Parapsychology

Extra-Sensory Perception: Part II. The Experimental Results: Chapter 3. A General Survey

Summary only - full text stays on its own separately-gated source. Read the full text at the source »

This is a scientific research monograph by parapsychologist J. B. Rhine, reporting on more than 90,000 card-guessing trials conducted at Duke University between roughly 1930 and 1934 to test for extra-sensory perception — specifically telepathy and clairvoyance. The core method involves subjects guessing concealed symbols on cards (most often a five-symbol set including circle, star, and plus sign), with results evaluated statistically against chance expectation. Rhine documents a progression from modest, inconclusive group experiments toward individual subjects who scored dramatically above chance: the standout case is A. J. Linzmayer, who in one early 600-trial run averaged roughly 10 correct guesses per 25 (double the chance rate of 5), including one series of 25 where he got 21 right. A recurring and distinctive observation throughout is what Rhine calls the "decline effect" — the tendency for high-scoring subjects to regress toward chance performance over time or within a single session, which he treats not as evidence against ESP but as a psychologically meaningful phenomenon worth studying. The book's core argument is that the statistical deviations produced by the best subjects are so far above chance (often 6–18 times the probable error) that they constitute scientific evidence for a genuine perceptual faculty operating beyond the known senses.

Extra-Sensory Perception: Part II. The Experimental Results: Chapter 3. A General Survey

Related pages View as graph →