Empirical Examinations

of the Reported Abilities

of a Psychic Claimant
A Review of Experiments and
Explorations with Sean Harribance
_____________________________________________________________

BRYAN J. WILLIAMS
Abstract

This essay reviews the findings from several experiments and exploratory studies conducted at
various times from 1969 to 2002 as part of a long-term empirical effort to study the reported psi
abilities of a selected psychic claimant, Sean Lalsingh Harribance.
The main purpose of the experiments was to assess the validity of Harribances claimed abilities
by repeatedly putting them to the test under controlled conditions. By statistical standards, the most
successful experiments were conducted by the Psychical Research Foundation (PRF) in the early
1970s, involving a series of 15 forced-choice ESP tests in which Harribance was asked to guess the
sex of people shown in a randomized and concealed pack of specially prepared photo-cards. When
combined, the results from the ten most well-controlled tests in this series are highly significant,
amounting to odds against chance greater than 100 quindecillion to one (p << 1050). In addition,
two free verbal response tests conducted by the PRF, in which Harribance gave psychic readings for
participants located in a separate room, resulted in an overall significant outcome, with odds of
about 50 to 1 against chance (exact binomial p = .02). Other experiments conducted by independent
researchers in which Harribance engaged in ESP card tests, or attempted to influence random
physical or biological targets mentally via PK also produced interesting results with varying
degrees of significance.
The successful performance exhibited by Harribance in the experimental tests seemed to justify
attempts to explore the possible brain correlates of his abilities, and this became the objective of the
exploratory studies. The findings obtained by four groups of researchers using
electroencephalography (EEG), single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), and a
battery of neuropsychological tests tend to indicate that Harribances successful ESP performance is
associated with an abundance of alpha wave activity (8-13 Hz), and that structural changes which
might have occurred in the occipital and parietal lobes of Harribances right brain hemisphere to
compensate for functional deficits could be related in some way to the

102
development and functioning of his ESP ability. These exploratory findings support a preliminary
suggestion that Harribances reported abilities the sort usually dubbed paranormal do not
involve some type of disembodied or magical process by which information just mysteriously
appears in his consciousness. Although the mechanism underlying his abilities remains unknown,
the findings indicate that these abilities have functional correlates associated with ordinary brain
processes.

Introduction

Psychic abilities have long been seen as the unique and mysterious gifts possessed by certain
extraordinary individuals existing within or on the fringes of human society, who throughout history
have been called psychics, mediums, sensitives, intuitives, mystics, prophets, and soothsayers. Such
individuals have tended to draw a lot of public interest and fascination, and questions remain about
whether or not these individuals do genuinely possess some kind of exceptional ability, and, if they
do, what the underlying psychological and neurobiological processes might be.
Serious empirical efforts to study psychic claimants (i.e., individuals who claim to possess
developed psychic abilities) began formally in 1882, when the Society for Psychical Research was
founded in England by a prominent group of scholars associated with Cambridge University
(Gauld, 1968). These early studies employed research methods that were largely observational and
descriptive in nature, and because many were conducted in the homes of the claimants or their
hosts, the studies were quite limited in the amount of control that could be established. With the
development of experimental parapsychology in the early twentieth century, more quantitative
methods involving statistical evaluation were gradually introduced, along with a greater emphasis
on studies conducted within the controllable space of the research laboratory (Beloff, 1993:
Mauskopf & McVaugh, 1980; Rhine, 1977). Although most of the individuals participating in
parapsychological experiments conducted from the 1930s onward have been recruited from the
general population (based on the assumption that everyone might possess some degree of latent psi
ability), there continues to be some research interest in working with selected psychic claimants
who are willing to put their claimed abilities to the empirical test (for concise reviews of previous
research along these lines, see Schouten, 1993, 1994).
In working with a psychic claimant, Wiseman and Morris (1995, Ch. 6) point out that it is
important for researchers to try to design an experimental test that is flexible enough to maximize
the likelihood that the claimant will be able to demonstrate his or her reported ability under close
observation, while at the same time introducing adequate safeguards to exclude, as much as
possible, the likelihood that the claimants ability operates through logical inference, sensory cuing,
trickery, deliberate cheating, or any other conceivable kind of conventional (i.e., non-psychic)
process. Some of the most vital safeguards that researchers should introduce in formal test
situations to counter the effects of conventional processes include the following:
Barriers and Controls: Certain kinds of physical barriers and controls can be established in the
testing environment to minimize sensory cues and the manipulation of target material by psychic
claimants. As described by Hansen (1990), these can be of two types: participant-based and target-
based. Participant-based controls are those intended to monitor or limit the behavior of the claimant
before, during, and after the experiment, to determine whether the

