PERCEPTUAL AUGMENTATION TECHNIQUES. PROGRESS REPORT NO. 4

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Progress Report No. 4
Covering the Period 1 August to 1 October 1974
Stanford Research Institute Project 3183
PERCEPTUAL AUGMENTATION TECHNIQUES
by
Harold E. Puthoff
Russell Targ
Electronics and Bioengineering Laboratory
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I OBJECTIVE
The purpose of the program is to determine the characteristics of
those perceptual modalities through which individuals obtain information
about their environment, wherein such information is not presented to
any known sense.
The program is divided into two categories of investigation of
approximately equal effort, applied research and basic research. The
purpose of the applied research effort is to explore experimentally
the potential for applications of perceptual abilities of interest,
with special attention given to accuracy and reliability. The purpose
of the basic research effort is to identify the characteristics of
individuals possessing such abilities, and to identify neurophysiologic~;l
correlates and basic mechanisms involved in such functioning.
II PROGRESS DURING THE REPORTING PERIOD
A. Applied Research
1. Remote Viewing
As discussed in previous reports, the remote-viewing channel
through `which individuals obtain information about their environment
appears to be a relatively well-developed stable channel in certain of
our subjects. As will be seen below, for example, the channel appears
to be of sufficiently high data rate that a knowledgeable analyst could
discriminate among possible alternative technologies on the basis of
descriptions provided by remote viewing of technical apparatus.
Given the observed degree of stability of the phenomena, a
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lengthy series of `experiments were carried out in which certain variables
were manipulated in order to test various hypotheses.. These consisted of
(a) the measurement of physiological correlates during remote viewing;
(b) the effects of manipulating the feedback variable over the range
.,,
1) mid-testing. feedback via walkie talkie, 2) delayed post-experiment
feedback, 3) no feedback, the latter providing a test which permitted
rejection of the hypothesis that apparent remote viewing was simply
precognition of feedback data; (c) determination of whether resolution
and discrimination on the order of technical laboratory equipments was
possible, verified. unambiguously in the affirmative.
(a) Local Targets with Mid-Experiment Interrogation and
Feedback (Training Series)
In this series of training experiments, designed to give
immediate data to experimenters and subject, a subject is asked to take
part in a remote viewing experiment under the following conditions.
The subject and two experimenters (one of whom was R.T.) are
in a first floor laboratory in building 30 at SRI. A second experimenter
(H.P.) leaves the_area and proceeds to a remote location of his choosing.
None of the experimenters with the subject .now of the remote target
location. H.P. and R.T. are in two-way radio communication via walkie-
talkie, (a) to provide the experimenter at the target location real-time
data and (b) to give the subject immediate feedback after he has made
his' assessment of the target. By this means the subject is givep an
opportunity to learn to separate real from imagined images. We stress
that this is not to be considered a demonstration-of-ability test, but
rather a training step. In these experiments we also monitor physiological
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correlates, as discussed in Section B.3. Following is a description and
summary of the seven experiments of this type that were carried out. The
first five experiments were carried out with Subject S-4, the last two
with Subject S-3.
1) For the first experiment in the series, the remote experi-
menter was standing on a small bridge over a stream passing through a
gully. The subject described a hill with a small amount of vegetation
on the top, and .some gray shingles, like a roof, over water, an almost
error-free description of the location. Although there was no corrective
feedback, the subject's narration was elicited by the remote experimenter
via questions, and therefore it would be difficult to quantify the amount
of remote viewing present given the possibility of unknown cueing.
2) The remote experimenter was standing in the middle of a bed
of purple iridescent flowers surrounded by a bright green hedge. Before
there was any radio contact the subject said that her main perception was
of "iridescent blue and lush green vegetation". This is judged to have
enough commonality to be considered a reasonable match.
3) The remote experimenter had gone to a kiosk bulletin board
in the shape of a wooden cylindrical tower with a brown wooden roof. The
structure is about 15 feet tall. The subject's first words, before radio
communication was established, were:."He could be near a grey wooden
tower with a brown roof." This was considered a direct hit and the subject
was told that this was the case. The subject went on to describe correctly
the roof around the tower as sloping but she incorrectly described the
tower as square. The small-size perspective was not observed by the subject.
4) The experimenter was standing on the edge of a concrete
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waterway made up of several zigzag elements. It is a decorative watercourse
through a park.. The subject's first comments are of a "strong zigzag".
With a question from the remote experimenter as to its orientation (i.e.,
whether horizontal or vertical), her description evolves into a "zigzag
water channel with concrete sides". We are confident that the feedback
she received in this case by questioning could not have conveyed this
information.
5) The remote experimenter stood next to a large oak tree. In
his immediate forward field of view was a large circular brick wall sur-
rounding a plaza area containing a fountain. The subject's first comments
prior to radio feedback comprised a description of Targe trees and a
brick elliptical wall that was nonfunctional. The subject was then given
feedback that the primary things to be seen from that location were in
fact a large tree and a circular brick enclosure.
