Morphic minds: sensory synchronization, inversality and the nature of

ESP

By Amira Sagher

University of Northampton

June 2012

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 Declaration

“This dissertation is an account of my own work, undertaken as a student in the

University of Northampton, Division of Psychology and it includes nothing which
is the outcome of work done in collaboration. No part of this dissertation has
been or is being submitted for any other degree, diploma or other qualification
at this or any other University and specific acknowledgment is made in the text
where I have availed myself of the work of others.”

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 Acknowledgements

My passion is for understanding the shared nature of human consciousness and

how we can surpass the limitations of typical self perception. I express my deep
gratitude to Paul Brackenridge (1968-2002) for his unique life and insights in to
the human mind.

I give my deepest thanks and appreciation to my mother, Margaret Sagher, for

her love, support and continuous belief in me. My deepest thanks also to my
Aunt, Patricia May, who funded this MSc and to my father, for his inspiration.

I would also like to thank Chris Roe for the time he has given to this
Dissertation. My gratitude also to Manos Tsakiris, for his inspiration during my
early academic career and to Richard Hudson, for his encouragement back in
2002 to pursue with psychology in the first place.

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 Table of Contents
Figures and Tables ........................................................................................iv
Abstract .......................................................................................................1

1. Introduction ...........................................................................................2-5
1.1 Our five sense reality ...........................................................................2
1.2 Emotion and the senses ....................................................................2-3
1.3 Sensory synchronisation and the embodying mind ................................3-4
1.4 Sensory priming and the effects on ambiguous stimuli ..........................4-5

2. Extrasensory perception.........................................................................6-12
2.1 Introduction to ESP .............................................................................6
2.2 Scopaesthesia: the sense of being stared at.........................................6-7
2.3 Zener card studies............................................................................7-9
2.4 Precognition and retroactive cognition ...............................................9-10
2.5 EEG studies and preconscious ESP ..................................................10-12

3. Mechanisms by which ESP may occur .....................................................12-22

3.1 Morphic fields and the hypothesis of Formative Causation ..................12-14
3.2 Holographic theories .....................................................................14-15
3.3 Energy Transfer theory ..................................................................15-16
3.4 Quantum entanglement......................................................................17
3.5 Empathy and we-centric space ............................................................18
3.6 Resonance and target entropy ........................................................19-20
3.7 Geomagnetic activity and carrier waves ...........................................20-22

4. Aims of the present study .....................................................................22-24

4.1 Optimising performance using sensory synchronisation ......................22-23
4.2 Capturing different forms of ESP..........................................................23
3.3 Comparing empathically-related pairs, versus strangers..........................23

5. Method ..............................................................................................24-31
5.1 Participants....................................................................................24-25
5.2 Design ...............................................................................................25
5.3 Choice of target stimuli....................................................................25-26
5.4 Empathic exercises ..............................................................................26
5.5 Apparatus and materials ..................................................................27-28
5.6 Procedure ......................................................................................28-31
5.6i Meditation tuning-in......................................................................29
5.6ii Trials ..........................................................................................29
5.6iii Empathic exercises ..................................................................30-31

6. Results...............................................................................................31-41
6.1 Clairvoyance/telepathy ....................................................................32-34
6.2 Precognition analysis.......................................................................35-36

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 6.3 Retrocognition analysis....................................................................36-38
6.4 Individual pairs (Z scores) ...............................................................39-41

7. Discussion ..........................................................................................42-53
7.1 General discussion ..........................................................................42-48
7.2 Inverse theory ...............................................................................49-53

8. Conclusion..........................................................................................53-55

References
Appendices

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 List of Figures and Tables

Figure 1. Bar chart showing percentages of first choice clairvoyant hits ..............32

Table 1. Frequency of clairvoyant hits ...........................................................34

Figure 2. Bar chart showing percentages of precognitive hits ............................36

Figure 3. Bar chart showing percentages of retrocognitive hits ..........................37

Table 2. Frequency of precognitive and retrocognitive hits ...............................38

Table 3. Individual Z score distributions ........................................................40

Figure 5. Line graph of individual Z score distribution.......................................41

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 Abstract

In the enfacement illusion, synchronized multisensory stimulation morphs the visual

perception of self and ‘other’, in a way that may parallel the induction of empathy.
The present study hypothesized that participants would perform better on remote
sensory perception tasks following empathic exercises that comprised synchronised
multisensory stimulation. Twelve empathically related pairs completed forty trials
which measured the prevalence of precognition and clairvoyance. In each pair an
‘agent’ was exposed to a fragrance while the perceiver reported on this from
another room. Analyses revealed significantly worse than chance precognitive
performance before sensory synchronization, which increased significantly following
sensory synchronization. These results were reversed in the clairvoyant analyses,
explained in terms of a theory of inversality.

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 Introduction
1.1 Our five sense reality
We perceive the external world through the five senses of taste, touch, sight,
sound and olfaction. Aristotle (384-322 BC) describes these senses as physiological
events that enable a sense of qualia and identification with the external world
(Rosen, 1961). Aristotle theorized, that when a human being looks at an apple, the
sensory organs of the eye have the potential to take on the form of the apple, to
become like the apple. While modern psychology distinguishes between sensory
and psychological perception, Aristotle explained perception simply as an event in
the sense organs (Coren & Ward, 1989).
St. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) believed that it was through the sensus
communis, the common sense, located in the heart area, that physiological events
could become meaningful percepts (Coren & Ward, 1989). According to Aquinas, all
human knowledge is based upon the input of the senses. Yet, sensory information,
was thought to be the result of transferring an objective, accurate picture of the
external reality to an internal representation of it. As such, perceptions cannot be
fixed but must be a product of our internal representations. It is thought that
individual sensory events are organized in to a meaningful holistic perception,
based on our previous experiences (Gibson, 1950).

1.2 Emotion and the senses

There is a long history of research that explores how individuals extract and
interpret information from their sensory systems (Coren & Ward, 1989; Gibson,
1950; Goodale, 2008; Marcel, 1983). How, for example, can inner, subjective
representations of the environment, correspond to the objectively measured
physical events in the environment (Coren & Ward, 1989)? While similar regions of
the brain process different sensory information (such as visual and auditory
events), these sensory distinctions between sight and sound are only parsed out at
the (relatively late) cortical level, to produce conscious perception (Bulkin & Groh,
2006). Information coming in through the senses, is processed dynamically, beyond
the initial sensory input.

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 It is understood that memory translates otherwise anomalous information in
to meaningful knowledge based on its emotional relevance and somatic
representation within the physical body (Broughton, 2006; Damasio, 1996).
Damasio (1996) argues that emotion is a state of sensory perception, which is
experienced in the body, whereas feeling is a higher order processing of sensory
events which allows the individual to interpret their emotional sensations. In this
way, the physical body could be described as a filtration system for a number of
potential sensory events that are interpreted through memory.
The nature of our five sense reality and how we come to share and be
deluded by perception (e.g. as in the case of optic illusions) is of importance to a
number of fields of scientific enquiry. There is also a moral duty for scientists to
consider seriously, evidence which may not at first appear to fit their beliefs, but
which could make significant advancements in our understanding of social and
individual behaviour, at the level of mind as much as matter. It was John Locke
(1602-1704) who said, if we want to understand the mind, we first have to
understand the senses (Coren & Ward, 1989).

1.3 Sensory synchronisation and the embodying mind

Through synchronising with the facial patterns and body language of others
during social communication, different individuals are able to share in the emotional
states of others (Barsade, 2002; Chartrand & Bargh 1999; Decety & Hodges, 2006;
Meltzoff & Moore, 1997; Schippers, Roebroeck, Renken, Nanetti, & Keysers, 2010;
Tomasello, Carpenter, Call, Behne, & Moll, 2005). Studies have shown how
conscious perception may emerge through the synchronous firing of neural
assemblies within the gamma band frequency (Bhattacharya & Petsche, 2005;
Melloni, Molina, Pena, Torres, Singer, & Rodriguez, 2007; Singer, 1999; Zohar &
Marshall, 2000), whereby re-entrant (feedback) pathways enable the interaction
between top down (semantic) and bottom up (sensory) processing (See Sarter,
Givens & Bruno, 2001). In this way, local features of a stimulus can be perceived
with meaning. Throughout the different levels of scientific analysis, synchronous
activity between entities and/or ensembles is involved in perception.

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 Synchronising sensory stimulation to influence the perception of self has
been the focus of recent Consciousness research (e.g. Tsakiris & Haggard, 2005;
Tsakiris, Hesse, Boy, Haggard & Fink, 2007). The Rubber Hand Illusion (RHI)
demonstrates how the representation of one’s physical body in space, can extend to
a sense of ownership of a prosthetic hand (Botvinick & Cohen, 1998). By placing
the rubber hand in the same position as an individual’s own hand and stroking it
synchronously with the participant’s real hand, participants began to perceive the
rubber hand as their own (Tsakiris & Haggard, 2005). When the rubber hand was
struck with a hammer, participants showed significant skin conductance changes
and some participants even reported a conscious experience of pain (Armel &
Ramachandran, 2003).
A similar experiment was conducted using a recorded image of a person’s
face being stroked. Participants were stroked on the cheek with a cotton bud while
viewing a prerecorded image of another person receiving the same stimulation. The
stimulation was applied either in synchrony with the pre-recorded image or
asynchronously. Participants were then shown images of their own face using
software that slowly morphed in to images of the prerecorded person’s face.
Following synchronous tactile stimulation, participants were more likely to perceive
the other participant’s face as their own, compared to trials that followed
asynchronous stimulation (Tsakiris, 2008). This enfacement illusion is thought to
occur through a three-way interaction between vision, touch and proprioception.

1.4 Sensory priming and the effects on ambiguous stimuli

Phillips-Silver and Trainor (2007) demonstrated how synchronizing to
rhythmic sounds resulted in a transfer of learning, whereby participants perceived
an ambiguous sound in the pattern of the previous rhythm they were exposed to.
Rhythmic body movements may be controlled by neuronal circuits called central
pattern generators (CPGs) (see Iwasaki & Zheng, 2006), which function via sensory
feedback. However, the patterns generated induce rhythmic motion at the body’s
own natural frequency. This implies that the rhythms observed in body movement
are entraining to an internal timekeeping mechanism, which is enabled through
(external) sensory information (Iwasaki & Zheng, 2006). Perception of auditory

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stimuli in the environment is shaped by their synchronization to internal processes,
which in turn primes the perception of subsequent ambiguous stimuli.
In a study conducted by Amorim, Isableu and Jarraya (2006) participants
were asked to perform a series of mental rotation tasks using various different
targets. When the targets were human figures, presented in unfamiliar postures,
participants were more accurate and faster in responding, compared to a 3-D cube
of the same orientation. When human figures were presented in impossible body
postures, the response time increased as a function of angular disparity. When desk
lamps replaced human figures, despite clear object ends that defined its spatial
dimensions, the response times were much slower, indicative of a piecemeal
process of reconfiguration. This suggests that the frame of reference being used by
participants during mental rotation tasks was not simply a spatial co-ordination
system, but rather a motoric embodiment, associating a qualia of what it is ‘like’ to
perform the action. In contrast, an object quite unlike the human sensory form, is
represented and understood differently by the brain.
Amorim et al., (2006) explain how a mirror neuron system simulates the
mental rotation tasks, using a pre-existing representation of one’s own body
schema. Effectively, motoric embodiment enables the participants to experience the
sensation of possible and impossible action. Given that a sense of ownership can be
represented by the interaction of sensory information (Amorim et al., 2006;
Botvinick & Cohen, 1998; Tsakiris, 2008) that is synonymous with emotion
(Damasio, 1996) then the ability to consciously embody the physical environment
through the extension of the five senses may be only one form of extended
perception. The human body is not a closed physical system, but one that is in
continuous exchange of matter, energy and information with its environment (Beal,
1996; Wackermann, Seiter, Kiebel, & Walach, 2003). If the emotional map is also
the sensory map (Damasio, 1996) then sensory synchronization may also result in
the sharing of emotional states.

2. Extrasensory Perception
2.1 Introduction to ESP

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 Extrasensory perception is an umbrella term describing the capacity for
anomalous information to be ‘received’ beyond typical methods of communication.
The sense of being stared at (formally called scopaesthesia) (Titchener, 1898, as
cited in Sheldrake, 2005), thinking about someone just before they call
(precognition) and perceiving the experience of another remote person
(clairvoyance/telepathy/remote viewing) are examples of ESP expressed in different
forms (Braude, 1978). More specifically, clairvoyance has been described as sharing
the emotional or sensory states of another, while telepathy has been defined as
direct mind to mind information transfer (Beichler, 1999; Braude, 1978). Psi is the
term used to refer to anomalous information transfer (see Braude, 1978). However
this term implies that information is somehow sent by one person and received by
another. In contrast, naturalistic sharing in the typical sensory world, does not
seem to be a disjunctive, cognitive process. Empathy for example is thought to
emerge from the unwitting mimicry of others’ sensory and facial expressions
(Decety & Hodges, 2006; Gallese, 2003). Sharing feeling states with others may be
an inherent, unconscious aspect of human communication, whether the individual
actually becomes conscious of it or not.

