Resolution in remote viewing studies: Mini-targets
July 1979 (Rev.
RESOLUTION I N REMOTE V I E W I N G STUDIES : MINI-TARGETS ABSTRACT
by: H. E. Puthoff
R.
Targ
Radio Physics Laboratory SRI I n t e r n a t i o n a l Menlo P a r k , C a l i f o r n i a 94025
C. T. Tart
w
RESOLUTION IN REMOTE V I E W I N G STUDIES:
MINI-TARGETS
H. E. P u t h o f f , R. T a r g , C. T. T a r t Radio Physics L a b o r a t o r y SRI I n t e r n a t i o n a l Menlo P a r k , C a l i f o r n i a
To o b t a i n a n e s t i m a t e of t h e r e s o l u t i o n c a p a b i l i t y of t h e remoteviewing p r o c e s s , a n e x p e r i m e n t a l series was c a r r i e d o u t i n which a s u b j e c t was asked t o r e n d e r d e s c r i p t i o n s of o b j e c t s hidden i n s m a l l l i g h t - t i g h t metal c o n t a i n e r s (35 mm f i l m c a n s ) . I n p r e p a r a t i o n f o r t h e s e r i e s , a t a r g e t s e l e c t o r , not known t o t h e s u b j e c t and not o t h e r w i s e a s s o c i a t e d w i t h t h i s s t u d y , was asked t o s e l e c t t e n s m a l l o b j e c t s and t o p l a c e each i n a s e p a r a t e 35 mm l i g h t - t i g h t f i l m can. The t a r g e t pool was c o n s t r u c t e d t o c o n t a i n o b j e c t s not p a r t i c u l a r l y d i s t i n c t from one a n o t h e r , s o a s t o circumvent s u b j e c t s t r a t e g i e s based on knowledge of p r e v i o u s t a r g e t s (by f e e d b a c k ) a s t h e series p r o g r e s s e d . The f i l m cans were t h e n t u r n e d over t o a second e x p e r i m e n t e r who, without opening them, numbered them 1 t o 1 0 and s e c u r e d them i n a s a f e . A t t h i s p o i n t a l l i n f o r m a t i o n a s t o f i l m can c o n t e n t s and t a r g e t can number was lost. A t t h e beginning of e a c h t r i a l t h e s u b j e c t was c l o s e t e d w i t h a n experimenter i n a n i s o l a t e d windowless room. A second experimenter t h e n l e f t t h e l a b o r a t o r y , g e n e r a t e d a random number by t h e u s e of t h e randomnumber f u n c t i o n on a hand c a l c u l a t o r , o b t a i n e d t h e a s s o c i a t e d can from t h e t a r g e t p o o l i n t h e s a f e , and took i t t o a convenient l o c a t i o n (not t o l d t o t h e s u b j e c t ) i n a park nearby SRI (about 1 / 8 t h m i l e d i s t a n t ) . The t a r g e t can was t h u s n o t s e e n by t h e s u b j e c t b e f o r e o r d u r i n g t h e experiment; t h e l o c a t i o n of t h e t a r g e t f i l m c a n was known t o t h e s u b j e c t o n l y a s b e i n g on t h e p e r s o n of a n e x p e r i m e n t e r , known t o h e r , outbound t o a n unknown s i t e . The outbound e x p e r i m e n t e r t h e n remained a t t h e remote l o c a t i o n f o r a t e n minute t a r g e t p e r i o d , w i t h t h e f i l m can s t i l l unopened s o t h a t he remained i g n o r a n t of t h e t a r g e t . During t h e t a r g e t p e r i o d t h e s u b j e c t was asked t o l o c a t e t h e outbound e x p e r i m e n t e r and t o d e s c r i b e t h e c o n t e n t s of t h e f i l m can i n h i s p o s s e s s i o n . S i n c e t h e i n v e s t i g a t o r w i t h t h e s u b j e c t was i g n o r a n t of b o t h t h e p a r t i c u l a r t a r g e t and t h e c o n t e n t s of t h e t a r g e t p o o l , he was f r e e t o q u e s t i o n t h e
s u b j e c t about h e r p e r c e p t i o n s w i t h o u t f e a r of cueing. The e n t i r e i n t e r a c t i o n i n t h e l a b o r a t o r y was t a p e r e c o r d e d , and t h e s u b ject was encouraged t o make drawings t o accompany h e r v e r b a l d e s c r i p t i o n of t h e film-can contents. Following t h e t a r g e t p e r i o d , t h e outbound e x p e r i m e n t e r r e t u r n e d t o t h e l a b o r a t o r y , a t which t i m e a l l concerned ( s u b j e c t and e x p e r i m e n t e r s ) l e a r n e d f o r t h e f i r s t time t h e c o n t e n t s of t h e t a r g e t f i l m c a n by opening it. A sequence o f t e n t r i a l s was c a r r i e d o u t . During t h e series t h e t a r g e t cans were used w i t h o u t replacement u n t i l t h e t e n p o s s i b i l i t i e s w e r e exhausted.