6) The remote experimenter went to the top of a 100 foot wooden
tower on which was mounted radar equipment. The tower is painted yellow
and has a wooden wall enclosing the top. By and large, much of the
material volunteered by the subject does relate to the target location.
For example, he eventually described it as a yellow tower before either
the color or the tower were mentioned, although the height was not
cognized. As the first in a training series on local viewing for this
subject there was considerable radio communication and therefore although
remote viewing was in evidence, no clear judgment can be made as to quality.
7) The remote experimenter in this experiment walked through
a blacktop parking tot past a blue construction building, entered a park
along a footpath through the grass, and then stood next to a fountain.
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The subject described the above material essentially without feedback or
radio contact. As a single narrative, he told of first seeing blackness
which he identified as an asphalt parking lot behind the experimenter, and
told that there caas a blue building nearby. When this was confirmed, the
subject went on to describe a white footpath through grass and entry into
a depressed area. The subject then asked if the area was a fountain,
which was confirmed. This latter performance is indicative of the most
successful perceptions that we have seen from this subject.
__
We stress again that this particular series, involving as it
does mid-experiment questioning and feedback, is to be contaidered a
training series to provide subject and experimenter alike means whereby
various aspects of the phenomena maybe examined in detail. Nevertheless,
sufficient descriptive elements were given before feedback to indicate
unambiguously a functioning ability. For a summary of pre-feedback
identifications, see Table 1. Since these experiments were carried out
with monitoring of physiological correlates, it was established that
such monitoring is not intrusive.
Real-time observation of the remote site under conditions of
real-time subject interrogation leads to the following best-effort
qualitative interpretation: Remote viewing generally does not provide
__
an integrated visual impression of an entire scene in the sense of direct
visual observation. Rather, the subject provides an overall impressionistic
gestalt together with individual salient elements, a response similar to
that obtained under conditions of tachistoscopic viewing. Remote viewing
is, however, generally (for experienced subjects) at a level sufficient
to permit discrimination among known alternatives on the part of an analyst.
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TABLE 1
SUMMARY OF REMOTE VIEWING EXPERIMENTS.
WITH MiD-EXPERIMENT QUESTIONING AND FEEDBACK
Target Location
Subject Description Before
Any Feedback Given
1. Embankment with bridge and stream
2. Iridescent purple flower bed
surrounded by bright green
hedge
3. 15 foot tall cylindrical wooden
4. Zigzag water channel with concrete
5. Large oak tree next to brick
enclosure
6. 100 foot wooden radar tower
7. Blue building and circular
fountain
Hill with vegetation at top only
Iridescent blues and greens, like
feathers.
Grey tower with a brown roof
Strong zigzag shape
Large chestnut tree and non-
functional brick wall.
Stone wall taller than experimenter
Blue building and circular founttain
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(b) Variable Feedback Study
In this second series of eight experiments, the variable manip-
ulated was the type of feedback th at was given to the subject. The
feedback covered the range (a) immediate feedback via walkie-talkie as
before, (b) subject taken to the remote site after the experiment, (c)
no feedback given whatsoever. In this latter case the subject was not
even told whether or not she was correct.
One aspect of the examination of the effect of feedback was to teat
a hypothesis proposed by Dr. Gerald Feinberg who had witnessed some of
our early remote viewing experiments. A paper of his entitled, "Precognition--
Remembrance of Things Future", is included as Appendix A. His theory,
briefly stated,- proposed that since the subject eventually gets to
perceive directly the target location with this normal senses, he might
in principle gain access to that information by reading his own mind
precognitively. The physical basis for this would be the electromagnetic
advanced potential wave carrying his future memory backward in time, thus
allowing it to be "remembered" before it took place. Although this
summary does not do justice to the theory, it is clear that the way to
test such a theory is to withhold data entirely from the subject as to
the nature of the target location.
With the two goals of testing the Feinberg hypothesis and measuring
the overall effects of feedback, we arranged that walkie-talkie feedback,
delayed (post-experiment) feedback and no-feedback experiments were ran-
domly intermixed.. The protocol for all experiments involved one of the
experimenters leaving the subject with the other experimenter in the
SRI laboratory. The traveling experimenter-would be allowed fifteen
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minutes to arrive at his target location. He would then pay close attention
to his surroundings for ten minutes, after which he would return to SRI.
In the first five experiments, H.P. was the outbound experimenter, in the
last three experiments the experimenter roles were reversed with R.T. as
the outbound experimenter. The entire set of experiments were carried
out with Subject S-4.
1) The formal courtyard of SRI's International Building, about 20 x 20
meters surrounded on four sides by two-story concrete buildings, served
as the first target. In the center of the courtyard is a presently inactive
fountain and small trees planted in rows. During the experiment, the
outbound experimenter (H.P.) stood in that fountain. There was no mid-
teat feedback,. only post-experiment feedback.
