Graduate Program

Clinical Psychology

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Semester of Degree Completion

2003

Thesis Director

Russell E. Gruber

Abstract

Field theories are increasingly used as explanations for extrasensory perception, suggesting the existence of some form of collective mind or social field. These theories imply that groups of individuals create fields that can contain and transfer information. The current study explored the telepathic transfer of information regarding randomly selected target locations. Groups of participants "sent" target locations to individuals, observed on close circuit television, who were either members of the group (ingroup) or not members (outgroup). We hypothesized that ingroup members would achieve above chance hit rates while outgroup members would score below chance. Approximately 30 senders sent 16 trials of one of four target locations to three outgroup members, followed by three members of their own group during 12 separate sessions, for a total of 36 outgroup receivers and 36 ingroup receivers. Direct hits as well as total number of tries required to locate targets were analyzed. The ingroup had a direct hit rate of 28.47% as compared to the expected chance hit rate of 25%. While the outgroup had a hit rate of 18.92%, also compared to 25% expected by chance (p<.05, one tail). A direct comparison between ingroup and outgroup for direct hits results in t=3.84, p<.001, two-tailed. A comparison of total tries between ingroup and outgroup were also significant, t=3.75, p<.001, two-tailed. The ingroup beat the outgroup on direct hits and total tries during all of the 12 sessions (p<.00024). Correlations between ingroup and outgoup, group scores and session number, as well as patterns of target selections are analyzed and discussed. Results are described as showing strong support for the importance of group membership, as well as varying levels of enthusiasm, in telepathic communication.

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