To f a c i l i t a t e a n a l y s i s , i t was decided i n advance of t h e e x p e r i m e n t a l s e r i e s t h a t t h e t e n t r i a l s would be broken down i n t o two subgroups of f i v e t r i a l s e a c h . Thus, i n t h e b l i n d rank-order p r o c e d u r e used ( d e s c r i b e d below), a judge was asked t o compare e a c h t a r g e t a g a i n s t f i v e t r a n s c r i p t s - one g e n e r a t e d d u r i n g t h e t a r g e t p e r i o d of i n t e r e s t and f o u r g e n e r a t e d d u r i n g t h e o t h e r t a r g e t p e r i o d s of t h e subgroup. I n p r e p a r a t i o n f o r t h e judging of e a c h subgroup, t h e s u b j e c t ' s t a p e s were t r a n s c r i b e d . The r e s u l t i n g t r a n s c r i p t s w e r e t h e n e d i t e d o n l y t o t h e e x t e n t of d e l e t i n g i n f o r m a t i o n which might a c t a s a r t i f a c t u a l cues t o a judge, such a s r e f e r n c e s t o o t h e r t a r g e t s , o r p h r a s e s which might i n d i c a t e t h e temporal o r d e r of t h e t r a n s c r i p t s . The t r a n s c r i p t s and f i l m can t a r g e t s , each i n t h e i r own random o r d e r d i f f e r e n t from t h e o r d e r of t a r g e t u s a g e , were t h e n t u r n e d o v e r t o a n independent judge n o t o t h e r w i s e a s s o c i a t e d w i t h t h e e x p e r i m e n t a l s e r i e s . The judge was i n s t r u c t e d t o b l i n d rank o r d e r , on a s c a l e 1-5 ( b e s t t o w o r s t match), each of t h e f i v e t r a n s c r i p t s a g a i n s t each of t h e f i v e f i l m can t a r g e t s i n e a c h subgroup, g e n e r a t i n g 5 X 5 m a t r i c e s . I n t h e two s e r i e s of f i v e e a c h , f o u r w e r e d i r e c t l y matched i n t h e f i r s t s e r i e s , two i n t h e second. S i n c e t h e rank o r d e r i n g s by a s i n g l e judge a r e not i n d e p e n d e n t , t h e r e s u l t i n g m a t r i c e s w e r e a n a l y z e d u s i n g S c o t t ' s e x a c t c a l c u l a t i o n method i n v o l v i n g a d i r e c t count o f permutations (C. S c o t t , JSPR 46, pp. 79-90, 1972). For t h e two matrices, r e s p e c t i v e l y , w e o b t a i n e d by d i r e c t count p1 = 2/5: = 0.017, p2 = 35/5: = 0.292, one t a i l e d . Combining t h e r e s u l t s of t h e 2 subgroups u s i n g t h e c o n s e r v a t i v e method d e v i s e d by Eddington (R. R o s e n t h a l , Psych. B u l l . 8 5 , pp. 185-193, 1 9 7 8 ) , w e o b t a i n a n o v e r a l l p r o b a b i l i t y of p = (xp)N/N: = (pl + p2)2/2 = 0.047, one t a i l e d . Thus t h e e x p e r i m e n t a l s e r i e s a s a whole reached s i g n i f i c a n c e , w i t h t h e bulk of t h e
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s i g n i f i c a n c e being g e n e r a t e d by t h e f i r s t subgroup which was i n d e p e n d e n t l y significant
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A s examples of t h e q u a l i t y of d e s c r i p t i o n s o b t a i n e d , t h e r e s u l t s
g e n e r a t e d i n t h e f i r s t subgroup of f i v e c o n t a i n q u o t e s from t h e s u b j e c t ' s f i r s t paragraph of each d e s c r i p t i o n a s f o l l o w s : For a s p o o l and a p i n , " 1 t ' s d e f i n i t e l y something t h i n and l o n g w i t h l i k e a n a i l head a t t h e e n d ; " f o r a c u r l e d u p l e a f : "a n a u t i l u s shape w i t h a t a i l ; " f o r a l e a t h e r b e l t k e y r i n g : "The s t r o n g e s t image I g e t i s l i k e a b e l t ; " f o r a can of l i g h t b e i g e ; " f o r a g r e y and w h i t e sand: " l i k e a m i n i a t u r e tower i t ' s o r g a n i c and has been a l i v e q u i l l : "grey and b l a c k and w h i t e p o i n t e d o r s l i g h t l y rounded o f f a t t h e t o p open o r p o i n t e d a t t h e bottom."