The main descriptive elements of the subject pertained to a formal
garden with a little dry fauntain in the middle. Other elements that
the subject described were a wrought iron fence, a trough leading to the
fountain, and the experimenter climbing steps. In addition to the above
correct descriptions, the subject also described a blue sign and railroad
tracks behind a fence. These latter elements are not present at the site.
The formal garden ambience is clearly a correct gestalt of
the place and would allow for easy discrimination from the other target
locations that follow. Except for the two incorrect data noted above,
the rest of the description was basically coherent and accurate.
2) The target location was a 30-foot long trailer used by SRI to
house its mobile radio transmitter. Puthoff walked back and forth outside
this stainless steel trailer for the ten minutes of the experiment. In
our estimation the subject gave a nondefinitige set of impressions
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which were too general to be considered as specifically related to the
designated target. No feedback was given either during our following
the experiment.
3) A bicycle shed behind SRI's building 30, brightly lit by sun
shining on translucent white plastic walls, comprised the third target.
The outbound experimenter (H.P.) sat on a bicycle.
The subject's main description detailed how brilliantly the place
was lit with no shade. The descriptions which followed dealt with con-
verging metal spokes. Her impression was that the metal spokes divided
the space of a circular area rimmed by some other material. She submitted
a drawing showing a stick figure representing the experimenter (H.P.)
standing on one of the spokes of an eight spoked wheel,. about a man's
height in diameter. Since the content of her ten minute description dealt
with the elements brightness and metal spokes, the inaccuracy is to be
found in the scale of the description, and of course her omission of the
fact that the spoked wheel belonged to a bicycle. As in the previous
experiment, no feedback was provided to the subject either during or
following the experiment.
4) The fourth target was a wooden bulletin board kiosk, used earlier
as a target, about half a mile from SRI. It is a cylinder about fifteen
feet high with a conical roof having a three foot overhang. Mid-test
communication via walkie-talkie permitted questions to be asked by the
remote experimenter, and post-experiment feedback was also given.
Ae in experiment two, nothing in the sub,ject's descriptd~o.n would
allow one to identify the target. Feelings of anxiety were expressed
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along with a request to terminate that location as a target because of
"fear of a primal force and danger". A purely speculative point could
be made concerning the fact that while at the target location the experi-
menter spent his time reading an announcement of a meeting about Viet-
namese children ma3ned during the war. A separate test series would be
required to test such a hypothesis.
5) The remote experimenter went to a rectangular concrete platform
containing three cylindrical fire hydrants. He balanced himself as he
walked on the wooden 2x2 header bordering the concrete pad. Mid-test
communication and post-experiment feedback were given. The subject's
first impression prior to any communication was that-the experimenter was
tightrope walking on a long narrow ledge out in the open, as, for example,
on the top of a wall. Following confirmation of the tightrope aspect,
the subject volunteered a description of metal tubes bisecting the masonry.
The correspondences to basic elements are manifold, including
description of experimenter activity, and there are no incorrect data.
In our estimation :the essentially null mid-experiment feedback could not
in this case have .provided the data obtained by the subject.
6) The target site in this experiment was a children's playground
about 4 miles from SRI. The outbound experimenter, R.T. in this case,
spent the ten minute experimental period riding on a small merry-go-round
in a sand box.
The subject describes R.T. as riding on something that leaves
a wake, although not necessarily in water, e.g., it could be in the air.
She sees sand or mud, and the "vehicle" he is riding on is described as
curved and looks like chrome (correct). He is also described as being in
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movement the whole time, happy, joyful, etc. She also claimed to see an
axle, but could not give any details.
Although the merry-go-round as a gestalt was not recognized,
the ambience of the place was well conveyed by the subject's descriptions.
There was feedback to the subject only the day following the experiment.
7) The seventh target was an auditorium at SRI with a flood-lit
stage and red carpets throughout. The outbound experimenter was R.T..
The subject's description was of a patterned carpet in a large
well-lit room. The subject saw a scalloped design covering this interigr
space, in reds and maroons, and submitted a drawing which matched well
the array of seat backs. She correctly described the experimenter as
leaving the brightly lit area (.stage) after five minutes and moving to a
second area in the room.
This was the first indoor target area we have used with this
subject. We consider her description excellent both with regard to structure
and ambience, though again the significance was not cognized. Post-
experiment feedback was given.
$) A church in Palo Alto served as the final target in the series.
It is a tall, modern, very elegant building. --
The subject's first comments are of a tall august ],ofty building
that must be a library or a church, very solemn. She describes a cross
or kite at the end of the solemn hall. The outside is correctly described
as gray masonry with cutouts for windows. The remote experimenter (R.7.'.)
is correctly described as leaving the building by a concrete passageway.
We consider this to be the best match of the series with respect to
structure, ambience, and activity of remote experimenter. No feedback
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was given either during or following the experiment..
