Extra-Sensory Perception: Part II. The Experimental Results: Chapter 5. A. J. Linzmayer

This is an excerpt from J.B. Rhine's 1934 monograph *Extra-Sensory Perception*, the foundational scientific text of parapsychology research at Duke University, written in the tradition of empirical psychology and psychical research. The work documents controlled laboratory experiments testing whether a subject — here, undergraduate A.J. Linzmayer — can correctly identify hidden Zener cards at rates statistically far exceeding chance, as evidence for telepathy and clairvoyance. Rhine presents detailed trial-by-trial statistics showing Linzmayer achieving hit rates roughly double chance expectation across hundreds of trials, with odds against chance reaching into the trillions-to-one range under conditions designed to exclude sensory cues (screened cards, ambient noise to mask whispers, eyes averted). A distinctive feature is Rhine's methodological candor: he describes not only the impressive positive results but also deliberate experiments to *suppress* Linzmayer's scoring by exploiting his psychological state — pushing him to work while fatigued and reluctant — producing consistent below-chance results he interprets as further evidence that the effect is real and subject-dependent rather than artifactual. The excerpt is notably careful about fraud prevention, documenting surveillance, motor noise to prevent auditory leakage, and new unhandled cards, while also candidly acknowledging the subject's suggestibility and mental-state dependence as variables.

Extra-Sensory Perception: Part II. The Experimental Results: Chapter 5. A. J. Linzmayer

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