2.2 Scopaesthesia: the sense of being stared at.

Experiments conducted by Sheldrake (2005, 2003, 1998a) have shown the
autonomic nervous system activity of one person can be strongly correlated with
the focused intention of a spatially separate second person (Braud, Shafer &
Andrews, 1990). During randomized controlled trials, one participant either stared
at the back of a second participant or looked away and thought of something else.
Participants were asked to guess when they were being looked at. On average,
55% of responses were correct, as opposed to 50% expected by chance
(Sheldrake, 2005). Although these results demonstrate that something is going on,
a substantial amount of participants did not guess correctly. Given that belief in the
existence of a phenomenon may be a criterion for the success of these types of
tasks (Roe & Holt, 2006; Wiseman & Schlitz, 1997) this may have been
compromised by the instruction to guess. However, guesses are, by default, the
product of the person’s unconscious (as opposed to knowing or attempting to work

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something out). Sheldrake explains the results in terms of a collective unconscious
field (Jung, 1960), which the participants may be tuning in to/resonating with.
Although Lobach and Bierman (2004) did not obtain significant results from
their conceptual replication of Sheldrake’s design, slightly different methods were
used, such as the positioning of the staree in relation to the agent. However,
Lobach and Bierman reported that when participants were informed that there was
a hidden camera in the room, their skin conductance showed marginally higher
than expected values during stare trials, compared to non-stare trials. Through a
different form of attenuation to the environment, (awareness of a hidden camera)
ESP was somehow elicited. As such, ESP as an unconscious event, may be taking
place all the time, through a person’s attenuation or tuning-in to some aspect of the
environment. Yet it may take some knowledge that it might be there. Perhaps this
is why participants or experimenters who are ‘believers’ may obtain significant
results on ESP trials, while those who are skeptics do not (Wiseman & Schlitz,
1997). The challenge is not necessarily to discern whether ESP exists, but rather
how its event can be made conscious. Given the human being’s natural tendency to
embody its environment (Lenggenhager, Tadi, Metzinger & Blanke, 2007; Tsakiris,
2008) the bias of belief may be an insightful aspect of the phenomenon.

2.3 Zener card studies

Karl Zener, a Psychologist and graduate of Harvard University, devised a card
guessing experiment with his colleague, J.B. Rhine at Duke University. The deck
consisted of twenty-five cards, each displaying one of five symbols (a cross, a
square, a circle, wavy lines or a triangle). During the telepathy studies, a card was
drawn from the deck by the agent participant, observed by the agent and then
placed on the table, while the remote participant was asked to guess which card the
agent had picked. Studies produced consistently significant results (Rhine, 1969).
In 1940 Rhine and his colleagues published a meta-analysis of fifty card guessing
studies, over half of which were conducted by laboratories other than Duke
university, which showed that sixty-one percent of the studies had demonstrated
significant results.
In a famous variation of the zener card experiment, a participant who had
showed promising ESP ability in previous studies (Hubert Pearce) was studied by a

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research assistant from Rhine’s laboratory, (J.G. Pratt). The Pearce-Pratt studies
replicated the success of original experiments, finding interesting results with
variations in the spatial distance between the participants. When Pearce was
located 250 yards away, as opposed to being less than a yard from the cards or
100 yards away, there was a large increase in performance (see Rhine, 1969).
However there also seemed to be an overall decline effect in Pearce’s performance
as time continued. This persisted regardless of the different distance conditions.
A similar pattern was reported from the data of Adam Linzmayer. Linzmayer
was a participant at Rhine’s laboratory, who had been selected for study based on
previous extraordinarily ESP performance. After thousands of trials yielding
significant results, Linzmayer’s ESP began to go in to decline without apparent
reason. The decline effect is a consistent observation in other studies (Haraldsson &
Houtkooper, 1995) not limited to the field of parapsychology either (Lehrer, 2010).
The conclusions drawn imply that the fluctuations in results may be part of a wider
phenomenon. In itself, the decline effect became an anomaly of interest.
The impressive results from Rhine’s laboratory attracted a lot of criticism
from other scientists (see Irwin, 1999). These included using closed deck cards (not
replacing cards in to the deck and reshuffling), which may have facilitated card
counting and experimenter fraud. Furthermore, some trials were not randomized.
However, without feedback as to whether the card perceived remotely was correct,
it is not clear how card counting would be possible without involving ESP. Scientific
methodologies have also improved since these studies (see Beichler, 1999) while
consistently producing evidence for different expressions of ESP (Bem, 2011;
Broughton, 2006; Radin & Schlitz, 2005). Indeed, data from the Pearce-Pratt
experiments were re-analysed years later and a similar decline in performance that
was originally observed across trials, could be observed within trials. This decline
was followed by a slight increase in performance towards the end of the trial (see
Irwin, 1999) that is a common observation in memory tasks (Lupien, Gillin, &
Hauger, 1999; McLaughlin, 1987; Sandi, Loscertales, & Guanza, 1997). If the
original results were fraudulent, how can these later analyses produce significant
results using a different rationale?
The acceptance of ESP as a valid and measureable phenomenon, has enabled

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the focus of attention to be placed on exploring the phenomenon better. Braude
(1978) pointed out that one of the challenges for this field of research was the lack
of reliable measures. For example, while many card studies were designed to
measure telepathy (e.g. Rhine, 1969), later studies have showed that the same
results could be achieved even when there was no agent concentrating on the card,
suggesting a more clairvoyant like effect. Similarly, a participant may report
correctly on what is inside a sealed envelope, during a study testing for
clairvoyance, but the participant may have achieved this through reading the mind
of the person who placed the object in there (telepathy), or sensing the visual
image of the envelope (clairvoyance). Furthermore, ESP may emerge by visioning
the removal of the object at the end of the trial (precognition) or by visioning the
object being placed in the envelope before the trial (retrocognition).

2.4 Precognition and retrocognition

Precognition describes the ability to report on events that have not yet
happened, whereas retrocognition describes the ability to report on events that
have already happened, but could not have been known by typical means. Indeed,
the capacity for precognition may not be unfamiliar to the brain, which naturally
functions to organize information so that it can best predict future events
(Schacter, Addis, & Buckner, 2007). A meta-analysis carried out by Honorton and
Ferrari (1989) analyzed over 300 precognition studies conducted between 1935 and
1987. 30% of these demonstrated significant results. Honorton and Ferrari reported
that increased effect sizes were associated with factors such as, using participants
who have demonstrated ESP in the past and providing feedback to participants
between trials. In contrast, some research has suggested feedback may hinder
participants’ performance (Thorisson, Skulason & Haraldsson, 1991). Interestingly,
Honorton and Ferrari report a strong decline in the effect sizes of 144 different
studies, which correlated significantly with the time that had elapsed between a
participant’s response and the actual target’s selection. The more time that had
elapsed, the more the effect size appeared to decline. This temporal factor ranged
from a few seconds to a year later.
More recently, experiments carried out by Radin (2004) and others (Bierman,

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2000; Spottiswoode & May, 2003) have measured precognitive-like effects through
the skin’s electrodermal activity (EDA). In Radin’s experiments, each participant
was seated in front of a computer monitor and asked to press a button at will. The
computer then randomly selected a photo that was displayed for a few seconds,
before the screen went blank for ten seconds. The participant was then instructed
to press the button again for the next photo. Participants’ EDA was recorded
throughout the experiment, using electrodes that were placed on their fingers,
which showed greater increases in EDA before emotional photos than before calm
photos. Radin termed this the presentiment effect, given that it was not the result
of conscious reporting, in contrast to precognition.

2.5 EEG studies and pre-conscious ESP

Tart (1963) measured EDA, blood volume, heart rate, and self reports of
recipients, following random electric shocks to a remote agent. While recipients
reacted significantly to the remote shocks, they were not consciously aware of
these events. William Braud and colleagues successfully demonstrated remote,
unconscious influence on participants’ autonomic and Central Nervous System
responses (Braud & Schlitz, 1983). In a study conducted by Grinberg-Zylberbaum,
Delaflo, Attie & Goswami (1994), participants were separated in Faraday Chambers
(shielding from electrical fields) following a meditative tuning in session, while one
participant was exposed to a visual stimulus. VEPs (Visual evoked potentials) are
waves of activity that are elicited through the stimulation of a given participant,
which Grinberg-Zylberabum et al., recorded by Electroencephalogram (EEG). The
results demonstrated how non-stimulated participants presented similar EEG data
to the agent participant during stimulation periods. Grinberg-Zylberbaum et al.,
referred to the correlations as ‘transferred potentials’ which happened only if the
stimulated participant produced a distinct evoked potential. Interestingly, during
the meditative tuning-in sessions, participants’ brain activity appeared to
synchronise to produce the same wave patterns.
Seiter (2001, as cited in Wackermann et al., 2003) replicated Grinberg-
Zylberbaum et al.’s (1994) study (these findings have been translated and reported
by Wackermann et al., 2003). In this experiment, seven pairs of related

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participants (spouses, relatives, or friends) first took part in a tuning-in session,
during which time participants were asked to feel the presence of the other person,
for twenty minutes. Using a checkerboard visual stimulus to elicit VEPs, the EEGs of
participants were recorded while they were separated in acoustically isolated and
electromagnetically shielded rooms. During stimulation periods, non-stimulated
participants showed fluctuations in EEG power, compared to inter-stimulus
intervals. In another condition, unrelated pairs who did not know of each other’s
existence, still demonstrated significant effects when the agent was exposed to
checkerboard or pattern reversal images.
Given that Wackermann et al., measured brain electrical activity, rather than
conscious reporting, these latter results suggest that the intention of the
experiment and perhaps spatial proximity was enough to yield significant results.
However, Hinterburger, Studer, Jäger & Walach (2006) points out that Wackerman
et al. used electromagnetic shielding, while talking about signal transfer. In
Wackermann et al. the effects demonstrated were not considered to be transferred
copies of the evoked potential in the agent participant, rather correlations in the
variance of activity during the stimulation trials. The idea of signals being ‘sent’ and
‘received’ does not fit this level of analysis. Given that similar results were
demonstrated for the unrelated pairs as much as the related pairs, even when they
did not know of each other’s existence, far from being a rare or special
phenomenon, a shared sensory state may actually be the natural function of the
human being; to synchronise remotely as much as proximally, with other members
of our species.
Although original studies from Grinberg-Zylberbaum et al., (1994) have been
replicated (Standish, Johnson, Kozak & Richards, 2001; Standish, Kozak, Johnson &
Richards, 2004; see also Wackermann, 2004), there are challenges when
comparing EEG analyses, as quite often researchers will use different techniques.
These include aggregating and averaging data over different time periods in order
to determine ‘hits’ and ‘misses’ (e.g. Wakckermann, 2004), which may bias the
interpretations made. Some studies have also not offered a viable theoretical
mechanism to explain their findings (e.g. Wackermann et al., 2003). Grinberg-
Zylberbaum et al.’s concept of transferred potentials cannot be supported by their

11
use of correlational analysis, which does not test for directional effect. Furthermore,
the concept of transferred potentials proposed by Grinberg-Zylberabuam et al. rely
upon theories of cause and effect, yet their discussion is framed in terms of
nonlocal (acausal) concepts of quantum entanglement.
A number of researchers have however supported the view that ESP
correlations observed in remote stimulation studies can be explained by modern
quantum theories (see Walach & Stillfried, 2011). In one study, stronger event
related potentials were evoked in a remote participant, when a stronger stimulus
was applied to the agent participant (Radin, 2004). This further supports the notion
that ESP might be the conscious perception of a fundamental shared sensory state.

3. Mechanisms by which ESP may occur

3.1 Morphic fields & the hypothesis of Formative Causation

Morphogensis is an alternative theory to the reductionist explanations of
biological development. In the morphogenetic view, growing organisms are shaped
by organizing fields in and around the form of the organism (Sheldrake, 1987). This
view has been advocated most recently, by the biochemist, parapsychologist and
international author, Rupert Sheldrake (Sheldrake, 1992, 1998b, 2005). Sheldrake
explains how memory interacts with environmental fields, producing a blueprint for
nontypical communication. Sheldrake argues that modern reductionist approaches
do not adequately explain how organisms come to inherit their structure and form.
How, for example, does an oak tree seedling grow in to an oak tree? While the
current paradigm explains heredity in terms of the chemical building blocks needed
for the tree to grow, this does not explain how the oak tree assumes a similar form
again and again.
As Sheldrake points out, Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is the same in different
parts of the body and so DNA cannot explain the difference in form that
distinguishes an arm from a leg. Even single-celled organisms can form complex,
organized structures. Within each organism is a composite of many fields for each
limb, muscle, organ and cell, each with their own field containing their own
memory. The liver is so shaped because of the morphic field that surrounds it. It is

12
not merely the case of just switching on the right genes, rather the complexity of
the organisms must be influenced by other factors (Sheldrake, 1988b). Indeed,
biopolymers (the molecules comprised of repeating structural units that form the
DNA helix) are thought to be a physical structure of memory of a previous
configuration/wave state of the environment (Sidrorov, 2001).
While modern science searches for memory inside the brain, Sheldrake’s
hypothesis of Formative Causation, explains how organisms evolve through
resonance with fields functioning as external blueprints of in-formation. Using the
analogy of a television tuner, Sheldrake describes how the brain filters information
from a network of potential possibilities in the environment, received from the
transmitter/receiver that is the whole human body. In fact, biosystems research
has shown that human beings and other life forms have extraordinary sensitivity to
electromagnetic fields, which are received from the environment and transmitted
between organisms for the purposes of survival (Beal, 1996).
Given the potential for nontypical communication and field-like behaviour at
a biological level (Beal, 1996; Radin, 2004, Sheldrake, 1992), Morphic fields may
also explain how two separate individuals can come to share the same emotional or
sensory experience. Sheldrake discusses the morphic field as a structure of
cumulative memory, based on what happened to the species in the past (Sheldrake
1998b). In an early study conducted by Sheldrake in 1988 (see Sheldrake, 1992)
baby chicks were conditioned to peck at chrome coloured lights, while taste
aversion was associated with a different coloured light. If a structure of memory
existed as a blueprint for the development of chicks, then new chicks that were
being born in the lab, would display longer latency times between seeing the
coloured light and pecking at it, while showing faster learning of the chrome light,
when compared to the original chicks. The results showed that by the end of the
tenth week, the latency to peck at the aversion-condition light increased, while the
latency to peck the chrome bead had not changed. This is despite none of the baby
chicks having met or interacted with the original conditioned chicks.
While the concept of morphic fields may appear to be a general theory, it can
offer substance as much as simplicity. While field-like theories have been criticized
for being cognitive strategies, impossible to prove (Abraham, 1996), our

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understanding of physics rests upon similar explanations that infer similar
phenomenon. Gravitational fields for example, are inferred, because they best
describe the observations being made. On a macroscopic level too, the same
analogies may still apply. It is interesting that music and language share common
ancestry as spatial-temporal patterns of information (Dissanayake, 2000), the
expression of which emerged across different countries across the world, at roughly
the same time (see Cross, 2007). This is also true of scientific discoveries, such as
the calculus. Even the electrical fields within the dendrites of individual neurons
interact with wider fields in their immediate locale, which in turn have been
associated with conscious awareness (Hameroff, 1994; 2010; LaBerge, 2001).