In this series of eight experiments, summarized in Table 2, three
feedback protocols were employed. They included the use of a walkie-
talkie communication during the experiment, feedback after the termina-
tion of the experiment, and no feedback at all. Since mid-test communi-
cation was used in some of these experiments, this series was not intended
as a demonstration-of-ability test, but rather as a training series with
a secondary goal of determining whether feedback to the subject is a
necessary component of the remote viewing phenomenon.
The detailed .tape recorded transcript of experiment number 8, the
church, is one of the more accurate and complete descriptions we have
ever obtained from a remote viewing experiment. In this case the subject
was given no feedback whatsoever as to the nature of the target or the
correctness of her .description. We conclude from this experiment, and
supporting evidence from the spoked wheel drawing from experiment 2, that
a channel of significant capacity exists between a subject and a remote
location even in the absence of feedback. Furthermore, from our analysis
of the data and conversations with the subject, it appears that the exis-
tence of mid-experiment communications is more of a disturbance than a
help to the subject in establishing rapport with the remote experimenter.
Finally, the tales of R.T. and H.P. as interrogator and outbound
experimenter were interchanged for some experiments with no observable
difference, indicating that the remote-viewing phenomenon is not strongly
personality dependent.
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SUMMARY OF VARIABLE FEEDBACK EXPERIMENTS
Type of
Feedback
.Evaluation
1. SRI landscaped court Post-exp. Described correctly as a
yard formal garden with dry
fountain
2. Radio trailer None No relation to target
~, 3. Bicycle shed None Correctly described bright
area and drew wheel with
metal spokes; size perspective
lacking
4. Wooden Kiosk mid-test No relation to target (see
text)
5. Concrete platform mid-test Accurately described target
and experimenter's activity
6. Merry-go-round post-ex .
(1 day
Had experimenter in moving
vehicle which couldn't be
identified
7. Auditorium past-exp. Correctly described large
indoor area, brightly lit,
with red rug
8. Church None Tall solemn,. august building,
church or library
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(c) Technology Series
In this section we describe a series of experiments designed to
measure the approximate resolution capability of the remote viewing
phenomenon. We have established. in other work that a high data rate
channel exists between a remote viewing subject and a distant site.
In this work we investigate the amount of specific detail that a subject
is able to obtain concerning a remote and unfamiliar scene.
Just prior to these experiments we had carried out experiments with
subjects S-3 and S-4 to measure the physiological correlates of remote
viewing and to test feedback hypotheses. One of the observations that
we made at the conclusion of that work was that the quality, accuracy, and
coherence of the descriptions provided by both these subjects appeared
to be improving. We therefore asked them to participate in this .series
of technology experimentis in which they would attempt to describe
laboratory equipment of the type. with which they may not be familiar.
As is now standard in our protocol, they were asked simply to describe
what they saw rather than name the object. There were four experiments
in this series, and. the subjects were successful in obtaining significant
information ~n all cases.
In the first three experiments one experimenter left the subject
with a second experimenter blind to the target and by random protocol
selected a piece of apparatus with which to interact, located in a part
of SRI where the subject had not been previously. The experimenter then
used the equipment in the appropriate manner for ten minutes, after which
he returned to the laboratory. The subject was asked both to describe the
apparatus and to submit drawings.
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big box painted matt black in the center of a large room. The front of
the box was said to have a glass porthole like a washing machine with
blue light coming out of it. She described the experimenter as looking
at that light and using switches located under the porthole to do something
with the machine.
The description was sufficiently accurate that a technically-
oriented analyst might reasonably be expected to identify the target from
among a restricted range of possibilities. As is often obeerved, the
basic elements are described correctly while the analytical significance
is not cognized.-
3) Target Number Three consisted of a drill press in a machine shop..
The target was a seven-foot-high, belt-driven drill press, which was used
by the outbound experimenter (R.T.) to drill holes in a piece of wood for
the ten-minute experimental period.
The subject described the object as being a man-sized machine
with wheels, gears, and some sort of conveyer belt. She drew a picture
of a belt operating between a pair of pulleys. She also described an
"anchor or umbrella" which she drew as a hub with four spokes, dt the
end of each of which was a knob. This resembles accurately .the handle
which is used to raise and lower the drill. She also drew a vertically-
oriented graph which is in fact on the front of the machine to indicate
depth of drill motion. The three drawings together with her verbal
description contain many elements that in our estimation would allow an
analyst to assess correctly the nature of the machine, .given a restricted
class of possibilities.
These three targets were described by Subject 5-4. Her only input
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information was that the experimenters would make use of some laboratory
equipment at SRI. It is clear that the three descriptions are differenCiated
from each other, and that varying amounts of technically correct information
was olita,ined and recorded by the subject..
4) An abacus in a day/date/clock pedestal served as target number 4.
The target-is shown-ire Figure 1. The target.ohject for this experiment
was purchased on the day of the experiment in New York City for the purpose
of measuring the resolution of Subject S-3 in the remote viewing situation.
