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Dean Radin

Publications and source records attributed to Dean Radin.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Reexamining psychokinesis: comment on Bösch, Steinkamp, and Boller (2006).

H. Bösch, F. Steinkamp, and E. Boller's review of the evidence for psychokinesis confirms many of the authors' earlier findings. The authors agree with Bösch et al. that existing studies provide statistical evidence for psychokinesis, that the evidence is generally of high methodological quality, and that effect sizes are distributed heterogeneously. Bösch et al. postulated the heterogeneity is attributable to selective reporting and thus that psychokinesis is "not proven." However, Bösch et al. assumed that effect size is entirely independent of sample size. For these experiments, this assumption is incorrect; it also guarantees heterogeneity. The authors maintain that selective reporting is an implausible explanation for the observed data and hence that these studies provide evidence for a genuine psychokinetic effect.

Cognition↗
PubMed2006

Of two minds: Sceptic-proponent collaboration within parapsychology.

The first author, a proponent of evidence for psychic ability, and the second, a sceptic, have been conducting a systematic programme of collaborative sceptic-proponent research in parapsychology. This has involved carrying out joint experiments in which each investigator individually attempted to mentally influence the electrodermal activity of participants at a distant location. The first two collaborations obtained evidence of 'experimenter effects', that is, experiments conducted by the proponent obtained significant results but those conducted by the sceptic did not. This paper describes a new collaborative study that attempted to replicate our previous findings and explore potential explanations for past results. The new study failed to replicate our previous findings. The paper investigates whether the results obtained in our initial studies may have been caused by a genuine psychic effect, and this third experiment failed to replicate this finding because some aspect of the study disrupted the production of that effect, or whether the results from our first two studies represented chance findings or undetected subtle artifacts, and the results obtained in the present study accurately reflect the absence of a remote detection of staring effect. The implications of this work are discussed, along with the benefits of conducting collaborative work for resolving disagreements in other controversial areas of psychology.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Effects of healing intention on cultured cells and truly random events.

OBJECTIVE: To explore effects of healing intention and intentional space conditioning on the growth of cultured human brain cells and the distribution of truly random events. DESIGN: The experiment took place inside an electromagnetically and acoustically shielded chamber over a period of 3 days. On each day randomly selected flasks of human astrocytes in culture were exposed to healing treatments; an equal number of unexposed flasks served as controls. Intentional healing and space-conditioning mediations were repeatedly held inside the chamber over the course of the experiment to see if this activity would cumulatively enhance the efficacy of healing treatments. To monitor the environments for negentropic effects possibly associated with the healing intention, three truly random number generators were operated continuously throughout the duration of the experiment. OUTCOME MEASURES: For cell cultures, the outcome measure was the difference in mean colonies formed under healing intention versus control conditions, and the change in these differences over the 3-day experiment. For the random number generators, the outcome measure was the variance in the distribution of random numbers generated, compared to chance expectation. RESULTS: There was no overall difference in growth between treated and control cells. A treatment by day interaction indicated that treated cells grew more than control cells as the experiment progressed (p=0.02). The three random number generators deviated from chance expectation on the morning of the third day of the experiment (combined peak association with p=0.00009). CONCLUSIONS: Results were consistent with the postulate that healing intention, applied repeatedly in a given location, may alter or condition that site so as to enhance the growth of treated cell cultures compared to untreated controls. Repeated intentions also appear to be associated with a general increase in negentropy or statistical order.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Double-blind test of the effects of distant intention on water crystal formation.

The hypothesis that water "treated" with intention can affect ice crystals formed from that water was pilot tested under double-blind conditions. A group of approximately 2,000 people in Tokyo focused positive intentions toward water samples located inside an electromagnetically shielded room in California. That group was unaware of similar water samples set aside in a different location as controls. Ice crystals formed from both sets of water samples were blindly identified and photographed by an analyst, and the resulting images were blindly assessed for aesthetic appeal by 100 independent judges. Results indicated that crystals from the treated water were given higher scores for aesthetic appeal than those from the control water (P = .001, one-tailed), lending support to the hypothesis.

California↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Distant healing intention: definitions and evolving guidelines for laboratory studies.

This paper provides definitions and a discussion of evolving guidelines for conducting research on the effects of distant healing intention (DHI) on living systems in the laboratory. We consider the relevance of DHI laboratory research to applied healing, special theoretical challenges, and other considerations that distinguish DHI research from other domains of laboratory science. Two sample protocols for investigating DHI are provided, one involving the human autonomic nervous system as the "target" of distant intention, and the other involving cell cultures. In essence, DHI differs from other alternative healing modalities because it postulates that mental intention alone can affect living systems at a distance, unbounded by the usual constraints of both space and time. This postulate challenges scientific assumptions that often go unexamined, including the nature of causality, the distinction between subjective and objective states, and the efficacy of double-blind protocols in controlling for experimenters' intentions. Previous laboratory research in this domain suggests that DHI effects warrant serious study, but most scientists and funding agencies are unaware of the evidence or the relevant literature. By following these evolving guidelines, researchers' designs and their ultimate publications will conform more closely to the quality standards expected by scientific journals, and such publications will in turn attract the attention of a broader range of scientists. This seems especially important for alternative healing research in general and for distant healing in particular; both realms enjoy broad public support but have largely eluded serious attention by mainstream science.

Brain↗