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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ganzfeld experiment | 4/4 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganzfeld_experiment | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T09:20:07.932209+00:00 | kb-cron |
It now appeared that in one session – number 9 – the following events had taken place. Sargent did the randomization when he should not have. A 'B' went missing from the drawer during the session, instead of afterwards. Sargent came into the judging and "pushed" the subject towards 'B'. An error of addition was made in favour of 'B' and 'B' was chosen. 'B' was the target and the session a direct hit. This article, along with further criticisms of Sargent's work from Adrian Parker and Nils Wiklund remained unpublished until 1987 but all were well known in parapsychological circles. Sargent wrote a rebuttal to these criticisms (also not published until 1987) in which he did not deny what Blackmore had observed, but argued that her conclusions based on those observations were wrong and prejudiced. His co-workers also responded, saying that any deviation from protocol was the result of "random errors" rather than any concerted attempt at fraud. Carl Sargent stopped working in parapsychology after this and did not respond "in a timely fashion" when the Council of the Parapsychological Association asked for his data, and so his membership of that organization was allowed to lapse. Writing for Skeptical Inquirer in 2018, Blackmore states that Sargent "deliberately violated his own protocols and in one trial had almost certainly cheated." Psychologists reading Daryl Bem's review in Psychological Bulletin would "not have a clue that serious doubt had been cast on more than a quarter of the studies involved". When Blackmore confronted Sargent, he told her "it wouldn't matter if some experiments were unreliable because, after all, we know that psi exists". Blackmore also recounts having a discussion with Bem at a consciousness conference where she challenged him on his support of Sargent and Honorton's research, he replied "it did not matter". Blackmore writes, "But it does matter. ... It matters because Bem's continued claims mislead a willing public into believing that there is reputable scientific evidence for ESP in the Ganzfeld when there is not".
== See also == List of parapsychology topics List of topics characterized as pseudoscience Noumenon Remote viewing Zener cards
== Notes ==
== References ==
== Further reading == "What's the story on "ganzfeld" experiments?" Archived 2005-12-09 at the Wayback Machine. The Straight Dope, December 14, 2000. Andrew Colman. (1995). Controversies in Psychology. Longman Pub Group. ISBN 978-0582278035 C. E. M. Hansel. (1989). The Search for Psychic Power: ESP and Parapsychology Revisited. Prometheus Books. ISBN 978-0879755331 Ray Hyman (1995). "Evaluation of Program on Anomalous Mental Phenomena". The Journal of Parapsychology. Archived from the original on 2017-06-16. Retrieved 2007-01-10. Scott O. Lilienfeld (November–December 1999). "New Analyses Raise Doubts About Replicability of ESP Findings". Skeptical Inquirer. Neher, A. (2011). Paranormal and Transcendental Experience: A Psychological Examination. Dover Publications. ISBN 978-0486144863. Dean Radin (1997). The Conscious Universe: The Scientific Truth of Psychic Phenomena. HarperOne. ISBN 978-0062515025. Gordon Stein. (1996). The Encyclopedia of the Paranormal. Prometheus Books. ISBN 978-1573920216 Victor Stenger. (1990). Physics and Psychics: The Search for a World Beyond the Senses. Prometheus Books. ISBN 978-0879755751 Leonard Zusne and Warren Jones. (1989). Anomalistic Psychology: A Study of Magical Thinking. Psychology Press. ISBN 978-0805805086
== External links == Koestler Parapsychology Unit: Testing Psi The Skeptic's Dictionary: "Ganzfeld"