After the abacus was purchased, the subject was called-and asked to take
part in a remote viewing experiment in our hotel room.
Unlike the usual protocol, in this experiment both experimenters
knew the description of the target object. We therefore had pre-recorded
the entire experimental preamble for the subject which had been carefully
checked in advance-for unintentional verbal cueing.
Pre-recorded Preamble:
"Hal and I have brought a present for you. We wandered around
New York this morning and we bought an object. This object is of the type
that one interacts with, and Hal will use it for its normal purpose. Today
is Friday, September 27, 1974. As in all our remote viewing experiments,
we'd like to ask you to describe the object as you see it rather than
attempting to give the object a name." --
Shortly after the subject entered the hotel room, one experimenter
(H.P.) took a large locked suitcase containing the target into the wash
room. He locked the door and removed the abacus from the suitcase. He
then quietly moved the wooden-balls back and forth on their wires. We
had verif ied in setting up the experiment that this action was inaudible.
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The instruction tape was pfayed to the subject by the other
experimenter (R.T.), and all ?ubsequent interactions between himself and
the subject were recorded.
The subject produced within one minute an outline drawing
(Figure 2(I~)which he said was "it", although he didn't know what "it"
was. (The large purplish-silver object corresponds well with the interior
of the suitcase.)
The experimenter then asked the subject for more detail. A second
drawing (Figure 2(II)) was produced by the subject who described the object
as a "game box with little balls". He felt that that was all he could do
and handed in his second drawing. We then terminated the experiment
and showed him the target object. The entire experiment took place in
approximately five minutes total time.
Considering the high strangeness of the target object, and the
essentially total lack of restriction on the possibilities at the outset
as far as the subject was concerned, it appears that the correlation of the
subject's drawings and description with the target constitute a highly ,
significant result.
The results of-the four-experiment technology series are summarized
in Table 3. These four experiments clearly indicate that-the remote
viewing channel can be used to .obtain information about mechanical and
technical apparatus, .in addition to the geographical and architectural
information which had-been obtained in our experiments previously. In
these present experiments the subjects were not technically oriented
as to the possible types of targets that might be encounterr2d. We do
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Target Subject Responses
1. Link Trainer flight simulator Experimenter crowded into very small
space. Gray diffuse light. Experimenter
described as doing something with
both hands.
2. 23" Video Monitor with keyboard Big black box in center of room.
Glass porthole with blue light. Switches
underneath porthole.
3. Drill press Man-size machine with belt and pulley.
Spoked handle, vertical graph.
Game box with balls. Drew six tracks
with balls in them and a circular
pattern below.
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not at this time know whether their `'ignorance of the possible target poel
is a help or a hindrance to their descriptions.
We plan to continue working with this type of target material to g~.in
further information as to the resolution capability of various subjects
in this perceptual area.
(d) Project Atlas Remote Viewing
A second remote-viewing experiment has been carried. out on a client-
designated target of interest, a European R&D test facility: The sub~eet
for this experiment (S-3) was given map coordinates in degrees and minutes
and told only that-the target was a technical facility. The subject's
response follows. A map accompanying the description is shown in Figure 3.
"First view taken at 11.00 a.m., EST (27 Aug 74)
The given coordinates gave a view of a rather flat environment
composed of what looked like sand dunes covered intermittently
with a scrubby grass. The wind was blowing, and the view was
at night (approx. 12 hours difference).
The view was hovering over a road running NNW, and there could
be seen a fence to the right, and beyond that a series of rec-
tangular buildings in rows. There appeared to be a network of
roads and lots of wire fences. A strange orange circular plat-
form could be seen, but not identified as to purpose. There
appeared to be tall towers in the distance, and around one
tower-like structure there were a lot of lights and activity.
Second view taken at 12.25 a.m., EST (28 Aug 74).
Again, the wind was blowing. The sun was reflecting off the
ground, and it seemed dusty. There appeared to be huge fenced
perimeters (steel fencing?). There are hills or mountains to
the south, and also some high-power voltage lines. There is
a marsh (?) to the NNW.
Comment: Tiredness at the second viewing .seemed to inhibit
mobility in the view. Also, due to the complexity of the structures
at the site, it is difficult to progress without some form of
feedback. It is possible that the coordinates suffice to locate
~hThe first experiment was carried out with Subject S-1.
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 Figure 3. Drawing of Project Atlas
site submitted by Subject S-3
i~~-~?~i~w~
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the perception at the general site, but that preciseness as to
artificial structures, especially in a complicated-area, will
have to have some additional orientation sequence:
MAP 1 follows."
Evaluation of the data by the client is underway.
B. Basic Research
In addition to the testing of individuals under conditions which
yield data indicating the feasibility of the application of paranormal
abilities to operational needs, fifty percent of the effort is devoted
to identification of measurable characteristics possessed by gifted
individuals, identification of neurophysiological correlates which relate
to paranormal activities, and identification of the nature of paranormal
phenomena.