103
claimant could have engaged in trickery, deliberate cheating, or target manipulation. Controls of this
type include designating a certain experimenter to accompany and observe the claimant at all times,
video recording the claimants activities, and enclosing the claimant in a sealed chamber for the
duration of the experiment.
Target-based barriers and controls are those intended to monitor the physical properties of the
target material to help ensure that the target is not prone to sensory leakage and has not been
manipulated in any way. To guard against these concerns, the target can be tightly concealed behind
several layers of densely opaque material, carefully sealed in solidly enclosed containers, and/or
secured in a room isolated away from the claimants location. In addition, the target material can be
marked in a unique way by the experimenters prior to testing so that any surreptitious opening or
substitution of the material will be overtly noticeable later on.
Experimenter Blinding: To help ensure that psychic claimants are not able to receive any subtle
cues relating to the identity of the target, the experimenter who prepares the target material and
selects the actual target should not be the same person who directly interacts with the claimant
during the test sessions. Ideally, formal testing should involve the participation of two or more
experimenters, each having a specific task that only he or she has been assigned to carry out, while
remaining unaware of (i.e., blind to) the activities of others involved in the testing. In such a
situation, one experimenter could be assigned the task of preparing the target material and selecting
the actual target, while another experimenter could be assigned the task of interacting with the
claimant during the test sessions. To prevent sensory leakage, the experimenters should have no
contact with each other during the sessions so that the experimenter interacting with the claimant
has no prior knowledge of the actual target.
Target Randomization: To reduce the likelihood that psychic claimants are able to identify the
target successfully through logical inference or other forms of response bias, the actual target for
each test session should be selected from a collection of equally likely alternatives using a
procedure that is adequately random in nature. In tests that involve a series of targets (e.g., ESP card
tests), the sequential order of the targets should be thoroughly randomized according to a procedure
that produces an adequately random series. Adequate randomization can usually be achieved
through the use of random number tables, a randomly-seeded mathematical algorithm, or an
electronic random event generator.
Target and Response Documentation: To guard against the possibility of data alteration, the
target data and the responses of the psychic claimant should each be carefully documented and
secured either during or immediately after each test session, while safeguards are still in place. If
documentation cannot be made and secured through electronically automated means (i.e., through
the use of computer programs and data encryption), then a combination of written material and
audio or video recording should be used. The original copies of written and recorded material
should be secured safely before safeguards are lifted and feedback is provided to the claimant and
the experimenter working with him or her. In addition, to reduce the likelihood of alteration based
on knowledge of the data or the responses, the target data and the responses of the claimant should
be collected by separate experimenters.
Further elaboration of these and other conventional processes, along with discussion of some of
the safeguards that can be applied to effectively counter them in formal test situations, can be found
in other published works by Hansen (1990), Morris (1986), and Wiseman and Morris (1995).
Apart from concerns about safeguarding against deception, Cox (1993) has argued that

104
there might be some benefit for parapsychologists in working with psychic claimants who seem to
perform well on psi tests on a fairly consistent basis. As he has written:

The rarity of sensitives ... only makes acceptance of psi less probable than it otherwise might be. If more
special subjects [i.e., claimants] were found and tested, this would help answer the question of whether ESP
[and] PK ... are separate processes or not, and how they relate to the totality of human nature. It would also
allow us to manipulate variables and compare results under different conditions in ways that are virtually
impossible without consistent scorers (see Pratt, 1974) [p. 131].