3.2 Holographic theories

Sheldrake emphasises how visual perception is not only the function of
processing incoming light signals, but is also the experience of an outward
projection from the individual. The current reductionist paradigm suggests that
navigation through the environment relies upon the optic flow emitted from objects
in the environment (Gibson, 1950). According to Sheldrake, the projection out and
the flow in coincide, so that an image of an object can be perceived where the
object is located. This coordinated process, creates a perceptual field that entangles
both the observer and the object (Sheldrake, 1988a, 1998b). Interference patterns
are also a central feature of holographic theories of the universe (e.g. Pribram,
1987; Talbot, 1991).
Holograms are made by recording an image on to a photographic plate, using
a single laser beam that is split in to two beams. One beam travels to a mirror and
the light reflected bounces in to the photographic plate, while another beam hits an
object and the light reflected bounces in to the photographic plate also. What is
being recorded, is the interference pattern that is generated by the light’s reflection
during both routes. When these patterns combine, a holographic image is produced
from the plate. At low level scientific observations, the dendrites of neurons in the
brain emit an electrical message that radiates outwards like a ripple in a pond
(Burgess, 2007; Hasselmo, Giocomo & Zilli, 2007). Given that the neurons are
packed so tightly together, each radiating out their own pattern of electricity, there

14
are an array of interference patterns which are decoded by the brain using a
Fourier-type transformation in much the same way as other sensory processing is
achieved (Chance, Zhuang, Chu, Alter, & Lipton, 1993; Pribram, 1987; Sidirov,
2001, Talbot, 1991). Fourier transformation is the mathematics of holography.
In the physical world, when a magnet is chopped up in to different pieces,
each piece still retains its own magnetic field. Likewise, if an oak tree is cut up in to
small pieces, each piece has the potential to grow in to another oak tree
(Sheldrake, 1987). It is interesting that patterns observed in many organisms are
fractals, whereby the global pattern is contained within each local part. No matter
how many times a fractal is divided, it is indivisible from the whole. The
observations of fractals across the natural world (e.g. sea shells, broccoli, lightning,
peacock feathers) implies that the universe is of an holographic nature. Should the
environment be divided in to this species or that, this person and that person, each
part would still contain the whole. Even the form and organization of neurons in the
human brain follow the same fractal pattern (Zhang, Dean, Liu, Sahgal, Wang &
Yue, 2006). If holographic theories are correct, then global memory would be
expressed in the form of an organism, as the organism, inextricably linked with its
environment and whose state may be accessible by any individual. Aristotle said
that every species has its own kind of soul, that the soul is in the form of the body
(Rosen, 1961).

3.3. Energy Transfer theory

The term psi is used to describe information that is anomalously transferred
between two people/systems. As such, many early studies have tried to explain ESP
in the context of information being ‘sent’ and ‘received’ (see Broughton, 2006).
According to Braude (1978) there is no specialized psi module, rather each cell,
atom, molecule, particle in a living body has this capacity. Psi has been
conceptualised as a weak signal easily masked by internal and external sources of
‘noise’ (see Bem & Honorton, 1994). Given this, some researchers decided to test
whether reducing sensory input led to an increase in psi performance using the
Ganzfeld procedure. This technique involves placing the agent in an acoustically-
isolated room. Translucent ping-pong ball halves are then fixed over the eyes while

15
a red floodlight is directed toward the eyes to produce an homogenous visual field.
White noise is played through the headphones to produce an homogenous auditory
field (Bem & Honorton, 1994). While this technique was shown to enhance ESP (see
Hyman, 1985) how can spontaneous correlations be explained by a mechanism with
a temporal nature? While the Ganzfeld technique may have enhanced ESP, this
does not mean that ESP is due to an information transfer mechanism. It may
equally be a case of information transform, or, perhaps both.
Consider the television tuning analogy used by Sheldrake (1987), which
describes the human body as the receiver/transmitter. Using Sheldrake’s analogy,
the introduction of additional frequencies such as those from a mobile phone, would
affect the television picture and the sound. Reducing sensory stimulation would
equate with reducing potential interference with the television tuner. In both cases,
a signal must still be present, however it may not be the individual human being
who directly sends and receives it. This omnipresent signal, much like the internet,
is ‘always there’.
One of the main criticisms of energy transfer theories is that they only
attempt to explain the mechanics of ESP and how a given state in the agent is
resembled in the recipient, without explaining its functional properties (Braude,
1978). While energy transfer may have a role to play in ESP phenomenon, the
observation of simultaneous correlations between agent and recipient, does not
support the idea of signals being sent and received through space (time). Instead
quantum-like processes and concepts of nonlocality have been offered as
alternative explanations, accommodating the evidence for spontaneous unconscious
ESP (e.g. Grinberg-Zylberbaum et al., 1994; Radin, 2004) between individuals who
do not even know of each other’s existence (Seiter, 2001, as cited in Wackermann
et al., 2003).

3.4 Quantum entanglement

Entanglement is a term used in physics, coined by Schrodinger (1935 in
Walach & Stillfried, 2011) to describe the correlation between measurements of two

16
spatially separated subsystems in the absence of a signal being sent (Gernet,
2005). An entangled system is in a state of superposition, whereby the overall
global state is clearly defined but local elements are not in definite states. This
leads to a global uncertainty and a superpositional state, whereby the event could
become any number of other events (Walach & Stillfried, 2011). However as soon
as measurement is taken of one of the local states, it adopts a precise value that is
reflected in the states of all the other local elements. This is despite no classical,
causal communication having taken place between the two events. It is not
surprising that entanglement has been conceived of as a mode through which
human beings become conscious of extrasensory information (Grinberg-Zylberbaum
et al., 1994; Hinterburger, 2006; Wackermann et al., 2003; Walach & Stillfried,
2011).
Atmanspacher, Romer & Walach (2002) discuss how entangled mental states
may enable a ‘transfer’ of mood states between two individuals (Kleinberen, 2007,
as cited in Walach & Stillfried, 2011). These observations sound more like fractal
events, offered by researchers as examples of nonlocality (e.g. Grinberg-
Zylberbaum et al., 1994). However, if no signal is being sent or received, then how
can there be a cause to the effect? This is a problem for dualist science, which is
built on establishing such a relationship. However, it is the opinion of the present
study that nonlocal does not mean ‘no signal’, it means the information that is
received is not of a local source. The present study argues that the concept of
nonlocality is the same problem of signal transfer with a new name. In terms of
studying ESP between individuals, what is needed is to move away from the
attempts to understand ESP in terms of transfer, rather to explore how information
may be transformed from one state to another, perhaps from an ever-present field
of organizing memory that permeates the species as much as the environment. The
idea of nonlocality, is not the same as shared locality.

3.5 Empathy and we-centric space

One of the fundamental features of both infant and adult forms of imitative
behaviour is the presence of a shared we-centric space (Gallese, 2003). In this

17
space an individual takes part in an automatic, unconscious simulation of the states
of others, in order to understand their behaviour. Empathy can also be described as
a physiological response that accompanies insight in to the thoughts and feelings of
others (see Decety & Hodges, 2006). These physiological responses are activated
subconsciously, providing science with a neurological basis for social cognition
(Knoblich & Flach, 2003). Empathy can be affective (sharing another’s feelings,
e.g., Gallese, 2003) and cognitive (sharing another’s perspective, e.g., Tomasello et
al., 2005) both of which function as a connection between ‘self’ and ‘other’ without
confusing self from other (Decety & Hodges, 2006).
Greater success on ESP tasks has been associated with participants who have
an empathic friendship (Standish et al., 2004; Wackermann, 2004) or close
interpersonal relationship (Schmeidler and McConnell, 1958). Interestingly, the
presentiment effect discussed earlier (Bierman, 2000; Radin, 2004; Spottiswoode &
May, 2003) describes the participant’s capacity to unconsciously ‘know’ in advance
whether the stimuli to be presented is of an emotional nature.
While empathy allows the experiences of one person to be shared by
another, exactly how one distinguishes ‘self’ from ‘other’ is not yet understood.
Single case lesion studies have shown that the same neural systems are involved in
the expression of a specific emotion as well as the recognition of it (Decety &
Hodges, 2006). Similarly, the same regions of the insula and cingulate cortex are
activated regardless of whether participants inhaled odours that produced disgust
or observed facial expressions of disgust (Wicker, Keysers, Plailly, Royet, Gallese, &
Rizzolatti, 2003). Decety and Hodges (2006) point out that emotional expressions
such as disgust, can be elicited by simple stimuli, such as the presence of bitter
taste. This suggests that the brain does not make a distinction between self and
other in terms of perception and action.

3.6 Resonance and target entropy

Resonance, provides a perfect mechanism for accessing the shared

18
we-centric space that empathy emerges from in a nonlocal way. Some interesting
parapsychological studies lend support to a resonance theory also. For example,
Braud and Schlitz (1983) reported significant increases in the remote influence on
electrodermal activity when the targets were other humans, compared to when
they were fish. This example of biological Psychokinesis (bioPK) suggests that an
individual’s entanglement with its environment may be taking place through
associating different objects or parts with their own sensory and semantic
representational mapping. However, the mental rotation study carried out by
Amorim et al. (2006) showed that self-similarity induced motoric
embodiment/simulation, not a spatially-co-ordinated map.
In Amorim et al.’s study, when the targets were dissimilar to humans, the
effects were significantly reduced. This also supports the view expressed by
Sheldrake (1988b) who discusses how organisms evolve through blueprints that are
laid out in the environment. The more self-similar, the higher the resonance
(Sheldrake, 1987). It may not be a coincidence that similarity is also a condition for
entanglement (Gernert, 2005). Beichler (1999) discusses how energy patterns in
two different organisms resonate and promote concerted action. The greater the
physical similarity between two organisms, the greater the probability of a resonant
sate being established between them. However, Beichler states that these
similarities are not related to physical form, but to genetic similarities. Yet this,
would fail to explain how a rubber hand in place of one’s own could lead to the
sense of agency of it. In this latter example, resonance is clearly based on similarity
of form.
Poltergeist activity has been more recently understood within the context of
macroscopic psychokinesis (macroPK; the capacity to move objects with one’s
mind). The capacity for this could also be explained by a resonant mechanism, in
much the same way that participants embody the rubber hand in the RHI (Tsakiris
& Haggard, 2005). However, resonance theories are generally vague and do not
explain in themselves what is being resonated with. How are some people able to
perform macroPK while others are not? How does resonance take place?
May, Spottiswoode and James (1994) report that the capacity for ESP such
as remote viewing is a linear function of the amount of informational content

19
(entropy) of a stimulus. It is true that emotional stimuli appear to enhance the
performance on various ESP tasks (Bem, 2011; Broughton, 2006) which may be
due to social-evolutionary relevance. Human beings may therefore be better
detectors of emotionally meaningful stimuli. Yet, the properties that enhance the
detection of emotional stimuli are thought to be intrinsic to the target and not the
detector (May et al., 1994).
The present study takes the view that human beings may have evolved to
become efficient detectors of sensory-emotional information (as opposed to
cognitive information), due to the consistently high entropy value evolutionarily
associated with certain stimuli. Introducing a new stimulation may introduce a new
perceptual field that can be resonated with at a later time (Sheldrake, 1987). While
there may be hundreds of fields that surround the human being, not only of their
own body, but also from their environment, there must be a process by which some
information is consistently resonated with over other information. This could be a
simple function of the strength of energetic oscillations and the size of its field of
activity. It is interesting that sudden increases in geomagnetic activity have been
linked with increased poltergeist activity (Gearhart & Persinger, 1986). Beal, (1996)
discusses the earth’s geomagnetic field as being engaged in a resonating, sensory-
feedback dynamic with the currents of the Van Allen radiation belts that surround
the earth.

3.7 Geomagnetic activity and carrier waves

Geomagnetic activity is the accumulation of disturbances in the natural
magnetic field surrounding the Earth, caused by the interaction of that field with
electrically charged gas (Ryan, 2008). Feedback signals are thought to reradiate
throughout the ionosphere, superimposed in phase upon the basic geomagnetic
field (Chen, Reeves & Friedel, 2007). There is evidence that environmental signals
of certain frequency ranges are able to interact with human brains (see Cherry,
2002), significantly altering the cellular calcium ion fluxes and EEGs in brain tissue,
through a resonant phenomenon (Adey, 1980; reviewed by Blackman, 1990). The
Schumann Resonance is earth’s natural frequency; a measurable pulse of 7.83 Hz
(Ziolkowski, Parr, Wright, Nockles, Limond, Morris & Linfoot, 2010), which human

20
brainwaves are able to entrain to (Becker & Selden, 1985). In fact, it is reported
that this global signal (made up of ultralow frequency and extremely low frequency
waves) bears a remarkable similarity to the human EEG spectrum (Schumann,
1952, as cited in Cherry, 2002). Sidorov (2001) reported that Schumann
Resonance waves appeared to act as a carrier of information.
In the Maimonides Dream studies (Krippner & Persinger, 1996) performance
improved during times when the geomagnetic field was relatively undisturbed
(Spottiswoode, 1997). Wilkinson and Gauld (1993) report that during increased
geomagnetic activity there are increased reports of poltergeist-like activity. It has
also been shown that the brain emits its own electromagnetic field outside of the
cranium (McFadden, 2002). Together, these observations provide a potential mode
through which the individual physical body is able to feed back to the immediate
global environment; through electromagnetic resonance and a possible
superimposition of information that is carried on the back of earth’s natural
geomagnetic frequency.
Persinger (2010) found that changes in the local geomagnetic field
surrounding an individual can be influenced by that person’s own mental
projections. Some researchers have argued that the insulation of the brain prevents
the electromagnetic fields from reaching other brains and so cannot explain
telepathy or other forms of ESP (McFadden, 2002). However changes in the
environmental magnetic field are capable of disturbing the electrical activity of the
brain. This is evidenced by the technological capability of repetitive transcranial
magnetic stimulation (rTMS), whereby oscillating magnetic fields can stimulate the
brain in to performing very definite actions. Interestingly it is the oscillations in
rTMS that enable the stimulation from outside of the brain, not a static charge
(Budinger, Fischer, Hentshel, Reinflder, & Schmitt, 1991).
According to Becker & Selden (1985) for as long as the earth has been
evolving, all things on its surface have been exposed to magnetic field oscillations.
When an individual's EEG becomes the same frequency as the Schumann
resonance, their brain synchronizes with these oscillations for ESP phenomenon to
take place. The momentum of geomagnetic activity and its relation to different
forms of ESP may explain the varied results within parapsychology. While the Zener

21
card experiments demonstrate a predictable decline effect, this may in fact be the
emergence and disappearance of only one type of ESP. it is interesting to consider
that ‘waves’ are so called because of their peaks and troughs. Given the possible
interlacing of many fields within the environment (Beal, 1996; Sheldrake, 1992),
potentially affected by a global momentum from the earth’s own frequency
(Krippner & Persinger, 1996), within the trough of one wave, may emerge the peak
of another.