1. Criteria for the Determination of Gifted Individuals
(a) Remote Viewing of Natural Targets
Data continues to be taken on the .remote viewing phenomena.
As this report goes to press, Subjects 4 and 6 have completed the required
series of nine sites, and the results will be judged and included in the
following report.
(b) Line Drawings
The line drawing series has yet to be completed on all subjects.
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(c) Four-State Electronic Random Stimulus Generator
As discussed in detail in Progress Report ~`3, the determi~.ation
of the state of a four-state electronic random stimulus generator comprises
one of the three screening tests. The target is in the form of one of
four art slides chosen randomly (p = 1/4) by an electronic random gener-
ator. The generator does not indicate its choice until the subject
indicates his .choice to the machine by pressing a button. As soon as
the subject indicates his choice, the target slide is illuminated to
provide visual feedback as to the correctness or incorrectness of his
choice. Until that time both subject and experimenter remain ignorant
of the machine's choice, so the experiment is of the double-blind type.
The machine choice, subject choice, cumulative trial number, .and cumulative
hit number are recorded automatically on a printer.
For the purpose of screening, each subject is required to complete
100 25-trial runs (i.e., a total of 2500 trials). Since Progress Report
4~3, an additional subject (S-4) has completed the required number of runs.
The machine screening data now stands as shown in Table 4.
SCREENING DATA: FOUR-STATE ELECTRONIC RANDOM STIMULUS GENERATOR
b
Subject Mean Score/100 Trials Binomial
Over 2500 Trials Probability
25.76
29.36
25.76
25.40
3 x 10-7
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2. Identification of Measurable Characteristics Possessed by Gifted
Subjects
' Medical and.Psychological Evaluation
The medical and psychological evaluation of program participants
continuing at the Paloc~Alto Medical Clinic under coordination of Dr.
Robert Armbruster, Director of the Department of Environmental Medicin~+.
The work is close to being completed, as indicated in Table 5 and 6.
The raw data for subjects 2, 3, and 6 are included in Appendices 2, 3,
and 4. Summarized data and interpretation will follow at program
completion.
26
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0
O
O
0
0
0
a
0
/08
O
0
0
0
0
0
0
H
~i
v.
91 000 00040005-8
~ ~ 27
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Table 6
PSYCHOLOGICAL TXAMINATION
Personnel #1 - 3, sub3ects;
#4 - 6 learners/controls; #7 - 8, experimenters..
#1
~
~
-'
-_
#3
?
~
~~
~ ?
_
Q~
_
~
?
.
#4
~. ~
~ ~
~
~ r
#~
0
~
~
0
o
o
o
a
a
o
o
a
0
#8
0~
0?
~0~
o
o
~
a
aa
o
SRI - Palo Alto Medical Clinic
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3. Identification of Neurophysiological Correlates Which Relate
to Paranormal Activities
As part of the program to determine whether physiological correlates
can be used as an indicator of paranormal functioning, measurements are
obtained during a random selection of remote viewing experiments. In these
experiments the subject is connected to physiological recording instruments
and a four-channel polygraph. Baseline and experimental measures of the
following observables are made: 1) Galvanic skin response (GSR) is
recorded using finger electrodes taped in place on second and fourth
fingers; 2) Blood-volume/pulse height is recorded using a reflected-light
plethysmograph; 3) Unfiltered EEG is recorded from the right occipital
region; 4) Percent-time in alpha (8-12 Hz) is recorded on the fourth
channel. The alpha filter is a sharp cut-off digital type with essentially
zero-pass outside the prescribed bandpass limits.
During the course of an experiment the subject is asked to describe
his perceptions as to the nature of the remote target. His comments are
tape recorded .and noted on the polygraph, along with the time. A corre-
lation is then attempted between those descriptions which are found to
be uniquely correct and accurate, and the corresponding sections of
polygraph recording. Of the correlates being monitored, the one which seems
the most promising is the unfiltered EEG. In our preliminary analysis
of the data it appears that there is often an overall reduction in ~;av
power in the twenty-second period just before a subject renders a correct
description. Subsequent to this observation, we have learned that Janet
Mitchell at the American Society for Psychical Research made very similar
detailed observations in her studies with Subject 3, also in remote viewing
experiments. Considerable data remain to be analyzed, and completion is
targeted for the next reporting period.
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4. Identification of the Nature of Paranormal Phenomena dnd Energy
(a) 23rd Annual International Conference--Quantum Physics and
Para s cholo Geneva Switzerland Au ust 26-27 1974
A major input to the researchers Puthoff and Targ during the reporting
period was afforded by attendance at a closed working conference sponsored
by Parapsychology Foundation, Inc., New York. The conference was set up
to provide discussion on the identification of the nature of 'paranormal
phenomena and energy. The attendees and their affiliations are given
in Table 7, along with the titles of the papers presented. A sig~ficant
outcome of the papers (and discussions which followed) was that data
concerning paranormal processes are not in violation of but rather are
commensurate with the basic principles of information theory and. quantum
processes. It was considered that this conclusion could be drawn even
though-the precise mechanisms still elude specification.
