Description
We have previously reported on research at Northampton that is intended to replicate and extend the experimental work reported by Bem (2011) which was claimed to demonstrate precognitionlike experiences under controlled laboratory conditions. Bem’s experimental findings were surprisingly consistent, and despite some high-profile failures to replicate them, the general pattern from this database is that the effects can be reproduced in the laboratory to the same extent and with similar effect sizes as other, more mundane, psychological effects (Bem, Tressoldi, Rabeyron, & Duggan, 2016; see Roe 2022a, 2022b for general introductions). However, the experiments described by Bem (2011) represent an assortment of designs that seem to reflect practical expediency rather than any overarching theoretical perspective. Similarly, despite some honourable exceptions (e.g., Savva, Roe & Smith, 2005, Vernon, 2017) the majority of replication attempts have consisted of straight reproductions of those original experiments, intended to confirm basic effects rather than test particular hypotheses. This paradigm therefore seems an ideal candidate for more theory-led research that could test the predictions made by theories of consciousness that incorporate psi.We therefore planned a series of experiments that would use one of Bem’s experimental protocols (focusing on priming effects) to help evaluate Carpenter’s (2012) First Sight Theory (FST). FST represents a model of consciousness that incorporates psi phenomena as a fundamental feature of its modus operandi. It not only attempts to account for observations concerning conventional processes of memory and perception, but also the patterns of performance observed in research on ESP. It makes a series of explicit, testable hypotheses about who should perform well and under what circumstances (for more detail, see Roe 2019a, 2019b).
We reported in 2023 on the first experiment in this series (Roe, et al., 2023), which focused on personality and individual difference variables that might moderate performance on the precognition task. In this presentation we will recap on the rationale for the research design and findings from experiment 1 before going on to describe experiment 2, which focuses on situational factors that are manipulated in accordance with FST.
References
Bem, D.J. (2011). Feeling the Future: Experimental Evidence for Anomalous Retroactive Influences on Cognition and Affect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 100, 407-25.
Bem, D.J., Tressoldi, P.E., Rabeyron, T., & Duggan, M. (2016). Feeling the Future: A Meta-Analysis of 90 Experiments on the Anomalous Anticipation of Random Future Events. F1000Research, doi: 10.12688/f1000research.7177.2
Carpenter, J. (2012). First sight: ESP and parapsychology in everyday life.
Rowman & Littlefield. Roe, C.A. (2019a). Psychological theory in parapsychology: PMIR & First Sight. Bridging the gaps: Building the Science, Belambra Hotel, Paris July 2-3, 2019.
Roe, C.A. (2022a). Feeling the future (Precognition Experiments). Psi Encyclopedia (online). https://psiencyclopedia.spr.ac.uk/articles/feeling-future-precognition-experiments, January 26, 2022. 10
Roe, C.A. (2022b). Remembering the future: Facilitating the recall of future events. Invited talk, 13th Symposium of the BIAL Foundation, “Behind and Beyond the Brain”: The mystery of time. Casa do Medico, Porto, 6-9 April, 2022.
Roe, C.A., Patton, D., Hopkins, M., & Vernon, D. (2023). Testing the theory of “first sight” using a retroactive priming task: Individual difference factors. Paper presented at the Society for Psychical Research, International Conference, Woodland Grange, 10-12 Nov 2023.
Savva, L., Roe, C. A., & Smith, M.D. (2005). Further testing of the precognitive habituation effect using spider stimuli. Proceedings of Presented Papers: The Parapsychological Association 48th Annual Convention, 163-170.
Vernon, D. (2017). Exploring the effect of a contingent cash-based reward on the precall of arousing images. Proceedings of the Parapsychological Association 60th Annual Convention, July 20-23, Athens, Greece.
| Period | 9 Nov 2024 |
|---|---|
| Event title | 47th SPR Annual International Conference |
| Event type | Conference |
| Location | Derby, United KingdomShow on map |
| Degree of Recognition | International |