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W e t h u s o b t a i n e d evidence t h a t s m a l l o b j e c t s can be d i s c r i m i n a t e d by p s i p r o c e s s e s , and t h a t t h e channel f u n c t i o n s down t o a t l e a s t t h e o r d e r of a few m i l l i m e t e r s s p a t i a l r e s o l u t i o n . Furthermore, g i v e n t h a t a l l e x p e r i m e n t e r s , i n c l u d i n g t h e outbound experimenter w i t h t h e t a r g e t , w e r e b l i n d a s t o b o t h t h e p a r t i c u l a r t a r g e t and t h e c o n t e n t s of t h e t a r g e t p o o l , w e a r e l e d t o conclude t h a t e i t h e r (1) t h e s u c c e s s f u l u s e of l i g h t t i g h t f i l m cans i n d i c a t e s t h a t t h e l i g h t l e v e l r e q u i r e d t o i l l u m i n a t e t h e t a r g e t can be v a n i s h i n g l y s m a l l , o r ( 2 ) t h e primary knformation channel i s p r e c o g n i t i o n of t h e feedback. F u r t h e r work w i l l be r e q u i r e d t o d i f f e r e n t i a t e between t h e two.
RESOLUTION I N REMOTE V I E W I N G STUDIES : MINI-TARGETS ABSTRACT
by: H. E. Puthoff
R.
Targ
Radio Physics Laboratory SRI I n t e r n a t i o n a l Menlo P a r k , C a l i f o r n i a 94025
C. T. Tart
w
RESOLUTION IN REMOTE V I E W I N G STUDIES:
MINI-TARGETS
H. E. P u t h o f f , R. T a r g , C. T. T a r t Radio Physics L a b o r a t o r y SRI I n t e r n a t i o n a l Menlo P a r k , C a l i f o r n i a
To o b t a i n a n e s t i m a t e of t h e r e s o l u t i o n c a p a b i l i t y of t h e remoteviewing p r o c e s s , a n e x p e r i m e n t a l series was c a r r i e d o u t i n which a s u b j e c t was asked t o r e n d e r d e s c r i p t i o n s of o b j e c t s hidden i n s m a l l l i g h t - t i g h t metal c o n t a i n e r s (35 mm f i l m c a n s ) . I n p r e p a r a t i o n f o r t h e s e r i e s , a t a r g e t s e l e c t o r , not known t o t h e s u b j e c t and not o t h e r w i s e a s s o c i a t e d w i t h t h i s s t u d y , was asked t o s e l e c t t e n s m a l l o b j e c t s and t o p l a c e each i n a s e p a r a t e 35 mm l i g h t - t i g h t f i l m can. The t a r g e t pool was c o n s t r u c t e d t o c o n t a i n o b j e c t s not p a r t i c u l a r l y d i s t i n c t from one a n o t h e r , s o a s t o circumvent s u b j e c t s t r a t e g i e s based on knowledge of p r e v i o u s t a r g e t s (by f e e d b a c k ) a s t h e series p r o g r e s s e d . The f i l m cans were t h e n t u r n e d over t o a second e x p e r i m e n t e r who, without opening them, numbered them 1 t o 1 0 and s e c u r e d them i n a s a f e . A t t h i s p o i n t a l l i n f o r m a t i o n a s t o f i l m can c o n t e n t s and t a r g e t can number was lost. A t t h e beginning of e a c h t r i a l t h e s u b j e c t was c l o s e t e d w i t h a n experimenter i n a n i s o l a t e d windowless room. A second experimenter t h e n l e f t t h e l a b o r a t o r y , g e n e r a t e d a random number by t h e u s e of t h e randomnumber f u n c t i o n on a hand c a l c u l a t o r , o b t a i n e d t h e a s s o c i a t e d can from t h e t a r g e t p o o l i n t h e s a f e , and took i t t o a convenient l o c a t i o n (not t o l d t o t h e s u b j e c t ) i n a park nearby SRI (about 1 / 8 t h m i l e d i s t a n t ) . The t a r g e t can was t h u