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2019, Vol. 83, No. 1, 13-24

Citation

Varvoglis, M., Bancel, P. A., Bailly, J., Boban, J., and Ahmed, D. s. (2019). The Selfield: Optimizing Precognition Research. Journal of Parapsychology, 83, 13-24. http://doi.org/10.30891/jopar.2019.01.02


Editor-in-Chief Etzel Cardeña, Ph.D.
© Rhine Research Center

The Selfield: Optimizing Precognition Research

Mario Varvoglis, Peter A. Bancel, Jean-Paul Bailly, Jocelyne Boban, and Djohar si Ahmed


Institut Métapsychique International

Abstract: We report an exploratory forced-choice precognition study based on a protocol that utilized an immersive audiovisual environment to induce a psi-conducive state in participants. Our objective was to assess whether this optimization setup would help produce significant psi results with an unselected population. We also sought to assess whether trial-by-trial feedback would produce superior scoring to no-feedback trials. For each trial, participants selected an opaque graphical sphere that they felt contained a facial image, as opposed to being empty. After selection, the program randomly determined whether the sphere would be empty or not, and whether feedback would be shown. A preset total of 3000 binary choice trials were collected from 82 participants. Each participant contributed either 1 or 2 20-trial series, based on preset scoring criteria. The total hit rate of successful trials was 50.1%, close to expectation under the null hypothesis of no psi effect. Hit rates for feedback and no-feedback trials were in the predicted direction (51.0% vs. 48.6%). A post-hoc analysis showed that hit rates for feedback trials increased over the 20-trial series, suggesting that participants may have progressively found a mental strategy for improved scoring. Additionally, a subgroup of 26 experienced meditators had a hit rate of 52.1%, a result consistent with previous literature that suggests that meditators are particularly good participants for psi research.
Keywords: precognition, optimization, forced-choice, feedback, meditators

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