4. Aims of the present study

4.1 Optimising performance using sensory synchronisation
The present study suggests that extra sensory perception does not take
place independently of the typical five senses. In fact, any experience must utilize
the sensory body in order for it to become perceptible. The first aim of the present
study is to optimize the chances of ESP to be made conscious, by using one of the
primary senses as the target for remote perception. The hypothesis is that the
remote recipient will correctly report the smell that the agent is exposed to,
significantly above chance levels. The present study has not found any scientific
research that has explored the extrasensory perception of smell.
Given that sensory synchronization facilitates empathy (Decety &Hodges,
2006), engaging participants naturalistically through eye gaze, sharing smells and
discussing their perceptions and memories, will enhance their degree of empathy.
While the RHI uses synchronised multisensory stimulation to induce a sense of
agency of an external inanimate object (e.g. Tsakiris & Haggard, 2005), the present
study uses synchronised multisensory stimulation to induce a sense of shared
agency with another human being. If memory is located in fields external to the
individual (Sheldrake, 1988b) and if the experiences of the agent participant are fed
back in to fields that are entangled with the recipient (Sheldrake, 1988a, 1988b),
then new perceptual fields will be created by these empathic exercises. The
hypothesis being, that participants should then be able to resonate with these fields
and report on the agent’s sensory experiences more accurately following sensory
synchronization. To this extent, the empathic exercises function to prime the
participants for greater chance of resonance during the experimental trials.

22
4.2 Capturing different forms of ESP
Given the wave-like nature of fields and perhaps the possibility of tuning in
and out of specific states of consciousness, the present study proposes that
extrasensory perception not only behaves in this manner, but the wave-like nature
may be expressing different forms of ESP. In one of the Maimonides dream studies
(see Krippner & Persinger, 1996) the sender experienced the receiver’s dreams. It
could be that information about the experiences of one human being is
automatically represented in another human being. Radin (1997) reports that many
forms of extra- sensory perception are largely unconscious, which may be why such
phenomena are so difficult to detect using experimental designs that rely solely
upon conscious reports. While the aim of the present study was to focus
participants’ attention on consciously reporting present moment experience
(therefore measuring either clairvoyance or telepathy), the hypothesis is that
unconscious ESP such as precognition and retrocognition will also be captured in
the data, whereby participants will report either the proceeding or preceding trials,
significantly beyond chance levels, across conditions.

4.3 Comparing empathically-related pairs, versus strangers

A number of studies have shown greater ESP in participants who have some
form of empathic connection (Schmeidler & McConnell, 1958; Standish et al., 2004;
Wackermann, 2004). If affective states can be elicited by social mirroring (Barsade,
2002; Hatfield, Cacioppo, & Rapson, 1992) through mirroring different patterns of
facial, postural and behavioural expressions (Neumann & Strack, 2000; Schippers
et al., 2010) represented by somatosensory mapping (Damasio 1996; Decety &
Hodges, 2006) then empathy must initially occur at a primary sensory level. The
finally hypothesis of the present study is that empathically-related pairs will report
the target correctly, more frequently than pairs who are strangers across
conditions.

5. Method
5.1 Participants

23
 An opportunity sample of sixteen adults (six males and ten females), took part
in the experiment. The low recruitment rate led to the researcher occupying the
role of agent in four of the pairs. The final sample consisted of three pairs of
relatives (one pair of male twins, one pair of mother-daughter, one pair of brother-
sister), two pairs of friends and three pairs of work acquaintances. The majority of
participants were aged between 30 and 40, white, living in the South East of
England. Unfortunately, not enough participants could be recruited to comprise the
independent (stranger pair) sample and this independent variable was dropped
from the design. Pairs were related on the basis that they shared a self-reported
empathic connection with each other. Participants decided between themselves who
would take on the role of agent and recipient, with exception to when the
researcher formed the pair, in which case the researcher’s role was always as
agent.
Participants were recruited through five sources; a Facebook post that was
placed on the experimenter’s personal profile, with settings adjusted so that only
those over 18 years of age could view the post; word of mouth amongst the
researcher’s acquaintances; an advertisement was placed at a sixth form centre at
a secondary school in Berkshire; a printed version of the advertisement was given
to work colleagues at a Learning Support department in the same secondary school
(please see Appendix A); and the researcher visited three spiritual circles in
Camberley, Maidenhead and Bracknell, Berkshire to promote the study. Given that
participants’ intention and beliefs may affect the outcome of ESP tasks (Roe & Holt,
2006; Schmeidler & MConnell, 1958) the present study wanted to ensure that it
was recruiting participants who had a genuine interest and belief in the
phenomenon, based on their own experiences. As such, participants were required
to have had some previous ESP-like experience. This was made clear in the
advertisement. Research suggests that participants perform better during ESP tasks
when they believe in a feasible mode for ESP to take place (Roe & Holt, 2006). As a
result, participants were partially informed of the research hypothesis when they
arrived for the experiment, to the extent that empathic perceptual fields enabled
remote, shared sensory states.

24
 In total, five pairs of students responded to the advertisement at the secondary
school but only one of these pairs signed up for the experiment. The reasons given
were related to time pressures around the exam period. A total of five people
expressed interest in the Facebook advertisement, but none of these participants
took part in the experiment. Reasons included time constraints, personal problems
and in three cases there was no reply. Five pairs of participants who were work
colleagues expressed interest in taking part, but due to time constraints only three
pairs of participants signed up for the experiment. From the three spiritual circles
visited, one pair of participants expressed interest in taking part in the study but
attempts to arrange this were met without reply. The low recruitment rate was
challenging for the present study, however the researcher remained consistent in
the emphasis to participants to only sign up if they had a genuine interest in ESP
and a personal experience of it.

5.2 Design
Ten empathically paired participants were studied in a repeated measures
design. The independent variable was whether participants undergo empathic
exercises or not. Each pair completed the control condition (no empathic exercises)
followed by the experimental condition (empathic exercises). The first dependent
variable was measured by the recipient’s hand-written response of which target
they believe the agent was exposed to, across forty trials. For each trial, the
recipient attempted to identify the target by rank ordering five items. The ranked
positions comprised the dependent variable. Informal feedback from the pilot trials
indicated that rank ordering was difficult beyond one or two smells, because each
smell was so different. These observations led the researcher to reduce rank
ordering to the first two choices from a pool of five potential targets.

5.3 Choice of target stimuli

The sense of smell was chosen, because the study was interested in low level
sensory perception that did not involve cognizing and was intense enough to
optimise conscious ESP responses in the recipient. The fragrances chosen were
rose, ground coffee, menthol, vinegar and curry powder. These smells were chosen

25
because they are thought to be distinctly different to each other. Rose was
considered to be a soft, sweet sensation that people may find pleasurable or at
least neutral. Ground coffee was thought to provide a richer, fuller fragrance that
might be equated with activity and a sense of alertness. Menthol, given its unique
nasal clearing properties, was thought to offer a sensation of coolness and
freshness that may equate with revitalization. In contrast, the vinegar is a sharp
fragrance that might yield unpleasant facial expressions given its intensity. The
curry powder used in the present study may be the most varied of fragrances,
given its combination of cumin, paprika, coriander, cinnamon and fenugreek leaves,
which might inspire appetite, or associations with different cultures (travel) yielding
different facial expressions depending on personal preference.

5.4 Empathic exercises

The empathic exercises that comprised the independent variable in the
present study, were designed to mimic a naturalistic social setting between two
people, encouraging eye gaze which has been associated with cognitive empathy
(Frith & Frith, 2003) which therefore may facilitate present moment mental
perception. Sharing fragrances and naturally synchronizing with the facial
expressions of the second participant was designed to induce emotional (sensory-
based) empathy (Gallese, 2003), optimizing participants’ empathic entanglement
with each other to encourage a general shared sensory state. These exercises were
also hypothesized to create new perceptual fields, which could be primed to
optimise resonance during the experimental trials.
Given the morphic fields hypothesis (e.g. Sheldrake, 2005) and the
understanding that memory is stored within the environment, the present study
asked each participant within the pair to swap physical places following the
empathic sycnhronisation session. If morphic fields of memory exist in the
environment and can be tuned in to through the sensory-body’s own memory field,
then swapping places would position the recipient at the centre of the field’s ripple,
so to speak and contribute to the optimization of ESP.

5.5 Apparatus and Materials

26
 The experiments took place in a dimly lit room at either a residential property
or at a secondary school, both located in the South East of England. Participants
were seated either on floor cushions or on stools depending on their preference for
comfort. In both locations participants were seated opposite each other within a
distance of approximately 1.5 metres, separated by closed double doors at the
residential location and by a single door that led to a sealed off room at the
secondary school.
Advertisements were placed in the 6th form centre of a secondary school
(please see Appendix A) and distributed in print format to the spiritual circles in
Berkshire. Information sheets given to participants (please see Appendix B)
emphasised the amount of evidence that now exists for ESP phenomenon. This was
aimed at increasing the participants’ motivation to perform within the experiment.
Information sheets outlined a summary of the study and the evidence for ESP, fully
informing the participant about their rights to withdraw from the study and
adhering to the ethical guidelines put forward by the British Psychological Society’s
Code of Conduct, ethical principles and guidelines.
Target stimuli comprised of; a single rose smelling jos stick (incense stick),
made by Stamford Inc and purchased from Aargee Novelties in London. Other
target items were ground coffee beans manufactured by Douwe Egberts from their
dark roast range, presented in powder form; a tin of Fiddes Payne Authentic Tikka
Curry powder, a tub of Vicks VapoRub to provide the menthol smell and a bottle of
Sarson’s malt vinegar, all of these items were available from major supermarkets.
A small glass jar (the kind typically used for breakfast condiments) was used to
contain the coffee to avoid sensory leakage from handling any noisy packaging. A
rubber mat was used as a presentation surface for the targets, to deaden any
sound of picking up and putting down the items. A normal die was used to
randomize the presentation of the five possible target items, whereby rolling a
1=rose jos stick, 2=vinegar, 3=Vicks VapoRub, 4= coffee, 5=curry powder, 6=roll
the die again. Data record sheets for the researcher (please see Appendix C)
consisted of columns were used for manual recording of each trials’ target smell.
Response sheets for the recipient (please see Appendix D) comprised of a column of
the targets and a column to rank their chosen selection from five potential targets.

27
At the top of the response sheet participants were asked which smell matches their
experience the most and to select their top two choices.
The questionnaire (please see Appendix D) given to participants asked the
amount of time participants have known each other, in addition to; how frequently
each participant experienced ESP; and the extent to which participants experienced
shivers or chills while listening to music (measured on a five point Likert scale of;
strongly agree (1), moderately disagree (2), neither agree nor disagree (3),
moderately agree (4) and strongly agree (5). The intended second dependent
variable of the present study was participants’ questionnaire responses on the
Likert scale. However, given the small sample size, the data obtained from the
questionnaires was not analysed statistically. Participants’ age, gender and nature
of relationship were also recorded to monitor the representation of the sample. The
physiological shivers data was recorded because the present study is interested in
exploring the relationship between physiological shivers that accompany peak
experiences during music listening and extrasensory perception.

5.6 Procedure:
Participants were informed before they took part in the experiment that the
study was interested in measuring their ability to report the target smells. When
participants arrived, they were greeted warmly before being shown around the two
different rooms that would be used during the trials. It was explained that during
one part of the study, each participant would be asked to sit in different rooms,
relax and tune in to each other remotely. Then, one of the participants would be
presented with a smell that the other person would report on from the other room.
Participants were told that at some point in the experiment, they would be asked to
share their perception of the target smells with each other, in a naturalistic way.
Participants were explicitly informed that this would include natural acts such as
holding eye gaze, body mirroring and sharing sensory states that is a day to day
part of our social empathy that they would engage in during this part of the
experiment. Participants were also informed that these exercises would enhance
their tuning in and create new memory fields that they could tune in to again, later
in the experiment. Participants read the information sheet and were given the

28
opportunity to ask questions before agreeing to take part and signing the consent
form.
The study began by asking both participants to complete the questionnaire
independently while in the same room. The participants were then separated. The
agent participant, was seated either on the floor cushion or on a backless stool in
front of a closed door that led to a room where the remote perceiver (the recipient)
was seated in the same manner. The seating position was such that both
participants remained opposite each other, being separated by a door. In the room
with the recipient was a response sheet for when the trials began. The researcher
verbally explained to the recipient that each trial’s target smell would be indicated
by the throw of a die, which meant that there could be the same smell three times
in a row. The recipient was shown the columns to rank their top two answers by
writing ‘1’ or ‘2’ in the column provided. After answering any questions the recipient
had, the researcher then returned to sit with the agent in the other room, whereby
the recipient could still hear the verbal instructions being given. Participants were
informed that the meditation tuning-in session would now take place for five
minutes.