A somewhat similar viewpoint was apparently held by Pratt (1974) in light of his long-term
effort in working successfully with the Czech psychic claimant Pavel Stepanek in the 1960s:

The direction of parapsychological research which I would recommend to my colleagues, both present and
future, is thus one that is really new and unexplored. This is the direction of being persistent experimenters
in the search for really consistently successful psi test scorers. Successful research in this new direction
would do much to consolidate past gains in parapsychology and to insure sound and accelerating progress
in the field for the years ahead [p. 116].

This essay provides a detailed review of a series of parapsychological experiments persistently

carried out with a selected psychic claimant, Sean Lalsingh Harribance, that: (1) gradually
introduced tighter safeguards throughout the course of the series, which were in line with those
described above; (2) involved the participation of multiple experimenters; and (3) made quantitative
assessments of the claimants test responses. All the experiments were conducted by the late
William G. Roll and his colleagues at various times over a period of three decades (from 1969 to
2002) as part of a long-term effort to study Harribances claimed psi abilities empirically, with their
main purpose being to assess the validity of the claims by repeatedly putting his abilities to the test
under controlled conditions of observation. Most of the experiments involved tests for extrasensory
perception (ESP), although a small number of them tested for psychokinesis (PK, more popularly
known as mind over matter); each type is reviewed separately.
The statistically significant results obtained by Harribance in the experimental series seemed to
justify efforts to explore the possible brain correlates of his abilities in a small number of
exploratory ESP studies. For the sake of completeness, a brief summary is also provided of the main
findings obtained in these exploratory studies. But before proceeding with the review of these
experiments and explorations, it is imperative to present a brief personal background on Harribance
in order to familiarize readers with him and his life as it relates to parapsychology (a more detailed
background is given in Harribance & Neff, 1976).

Personal Background of the Psychic Claimant

Born in the small village of Masabood Junction on the West Indies island of Trinidad in
November of 1939, Lalsingh Harribance is of East Indian descent and was initially raised by his
family in the Hindu tradition. Having been taught about Christianity while in grade school, he
personally felt drawn to that faith and soon began adopting its ritual of regular prayer. He eventually
chose to convert to Christianity at the age of 26, taking the baptismal name of Sean, by which he is
commonly known today.
During his childhood, Harribance encountered difficulty in language development, having some
trouble in mastering both Hindi (needed for songs of Hindu ritual) and English, which delayed his
schooling for seven years. His scholastic performance was initially poor, but had improved enough
over time for him to reach the head of his class by age eleven. He personally

105
attributes this improvement to ESP, which he began experiencing around this time, and which had
apparently allowed him to know the lessons without study by simply touching his text-books.
However, his apparent extrasensory gift was ineffective when the class began studying French and
Latin, for which he again was faced with language difficulties. Leaving school after the ninth grade,
Harribance joined his fathers grocery business and later worked in the oil field and as a cashier in
Trinidads public transportation system.
As a charitable way of raising funds to benefit churches and hospitals, Harribance began
applying his developed ESP ability to giving psychic readings directly to unfamiliar people, telling
them about themselves and offering insightful advice about their personal troubles. He eventually
developed the ability to give readings by simply touching a persons photograph with his hand,
which he felt established a contact (Stump, Roll, & Roll, 1970, p. 421) a way of responding to
people either directly in person, or indirectly through photographs.
By the end of the 1960s, Harribance had achieved a certain degree of local fame in Trinidad for
the apparent accuracy of his psychic readings and predictions. This drew the attention of a local
newspaper editor who soon introduced Harribance to Hamlyn Dukhan, a psychologist at Mausica
Teachers College who was the Executive Director of the Psychological Society of Trinidad and
Tobago at the time. Dukhan began conducting preliminary tests with Harribance under close
observational conditions, and the results prompted him to contact). B. Rhine, the director of the
Foundation for Research on the Nature of Man (FRNM) in Durham, North Carolina. Their
correspondence resulted in an invitation for Harribance to come to the United States for further
testing at the FRNMs Institute for Parapsychology in January of 1969. Testing with Harribance
continued the following month via an experimental program initiated by the Psychical Research
Foundation (PRF); the tests conducted by Dukhan, the FRNM, and the PRF form the central focus
of this essays review.
Harribance subsequently relocated to Maryland, working with a private firm, Mankind Research,
but continued to participate part-time in psi research conducted by the PRF during its time as a
sponsored program of the Department of Electrical Engineering at Duke University during the
1970s. He eventually settled in Texas in the 1980s and established a psychic consultation service,
with clients that include businessmen, physicians, lawyers, and politicians. In addition to this
practical venture, Harribance also established in 1995 a Texas-based non-profit corporation the
ongoing Sean Harribance Institute for Parapsychology Research (SHIPR) to help promote
research in parapsychology. Since its inception, SHIPR has maintained a running log of the many
predictions made by Harrihance regarding certain events over the years, and those which seem to
have been confirmed in newspapers and magazines are regularly noted. By his own account,
Harribances experience of ESP is marked by a series of images that move rapidly across his upper
left visual field, akin to the pictures on a television screen. While giving a psychic reading, he
reportedly hears a voice in his right ear, as if some higher entity is telling him what to say. In line
with his Christian beliefs, he often associates this voice with Jesus Christ.

