The Influence of a Belief in ESP on the Prediction of Coi Tosses

            THE INFLUENCE OF A BELIEF IN ESP ON THE PREDICTION OF COIN.
            
            
             This study examined the effects of belief in Extrasensory Perception.
             (ESP) on precognition accuracy in 850 undergraduate students. The 520.
             believers' and 330 non-believers', defined by a single questionnaire item.
             were asked to predict the outcomes of 50 coin tosses. For both groups,.
             the percentage of correct predictions did not differ from that expected by.
             chance (50%). Thus, no effect of ESP belief on precognition was.
             demonstrated. Indeed, the results showed no evidence of precognition.
             Discussion focused on problems of group definition.
             Anecdotal reports of "mind reading- and clairvoyance have persisted.
             throughout history. It was not until the late 1920s, however, that an.
             attempt was made to examine the existence of such paranormal abilities.
             in the laboratory using proper objective methods (Rhine, J.B., 1935).
             Rhine referred to these abilities collectively as Extrasensory Perception.
             (ESP) because they supposedly occurred independently of the known.
             senses.
             Rhine used nave participants in his experiments, asking them to guess.
             the symbols contained in a special deck of cards. Three types of ESP.
             were examined in this way: (1) Telepathy, where the participant.
             attempted to read the experimenter's mind in order to perceive the identity.
             of the card; (2) Clairvoyance, where the participant sought to identify the.
             card which was unknown to the experimenter; and (3) precognition, where.
             the participant tried to predict the identity of the next card to be turned.
             over. Rhine concluded from his research that there were a number of.
             participants who performed better than would be expected by chance and.
             thus were exhibiting ESP.
             There has been considerable criticism of both Rhine's research and the.
             large body of research that followed. The main criticism centers upon the.
             methodology. For example, negative data from ESP experiments are.
             rarely reported, thus leading to a bias in the statistical results (Hansel,.