5.6i Meditation tuning-in session

During this session, participants were asked to relax and unwind from
thoughts of the day, before tuning in to their friend who was opposite them. The
researcher remained in the room with the agent during the tuning in session. After
this tuning-in session, participants were asked if they were ready to begin the
trials.

5.6ii Trials
All smell targets were laid out to the side of the agent, with all of the lids of
the items already removed. The agent rolled the die to indicate to the researcher
which smell was the target of each forthcoming trial (1=rose jos stick, 2-vinegar,
3=menthol, 4=coffee, 5=curry powder). The researcher sat slightly behind and to
the right hand side of the agent, handing them the target items and noting these

29
down for each trial. If a ‘six’ was thrown, the agent was asked to roll the die again
until a number from 1 to 5 was thrown. The researcher then handed the
corresponding target item to the agent, who was asked to smell and absorb the
experience of the fragrance. The agent was asked to smell each item for as long as
they felt comfortable and for as long as they were experiencing a fragrance (taking
care not to overload the senses). As soon as the agent began to smell the item, the
researcher verbally informed the recipient that their friend was now experiencing
the smell. While there was slight variation in the amount of time each agent wanted
to smell each smell, after roughly twenty seconds the agent was instructed to put
the target item down. The recipient was then prompted to make their choice if they
had not already done so and was allowed up to ten seconds to do this. Each trial
lasted no more than forty seconds. Following twenty consecutive control trials,
participants were informed that this was the end of the first part of the experiment.
The door was opened to reveal the agent and recipient, still seated opposite each
other. Participants were asked how they were feeling and the recipient was asked
for their feedback about how they found the task as a remote reporter. The
researcher then indicated the start of the empathic, sensory sycnhronisation
session, which lasted for approximately ten minutes.

5.6iii Empathic exercises

Participants remained seated as they were during the control trials. The
recipient was handed each of the target smells one at a time, asking them to
engage naturally with their friend, discussing their sensory perceptions, such as
whether they liked the smell and what it reminded them of. Participants were asked
to engage in natural eye contact to keep tuned in to the other person. At the same
time the agent participant naturally related to their partner’s impressions, having
just smelled the items themselves during the control trials. The recipient then
handed the smell to the agent and the agent confirmed their experiences while
keeping naturalistically engaged with their friend. After each smell had been
experienced and discussed by the participants, the researcher asked participants to
swap their seated positions with one another, while remaining in their same roles of

30
agent and remote reporter. The researcher handed the recipient the response sheet
for the next set of twenty smell trials, explaining the trials would take place again.
The researcher then closed the door and remained with the agent participant as
before. The exact same procedure used for the control trials in part one, was
repeated for another twenty trials to comprise the experimental condition.
At the end of the experiment, participants were informally asked for their
feedback about the experience. Comments were noted by the researcher and
participants were given a verbal debrief that summarized the information given to
them at the beginning of the experiment. Participants were asked if they had any
questions, and were reminded that their information would remain confidential and
that they could contact the researcher at any time should they have any other
questions at a later time, or if they would like to see how the study develops. All
participants were treated in accordance with the Ethical Principles of Psychologists
and Code of Conduct (American Psychological Association, 2002).

6. Results
Twelve pairs of participants completed the control and experimental
conditions, across a total of 470 trials, providing a total of 830 responses. Eleven of
these pairs completed forty trials, (twenty trials in the control condition and twenty
in the experimental condition) and one pair completed thirty trials (fifteen in each
condition). Nine pairs ranked their responses in order of first and second choices.
Three pairs indicated only their first choice and their data were omitted from one of
the pools of analysis that was obtained to determine the significance of combined
ranked responses. Given the difference in number of trials for one of the pairs and
because three pairs did not provide second choice responses, participants’
responses were also converted in to percentages, dividing the number of ‘hits’ by
the number of trials they had completed, so that descriptive comparisons with other
conditions could be made. The raw data comprised of the researcher’s record of
target smells presented to the agent and the recipient s’ responses (first and
second choices) of what they believed the target was, for each of the trials.

6.1 Clairvoyant analysis

31
First choice ranked responses
When the target and the first choice matched in a given trial, this was
considered a ‘hit’ in the clairvoyant analysis. The numbers of first choice hits were
summed for each condition for each pair. The data was then averaged across the
sample by summing the total number of hits for a given condition and dividing by
the number of trials completed in that condition. The raw data was coded in to
percentages, for descriptive analysis. The present study used one sample t-tests to
analyse whether hits were significantly above a mean chance expectation (MCE). A
fair die was used to determine the targets of each trial (rolling again when
obtaining a ‘6’) offering a 1 in 5 (20%) chance that any of the five targets could
appear. Values were set in the SPSS test value fields as ‘8’, denoting the MCE of
hits that would occur across forty trials and ‘4’ defining the MCE across twenty
trials.
The raw data comprised of 480 first choice responses. From eyeballing the
data it could be seen that first choice responses were correct above chance levels
(107 hits out of 470 trials) (M=23%, SD=7.16), however this did not reach
significance t(11) = 1.23, p = 0.12. In the control condition (pre empathic
exercises), 24.3% of responses were hits (57 hits out of 235 trials) (M=4.75,
SD=1.81 hits per pair) compared to 20% chance, however this also did not reach
statistical significance, t(11) = 1.43, p = 0.09 (one tailed). Following empathic
exercises, 21.3% of responses were hits (50 hits out of 235 trials, M=4.17,
SD=1.46 hits per pair) which did not reach significance, t(11) = 0.39, p = 0.35
(one tailed). These results do not support the present study’s first hypothesis, that
participants will accurately report the target smell significantly above the level of
chance.
To see if there was any significant difference between first choice hits in the
experimental compared with the control condition, individual first choice hits were
summed for each pair in each condition. There were 57 hits out of 235 trials in the
control condition (24.3%) and 50 hits out of 235 (21.3%) trials in the experimental
condition. The t-test confirmed that there was no significant difference before
empathic exercises (Mc =4.75, SDc=1.82) and after empathic exercises (Me=4.17,
SDe=1.47), t(11) = 0.98, p = 0.17, in contrast to the present study’s second

32
hypothesis. Please see Figure 1 for a bar chart of the data expressed in percentiles.
Effect sizes were calculated using cohen’s d, which was determined by squaring
each standard deviation (SD) from the control and experimental condition. The
squared values were averaged by summing and dividing by 2, before obtaining the
square root to provide the pooled value. The mean from the experimental condition
was then subtracted from the control condition and divided by the pooled SD. This
method obtained a small effect size of d = 0.36 for the control vs experimental
condition, which suggests that the sample may not have been large enough to
demonstrate a significant effect.

50
45
40
% of clairvoyant 'hits'

35 Before empathic
30 exercises (control)
25
20 After empathic
exercises
15 (experimental)
10
5
0
First choice responses

Figure 1. Percentage of first choice hits per pair, including error bars, for clairvoyant
responses before empathic exercises (Mc = 4.75, SDc = 1.82 per pair) and after
empathic exercises (Mc = 4.17, SDc = 1.47 per pair). The difference between
conditions did not reach significance, t(11) = 0.98, p = 0.17. Black bar denotes Mean
Chance Expectation at 20%. Cohens’ d = 0.36.

33
Table 1. Hit rates of clairvoyant responses, across control and experimental conditions, with their percentages and standard deviations.

Clairvoyant (before empathic exercises) Clairvoyant (after empathic exercises)

Pair Hits (1st % Hits (combined 1st % Hits (1st % Hits (combined 1st %
choice) and 2nd choice) choice) and 2nd choice)
1 2 10.00 4 10.00 4 20.00 2 10.00
2 6 30.00 12 30.00 7 35.00 3 15.00
3 6 30.00 no 2nd choice 6 30.00 no 2nd choice
4 4 20.00 6 15.00 3 15.00 3 15.00
5 2 10.00 no 2nd choice 3 15.00 no 2nd choice
6 5 25.00 7 17.50 5 25.00 8 40.00
7 7 35.00 14 35.00 5 25.00 3 15.00
8 6 40.00 no 2nd choice 4 27.00 no 2nd choice
(completed 15 trials) (completed 15 trials)
9 5 25.00 9 22.50 2 10.00 4 20.00
10 2 10.00 8 20.00 5 25.00 2 10.00
11 6 30.00 10 25.00 3 15.00 4 20.00
12 6 30.00 9 22.50 3 15.00 6 30.00
Total/Avge % 57 24.58 79 21.94 50 21 35 19.44
Stdev 1.81534 10.10 3.032234233 7.58 1.466804401 8 1.96497102 9.825

34
6.2 Precognition analysis

For the precognitive analysis, the first choice response for a given trial was
matched with the actual target of the proceeding trial. When first choices responses
matched the target of the next trial this was considered a ‘hit’. Data comprised the
total number of hits per pair across nineteen possible trials (instead of 20, given the
precognitive element) and was analysed using a one sample t-test, entering ‘7.6’ in
to the test value, denoting the MCE of 20% across 38 trials per participant
(combining control and experimental conditions). Raw data comprised of 446
responses (19 responses for each condition for eleven pairs, while one pair provided
14 responses for each condition), across both conditions. There were 70 hits across
456 trials (30 in the control condition and 40 in the experimental condition). From
eyeballing the data it could be seen that precognitive hits across both conditions
had not exceeded the MCE of 20%. In total, 15.4 % of first choice responses were
‘hits’ (M = 6.25, SD = 2.13 hits per pair). A one sample t-test demonstrated that
performance was significantly worse than chance expectation, t(11) = -2.18,
p = 0.03 (one tailed). This does not support the present study’s hypothesis that
participants in empathically-related pairs will accurately report the target
significantly beyond the level of chance.
There were a total of 30 precognitive hits out of 223 trials (13.4%) in the
control condition alone (Mc = 2.7, SDc = 1.37 hits per pair). This was also
significantly worse than chance t(11) = -2.86, p = 0.001 (one tailed). In the
experimental condition there were 40 hits out of 223 trials (17.9%) (Me=3.6,
SDe=1.31 per pair). This did not differ significantly from chance t(11)=-0.57,
p=0.3 (one tailed). However, a paired samples t-test confirmed there was a
significant increase in first choice hits following empathic exercises, t(11) = -1.95,
p = 0.04 (one tailed). This supports the present study’s hypothesis, that there will
be a significant increase in hits, following empathic exercises. Please see Figure 2
for an illustration of this data. Cohen’s d returned a medium effect size of 0.66,
which implies there is adequate power to reject the null hypothesis.

35
 30

25
% of first choice 'hits'

20
Before empathic
exercises (control)
15
After empathic exercises
10 (experimental)

0
Precognitive responses

Figure 2. Percentages reflecting precognitive hit rates, including error bars. First choices
responses were correct 13.4.% of the time (Mc= 2.7, SDc = 1.37) before empathic exercises
and 17.9% of the time following empathic exercises (Me= 3.6, SDe = 1.31). There was a
significant increase in the number of hit rates following empathic exercises , t(11) = -1.95,
p = 0.04. Black bar denotes Mean Chance Expectation at 20%. Cohens’s d = 0.66.

6.3 Retrocognition analysis

Data were handled using the same methods as for the precognitive analysis,
with the exception that the response for a given trial was matched with the actual
target of the previous trial. Raw data comprised of 446 responses (19 responses for
each condition for eleven pairs and one pair provided 14 responses for each
condition), across both conditions. With an MCE of 20%, there were 90 hits out of
446 trials (43 hits in the control condition and 47 hits in the experimental
condition), reflecting 20.1% overall. A one sample t-test determined that the total
number of retrocognitive hits across conditions (M = 8.3, SD = 2.42 hits per pair)
did not differ significantly from chance t(11) = -0.93, p=0.19 (one tailed). In the
control condition, 19% of responses were hits (Mc = 3.75, SDc = 1.86 hits per pair)

36
which also did not significantly differ from chance t(11) =-0.93, p =0.5 and 24.4%
of responses were hits in the experimental condition (Me = 4.5, SDe =1.63 hits per
pair), which did not differ significantly from chance t(11) = 1.49, p = 0.08 (one
tailed). There was an increase in the number of hits between the baseline control
condition and the empathic exercises condition, however this was not statistically
significant t(11) = -1.03, p = 0.16. Cohen’s d returned a small to medium effect
size of 0.43. Please see Figure 3 and Table 2 for an illustration of the precognitive
and retrocognitive hit rates before and after empathic exercises.

30

25
% of first choice 'hits'

20
Before empathic
exercises (control)
15
After empathic exercises
10 (experimental)

0
Retrocognitive responses

Figure 3. Percentages reflecting retrocognitive hit rates, including error bars. Before
empathic exercises first choice responses were correct 19% of the time (Mc= 3.75,
SDc = 1.86). Following empathic exercises, first choice responses were correct 24.4% of the
time (Me = 4.5, SDe = 1.63). There was a significant increase in the number of hit rates
following empathic exercises , t(11) = -1.03, p = 0.16. Black bar denotes Mean Chance
Expectation at 20%. Cohen’s d = 0.43.

37
Table 2. Hit rates of precognitive and retrocognitive responses, across control and experimental conditions with their percentages and
standard deviations.