Tests with ESP Cards

A majority of the ESP experiments conducted with Harribance over the years have comprised
two main types of test: standard ESP card tests, and specially-designed tests in which Harribance
made responses to people. This review begins with the card tests, following the progression from
simple tests to those with more complex designs.

106
 Preliminary Card Tests by Dukhan and the FRNM

Based on his correspondence with Rhine, the preliminary tests that Dukhan (1968, 1969)
conducted in Trinidad began with a standardized forced-choice approach (Rhine & Pratt,
1957/1972), in which Harribance was asked to guess (or call) the sequence of symbols in pre-
shuffled packs of 25 ESP cards (five cards of each of the five symbols: circle, square, star, cross,
and waves). Six test runs were performed under each of three conditions: general ESP (GESP, with
Dukhan acting as the sender), clairvoyance, and precognition. The term general ESP (GESP)
refers to a test condition involving a sender who is concentrating on the target, and a receiver
who is trying to perceive the target. Traditionally, such a condition is viewed in the context of
telepathy, where it is assumed that the receiver becomes aware of the targets identity through some
kind of correlation (or connection) with the senders mind. However, the condition can also be
viewed within the context of clairvoyance, where it is assumed that the receiver somehow directly
perceives the target itself, without the aid of the sender. Since telepathy and clairvoyance are not
clearly distinguishable from each other in the GESP condition, it is not possible to tell which one is
more likely, and thus the question of the existence of telepathy remains open. For that reason, the
terms sender and receiver should only be taken as convenient labels, and not as implying
mechanisms.
While only the results for the clairvoyance condition were individually significant (CR = 2.58, p
< .01), the combined outcome for all three conditions amounted to a hit race of 24.88 percent (112
hits in 450 trials, z = 2.59, p = .01, two-tailed), whereas a hit rate of 20 percent would be expected.
Such an outcome is associated with odds of about 100 to one against chance.1
Additional ESP card tests using the standardized approach were carried out with Harribance
during his initial visit to the FRNMs Institute for Parapsychology in January of 1969. His overall
performance, however, was reported to be at chance (Stump et al., 1970, p. 422).

Card Tests by the PRF

Five ESP card tests were conducted with Harribance by the Psychical Research Foundation from
1970 to 1971 (summarized in Damgaard, 1971, and Morris, 1971). These tests are mentioned for
the sake of completeness, but only a brief summary of them is provided here for two reasons: First,
the available reports were condensed versions of the original ones, and so they contained a very
limited amount of detail. Second, the available reports did not provide sufficient descriptive data to
allow re-calculation of their statistics (see Note 1).
The first test involved Harribance making calls of standard card packs enclosed in opaque
containers. These packs had either been arranged the night before the tests by a separate
experimenter according to a random number table, or hand-shuffled just before each run in a place
that was out of Harribances direct view. One thousand test runs were completed in all, and the
overall results indicated that Harribance had scored significantly above chance (p < 10-12) at odds
greater than a trillion to one, and that he had a notable tendency to call the same symbol twice in a
row (Morris, 1971).
In the second test (Damgaard, 1971, p.74), Harribance guessed the sequence in a specially
prepared pack comprising cards depicting his two favorite symbols. Five hundred trials were carried
out, and the results reportedly had odds greater than 20 to one (p < .05). In the third test, Harribance
called a standard pack of cards while his EEG was being monitored; the results were at chance.

