The Anticipation of Telephone Calls: A Survey in California
📄 Original study ↗📌 Appears in:
Plain English Summary
Ever picked up the phone already knowing who's calling -- with zero clues? You're not alone. Researchers Brown and Sheldrake surveyed 200 randomly selected Californians and found this experience is shockingly common. A whopping 78% had called someone who said "I was just about to call you!" Nearly half (47%) reported knowing who was on the line before the caller spoke, with no caller ID or tip-offs. And 68% said they'd thought about a long-lost acquaintance who then phoned that same day. Women reported these experiences more often than men, though the gap wasn't statistically significant. Here's where it gets really interesting: people who reported other telepathic experiences were dramatically more likely to also report phone-related intuitions, a highly significant connection statistically. The study had notable limitations -- only 20% of people contacted participated, which could mean results skew toward believers. The Santa Cruz crowd also tended young and liberal, possibly inflating numbers compared to earlier English surveys. Still, the paper laid important groundwork by proposing two clever ways to test this scientifically: having people keep logbooks of hunches before answering calls, and running controlled experiments where callers are randomly picked from a pre-selected group of friends.
Actual Paper Abstract
A sample of 200 randomly selected people was surveyed in Santa Cruz County, California, to investigate the frequency and nature of anticipations of telephone calls. Of those surveyed, 78% said that they have had the experience of telephoning someone who said that they were just thinking about telephoning them; 47% said that they had had the experience of knowing who was calling them when the phone rang without any possible cue; and 68% said that they had thought about a person whom they have not seen for a while, who had then telephoned them that same day. A higher proportion of women than men gave positive answers to these questions. These results are in general agreement with 2 previous surveys in England, although there were several significant differences, which are discussed. These surveys reveal that seemingly telepathic experiences in connection with telephone calls are remarkably common. The authors suggest ways that this phenomenon can be investigated empirically.
Research Notes
This survey paper provides crucial baseline data for telephone telepathy research, establishing that seemingly telepathic experiences around phone calls are remarkably common (47-78% depending on type). It complements Sheldrake's English surveys and provides the American population data needed to assess cross-cultural patterns. The paper is methodologically important for proposing two empirical approaches: (1) log book studies where participants record intuitions before answering calls, and (2) controlled experiments with randomly selected callers from a nominated pool. The low participation rate (20%) is a limitation acknowledged by the authors. This paper connects directly to subsequent experimental work on telephone telepathy and fits into the broader research program on unexplained human and animal connections. The Santa Cruz sample's liberal, youthful demographics may explain higher positive response rates compared to English surveys.
A telephone survey of 200 randomly selected people in Santa Cruz County, California investigated the frequency and nature of anticipations of telephone calls. Results showed 78% had telephoned someone who said they were just thinking about calling them, 47% had known who was calling without any possible cue before the caller spoke, and 68% had thought about someone not seen for a while who then telephoned that same day. Women reported higher rates than men across all question types, though differences were not statistically significant. The proportion reporting other telepathic experiences was 45%, and those with other telepathic experiences were significantly more likely to report telephone-related intuition (p = 5 × 10⁻⁸). Unlike previous English surveys, no significant difference was found between pet owners and non-pet owners. The 20% participation rate may indicate self-selection bias. Results are compared with two English surveys and suggestions are made for empirical investigation through log books and controlled experiments where callers are randomly selected from a nominated pool.
Related Papers
Cited By
- Apparent Telepathy Between Babies and Nursing Mothers: A Survey — Sheldrake, Rupert (2002)
- Videotaped Experiments on Telephone Telepathy — Sheldrake, Rupert (2003)
- Do You Know Who Is Calling? Experiments on Anomalous Cognition in Phone Call Receivers — Schmidt, Stefan (2009)
- Experimental Tests for Telephone Telepathy — Sheldrake, Rupert (2003)
Also by these authors
More in Telepathy
Telecommunication Telepathy: A Meta-Analysis
Rethinking Communication and Consciousness: Lessons from The Telepathy Tapes Podcast
Taking the Mindfield Literally: Discovering Minds by Assuming Competence Among Nonspeakers
Who's Calling? Evaluating the Accuracy of Guessing Who Is on the Phone
A Comparison of Four New Automated Telephone Telepathy Tests
📋 Cite this paper
Brown, David Jay, Sheldrake, Rupert (2001). The Anticipation of Telephone Calls: A Survey in California. Journal of Parapsychology.
@article{brown_sheldrake_2001_anticipation,
title = {The Anticipation of Telephone Calls: A Survey in California},
author = {Brown, David Jay and Sheldrake, Rupert},
year = {2001},
journal = {Journal of Parapsychology},
}