s n o t s e e n by t h e s u b j e c t b e f o r e o r d u r i n g t h e experiment; t h e l o c a t i o n of t h e t a r g e t f i l m c a n was known t o t h e s u b j e c t o n l y a s b e i n g on t h e p e r s o n of a n e x p e r i m e n t e r , known t o h e r , outbound t o a n unknown s i t e . The outbound e x p e r i m e n t e r t h e n remained a t t h e remote l o c a t i o n f o r a t e n minute t a r g e t p e r i o d , w i t h t h e f i l m can s t i l l unopened s o t h a t he remained i g n o r a n t of t h e t a r g e t . During t h e t a r g e t p e r i o d t h e s u b j e c t was asked t o l o c a t e t h e outbound e x p e r i m e n t e r and t o d e s c r i b e t h e c o n t e n t s of t h e f i l m can i n h i s p o s s e s s i o n . S i n c e t h e i n v e s t i g a t o r w i t h t h e s u b j e c t was i g n o r a n t of b o t h t h e p a r t i c u l a r t a r g e t and t h e c o n t e n t s of t h e t a r g e t p o o l , he was f r e e t o q u e s t i o n t h e
s u b j e c t about h e r p e r c e p t i o n s w i t h o u t f e a r of cueing. The e n t i r e i n t e r a c t i o n i n t h e l a b o r a t o r y was t a p e r e c o r d e d , and t h e s u b ject was encouraged t o make drawings t o accompany h e r v e r b a l d e s c r i p t i o n of t h e film-can contents. Following t h e t a r g e t p e r i o d , t h e outbound e x p e r i m e n t e r r e t u r n e d t o t h e l a b o r a t o r y , a t which t i m e a l l concerned ( s u b j e c t and e x p e r i m e n t e r s ) l e a r n e d f o r t h e f i r s t time t h e c o n t e n t s of t h e t a r g e t f i l m c a n by opening it. A sequence o f t e n t r i a l s was c a r r i e d o u t . During t h e series t h e t a r g e t cans were used w i t h o u t replacement u n t i l t h e t e n p o s s i b i l i t i e s w e r e exhausted.
To f a c i l i t a t e a n a l y s i s , i t was decided i n advance of t h e e x p e r i m e n t a l s e r i e s t h a t t h e t e n t r i a l s would be broken down i n t o two subgroups of f i v e t r i a l s e a c h . Thus, i n t h e b l i n d rank-order p r o c e d u r e used ( d e s c r i b e d below), a judge was asked t o compare e a c h t a r g e t a g a i n s t f i v e t r a n s c r i p t s - one g e n e r a t e d d u r i n g t h e t a r g e t p e r i o d of i n t e r e s t and f o u r g e n e r a t e d d u r i n g t h e o t h e r t a r g e t p e r i o d s of t h e subgroup. I n p r e p a r a t i o n f o r t h e judging of e a c h subgroup, t h e s u b j e c t ' s t a p e s were t r a n s c r i b e d . The r e s u l t i n g t r a n s c r i p t s w e r e t h e n e d i t e d o n l y t o t h e e x t e n t of d e l e t i n g i n f o r m a t i o n which might a c t a s a r t i f a c t u a l cues t o a judge, such a s r e f e r n c e s t o o t h e r t a r g e t s , o r p h r a s e s which might i n d i c a t e t h e temporal o r d e r of t h e t r a n s c r i p t s . The t r a n s c r i p t s and f i l m can t a r g e t s , each i n t h e i r own random o r d e r d i f f e r e n t from t h e o r d e r of t a r g e t u s a g e , were t h e n t u r n e d o v e r t o a n independent judge n o t o t h e r w i s e a s s o c i a t e d w i t h t h e e x p e r i m e n t a l s e r i e s . The judge was i n s t r u c t e d t o b l i n d rank o r d e r , on a s c a l e 1-5 ( b e s t t o w o r s t match), each of t h e f i v e t r a n