107
 The final two card tests both had a precognitive design, in which Harribance attempted to predict
the card sequence in a standard pack that would be determined a short time later using a semi-
random process. In one of the tests, the sequence was determined from a random number table
using a number-to-symbol code, with the entry point into the table being obtained using weather
and stock market information. The results were at chance. In the other test, the sequence was
determined by a random cut of the pack, with the exact point of the cut being made using two digits
taken from the license plate of the first car that drove past the PRF facility. This took place
approximately five minutes after Harribance had written down his prediction of the resulting
sequence. Harribance reportedly scored above chance in the first 1,250 trials of the test, with odds
greater than 20 to one (p < .05), although he scored at chance in the second set of 1,250 trials.

Tests Using Unbalanced Packs of Cards

In a clairvoyance experiment conducted at the FRNM, Child and Kelly (1973) examined whether
varying the number of cards in a pack with a particular symbol would affect the frequency of
Harribances calls of that symbol. For instance, would Harribance call out star more frequently if
there were nine star cards in the pack rather than the standard five cards? Conversely, would
Harribance call circle less often if there was only one circle card in the pack? To test this, 120
packs of 25 cards were prepared, with each pack varying the symbol frequency such that there were
nine cards of one symbol, seven cards of another symbol, five of a third symbol, three of a fourth
symbol, and one card of the fifth symbol.
During the test sessions, Harribance and Child (in his role as the experimenter) were alone in the
test room, sitting across from each other at an office desk. At the start of each run, Child took one of
the 120 prepared packs out of a drawer in the desk and shuffled it at least five times in his lap (out
of Harribances view). He then placed the pack on the desk, carefully making sure that when he
moved it, it remained parallel to, and not far above, the desk surface. Once the pack was placed,
Harribance wrote his calls of the symbol sequence (from the top card to the bottom one) on a record
sheet and handed the sheet to Child upon finishing. Child then moved both the sheet and the pack to
his lap, and copied Harribances calls onto his own record sheet. After returning Harribances sheet,
Child recorded the actual symbol sequence onto his own sheet, circled the hits, and gave feedback
to Harribancc on his performance for that particular run. Harrihance was not explicitly told prior to
the experiment how the cards in the packs had been prepared, nor were any clues given in the
general feedback he received following each run (he was merely told the number of hits).
Out of a total of 360 test runs, Harrihance scored 1,902 hits in 9,000 trials for an overall hit rate
of 21.13 percent, which is associated with a z-score of 2.69 (p = .007, two-tailed) and odds of about
140 to 1 against chance. In addition to this positive score, Harribance was found to call symbols that
appeared seven times in the pack significantly more often than those symbols that only appeared
three times (CR = 3.02, p < .003) (Child & Kelly, 1973, p. 284).
Approximately 25 years after Child and Kelly had performed their experiment, an attempt to
reproduce their findings was made by Palmer (1998) during a visit by Harribance to the FRNM
(now known as the Rhine Research Center) in 1997. Although they were both similar in procedure
and intent. Palmers experiment differed from Child and Kellys in three ways. First, due to time
constraints, Palmer was only able to complete one-sixth of the total number of test trials that Child
and Kelly had completed (i.e., Palmers only had 1,500 trials). Second,

108
the ESP card packs were prepared differently with regards to the frequency of symbols: there were
two symbols that each had seven cards in the pack, one symbol that had five cards, and two other
symbols that each had three cards. Third, Harribance was asked to make all of his guesses verbally
while the experimenter (Palmer) wrote them down on a record sheet.
Out of the 1,499 test trials that were able to be scored (one trial was accidentally skipped),
Harribance obtained 286 hits, resulting in an overall hit rate that was below chance (19.08 percent)
and non-significant overall (z = -0.89). In addition, Harribance called the symbols that appeared
seven times in the pack slightly less often than the symbols that only appeared three times, a non-
significant finding (z = -0.21) that contrasts with the one obtained by Child and Kelly
(1973).2Although the reduced number of trials was not thought to be a contributing factor to these
chance results, others which might have contributed include background noise in the test
environment that might have distracted Harribance, and a personal feeling of pressure on his part to
complete a fixed number of trials in a short period of time (Harribance, 1999; Palmer, 1999).

