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Plain English Summary
This paper is a fascinating detective story about a major meta-analysis (a study that pools results from many experiments) on psychokinesis — the supposed ability to influence physical objects with your mind. A 2006 analysis published in a top psychology journal had concluded the evidence for PK was just publication bias (where only positive results get published). But Kugel dug into the actual data files and found serious problems: the database accidentally included about 40 studies on ESP instead of PK, contained made-up statistical scores, and left out big chunks of relevant data. Here is the real kicker — the entire negative conclusion hinged on just three studies from one lab using a possibly malfunctioning random number generator that contributed roughly 100 times more data than everything else combined. Remove those three outliers, and the overall result actually flips to supporting PK. A striking example of how data quality issues can completely reverse a scientific conclusion.
Abstract
This article starts with an introduction to the concepts and experimental methodology used in the investigation of micro-psychokinesis (micro-PK). After a summary of three PK meta-analyses that seem to show a genuine PK effect, I will comment on a paper by Holger Bösch, Fiona Steinkamp, and Emil Boller (BSB), entitled "Examining Psychokinesis: The Interaction of Human Intention With Random Number Generators—A Meta-Analysis" (BSB-MA). The paper was published in the July 2006 issue of the Psychological Bulletin and suggests that all evidence of micro-PK may be due to publication bias. I will then show that the BSB-MA contains a large number of serious errors, which include data selection bias, faulty data coding, a lack of correspondence between experimental and control datasets, faulty statistical analyses, and erroneous interpretation of results. In addition, the entire negative z-score in the meta-analysis results from only one study. This meta-analysis, therefore, produced spurious results.
Related Papers
Cites
- Evidence for Consciousness-Related Anomalies in Random Physical Systems — Radin, Dean I (1989)
- Reexamining Psychokinesis: Commentary on the Bösch, Steinkamp and Boller Meta-Analysis — Radin, D (2006)
- Correlations of Random Binary Sequences with Pre-Stated Operator Intention: A Review of a 12-Year Program — Jahn, Robert G (1997)
- Decision Augmentation Theory: Toward a Model of Anomalous Mental Phenomena — May, Edwin C (1995)
- The MegaREG Experiment: Replication and Interpretation — Dobyns, Y. H (2004)
- Mind/Machine Interaction Consortium: PortREG Replication Experiments — Jahn, Robert G (2000)
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📋 Cite this paper
Kugel, Wilfried (2011). A Faulty PK Meta-Analysis. Journal of Scientific Exploration.
@article{kugel_2011_faulty_pk_meta,
title = {A Faulty PK Meta-Analysis},
author = {Kugel, Wilfried},
year = {2011},
journal = {Journal of Scientific Exploration},
}