Before empathic exercises After empathic exercises (Experimental)

(Control)
Pair Precog % Retrocog (out % total total Precog % Retrocog %
(out of of 19) (out of 19) (out of 19)
(prcog) (rtrcog)
19)
1 4 21.00 7 37.00 9 12 5 26.00 5 26.00
2 3 16.00 3 16.00 5 5 2 11.00 2 11.00
3 1 0.50 4 21.00 3 8 2 11.00 4 21.00
4 2 11.00 4 21.00 7 6 5 26.00 2 11.00
5 2 11.00 4 21.00 5 7 3 16.00 3 16.00
6 4 21.00 1 21.00 8 6 4 21.00 5 26.00
7 2 11.00 1 0.50 6 5 4 21.00 4 21.00
8 2 14.00 2 14.00 5 9 3 21.00 7 50.00
9 6 32.00 6 32.00 10 11 4 21.00 5 26.00
10 2 20.00 3 15.00 5 10 3 15.00 7 35.00
11 2 10.00 5 25.00 4 10 2 10.00 5 25.00
12 2 10.00 5 25.00 8 10 6 30.00 5 25.00
Total/Avge % 30 14.79 43 20.71 75 99 40 19.08 47 24.42
Stdev 1.42 7.95 1.86 9.23 2.14 2.42 1.36 6.52 1.48 10.56

38
6.4 Individual pairs (Z scores)
Individual Z scores were obtained in order to analyse whether any individual
pairs showed superior performance, relative to other pairs in the study. The
following equation was applied, Z = (x-µ) /, whereby each recipient’s hit rates
were summed and divided by the number of trials they completed in a given
condition (x). The total number of hits across participants was divided by the
number of trials for a given condition, to provide the sample mean (µ) which was
then subtracted from each individual’s overall number of hits to provide a list of
deviations. The standard deviation of the sample () was obtained by summing the
squares of the recipients’ deviations and dividing by n-1 (11), taking the square of
this provided the standard deviation. Recipients mean deviations were then divided
by the standard deviation to produce the Z score. Performance that was at least
one SD above the sample mean was considered to be superior. Z scores for first
choice responses from the experimental condition showed two superior pairs; Z =
1.93 (boyfriend-girlfriend) and Z = 1.25 (work colleagues). Both pairs also
increased their performance following empathic exercises by over one SD in
comparison to the rest of the sample. Please see Table 3 for an illustration of this
data.
Combining both control and experimental conditions, there were three Z
scores indicating superior performance; Z = 1.59 (boyfriend-girlfriend pair); Z =
1.2 (work colleagues); Z = 1.20 (mother-daughter). Only one of these pairs
(mother-daughter) maintained their superior performance in the control condition
(Z = 1.24), which dropped following empathic exercises (Z = 0.57).
For the precognitive analysis, two pairs demonstrated superior performance;
Z = 1.23 (casual friends), Z = 1.67 (brother and sister). These pairs displayed the
highest Z scores in the control condition (Z = 0.97 and Z = 2.43, respectively),
however in the brother-sister pair, the Z score decreased to Z = 0.18 following
empathic exercises. For the retrocognitive analysis, two pairs demonstrated
superior performance Z = 1.73 (casual friends, who were discussed in the
preceding analysis) and Z = 1.32 (brother and sister, who also were discussed in
the preceding analysis). These pairs were the only pairs who performed at least one

39
SD higher than the sample mean in the control condition (Z = 1.83 and Z = 1.23,
respectively). However their scores fell below the sample mean, following empathic
exercises (Z = 0.59 in both cases). One pair (work colleagues) showed an
improvement in their performance between the control (Z = -0.92) and
experimental (Z = 1.86) conditions.

Table 3. Z score distributions between the 12 pairs of participants comparing clairvoyant,

precognitive and retrocognitive performance before and after empathic exercises.

Pre-empathic exercises After empathic exercises

(control) (experimental)
Clairvoyance Precog Retrocog Clairvoyance Precog Retrocog
Pair
1 -1.51487 0.8313 1.74287 -0.11363 1.08029 0.30794
2 0.68858 0.1188 -0.4022 1.93164 -1.20739 -1.5397
3 0.68858 -1.306 0.13407 1.24988 -1.20739 -0.30794
4 -0.41315 -0.594 0.13407 -0.79538 1.08029 -1.5397
5 -1.51487 -0.594 0.13407 -0.79538 -0.44483 -0.92382
6 0.13772 0.8313 -1.4747 0.56813 0.31773 0.30794
7 1.23944 -0.594 -1.4747 0.56813 0.31773 -0.30794
8 0.68858 -0.594 -0.9385 -0.11363 -0.44483 1.5397
9 0.13772 2.2563 1.2066 -1.47713 0.31773 0.30794
10 -1.51487 0.8313 -0.4022 0.56813 -0.44483 1.5397
11 0.68858 -0.594 0.67033 -0.79538 -1.20739 0.30794
12 0.68858 -0.594 0.67033 -0.79538 1.84285 0.30794

40
 2.5 2.5

Z score (precognitive analysis)

Z score (clairvoyant analysis)

2 2
1.5 1.5
1 1
Before empathic Before empathic
0.5 exercises 0.5 exercises
0 After empathic 0 After empathic
-0.5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 exercises -0.5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 exercises
-1 -1
-1.5 -1.5
-2 -2
Pair (clairvoyant analysis) Pair (precognitive analysis)
a) Pair
b) Pair

Fig.4. Z score distributions between the 12 pairs of participants demonstrating the relative performance between pairs for
a) clairvoyant responses and b) precognitive responses, before and after empathic exercises.

41
 7. Discussion
7.1 General discussion
The present study was a randomized, repeated measures design that
analysed the prevalence of different forms of extrasensory perception (ESP)
and explored the factors that may contribute to their emergence. Specifically,
this study was interested in clairvoyance, precognition and retrocognition.
The present study experimented with empathically-related pairs, including
friends, family members, romantic partners and work colleagues, whereby
agent participants were exposed to different fragrances that recipient paired
participants reported on from an adjacent closed off room. Before being
exposed to empathic exercises, (sharing the associations and sensory
perceptions of the five target fragrances) first choice responses were correct
above chance levels, but this did not reach statistical significance. This was
also the case following empathic exercises, with no statistical difference
between the two conditions. This implies that sensory synchronization had no
effect on Clairvoyant expressions of ESP.
However, before being exposed to empathic exercises, participants
performed significantly worse than chance expectation in the precognition
analysis, yet there was a significant 6% increase in the number of
precognitive hits following empathic exercises. In line with the present
study’s second hypothesis, participants undergoing empathic exercises
reported the target more frequently than before these exercises. The
medium effect size in the precognition analysis (d=0.66), suggests that
sensory synchronization did modulate the precognitive performance in this
study.
Interestingly, consistently superior performers appeared almost
equally in casually related pairs, (such as work colleagues) as in family
relations. Given that significant results have been found in the precognition
data, this cannot be due to typical confounds that other studies have been
criticized for, such as sensory leakage or biased judging of targets. If sensory
leakage had been an issue, then out of all the possible conditions, trends
towards significance would be expected in the clairvoyance and

42
retrocognition analyses, as opposed to the precognition analysis. Given that
each trial’s target was determined by the throw of a fair die, it was not
known by anyone in the experiment, nor had been decided, which smell
would be the target of each trial.
It is interesting that across the data, standard deviations of the
results, representing fluctuations from the mean chance expectation (MCE)
are consistently lower following empathic exercises. While the overall results
could be interpreted as a regression towards the mean, (common in
behavioural research), if this is true for the present study, then the increase
towards the mean in the precognition analysis, would imply that there is
some form of unconscious entanglement with the outcome of events that
have not yet happened. The lower standard deviations imply that participants
were perhaps ‘more sure’ about their responses following empathic exercises.
Perhaps what is more interesting, is that while the standard deviations are
consistent across the experimental conditions (following empathic exercises)
precognitive performance significantly improves following empathic
exercises, while clairvoyant performance decreases during the same
condition. This study will therefore consider the possibility that sensory
synchronization may hinder the clairvoyant expression of ESP, while
facilitating its precognitive expression.
Another explanation for the decrease in clairvoyant performance, may
be due to the decline effect, which in itself may be an inherent part of ESP
phenomenon (Haraldsson & Houtkooper, 1995; Rhine, 1969). This effect has
also been demonstrated in memory studies (Lupien et al., 1999; Sandi et al.,
1997), as well as in the efficacy curves of pharmacological research (Lehrer,
2010) and may be generically related to low-level/unconscious processes. It
is also possible that the decreased performance after empathic exercises in
the present study, may have simply been a failure to replicate part one of
the experiment. However this would not explain the increased performance in
the precognition analysis or the accompanying lower standard deviations.
These standard deviations are also consistent within each condition, making
it less likely that the results are due to random guesses.

43
 Another reason why clairvoyant ESP was not demonstrated to
significance levels in the present study could be due to the small sample size,
reflected by the low power of the clairvoyant analysis. Also, the nature of the
empathic exercises could have over-stimulated participants. The sharing of
associations and sensory perceptions may have added further noise to the
morphic field, or may have distracted participants away from remaining
tuned in to each other and the task. Furthermore, the fact that participants
were only separated by roughly one metric metre, may not have stimulated
the sense of separation perhaps needed to trigger an ESP system. In the
Rhine studies (1969), greater distance between participants was associated
with greater remote viewing performance. However, the closer spatial
proximity that featured in the present study may have instead facilitated a
precognition system. In the present study, given that each participant was so
close together, yet unable to see each other, it is highly possible that the
recipient may have attempted to sense the next fragrance before it had been
selected by the agent. Finally the sensory synchronization methods used in
the present study were not the same as the methods used in the enfacement
illusion, whereby participants were stimulated at exactly the same time in
mirror image with each other. Instead fragrances in the present study were
shared between each participant in phase, rather than in synchrony,
although body movements and facial expressions were hypothesized to
mirror one another naturally, as with typical social engagement.
In the present study, the naturalistically styled, empathic exercises
could be described as pleasurable engagement. These exercises were
designed to bond participants in to a flow of experience, priming the recipient
with fragrances to facilitate later resonance during the experimental trials.
However, in Bem (2011) pleasurable stimulation led to significantly worse
than chance performance in a precognition analysis of participant’s
physiological and behavioural responses to future (unseen) primes. The only
significantly worse than chance performance that appeared in the present
study, was also in the precognition analysis. It is interesting that the role of
memory and learning is well known to be associated with error mechanisms

44
that are stimulated by typically un-pleasurable sensations (Rescorla and
Wagner, 1972).
In Bem’s (2011) study, the results are discussed in terms of a
retroactive priming influence, whereby a selected stimuli travels back in
perceptual-time to the participant, who then reacts to it before having been
exposed to the stimulus. It is worth mentioning this point, because if a
retrocognitive priming effect took place in the present study (unconsciously)
then the clairvoyant reports in the present study could arguably be a
precognitive effect that has declined due to previous exposure to positive
stimulation. If information can travel backwards on the same carrier waves
that move it forward in time, then there is no clear boundary for what is
‘present’ experience, there is no clear boundary that defines what is
happening ‘now’. Can the majority of our sense perception in some way be
precognitive? What does it mean to retrocognise (to recognize?), after all the
brain organizes information so that it can best predict future events
(Schacter et al., 2007).
The sea-saw performance between precognitive and clairvoyant
responses, may also be explained as a form of complementarity that is more
often associated with physics (see Walach & Stillfried, 2011). The
complementarity principle depicts how the measurement of one event
reduces the measurement of another (e.g. position and momentum). Before
participants took part in the empathic exercises, they were already
considered empathically-related/entangled, as friends, work colleagues,
romantic partners, or family members. This entanglement was hypothesized
to optimize their clairvoyant performance, based on theories of emotional
contagion (Hatfield et al., 1992) but in so doing, the exercises may have
weakened a capacity for precognition. It is also a possibility that the
entanglement between each pair of participants that was enhanced following
empathic exercises, may have led to a psychokinetic influence on the agent’s
dice throws, whereby one or both of the pairs may have thought of a
number, therefore influencing the roll of the die.

45
 The nature of the quick trials in the present study was designed to
facilitate an unconscious element of performance. Given that participants in
the present study were not explicitly asked to predict the next trial, the
results can only be explained by an unconscious dynamic. While the empathic
exercises in the present study were mostly conscious acts, unconscious
dynamics would have entered the synchronization process in the form of
natural body mirroring (Gallese, 2003). A meta-analysis conducted by
Honorton and Ferrari (1989) reported that in precognition studies, the more
time that had elapsed between a participant’s response and the actual
selection of a target, the smaller the effect size. This temporal factor ranged
from a few seconds to a year later. In the present study, the momentum of
trials was relatively quick (between 5-10 seconds, depending on whether the
die needed to be re-rolled having landed on a ‘6’). This pace may have
influenced the type of effect that was observed, given that momentum (time)
and space (distance) are related. Indeed, the re-analysis of historical ESP
data demonstrates wave-like patterns (Irwin, 1999). Considering that
morphic fields are hypothesized to be memory fields, laid out on a quantum
level, it is interesting that the wave-like momentums are also found in
memory recall tasks (Lupien, Gillin, & Hauger, 1999; McLaughlin, 1987;
Sandi, Loscertales, & Guanza, 1997).
Given that local geomagnetic fields surrounding an individual can be
influenced by mental projections (Persinger, 2010), the momentum of local
as much as global geomagnetic activity may be a factor in the variation of
ESP results, not investigated by the present study due to constraints on
resources. If each participant has their own level of influence upon the local
field, then it would be interesting to observe the changes in these fields
following sensory synchronisation. It is also interesting that geomagnetic
activity is associated with movement of the magnetic north pole, which
provides a reference point for spatial navigation. While there is no clear
evidence as to whether increases in global geomagnetic activity enhances
precognition, temporal and spatial factors must be considered in
parapsychology research, if indeed there is evidence of a local field effect.