Psychic Shuffling Tests

To see how Harribances performance would be affected as changes to the test procedure were
gradually added to make it seem more complex, Kanchamani (1974) asked him to participate in a
series of seven tests at the FRNM that progressively introduced modifications to a ESP card test
technique known as the psychic shuffle, initially developed by Rhine, Smith, and Woodruff
(1938) to test for precognition. A brief summary of the procedural modifications introduced across
the seven series to enhance the perceived complexity of the test is given in Table 1.
The first test series consisted of 50 pilot runs that used the standard psychic shuffle technique,
which proceeded in the following manner: Harribance and Kanthamani were seated facing each
other at a large table in the test room. To begin a run, Harribance first pre-specified (or predicted)
a target sequence for the symbols contained in a large pack of 50 ESP cards (formed by combining
together two standard packs of 25 cards) by writing down his predicted symbol order on a record
sheet. Kanthamani then took the pack of 50 cards and shuffled it multiple times on a low surface,
out of Harribances view. While this was occurring, Harribance focused his attention on the sound
of the shuffling cards. At the point when Harribance felt that the sequence of symbols in the 50-card
pack closely matched his pre-specified target sequence, he called out stop: indicating to
Kanthamani that the shuffling of the pack should be halted. Kanthamani then recorded the resulting
symbol sequence on the record sheet and compared it against Harribances pre-specified target
sequence, noting the number of symbol order matches between the two, which constituted the
number of hits for that test run (with the probability of a hit being 1 in 10, the expected chance hit
rate in this case was 10 percent). The technique was then repeated for the next run. Care was taken
to ensure that Kanthamani did not have any knowledge of Harribances target sequence prior to
shuffling, and that Harribance was unable to learn the actual sequence of the 50-card pack until
scoring was completed. The tasks of recording of the actual sequences and the scoring of hits were
performed solely by Kanthamani, while Harribance merely observed. New packs of cards were
frequently used, and were drawn randomly from a large collection (12 or more) of similar packs.
After each pack was used, it was shuffled a minimum of eight times and cut more than once before
it was placed back into the collection and a new one was selected (Kanthamani, 1974, p. 186).
The second and third series were both confirmation tests that were carried out simulta-

109
neously. Series 2 comprised 150 test runs known as the Lab Series, meaning that all runs had
been conducted at the FRNM laboratory during the daytime hours. Series 3 also consisted of 150
runs known as the Home Series; meaning that the runs had been conducted in the evening either
at Kanthamanis home, or at the home where Harribance was staying during the testing.
The first procedural modification to the psychic shuffle technique was introduced in Series 4
by adding a second experimenter (either Francine Matas or Judith Klein) who would take over the
task of shuffling the cards. Kanthamani was still present during all 60 runs, and handled the
recording of scores.
Starting in Series 5, the casks handled by the participant (Harribance) and one of the
experimenters (either Kanthamani, Matas, or Klein) were reversed, such that the experimenter was
now the one who pre-specified the target sequence for the 50-card pack, and Harribance was the one
who shuffled the cards. In this situation, the experimenter always wrote down the target sequence
out of Harribances view, and Harribance concentrated on shuffling the cards and stopped at a point
of his own choosing, whenever he got a feeling that the symbol sequence in the pack was
sufficiently close to matching the target sequence (Kanthamani, 1974, p. 158).

