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ABSTRACT: We report the results of an attempt to replicate the ganzfeld-ESP findings of Charles Honorton and his colleagues at the Psychophysical Research Laboratories. Two series of 50 first-time or novice participants and one series of 51 first-timers defined as emotionally dose comprised the replication data set. Additionally, one series of 50 clairvoyant (no sender) sessions were done along with 8 general pilot sessions. The experiments used much of the same equipment and the same procedure used by PRL researchers.
The replication series yielded a direct hit rate of 26.5% (ESn =.52), which failed to confirm the PRL findings. As expected, the emotionallycloseseries produced a hit rate of 37.3%, which was significantly above chance (ESs = .64, p =.035). All sessions combined (N = 209) resulted in a nonsignificant hit rate of 25.8%. The replication series exhibited a notable decline in scoring following an interim report of this work in 1995.
None of the correlates of successful performance found in prior research were significantly replicated in this study. An expected negative correlation with geomagnetic activity was found at a suggestive level.
The work of Charles Honorton and his collaborators at the Psychophysical Research Laboratories (PRL) has established the ganzfeld technique as one of the most reliable methods of eliciting evidence of ESP in the laboratory (Bem & Honorton, 1994; Honorton et al., 1990). This has, in turn, led to new, independent ganzfeld experiments that attempt to replicate the original findings and to extend our understanding of the underlying processes. Among the principal efforts underway are those at the University of Utrecht (Bierman, Bosga, Gerding, & Wezelman,1993; Van Kampen, Bierman, & Wezelman, 1994) and at the University of Edinburgh (Dalton,1997; Dalton et al.,1994).
In the early 1980s the Institute for Parapsychology began a similar program of ganzfeld research using a nonautomated procedure. The overall success rate in the Institute's manual series has been lower than that obtained by PRL researchers, but essential features of the PRL work have been replicated in our program (Kanthamani & Broughton,1994) .
Following the closure of the PRL, Honorton donated the equipment that had been used in the automated ganzfeld series to the Institute for Parapsychology where it was reassembled and installed by Kathy Dalton. Dubbed Autoganzfeld II, this installation...