46
 Many researchers have argued that ESP can only be explained by
nonlocal processes (Grinberg-Zylberbaum et al., 1994; also see Walach &
Stillfried, 2011) which have been offered as an alternative theory to signal-
transfer mechanisms. It is agreed, that the EEG observations of simultaneous
stimulation between agent and recipient, does suggest that at a microscopic
level, the quantum reality is entangled. The fact that recipients display hazy
correlations with the agent’s EEG patterns during stimulation rather than
exact copies of the evoked potential, (Wackermann et al., 2003) implies that
information emerges, rather than being transferred or ‘sent’. However, the
argument of nonlocality does not by definition, mean ‘no signal’, it means the
information that is received (receptive to) is not confined to one point in
space. It is important to understand this difference, because the literal
definition of nonlocality would imply that different individuals are
simultaneously receptive to a signal of some kind. On the other hand, the
present study suggests that the signal is always ‘there’, tuned in to and
utilized through different states of conscious perception. The unfolding nature
of morphic fields, accommodates the simultaneity of communication across
the human species much better than the concept of signals being sent or
received between individuals. If morphic field theory is correct, then
accessing information by resonating with existing fields implies a process of
transformation, from one state to another, rather than transference from one
person to another.
Quantum mechanics (QM) suggests that all objects exist in two
simultaneous states, as a wave with the potential of becoming a particle and
as a measured (actualized) particle. It is understood that the superpositional
state is the merging of various interference patterns. Yet, patterns of sensory
information such as visual optic flow and audio waves pervade the
macroscopic environment in such a way, that the superposition resulting
from interference patterns in QM, produces a single perception in
macroscopic reality (Pribram, 1987, Talbot, 1991). It is well known in the
visual sciences that images are formed on the retina upside down, that the
brain processes the information to present it right-side-up. If quantum

47
theories offer better contexts for understanding ESP phenomenon, using
terms such as complementarity to describe these events, then the factors
that make ESP observable at this level of analysis, may have the inverse
effect when approached from a macroscopic level of observation.
The poor replicability of some parapsychology studies therefore, may
be due to participants being asked to consciously report extrasensory
information (consisting of unconscious events), which disappear and become
unreportable should they be saught out. This echoes the current paradigm in
physics, which has shown it to be impossible to observe a waveform, without
collapsing it in to some definable state. The fact that primes which are
cognized by participants lose their effect (see Bem, 2011) suggests that it is
the conscious observation which destroys the prevalence of quantum level
(unconscious) phenomenon. Sensory synchronisation tasks such as the one
employed by the present study, are macroscopic exercises that have been
used to enhance resonance and entanglement with the other person, at a
behavioural and biological/sensory level. However, using behavioural
(macroscopic) synchronisation to enhance a phenomenon that is part of the
quantum metaphysical realm, may actually have the inverse effect.
The sea-saw pattern between the control and experimental conditions,
that inverses during the precognition analysis might hint towards the
mechanisms involved in ESP. An inverse theory may explain why participants
who do not know of each other’s existence can repeatedly demonstrate
preconscious ESP (e.g. Seiter, 2001) while other studies have difficulty in
replicating the phenomenon when those participants do know of each other’s
existence (see Braude, 1978). To this extent, in order to study entanglement
between two people, this may actually require the separation of them, not
the attempt to enhance their entanglement. It also makes sense that an ESP-
like system would perhaps only be activated when a person is separated from
those they are usually close to.
An interesting study carried out by Panksepp and Bernatzky (2002)
measured the extent of piloerection in young chicks and interpreted this
phenomenon within a separation-distress hypothesis. Distress occurred when

48
the chick was separated from the warmth of the mother, expressed by the
organism’s hairs standing on end. This physiological event has also been
observed in humans during peak moments of fear, euphoria, music-listening
and insight, known as the Chills Effect (Sloboda, 1991). An unpublished pilot
study, conducted by the present author, found that musically-induced chills
were accompanied by subjective feelings of ‘transcending an individual sense
of self’. Lobach and Bierman (2004) reported that when participants were
informed that there was a hidden camera in the room, their skin conductance
showed marginally higher than expected values during stare trials, compared
to non-stare trials. After mild shock conditioning against a particular sound
frequency, participants showed greater skin conductance response to an
octave (eight notes apart) than to smaller intervals (Humphreys, 1939). In
some insects, hair sensilia historically functioned as antennae to the
environment. In this case piloerection may be the facilitation of ESP through
physical separation from the conditioned/entrained state.

7.2 Inverse theory

The theory proposed by the present study aims to facilitate quantum
theoretical approaches to ESP research. This study proposes that all
observable (macroscopic) phenomenon also exist at a quantum level at the
same time. However focussing observation on the entanglement between
two people, may be like turning the particle back in to a wave. The
observables that emerge from macroscopic exercises may be the inverse to
what would be expected in terms of behavioural science (such as a clear
stimulus provoking a clear response). Instead, a clear stimulus may collapse
the response in to a quantum observable that stretches out in time and
space to demonstrate wavelike phenomenon of clairvoyance, retrocognition
and precognition, because this momentum may be at the source of our
macroscopic experiences. The unfolding-enfolding nature of a holographic
universe that Bohm and Pribram describe (see Pribram, 1987), the arrow of
time and the direction of causality, may all be explained by the concept of
inversality, from the quantum to the macroscopic.

49
 In the case of the Rubber Hand Illusion (RHI) (Tsakiris & Haggard,
2005) and enfacement illusions (Tsakiris, 2008), macroscopic level events
such as sensory integration and embodiment are consistently replicated. This
is because what is being studied is the macroscopic outcome, even though
very low level quantum-like processes may be involved in perception. While
the embodiment of a rubber hand is a form of macroscopic entanglement
brought about through macroscopically-induced sensory synchronization,
entanglement proper is the ‘we-centric’ space that is already maximally
connected. The effects of sensory sycnhronisation may be facilitated by the
conscious intention to do so, when measuring macroscopic level phenomenon
(e.g., the RHI). However, when using these methods to measure quantum
level phenomenon (e.g. ESP) under observation of the synchrony between
two people, this may be the equivalent of distributing/stretching out the
particle back in to a wave.
If the inverse explanations put forward by the present study are
correct, then MacroPK (the ability to move objects with the mind) may be a
similar expression of embodiment, whereas microPK (the ability to affect the
outcome of a random number generator) may be expressed as a wavelike
flow or momentum, because of its quantum level expression. In the present
study, the agent did not take control of the recipient’s body movements, to
the extent that the percipient did not report a change of agency. However it
may be possible that the participants’ entanglement facilitated the influence
on the quantum-level unconscious that drove the recipient’s roll of the die.
Stretching out events over time through focus on quantum level
(unconscious) phenomenon such as ESP, may leave open the opportunity for
influence over these events. As such, MacroPK across a number of trials
would not fluctuate in the same manner as microPK. When the flow is
observed, what was natural-microPK (an unconscious dynamic, synchronous
with its environment) is now microPK-under-observation and therefore, in
some way is dis-jolted from its natural flow, expressing itself in peaks and
troughs of measurable observation.

50
 Given that the present study’s main focus was to measure and
enhance conscious remote perception (clairvoyance), but finding significantly
worse than chance precognitive performance, might be suggestive of a
disturbance in the synchronization between participants, brought about by
the conscious act of engagement. Inversely, in the RHI and the enfacement
illusion, synchronized tactile stimulation to a person’s cheek while viewing
the same stimulation to another person’s cheek, may have induced
decoherence at a quantum level, enabling the conscious perceptual merging
of self and other macroscopically. Much like the complementarity principle,
decoherence at a quantum level may sea-saw with macroscopic
entanglement. This would explain why extreme macroscopic entanglement
(e.g. sensory synchronization) can lead to laboratory-induced out of body
experiences, if the inner dimension that we establish as a sense of self, is of
a distributed, quantum nature.
While macroPK and microPK may still be quantum-like processes, that
appear to be nonlocal, they are really an expression of embodiment at
different levels of analysis, because in each case the targets (e.g. die, or
random number generator) can be manipulated. In the case of the RHI, there
is, at least, a sense of ownership that has been induced (Botvinick & Cohen,
1998). On the other hand, remote sensory perception (whether this be
clairvoyance, precognition or retrocognition) may only be possible through
biological entanglement, given the necessary sensory systems that the
human being must resonate with in order to perceive the experience. This
would be supported by Amorim et al.’s (2006) mental rotation study,
whereby participants’ response times were facilitated when the object was of
the familiar human form, presented in possible (rather than impossible) body
postures. The conclusions drawn from Amorim et al.’s study suggest that a
motoric simulation was taking place that enabled an embodied shared
experience between the person and the object, rather than a superficial
spatially co-ordinated representation. In the enfacement illusion (Tsakiris,
2008) decoherence at a quantum level may provide a superpositional state
for visual perception to then be reshaped. The mechanics of biological

51
entanglement therefore, are best described by morphic field theories,
whereas visual perception may be most adequately explained by holographic
theories (Pribram, 1987). The two however complement each other.
Holographic theories provide the basis of an inverse theory, proposing
a fractal-like representation of the environment, whereby changes within a
global field (in this case the immediate environment) occur with changes in
the local organism (e.g. a human astrocyte cell). Holographic theories have
explained visual perception in terms of radial patterns of optic flow emitted
from an object, interfering with radial patterns emitted by the eye (Pribram,
1987; Sheldrake 1998a). Electromagnetic theories describe the symmetry of
time as flowing in both forward waves and backward waves. Science
assumes that waves moving backward in time interfere and cancel each
other out. However, this may not be the case (Beichler, 1999). As such, the
temporal-spatial factors of ESP study may be the most fruitful avenue of
enquiry that might explain the different temporal expressions of ESP.
If indeed there is a holomorphic field, then it is not extra-sensory
perception that is being studied, but extra-perceptual sensing. If morphic
field theory is correct, then two human beings who have become entrained to
one another through their own conscious, sensory experiences, will be able
to share their experiences when separated through a pre-existing
entanglement with fields that comprise the morphic configuration. While the
macroscopic and the microscopic have different calculi, they can be
understood as the same principles, expressed inversely.
Morphic resonance provides a suitable medium, through which
perception can be transformed from one state to another, but in isolation it
does not explain the difficulty in capturing the phenomenon. This may be
exemplified by replication issues that plague parapsychology research. This
difficulty has been explained by the present study in terms of the
complementarity principle and the nature of inverse expressions of quantum
phenomenon. At different levels of analysis, quantum theories and their
cross-overs with holographic theories offer more sophisticated, yet
parsimonious explanations of ESP events. In this exploration, behaviour at

52
microscopic levels could be explained using the same principles applicable at
macroscopic levels. While the conceptual principles are retained, their effects
are inversed.

8. Conclusion
To conclude, the present study was interested in how remote sensory
perception might be facilitated by sensory synchronization between two
people. Drawing from the notion of morphic field theory and Sheldrake’s
hypothesis of Formative Causation, the present study created new perceptual
fields that could be resonated with at a later time, by pairs of empathically-
related participants. After synchronizing with local perceptual fields,
empathically-related pairs in the present study showed significantly improved
performance on the precognitive measure of ESP, despite being unaware of
this measure in the design.
The present study has proposed that while sensory synchronization at
a macroscopic level may facilitate the influence of macroscopic observations
(such as the sense of ownership in the Rubber Hand Illusion and Enfacement
llusion), unconscious priming stimulation may influence the low
level/quantum level. The conscious recognition (the particle, the ownership,
the objective reason for study) may set quantum phenomenon in to decline.
This decline effect may well be found in a number of low level studies and
could be explained by an inverse theory of morphic expression. While this
theory is relatively general, it may offer good predictive power. If there is an
inverse relationship of quantum-macroscopic measurement, then while
precognition is expressed as a temporal phenomenon in macroscopic terms
(the ability to predict the future), its quantum level presentation would be of
a spatial dynamic. Future research could therefore investigate the efficacy of
inverse theory by probing the effects of temporal and spatial de-synchrony
between participants and the incidence of precognition. Rhine’s manipulation
of spatial distance between pairs would be an interesting source of re-
analysis, in terms of spatial de-synchrony.

53
 In terms of sensory synchronization, instead of participants passing
the fragrances to each other sequentially, each participant could have a set
of target stimuli to perceive in synchrony with one another. However this
would not address the possibility that the present study may have over-
stimulated the participants and the morphic field itself, by sharing five
different fragrances within a short space of time. Another possibility for
future study is using the exact methods of the enfacement illusion,
(synchronous tactile stimulation using cotton buds applied to the cheek),
followed by trials that apply an icepad to the agent’s cheek, to test whether
the recipient reports ‘touch’ or ‘no touch’. However a much larger number of
trials would be needed within each experiment given the 50% chance levels
and so other challenges, (such as boredom), risk confounding the
experiment.
While entanglement and quantum theories are necessary to describe
the behaviour of ESP phenomenon, they do not explain the conditions for this
entanglement, nor do they provide any reasoning for the spontaneity of
shared sensory states. While the seemingly acausal communication is
addressed through a concept of nonlocality, the signal may be ‘always there’.
ESP may be most parsimoniously understood within a fractal-like/holographic
paradigm. ESP may not be ‘sent’ and ‘received’ between different parties,
rather it may emerge from a background of information, resonating in a
momentum that flows in and out of ‘typical’ observable measurement. Future
studies are therefore encouraged to cast their net wide enough to enable
precognition, clairvoyance and retrocognition analyses. Future studies could
also use fearful or displeasurable target stimuli, providing feedback to the
participants in the context of a positive reward, to explore whether error-
learning methods facilitate ESP. Data could then be analysed with the
hypothesis of finding a wave-like momentum of flow that moves between
clairvoyant, precognitive and retrocognitive expressions of ESP.
This paper suggests an inverse theory to be the framework for
predicting the performance of quantum level phenomenon such as
clairvoyance, precognition and general perception, which emerges despite

54
distance in time or space. In fact, time may be transcended by narrowing the
space, by enhancing precognition through close spatial proximity, while
clairvoyance may be enhanced by increasing the distance between the
participants. Ultimately, it is difficult to define where exactly present moment
experience resides, for all perception may actually be extrasensory. The
implications of ESP research could therefore contribute greatly to the
development of transpersonal psychological therapies and the study of
consciousness, exploring whether the hidden, inner dimension that we
establish as a sense of self, is of a distributed, quantum nature.

55
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 Appendices
Appendix A

ESP advert used for promoting the study

Hi my name is Amira,

I am carrying out a research study in association with the University of Northampton’s Psychology
department about Extra-sensory Perception (ESP). This is for my MSc in Transpersonal Psychology &
Consciousness Studies!

What is Extrasensory Perception (ESP)?!

ESP describes a range of phenomenon which includes; thinking about someone just before they ring you,
knowing when someone is staring at you, dreaming about an event that has later happened, sensing or
‘knowing’ the emotional state of someone close to you when they are not with you at the time. In general,
ESP describes the phenomenon of receiving information outside of our normal means.