Test Experimenters Modifications

Series
1 H.K. Standard psychic shuffle technique (Pilot test)
2 H.K. Standard psychic shuffle technique (First confirmation test); Lab
Series (tests performed in FRNM laboratory)
3 H.K. Standard psychic shuffle technique (Second confirmation test); Home
Series (tests performed in either H.K.s home or S.H.s home)
4 H.K. and F.M. or J.K. Two-experimenter design (F.M. or J.K. shuffled cards, H.K. in charge
of scoring)
5 H.K. and F.M. or J.K. Tasks of experimenter and participant reversed (H.K., F.M.. or J.K. pre-
specified target sequence, S.H. shuffled cards)
6 H.K. and F.M. or J.K. Tasks of experimenter and participant reversed (F.M. or J.K. pre-
specified target sequence, S.H. shuffled cards): two-experimenter
design using adjacent rooms (H.K. enclosed with S.H. in one room.
F.M. or J.K. enclosed in other room)
7 H.K. and F.M. or J.K. Tasks of experimenter and participant reversed (H.K. pre-specified
target sequence, S.H. shuffled cards); target sequence pre-specified
using random number tables prior to testing
Table 1: Summary of Procedural Modifications in the Series of Seven Psychic Shuffling Tests Conducted with
Harribance by Kanthamani, 1971-1972 H.K.: H. Kanthamani; S.H.: Sean Harribance; F.M.: Francine Matas; J.K.:
Judith Klein

To better guard against sensory cuing, two adjacent rooms were used for the 60 runs of testing in
Series 6: Harribance was enclosed with Kanthamani in one room, while a second experimenter
(either Matas or Klein) was enclosed in the other room. In this testing situation, the second
experimenter wrote down the pre-specified target sequence, and then knocked once on the wall
between the rooms as a signal for Harribance to begin shuffling the cards. After he chose to stop
shuffling, Kanchamani recorded the actual symbol sequence that resulted, and then she went into
the next room to record the pre-specified target sequence and compare it against the actual sequence
while Harribance and the second experimenter observed.

110
 Prior to the start of each of the 40 runs in Series 7, the target sequence was pre-specified by the
experimenter through the use of random number tables as a way to increase the certainty that the
sequence was a random one. In each case, Kanthamani used the method outlined by Rhine and Pratt
(1957/1972, pp. 162-63) to gain an entry point into the tables and obtain the target sequence on the
basis of a number-to-symbol code. Harribance then entered the test room, and he began shuffling
the cards as before.
The individual results for each of the seven series of psychic shuffle tests are presented in
Table 2. These results indicate that each series resulted in a hit rate that, while quite small, is
significantly above the expected chance hit rate of 10 percent, as indicated by the associated
statistics and estimated odds against chance. A graphical summary of the results across all seven
series, expressed in terms of hit rates and 95 percent confidence intervals, is shown in Figure 1. The
intervals clearly indicate chat the hit rates for the seven series are all above expectation and clearly
exclude chance, both individually and on a collective level.

Test Series N Trials # Hits Hit Rate (%) z-score p-value (2-tailed) Estimated Odds
1 2500 294 11.76 2.93 .0034 294 to 1
2 7500 925 12.33 6.73 1.71 x 10-11 60 billion to 1
3 7500 921 12.28 6.58 4.72 x 10-11 20 billion to 1
4 3000 358 11.93 3.52 .0004 2500 to 1
5 3000 350 11.67 3.04 .0024 417 to 1
6 3000 345 11.50 2.74 .0061 164 to 1
7 2000 234 11.70 2.53 .0114 88 to 1
Table 2: Individual Results for the Seven Series of Psychic Shuffling. Tests Conducted with Harribance by
Kanthamani, 1971-1972

Across all seven series, Harribance obtained 3,427 hits in 28,500 trials for an overall hit rate of
12.02 percent with an associated confidence interval ranging from 12.37 percent to 11.67 percent,
which significantly exceeds the expected chance hit rate (z = 11.37, p 10-28) at odds of about 10
octillion to one.

Figure 1. Results summary for the seven series of psychic shuffling tests conducted with Harribance by
Kanthamani (1974), showing the hit rate percentage and 95 percent confidence intervals for each series. The point
interval at the far right labeled All represents the hit rate for all seven series combined. The bold horizontal line
at 10 percent represents the expected chance hit rate.