A conservative summary of the conceptualizations invo~,ved in eludes
the following:
(1) Researchers in the area of psychokinesis appear to be plagued
by results whose amplitudes have a signal-to-noise ratio near unity, re-
gardless of the process or mechanism involved. A number of observations
indicate that rather than simple perversity, what is being articulated
is a coherence phenomenon involving partial mobilitation of system noise,
and thus the magnitude constraint. That is, when a subject is asked to
interact with an experimental setup, one often first observes a reduction
in noise followed by a signal, as if the components of the noise spectrum
had been brought into phase coherence. (Such an interpretation does not
30
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Table 7
Program, 23rd Annual International Conference--Quantum Physics
and Parapsychology, Geneva, Switzerland, August 26-27, 1974
"Foundations of Paraphysical and Parapsychological Phenomena," Evan Harris
Walker, Ballistic Research Laboratories, Aberdeen Proving Ground,
Maryland, U.S.A.
"Precognition--A Memory of Things Future?" Gerald Feinberg, Columbia
.University, New York, U.S.A.
"Parapsychology, Quantum Logic and Information Theory," C.T.K. Chars, Madras
Christian College, Madras, India (read by Harold Puthoff).
"Quantum Paradoxes and Aristotle's Twofold Information Concept," 0. Costa
de Beauregard, Institut Henri Poincare, Paris, France.
"Life and Quantum Physics," V.A. Firsoff, Royal Astronomical Society,
London, England.
"Physics, Entropy, and Psychokinesis," Harold Puthoff and Russell Targ,
Stanford Research Institute, Menlo Park, `California U.S.A.
"Remote Viewing of Natural Targets," Russell Targ and Harold Puthoff,
Stanford Research Institute, Menlo Park, California U.S.A.
"Parapsychology as an Analytico-Deductive Science,?' J.H.M. Whiteman,
University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
"A Logically Consistent Model of a World with Pai Interaction," Helmut
Schmidt, The Institute for Parapsychology, Durham, North Carolina,
U.S.A.
"Connections Between Events in the Context of the Combinatorial Model for
a Quantum Process," Ted Bastin, Cambridge Language Research Unit, Cambridge,
England.
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necessarily deny the possibility of large macroscopic effects.)
The subject thus appears to act as a loca]. negentropic source.
If true, it may be more advantageous as a practical matter to work with
extremely noisy systems, rather than with highly constrained or organized
systems, in order to maximize possible. effects due to the introduction
of order.
(2) Paranormal phenomena-often appear to be more the result of
coincidence than the effect of a well-defined cause. Again, rather than
being the result of the perversity of nature, the abserved goal-oriented
synchronicity may indicate that physical systems .are. more easily manipu-
lated at the global level of boundary conditions and constraints rather
than at the level of mechanism. Thus, the apparency that a give~;_ desired
resu It can be explained away by a coincidental but "natural" event needs
to be explored mare fully. Unexpected but natural causes may be the
Offect of a sexier of causal links, outside the defined experimental
boundaries but representing an unforseen line of-least resistance. At
worst, such causal links may in feat be unobservable in the sanse of the
hidden variables concept in quantum theory, but nevertheless, act as
instruments of the tvill.
(3) Paranormal phenomena appear to be intrinsically spontaneous;
i.e., it is difficult to evoke paranormal phenomena "on cue", with the
result that the phenomena are often considered to be not under good control,
and therefore not amenable to controlled experimentation. This difficulty
is so pronounced that it is likely that we are observing some macroscopic
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analog of a quantum transition, an event similarly unpredictable in time
except as a probability function. If the analogy is correct, experimenta-
tion in this area simply needs to be treated in the manner of, for example,
weak photon experiments.
(4) Possibly related to item (3), the more, closely one attempts
to observe paranormal phenomena, the less likely one is to see them, a
factor considered by many to support hypotheses of poor observation, fraud,
etc. To a sophisticated observer, however, simple dismissal does not
stand up under scrutiny. Invoking again the idea of a macroscopic analog
of a quantum transition, we may, as observers of delicate phenomena, be
witness to observer effects generally associated with the uncertainty
principle. Paradoxically, from the sub,~ect~s viewpoint, the production
of the phenomena may also be an observer effect, perturbing as it does
the expected behavior of a system. In this model the scrutiny of para-
normal phenomena under laboratory conditions could in principle be considered
to be collective phenomena involving interfering observer effects in a
manner known to occur at the microscopic quantum level.
