Note on Precognition with and without Knowledge of Results

Abstract

To test precognition (a variant of the typical ESP experiment) Ss guess at targets which have not yet been selected. The present study investigated whether precognition will occur if S is guessing at a target which ( a ) he will later know; ( b ) someone else, but not he, will lacer know; ( c ) no one will ever know. 50 psychology students who scorecl h ~ g h on a test of visual imagery guessed at 3 lists, A, B, and C, corresponding to the chrce conditions stated above. Lists were composed of 50 items each; chance probabi l~r~ of guessing any one item correctly was I / ) . Guesses were coded for an LGB-30 computer. The computer was programmed to generate a random number from 1 to 5 (designating the target); enter the code number representing S's guess; tabulate identities (hits) ; sum hits; print out targets, guesses, and sum of hits for Lists A and B; but print for List C only guesses and sum of hits. 5s saw List A; E (but not S ) saw List B; no one saw List C. Ss were informed of the different procedures for Lists A, B, and C after all had been tested. The order of A, B, and C was rotated. In an interview, 44 Ss (sheep) accepted the possibility that guesses of the type they made might show an extra-chance relation to the targets; 6 Ss (goats) rejected this possibility. It was hypothesized that scores of goats would be lower than scores of sheep.