Abstract

Investigated whether an E's expectancy could be manipulated toward a desired end goal of positive or negative ESP scoring by Ss. A total of 6 college students acted as Es, 2 in a pilot and 4 in a confirmatory study. Each E administered a clairvoyance test to a group of 20 Ss. The test consisted of 1 run of 24 trials, and high-frequency words were used as targets. Half of the Es were told that the test was highly psi-conducive and that they could expect positive scoring from their Ss. The other Es were told that the test consistently elicited psi-missing and that they could expect only negative scoring. Marginally significant results in the pilot study supported the hypothesis that an E's expectancy can influence the direction of Ss' ESP scores. In the confirmatory experiment, as predicted, the Ss tested by the Es who expected psi-hitting scored significantly above chance, while those tested by the Es who expected psi -missing scored significantly below chance. A significant difference was found between the 2 E-expectancy groups in both series. (15 ref)