(5) Finally, it appears to be useful as a guiding principle to
recognize that all of the phenomena dealt with in macroscopic psycho-
energetics are totally permissible at the micrascopic level within the
framework of physics as presently understood. It is simply that time
reversibility, tunneling through barriers, simultaneous multiple-state
occupation, etc., are generally unobservable as gross macroscopic phenomena
for statistical reasons only, as codified in the concept of increasing
disorder (entropy). Therefore, it may be appropriate to consider an
individual with paranormal abilities primarily as a source of ordering
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phenomena of sufficient magnitude so as to restructure the otherwise random
statistics of the macroscopic environment.
(b) Precognition Model
As discussed in Section II A.1.(b), an hypothesis which required
consideration was. the possibility that apparent paranormal perception was
instead precognition of post-experiment feedback, an hypothesis easier
to justify within accepted paradigms of electromagnetic theory. (See
Appendix I.) Therefore, the experiments of Section II A.l.(b) were carried
out with the .testing of that hypothesis as a basic research objective.
By task, that experiment is part of Program II (Basic-Research), but is
presented in Section II to preserve the chronology of experimentation.
As indicated in the summary, the results obtained in that series are deemed
sufficient to permit rejection of the precognition hypothesis.
(c) Information Theoretic A roach to the Use of Paranormal Channels
Independent of the mechanisms which may be involved in paychoenergetic
phenomena, observation of the phenomena implies the existence of information
channels in the information-theoretic sense. Since such channels are
amenable to analysis on the basis of information-theoretic techniques,
headway can be made in determining channel characteristics such as bit
rate, independent of a well-defined underlying theory (in the sense that.
thermodynamic concepts can be applied to the analysisof systems independent
of underlying mechanisms). To indicate the utility of such an approach,
we consider the following substudy.
Experimentation in the areas of remote viewing and the determnu~ion
of the state of a four-state electronic random stimulus generator have
yielded results at levels of statistical significance p G 1C-6. As good
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as such results are from the standpoint of statistical signif icance, the
information channel is imperfect, containing noise along with the signal.
When one considers how best to utilize such a channel, one is led to the
communication. theory concept of the introduction of redundancy as a means
of coding a message to combat the effects of a noisy channel.l We consider
here the implementation of such a technique as a means of utilizing a
noisy channel of the paranormal type as a practical communication system.
A prototype experiment employing such techniques has proven successful.Z
The approach presented here constitutes both a pedagogical vehicle for
the elucidation of the characteristics of the paranormal channel, and a
developmental program potentially resulting in a communication channel
of utilitarian value.
For our purposes we shall consider a message to consist of a sequence
of alphabet characters, each character represented by a 5-bit code as
shown in Table 7.~` Each binary digit to be sent through the channel is
to be encoded to combat channel noise, i.e., is to have added to it
additional redundancy bits.
Efficient .coding requires a compromise between the desire to maximize
reliability and the desire to minimize redundancy. '
One efficient coding scheme for such a channel is obtained by
application of a sequential sampling procedure of the type used in production.
line quality control.3 The adaptation of such a procedure to paranormal
communication channels was considered first by Taetzsch.4 The sequential
`Taking into account the uneven distribution of letter frequencies in
English text, this code is chosen such that 0 and 1 have equal probability.
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5-Bit Code for Alphanumeric Characters*
E
00000
Y
01000
T
11111
G,J
10111
N
00001
W
01001
R
11110
V
10110
z
ooolo
B
alolo
0
11101
~
lolol
A
oooll
1
01011
s,x,z
llloo
a
lobo
n
oolo0
3
01100
H
11011
4
boll
00101
5
01101
c,x,q
11010
6
bolo
F
00110
7
01110
P
11001
8
10001
U
00111
9
01111
M
11000
10000
Alphabet characters listed in order of decreasing frequency
in English text. See, for example, A. Sinkov, Elementary
Cryptanalysis--A Mathematical Approach, Random House (1968).
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method gives a rule of procedure for making one of three possible decisions
following the receipt of each bit:- (1) accept "1" as the bit being trans-
lated, (2) reject "1" as the bit being transmitted (i.e., accept "0", or
(3) continue transmission of the bit under consideration. The sequential
sampling procedure differs from fixed-length coding in that the number of
bits required per message bit is not fixed prior to transmission, but
depends on the results accumulated with each transmission. The primary
advantage of the sequential sampling procedure as compared with other
methods is that, on the average, fewer bits per decision are required for
an equivalent degree of reliability.
Use of the sequential sampling procedure requires the specification
of four parameters, determined on the basis of the following considerations.
Assume that a message bit (0 or 1) is being transmitted. In the absence
of a rQ iori knowledge, we may assume equal probability (p = 0.5) for the
two possibilities (0,1). Therefore, from the standpoint of the receiver
the probability of correctly identifying the bit being transmitted is
p = 0.5 due to chance alone. An operative psi (paranormal) factor could
then be expected to alter the probability of correct identification to
a value p = 0.5 + ~, where the parameter ~ satisfies 0 < ~V~~