s c r i p t s a g a i n s t each of t h e f i v e f i l m can t a r g e t s i n e a c h subgroup, g e n e r a t i n g 5 X 5 m a t r i c e s . I n t h e two s e r i e s of f i v e e a c h , f o u r w e r e d i r e c t l y matched i n t h e f i r s t s e r i e s , two i n t h e second. S i n c e t h e rank o r d e r i n g s by a s i n g l e judge a r e not i n d e p e n d e n t , t h e r e s u l t i n g m a t r i c e s w e r e a n a l y z e d u s i n g S c o t t ' s e x a c t c a l c u l a t i o n method i n v o l v i n g a d i r e c t count o f permutations (C. S c o t t , JSPR 46, pp. 79-90, 1972). For t h e two matrices, r e s p e c t i v e l y , w e o b t a i n e d by d i r e c t count p1 = 2/5: = 0.017, p2 = 35/5: = 0.292, one t a i l e d . Combining t h e r e s u l t s of t h e 2 subgroups u s i n g t h e c o n s e r v a t i v e method d e v i s e d by Eddington (R. R o s e n t h a l , Psych. B u l l . 8 5 , pp. 185-193, 1 9 7 8 ) , w e o b t a i n a n o v e r a l l p r o b a b i l i t y of p = (xp)N/N: = (pl + p2)2/2 = 0.047, one t a i l e d . Thus t h e e x p e r i m e n t a l s e r i e s a s a whole reached s i g n i f i c a n c e , w i t h t h e bulk of t h e
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s i g n i f i c a n c e being g e n e r a t e d by t h e f i r s t subgroup which was i n d e p e n d e n t l y significant
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A s examples of t h e q u a l i t y of d e s c r i p t i o n s o b t a i n e d , t h e r e s u l t s
g e n e r a t e d i n t h e f i r s t subgroup of f i v e c o n t a i n q u o t e s from t h e s u b j e c t ' s f i r s t paragraph of each d e s c r i p t i o n a s f o l l o w s : For a s p o o l and a p i n , " 1 t ' s d e f i n i t e l y something t h i n and l o n g w i t h l i k e a n a i l head a t t h e e n d ; " f o r a c u r l e d u p l e a f : "a n a u t i l u s shape w i t h a t a i l ; " f o r a l e a t h e r b e l t k e y r i n g : "The s t r o n g e s t image I g e t i s l i k e a b e l t ; " f o r a can of l i g h t b e i g e ; " f o r a g r e y and w h i t e sand: " l i k e a m i n i a t u r e tower i t ' s o r g a n i c and has been a l i v e q u i l l : "grey and b l a c k and w h i t e p o i n t e d o r s l i g h t l y rounded o f f a t t h e t o p open o r p o i n t e d a t t h e bottom."
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W e t h u s o b t a i n e d evidence t h a t s m a l l o b j e c t s can be d i s c r i m i n a t e d by p s i p r o c e s s e s , and t h a t t h e channel f u n c t i o n s down t o a t l e a s t t h e o r d e r of a few m i l l i m e t e r s s p a t i a l r e s o l u t i o n . Furthermore, g i v e n t h a t a l l e x p e r i m e n t e r s , i n c l u d i n g t h e outbound experimenter w i t h t h e t a r g e t , w e r e b l i n d a s t o b o t h t h e p a r t i c u l a r t a r g e t and t h e c o n t e n t s of t h e t a r g e t p o o l , w e a r e l e d t o conclude t h a t e i t h e r (1) t h e s u c c e s s f u l u s e of l i g h t t i g h t f i l m cans i n d i c a t e s t h a t t h e l i g h t l e v e l r e q u i r e d t o i l l u m i n a t e t h e t a r g e t can be v a n i s h i n g l y s m a l l , o r ( 2 ) t h e primary knformation channel i s p r e c o g n i t i o n of t h e feedback. F u r t h e r work w i l l be r e q u i r e d t o d i f f e r e n t i a t e between t h e two.
