Abstract

During the last decade ESP research has put less emphasis on forced-choice tasks such as card-guessing and more on such "receiver-optimization" procedures as the free-response method. This, in turn, has led to the "psi -conducive-state" theory which claims that ESP is more readily detected when the S is in a mildly altered and internally directed state of awareness than when he is in normal consciousness. However, many of the studies which support the psi-conducive-state hypothesis have been designed in such a way that secondary variables may have contributed to success. In hypnosis, for example, possible sources of uncontrolled variables include personality differences, volunteer-S bias, interpersonal relationships, and S expectancy. These areas are also shown to have relevance to other psi-conducive-states research such as sensory isolation (ganzfeld) and ESP-meditation studies. It is suggested that research into psi-conducive states has not been refined enought to allow acceptance of a general conclusion that these states are necessarily psi-conducive. Better designed studies are needed to isolate the pertinent variables affecting research on psi-conducive states. (39 ref)