Abstract

Four studies (each with 30 trials) using a manual ganzfeld are reported here. The studies incorporated measures of belief, personality, cognitive function, interpersonal factors, and target variables, all of which had been hypothesized to relate to the occurrence of psi in the ganzfeld. A nonauditory monitored series gave a 20% hit rate, but the three subsequent auditory-monitored studies gave a combined hit rate of 40%. Participants reporting subjective paranormal experiences (recruited from New Age groups and via an advertisement for those having paranormal experiences) scored at a much higher rate than psychology students. The repeaters (who came back for a second session) also did well. Further analysis found psi-hitting to relate to scores on the Sheep-Goat Scale and to scores on both subscales of the Magical Ideation Scale. Whereas Defense Mechanism Test scores failed to relate significantly to psi scores, "Feeling" as a personality type on the Myers-Briggs Type I!ndicator did. A target factor of "change in emotional tone" was also found to relate significantly to psi-hitting. Knowledge of these contingencies may help to explain the varying success of ganzfeld replications.