Does Psi Exist? Replicable Evidence for an Anomalous Process of Information Transfer
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Plain English Summary
One of the most influential papers in psychic research history, carrying a poignant backstory: co-author Charles Honorton died just nine days before it was accepted for publication. The paper tackles telepathy using the "ganzfeld" method -- a setup where one person relaxes in a sensory-dampened state while a sender concentrates on a randomly chosen image or clip. The receiver picks the target from four options, so chance is 25%. Across 28 studies, receivers hit at 35% -- so far above chance it would happen by accident roughly once in 48 billion tries. Honorton's newer automated experiments still landed at 32%, not as flashy but solidly significant. One delightful finding: Juilliard performing arts students nailed an astonishing 50% hit rate, hinting creative types might have a special knack. Bem argued the effects were strong enough that mainstream psychology needed to pay attention.
Abstract
Most academic psychologists do not yet accept the existence of psi, anomalous processes of information or energy transfer (such as telepathy or other forms of extrasensory perception) that are currently unexplained in terms of known physical or biological mechanisms. We believe that the replication rates and effect sizes achieved by one particular experimental method, the ganzfeld procedure, are now sufficient to warrant bringing this body of data to the attention of the wider psychological community. Competing meta-analyses of the ganzfeld database are reviewed, by R. Hyman (1985), a skeptical critic of psi research, and the other by C. Honorton (1985), a parapsychologist and major contributor to the ganzfeld database. Next the results of 11 new ganzfeld studies that comply with guidelines jointly authored by R. Hyman and C. Honorton (1986) are summarized. Finally, issues of replication and theoretical explanation are discussed.
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- Does Psi Exist? Comments on Milton and Wiseman's (1999) Meta-Analysis of Ganzfeld Research — Storm, Lance (2001)
- Meta-Analysis of Free-Response Studies, 1992–2008: Assessing the Noise Reduction Model in Parapsychology — Storm, Lance (2010)
- Stage 2 Registered Report: Anomalous Perception in a Ganzfeld Condition - A Meta-Analysis of More Than 40 Years Investigation — Tressoldi, P.E (2024)
- Updating the Ganzfeld Database: A Victim of Its Own Success? — Bem, Daryl J (2001)
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- Evaluation of a Program on Anomalous Mental Phenomena — Hyman, Ray (1996)
- Can Parapsychology Move Beyond the Controversies of Retrospective Meta-Analyses? — Kennedy, J.E (2013)
- Why Most Research Findings About Psi Are False: The Replicability Crisis, the Psi Paradox and the Myth of Sisyphus — Rabeyron, Thomas (2020)
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📋 Cite this paper
Bem, Daryl J, Honorton, Charles (1994). Does Psi Exist? Replicable Evidence for an Anomalous Process of Information Transfer. Psychological Bulletin. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.115.1.4
@article{bem_1994_does,
title = {Does Psi Exist? Replicable Evidence for an Anomalous Process of Information Transfer},
author = {Bem, Daryl J and Honorton, Charles},
year = {1994},
journal = {Psychological Bulletin},
doi = {10.1037/0033-2909.115.1.4},
}