Department of Psychology, Sofia University, Palo Alto, CA, 94303, USA.
Department of Research, Institute of Noetic Sciences, Petaluma, CA, 94952, USA.
F1000Res. 2021 Jan 6;10:5. doi: 10.12688/f1000research.27169.2. eCollection 2021.
Psi research is a controversial area of science that examines telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, and psychokinesis (mind over matter). Central to the debate over the existence of psi is of whether independent investigators can replicate reportedly successful psi experiments. One important variable involves the beliefs of experimenters and participants. A preregistered experiment is presented that sought to replicate and extend previously published parapsychology experiments suggestive of precognition by examining implicit beliefs. On each trial of the standard (non-psi) priming task, a pleasant or unpleasant word (the "prime") is briefly shown on computer screen, followed immediately by a pleasant or unpleasant picture. Trials on which the image and the priming word have different valences are termed "Incongruent"; trials on which the picture and the priming word share a common valence are termed "Congruent". Participants in such experiments typically respond more slowly on Incongruent trials than on Congruent trials. In this "time-reversed" psi version of the experiment, the presumed cause-effect sequence is reversed so that the prime is not flashed until the participant has already recorded his or her judgment. The experimental hypothesis remains the same: response times will be longer on trials with Incongruent prime/picture pairs than on trials with Congruent prime/picture pairs. Additionally, the study assesses expectations of success on the psi task of 32 experimenters-each testing 12 participants-using self-report questionnaires and the Implicit Association Task (IAT). A significant correlation was found between the Implicit Association Test (IAT) effect and the participants' reported beliefs in psi, with the effect in the direction opposite to the hypothesized correlation. This study offers an innovative approach to the role of beliefs in psi in a precognition study and speaks to the challenges of replication in controversial science.
心理玄学研究是科学中一个颇具争议的领域，其研究对象包括心灵感应、透视、预知和念力移物（意念移物）等现象。心理玄学是否存在的争议核心在于，独立研究者是否能够复制据称成功的心理玄学实验。一个重要的变量涉及实验者和参与者的信念。本研究提出了一项预先注册的实验，旨在通过检验内隐信念来复制和扩展先前发表的暗示预知的超心理学实验。在标准（非心理玄学）启动任务的每次试验中，计算机屏幕上会短暂显示一个愉快或不愉快的词（“启动词”），随后立即显示一张愉快或不愉快的图片。如果图片和启动词的效价不同，则试验称为“不一致”；如果图片和启动词具有共同的效价，则试验称为“一致”。在这种实验中，参与者在不一致试验中比在一致试验中反应更慢。在这个实验的“时间反转”心理玄学版本中，假定的因果序列被反转，因此直到参与者已经记录了他或她的判断，才会闪现启动词。实验假设保持不变：在不一致的启动词/图片对的试验中，反应时间将比在一致的启动词/图片对的试验中更长。此外，该研究使用自我报告问卷和内隐联想测验（IAT）评估了 32 名实验者中每一位对心理玄学任务的成功期望，每位实验者测试 12 名参与者。研究发现，内隐联想测验（IAT）效应与参与者报告的心理玄学信念之间存在显著相关性，其效应与假设的相关性相反。这项研究为在预知研究中信念在心理玄学中的作用提供了一种创新方法，并探讨了有争议科学中复制的挑战。
