Psychophysical Interactions with a Double-Slit Interference Pattern: Exploratory Evidence of a Causal Influence
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Plain English Summary
Can your mind mess with light just by paying attention? That is the wild question from this experiment at the Institute of Noetic Sciences, part of a long series (28 experiments across four labs since 1998) testing whether consciousness can influence a double-slit optical setup β the classic physics demo where light creates striped patterns. Twenty-five participants sat in a shielded room trying to mentally influence the pattern, with matched "nobody home" controls. The pre-planned analysis came up empty. But alternative analyses found striking results: one showed roughly 1-in-3,000 odds against chance, another flagged fringes at 1-in-100,000 odds. Controls? Dead flat. Temperature and vibration ruled out mundane causes. This pattern β planned test failing while exploratory analyses shine β captures the frustrating replication puzzle in this field. Participants got no feedback, testing pure attention, and their mood dropped as sessions dragged on. Publication was delayed eight years because the funder wanted his own analysis first.
Actual Paper Abstract
An experiment we conducted from 2012 to 2013, which had not been previously reported, was designed to explore possible psychophysical effects resulting from the interaction of a human mind with a quantum system. Participants focused their attention toward or away from the slits in a double-slit optical system to see if the interference pattern would be affected. Data were collected from 25 people in individual half-hour sessions; each person repeated the test ten times for a total of 250 planned sessions. "Sham" sessions designed to mimic the experimental sessions without observers present were run immediately before and after as controls. Based on the planned analysis, no evidence for a psychophysical effect was found. Because this experiment differed in two essential ways from similar, previously reported double-slit experiments, two exploratory analyses were developed, one based on a simple spectral analysis of the interference pattern and the other based on fringe visibility. For the experimental data, the outcome supported a pattern of results predicted by a causal psychophysical effect, with the spectral metric resulting in a 3.4 sigma effect (p ΒΌ 0.0003), and the fringe visibility metric resulting in 7 of 22 fringes tested above 2.3 sigma after adjustment for type I error inο¬ation, with one of those fringes at 4.3 sigma above chance (p ΒΌ 0.00001). The same analyses applied to the sham data showed uniformly null outcomes. Other analyses exploring the potential that these results were due to mundane artifacts, such as ο¬uctuations in temperature or vibration, showed no evidence of such inο¬uences. Future studies using the same protocols and analytical methods will be required to determine if these exploratory results are idiosyncratic or reο¬ect a genuine psychophysical inο¬uence.
Research Notes
Part of the IONS double-slit consciousness series (28 experiments across 4 labs since 1998). Unique among these studies for having a null planned analysis paired with significant exploratory results β a pattern that epitomizes the replication challenge in this research program. Directly addressed by Walleczek & von Stillfried (2019) critique. No real-time feedback provided (unlike earlier IONS double-slit studies), testing attention alone. Participant mood declined significantly across sessions (Ο = β0.295, p = 2 Γ 10β»βΆ).
An experiment conducted from 2012 to 2013 at the Institute of Noetic Sciences explored possible psychophysical effects on a double-slit optical system. 25 participants focused attention toward or away from the slits in 250 planned sessions inside an electromagnetically shielded chamber. Matched sham sessions without observers served as controls. The planned analysis found no evidence for a psychophysical effect. Two exploratory analyses were then developed: a simplified spectral metric yielded a 3.4 sigma effect (p = 0.0003), and fringe visibility analysis showed 7 of 22 fringes above 2.3 sigma after FDR correction, with one at 4.3 sigma (p = 0.00001). Sham data showed uniformly null outcomes. Environmental artifact analyses (temperature, vibration) found no mundane explanations. The 8-year delay between data collection and publication was due to the study funder's request to withhold results pending his own analysis.
Links
Related Papers
Replication Of
Same Research Program
- Psychophysical Modulation of Fringe Visibility in a Distant Double-Slit Optical System β Radin, Dean (2016)
- Psychophysical Interactions with Electrical Plasma: Three Exploratory Experiments β Radin, Dean I (2022)
- Observer Influence on Quantum Interference: Testing the von Neumann-Wigner Consciousness-Collapse Theory β Radin, Dean (2025)
- Psychophysical Effects on an Interference Pattern in a Double-Slit Optical System: An Exploratory Analysis of Variance β Radin, Dean (2022)
- Commentary: False-Positive Effect in the Radin Double-Slit Experiment on Observer Consciousness as Determined With the Advanced Meta-Experimental Protocol β Radin, Dean (2020)
Critiqued By
- Give the Null Hypothesis a Chance: Reasons to Remain Doubtful about the Existence of Psi β Alcock, James E (2003)
- A Preregistered Multi-Lab Replication of Maier et al. (2014, Exp. 4) Testing Retroactive Avoidance β Maier, Markus A (2020)
- Response: Commentary: False-Positive Effect in the Radin Double-Slit Experiment on Observer Consciousness as Determined With the Advanced Meta-Experimental Protocol β Walleczek, Jan (2020)
Extends
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Independent re-analysis of alleged mind-matter interaction in double-slit experimental data
π Cite this paper
Radin, D.I, Wahbeh, H, Michel, L, Delorme, A (2021). Psychophysical Interactions with a Double-Slit Interference Pattern: Exploratory Evidence of a Causal Influence. Physics Essays. https://doi.org/10.4006/0836-1398-34.1.79
@article{radin_2021_psychophysical,
title = {Psychophysical Interactions with a Double-Slit Interference Pattern: Exploratory Evidence of a Causal Influence},
author = {Radin, D.I and Wahbeh, H and Michel, L and Delorme, A},
year = {2021},
journal = {Physics Essays},
doi = {10.4006/0836-1398-34.1.79},
}