The evidence
Scientists have been observing this phenomenon for a number of years with increasing interest. In fact,
far from being a rare phenomenon, ESP is considered to be a fundamental instinct that is shared across
different species! Even basic life forms, such as plants, demonstrate this fascinating capacity for
meaningful communication. In human beings however, the ability to share emotional and psychological
states is thought to be important for our health and well being. Empathy emerges early on in childhood
development through eye gaze and body mirroring. We interpret sensory-physiological states such as
facial expressions in terms of how we would feel making those movements. In this way, empathy becomes
an important part of how we come to share experiences beyond their original physical sensory basis. This
is a randomized controlled study (very scientific!) and the evidence gleaned from the experiment will help
researchers to understand how empathy and shared experiences are involved in the dynamics of client-
therapy settings.

The Experiment!
You and your friend will be asked to relax in two different rooms for a few minutes. This is to help you
gain a clear mind for you to share the experience clearly with your friend. One of you is then asked to
smell some fragrances (either vinegar, menthol, coffee, curry powder, rose). The smell that is chosen
depends on the throw of a die! Whoever is in the other room will be asked to report which smell their
friend is experiencing…! At some point in the experiment, you will be asked to sit with your friend for
about 10 minutes while you share your perceptions of the different fragrances. The same trials as
before take place again.

Participant requirements:
I am interested in testing pairs of ‘connected’ people (e.g. friends, siblings etc.)

You must have had an ESP experience in the past (eg. thinking about someone just before they
call, the sense of being stared at or similar experiences).

All participants must be age 18 or over.

70
Appendix B

Participant information sheet and consent form

School of Social Sciences, Park Campus, Boughton Green Road, Northampton, NN2 7AL

Information Sheet
(Study on extrasensory perception)

My name is Amira Sagher. I am completing my Masters degree in Transpersonal

Psychology & Consciousness Studies at The University of Northampton. I am carrying
out a study that investigates extrasensory perception between strangers compared to
empathically-related friends. This study builds upon the growing evidence that humans
can share their perceptions despite being physically separated. This phenomenon is
also known as remote viewing and can take place through two people having interacted
over a period of time.

This study in particular is interested in how emotion and sensory information such as
smell can be shared experiences between two people.

If you decide to take part, you and your friend will be asked to sit in two different rooms,
while one of you smells different smells and the other uses their ESP ability to report
which smell is being experienced. During part of the experiment you will be asked to
hold natural eye gaze for 5 minutes while listening to a relaxation CD.

You will also be asked to fill out a short questionnaire that asks for some basic personal
information (e.g. your age, number of ESP experiences prior to this experiment).

You and your friend will decide who receives the sensory stimulation and who will be the
person to report about the experience of it.

The experiment will take about 30 minutes to complete.

You do not have to take part in this study if you do not wish to. If you decide to
take part you may withdraw at any time during the experiment. You can also
withdraw your consent following the experiment by emailing either myself or
Chris Roe. If you decide to withdraw from the study, you will not be required to
give a reason, you will not incur any penalty and any data collected on your behalf
will be destroyed.

71
 All data collected will be assigned an ID number so that your information is kept
completely anonymous. Data will be stored and handled with the strictest confidentiality.
There will be an opportunity to ask questions before you begin the study and at the end
of the study.

This study will be a valuable contribution to understanding empathy and how we come to
share empathy. This has wide reaching implications for the development of therapy and
personal life challenges. If you would like to discuss any aspect of the research, please
contact either myself (amira1-1@hotmail.co.uk) or my supervisor, Chris Roe
(chris.roe@northampton.ac.uk or 01604 735 500).

Please keep this part of the sheet for reference. Please feel free to ask any questions
before you complete the consent form below, then tear off and hand the completed
consent form to the researcher. Your consent form will be stored separately from the
anonymous information you provide on the questionnaire and during the trials. This
study has been reviewed and approved by the internal ethical procedure at the
University of Northampton.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Consent form ID number……………….

Study on extrasensory perception

You have been asked to participate in a study of extrasensory perception, which is being
carried out by Amira Sagher.

Have you (please circle ‘yes’ or ‘no’)…

 Read the information sheet about the study? yes no

 Had an opportunity to ask questions? yes no
 Got satisfactory answers to your questions? yes no
 Understood that you’re free to withdraw from the study
at any time, without giving a reason yes no

Do you agree to take part in the study ? yes no

Signature ……………………………………………………………...........

Name in block letters ……………………………………………………………………….

Date ……………………

NB: This consent form will be stored separately from the anonymous information you
provide.

72
Appendix C

Researcher’s data record sheets

Part 1

Smell

1 6 11 16

2 7 12 17

3 8 13 18

4 9 14 19

5 10 15 20

Part 2

Smell

1 6 11 16

2 7 12 17

3 8 13 18

4 9 14 19

5 10 15 20

Smell: 1 = rose jos stick. 2 = vinegar. 3 = menthol. 4 = coffee. 5 = curry powder

73
Appendix D

Example of the response sheets given to the ‘recipient’

Which smell matches your experience the most?

Please select your top two choices

Trial 1
Rose
Vinegar
Stilton Cheese
Coffee beans
Curry Powder

Trial 2
Rose
Vinegar
Stilton Cheese
Coffee beans
Curry Powder

Trial 3
Rose
Vinegar
Stilton Cheese
Coffee beans
Curry Powder

Trial 4
Rose
Vinegar
Stilton Cheese
Coffee beans
Curry Powder

Trial 5
Rose
Vinegar
Stilton Cheese

74
Appendix E

Questionnaire

Questionnaire

Thank you for agreeing to complete this questionnaire

1. How old are you? ………..

2. Are you □ male □ female

3. How long have you known the other participant?

less than a year □
1-3 years □
3+ years □
The other participant is biologically related to me □

4. How many occasions have you experienced extrasensory perception?

Never □
Once or twice before □
A few times □
It happens all the time □

5. Do you experience tingles or shivers while listening to certain pieces of music?

Never □
Not very much □
Sometimes □
I experience musical chills a lot □

Thank you for completing the questionnaire!

Please now hand this to the researcher.

75
Appendix F

Ethical approval

76
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Spss Data

Clairvoyant first choice (pooled across conditions) one sample t-test (MCE = 20%)

T-Test
[DataSet0]

One-Sample Statistics

Std. Error
N Mean Std. Deviation Mean
Clvynt1stCh 12 8.9167 2.57464 .74324

One-Sample Test

Test Value = 8
95% Confidence
Interval of the
Mean Difference
t df Sig. (2-tailed) Difference Lower Upper
Clvynt1stCh 1.233 11 .243 .91667 -.7192 2.5525

Clairvoyant first choice (control condition), one sample t-test (MCE = 20%)

T-Test
[DataSet0]

One-Sample Statistics

Std. Error
N Mean Std. Deviation Mean
ClvCntrl1st 12 4.7500 1.81534 .52404

One-Sample Test

Test Value = 4
95% Confidence
Interval of the
Mean Difference
t df Sig. (2-tailed) Difference Lower Upper
ClvCntrl1st 1.431 11 .180 .75000 -.4034 1.9034

85
Clairvoyant, first choice, control versus experimental conditions, paired samples t-test

T-Test
[DataSet0]

Paired Samples Statistics

Std. Error
Mean N Std. Deviation Mean
Pair ClvCtrl1st 4.7500 12 1.81534 .52404
1 ClvExp1st 4.1667 12 1.46680 .42343

Paired Samples Correlations

N Correlation Sig.
Pair 1 ClvCtrl1st & ClvExp1st 12 .222 .488

Paired Samples Test

Paired Differences
95% Confidence
Interval of the
Std. Error Difference
Mean Std. Deviation Mean Lower Upper t df Sig. (2-tailed)
Pair 1 ClvCtrl1st - ClvExp1st .58333 2.06522 .59618 -.72885 1.89551 .978 11 .349

86
Clairvoyant first and second ranked hits (pooled), one sample t-test (40% MCE)

T-Test
[DataSet0]

One-Sample Statistics

Std. Error
N Mean Std. Deviation Mean
Clv1st2nd 9 12.6667 3.57071 1.19024

One-Sample Test

Test Value = 16
95% Confidence
Interval of the
Mean Difference
t df Sig. (2-tailed) Difference Lower Upper
Clv1st2nd -2.801 8 .023 -3.33333 -6.0780 -.5886

Clairvoyant first and second ranked hits (control), one sample t-test (40% MCE)

T-Test
[DataSet0]

One-Sample Statistics

Std. Error
N Mean Std. Deviation Mean
Clv1st2ndCntrl 9 8.7778 3.03223 1.01074

One-Sample Test

Test Value = 8
95% Confidence
Interval of the
Mean Difference
t df Sig. (2-tailed) Difference Lower Upper
Clv1st2ndCntrl .770 8 .464 .77778 -1.5530 3.1086

87
Clairvoyant first and second ranked hits (experimental), one sample t-test (40% MCE)

T-Test
[DataSet0]

One-Sample Statistics

Std. Error
N Mean Std. Deviation Mean
Clv1st2ndExp 9 3.8889 1.96497 .65499

One-Sample Test

Test Value = 8
95% Confidence
Interval of the
Mean Difference
t df Sig. (2-tailed) Difference Lower Upper
Clv1st2ndExp -6.277 8 .000 -4.11111 -5.6215 -2.6007

88
Clairvoyant, first and second choice (pooled), control versus experimental conditions, paired samples t-test

T-Test
[DataSet0]

Paired Samples Statistics

Std. Error
Mean N Std. Deviation Mean
Pair Clv1st2ndC 8.7778 9 3.03223 1.01074
1 Clv1st2ndExp 3.8889 9 1.96497 .65499

Paired Samples Correlations

N Correlation Sig.
Pair Clv1st2ndC &
9 -.026 .948
1 Clv1st2ndExp

Paired Samples Test

Paired Differences
95% Confidence
Interval of the
Std. Error Difference
Mean Std. Deviation Mean Lower Upper t df Sig. (2-tailed)
Pair Clv1st2ndC -
4.88889 3.65529 1.21843 2.07919 7.69859 4.012 8 .004
1 Clv1st2ndExp

89
Precognitive hits, (overall), one sample t-test (20% MCE)

T-Test
[DataSet0]

One-Sample Statistics

Std. Error
N Mean Std. Deviation Mean
PrecogTotal 12 6.2500 2.13733 .61699

One-Sample Test

Test Value = 7.6

95% Confidence
Interval of the
Mean Difference
t df Sig. (2-tailed) Difference Lower Upper
PrecogTotal -2.188 11 .051 -1.35000 -2.7080 .0080

Precognitive hits, (control), one sample t-test (20% MCE)

T-Test
[DataSet0]

One-Sample Statistics

Std. Error
N Mean Std. Deviation Mean
PrecogCntrl 12 2.6667 1.37069 .39568

One-Sample Test

Test Value = 3.8

95% Confidence
Interval of the
Mean Difference
t df Sig. (2-tailed) Difference Lower Upper
PrecogCntrl -2.864 11 .015 -1.13333 -2.0042 -.2624

90
Precognitive hits, (experimental), one sample t-test (20% MCE)

T-Test
[DataSet0]

One-Sample Statistics

Std. Error
N Mean Std. Deviation Mean
PrecogExp 12 3.5833 1.31137 .37856

One-Sample Test

Test Value = 3.8

95% Confidence
Interval of the
Mean Difference
t df Sig. (2-tailed) Difference Lower Upper
PrecogExp -.572 11 .579 -.21667 -1.0499 .6165

91
Precognitive (first choice hits), control versus experimental conditions, paired samples t-test

T-Test
[DataSet0]

Paired Samples Statistics

Std. Error
Mean N Std. Deviation Mean
Pair PrecogCntrl 2.6667 12 1.37069 .39568
1 PrecogExp 3.5833 12 1.31137 .37856

Paired Samples Correlations

N Correlation Sig.
Pair 1 PrecogCntrl & PrecogExp 12 .270 .397

Paired Samples Test

Paired Differences
95% Confidence
Interval of the
Std. Error Difference
Mean Std. Deviation Mean Lower Upper t df Sig. (2-tailed)
Pair 1 PrecogCntrl - PrecogExp -.91667 1.62135 .46804 -1.94683 .11349 -1.959 11 .076

92
Retrocognitive hits, (overall), one sample t-test (20% MCE)

T-Test
[DataSet0]

One-Sample Statistics

Std. Error
N Mean Std. Deviation Mean
RetcogTotal 12 8.2500 2.41680 .69767

One-Sample Test

Test Value = 7.6

95% Confidence
Interval of the
Mean Difference
t df Sig. (2-tailed) Difference Lower Upper
RetcogTotal .932 11 .372 .65000 -.8856 2.1856

Retrocognitive hits, (control), one sample t-test (20% MCE)

T-Test
[DataSet0]

One-Sample Statistics

Std. Error
N Mean Std. Deviation Mean
RetcogCntrl 12 3.7500 1.86474 .53831

One-Sample Test

Test Value = 3.8

95% Confidence
Interval of the
Mean Difference
t df Sig. (2-tailed) Difference Lower Upper
RetcogCntrl -.093 11 .928 -.05000 -1.2348 1.1348

93
Retrocognitive hits, (experimental), one sample t-test (20% MCE)

T-Test
[DataSet0]

One-Sample Statistics

Std. Error
N Mean Std. Deviation Mean
RetcogExp 12 4.5000 1.62369 .46872

One-Sample Test

Test Value = 3.8

95% Confidence
Interval of the
Mean Difference
t df Sig. (2-tailed) Difference Lower Upper
RetcogExp 1.493 11 .163 .70000 -.3316 1.7316

94
Retrocognitive (first choice hits), control versus experimental conditions, paired samples t-test

T-Test
[DataSet0]

Paired Samples Statistics

Std. Error
Mean N Std. Deviation Mean
Pair RetcogCntrl 3.7500 12 1.86474 .53831
1 RetcogExp 4.5000 12 1.62369 .46872

Paired Samples Correlations

N Correlation Sig.
Pair 1 RetcogCntrl & RetcogExp 12 -.045 .889

Paired Samples Test

Paired Differences
95% Confidence
Interval of the
Std. Error Difference
Mean Std. Deviation Mean Lower Upper t df Sig. (2-tailed)
Pair 1 RetcogCntrl - RetcogExp -.75000 2.52713 .72952 -2.35566 .85566 -1.028 11 .326

95