Experimenter effects, however, can also be psi-mediated. Experimenters (or other involved personnel) can apparently influence their subjects without ever coming into physical contact with them. The parapsychological literature is filled with possible psi-mediated experimenter effects. For example, a famous series of ESP experiments indicated that people who simply checked results after an experiment seemed to have consistent influences upon their subjects’ earlier psi performance. A second example: It is well known that certain experimenters obtain consistently good results in their experiments, while other experimenters are well known for their negative findings. Many of the psi-conducive experimenters are known to have demonstrated strong psi performance themselves when participating in their own or others’ experiments. So it is not inconceivable that some experimenters may use their own psi, quite unconsciously, to influence the success or failure of their own studies.

The problem with the psi-mediated experimenter effect is that it can be used as an empty, untestable excuse or pseudo-explanation for all sorts of findings, if we are not careful. Also, since we know of no way to remove such an effect, it is difficult to know which of our findings are discoveries of lawful relationships and which are psi-fulfilled expectations of psi-talented investigations. Hopefully, in the future we may develop some adequate methodologies for dealing with this important issue.

Excellent examples of research on experimenter effects in psi research can be seen in two recent experiments by Dr. Marilyn Schlitz and Dr Richard Wiseman.  Dr. Schlitz, the director of research at the Institute of Noetic Sciences, designed a rigorous randomized trial evaluating whether  subjects could detect another person staring at them from a distance (over a closed-circuit television system). The study yielded statistically significant positive results. When her skeptical colleague, British psychologist Richard Wiseman, failed to replicate the results, he invited her to England to repeat the experiment along with him in two separate but equal trials using the same subjects and the same equipment, and once again she got positive results and he got negative ones.  

phenomena  resources   science  links   faq   the cd-rom   home

Explore more psi phenomena with the Psi Explorer CD-ROM