot be used for transmitting information, we can deduce the decline effect, frequently observed in psi experiments, and we propose strategies for suppressing it and improving the visibility of psi effects. Some illustrative examples are discussed.

- Clarke, C. (2008). A new quantum theoretical framework for parapsychology. European Journal of Parapsychology, 23,1,

Abstract:An account is given of a recent proposal to complete modern quantum theory by adding a characterisation of consciousness. The resulting theory is applied to give mechanisms for typical parapsychological phenomena, and ways of testing itare discussed.

- Groblacher,S. Paterek, T., Kaltenbaek, R., Brukner, C., Zukowski,M., Aspelmeyer, M. and Zeilinger, A. (2007). An experimental test of non-local realism. Nature, 446, 871-875.

Abstract:Most working scientists hold fast to the concept of 'realism'—a viewpoint according to which an external reality exists independent of observation. But quantum physics has shattered some of our cornerstone beliefs. According to Bell's theorem, any theory that is based on the joint assumption of realism and locality (meaning that local events cannot be affected by actions in space-like separated regions) is at variance with certain quantum predictions. Experiments with entangled pairs of particles have amply confirmed these quantum predictions, thus rendering local realistic theories untenable. Maintaining realism as a fundamental concept would therefore necessitate the introduction of 'spooky' actions that defy locality. Here we show by both theory and experiment that a broad and rather reasonable class of such non-local realistic theories is incompatible with experimentally observable quantum correlations. In the experiment, we measure previously untested correlations between two entangled photons, and show that these correlations violate an inequality proposed by Leggett for non-local realistic theories. Our result suggests that giving up the concept of locality is not sufficient to be consistent with quantum experiments, unless certain intuitive features of realism are abandoned.

-Sean, M.C. (2008). Does Time Run Backward in Other Universes? Scientific American Magazine - May 21

One of the most basic facts of life is that the future looks different from the past. But on a grand cosmological scale, they may look the same.

-Sheehan,D. P. (Ed). (2006). FRONTIERS OF TIME: Retrocausation - Experiment and Theory AIP Conference Proceedings Volume 863, San Diego, California (USA)

Traditional causation posits that the past alone influences the present. In principle, however, the basic laws of physics permit the future an equal measure of influence: retrocausation. This symposium explores theoretical developments and experimental evidence for retrocausation. It is unique in stressing recent experiments in this exciting and potentially important new field.

- Vedral, V. (2008).Quantifying entanglement in macroscopic systems. Nature, 453, 1004-1007.

Abstract: Traditionally, entanglement was considered to be a quirk of microscopic objects that defied a common-sense explanation. Now, however, entanglement is recognized to be ubiquitous and robust. With the realization that entanglement can occur in macroscopic systems — and with the development of experiments aimed at exploiting this fact — new tools are required to define and quantify entanglement beyond the original microscopic framework.

- Bierman, D.J. (2008). Consciousness Iinduced Restoration of Time Symmetry (CIRTS),a Psychophysical theoretical persperctive. The Parapsychological Association & The Society for Psychical Research Convention, 33-49.

Abstract: A theoretical framework is proposed that starts from the assumption that information processing by a brain, while it is sustaining consciousness, is restoring the break in time-symmetry in physics. No specifics are given with regard to which physical formalism, either quantum or classical, is at the basis of the subsequent apparently anomalous consequences. ‘Apparent’ because the proposed model doesn’t require a radical extension or modification of existing physics. Rather it is argued that time-symmetry that is already present in current physics should be taken seriously and a simple initial mathematical formulation is given that allows for specific quantitative predictions. The elusiveness of psi phenomena, the experimenter effect, as well as the relation to other theoretical frameworks like Decision Augmentation Theory (DAT), Observational Theory (OT) and several others are discussed. One of the major advantages of CIRTS is that it offers handles to link this theory to psychological theories that might explain individual differences. Specific testable predictions are given.

- Rosemblum, B. and Kuttner, F. (2009). Physics encounters consciousness. Oxford University Press.
http://quantumenigma.com

- Velmans, M. (2009). Understanding Consciousness, Edition 2. Routledge/Psychology Press, London.

- Gisin, N. (2009). Quantum Nonlocality: How Does Nature Do It?. Science 4 December 2009: Vol. 326. no. 5958, pp. 1357 - 1358.

Abstract: From early childhood we know that to interact with an object, we have either to go to it or to throw something at it. Yet, contrary to all our daily experience, there are spatially separated quantum systems that exhibit nonlocal correlations. Exploring how nature performs its trick of quantum nonlocality (1) has led to new experiments that provide a deeper understanding of the tension between quantum physics and relativity and to proposals for disruptive technologies.

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