111
 A smaller series of psychic shuffling tests was independently conducted with Harribance in the
early 1970s by the Psychical Research Foundation (summarized in Morris, 1973). 3 This series of
three tests employed procedures very similar to those used by Kanthamani (1974), and it was
designed with the purpose of attempting to determine the exact point at which ESP enters into the
psychic shuffle technique, whether that was at the time the target sequence was pre-specified, or
during the period the cards were being shuffled.
During each of the tests, Harribance was seated with an experimenter, Judith Klein, at a table
fitted with a barrier that ran the length of its surface. The barrier was shoulder height, and prevented
Harribance and Klein from seeing anything on the ocher persons respective tabletop space. The
first and third series proceeded using the standard psychic shuffling technique, with Harribance
pre-specifying the target sequence and Klein shuffling the cards; the tasks were reversed in the
second series.
In his analysis of the three series, Morris (1973) found no correlation between patterns in the
calls made by Harribance during the pre-specification period, and any of the resulting ESP scores.
However, Morris did find that two of the three series had indicated a positive correlation between
the ESP scores and the amount of shuffling performed on the cards. In particular, Series 1 and 3
both indicated a tendency for Harribance to obtain significant above-chance hit rates when the cards
were shuffled a large number of times. In contrast, his hit rates tended to be small and non-
significant when the cards were shuffled a relatively small number of times (i.e., only two or three
times).

ESP Tests Involving Responses to People

Although Harribance often performed well in standard tests using ESP cards, such tests did not
adequately simulate the kinds of situations in which he usually employed his reported abilities. For
this reason, some of the ESP experiments with Harribance involved tests that were specially
designed to adapt one aspect of his psychic readings to an experimental situation by having him
make responses to people acting as targets. Such designs integrated the element of responding to
people that seemed to be common to his readings, and thus added a dimension that might make the
tests seem more familiar to him. This approach to designing the tests may have been influenced in
part by an observation made by Dukhan (1968) on the basis of his preliminary results, which
suggest that the nearer the test procedures approximate the reading performances, the higher
[Harribance] scores (pp. 259-60).

Preliminary Response Tests by Dukhan and the FRNM

To integrate the element of responding to people into his preliminary tests in Trinidad, Dukhan
(1968, 1969) developed a forced-choice clairvoyance test in which Harribance was asked to guess
the sex (male or female) of individuals shown in concealed photographs. For each run, 12
photographs of six males and six females were randomized by hand-shuffling, laid out in a row on a
table, and covered with a thick opaque tablecloth. Harribance was then brought into the test room
and asked to call out the sex of the person shown in each photograph, moving from left to right.
With the probability of a hit being 1 in 2, the expected chance hit rate in this case is 50 percent. Ten
runs were conducted on each of the four days of the test, and overall, Harribance obtained 285 hits
in 480 trials for a hit rate of 59.38 percent

112
(z = 4.11, p = 3.96 x 10-5, two-tailed), a significant result with odds of about 25,250 to 1 against
chance.
Another round of preliminary testing was carried out at the FRNM by three different
experimenters, using a pack of 12 photo-cards that had been specially made for the tests by cutting
photographs of six males and six females from a college yearbook and pasting them onto blank 2.25
x 3.50 inch cards. These FRNM clairvoyance tests (summarized in Stump et al., 1970, p. 422) were
essentially similar to Dukhans, with the 12 photo-cards being randomized by hand, laid out in a
row, and hid from view beneath a wool blanket before Harribance was brought in to call the sex of
the person shown on each card. Harribance again scored well in the 1,239 trials conducted,
obtaining 739 hits for an overall hit rate of 59.64 percent (z = 6.76, p = 1.39 x 10-11, two-tailed).
This result is associated with odds of about 70 billion to one against chance.

Progressively Controlled Series of Response Tests by the PRF

The experimental program that the PRF had initiated with Harribance was carried out from 1969
to 1971, and involved forced-choice and fret verbal response testing. The most extensive phase of
the program consisted of a series of 15 photograph response tests that followed and improved upon
the initial test designs used by Dukhan and the FRNM.
To illustrate the progression of controlled conditions under which the PRF had tested Harribance,
a detailed review and statistical analysis is made here of the ten tests in the series that were the most
methodologically sound and well safeguarded against the effects of conventional processes. This
analytical review excludes two series of mixed significance reported by W. G. Roll (1971a) and one
significant series reported by Damgaard (1971) because the available reports were condensed
versions of the original ones, and lacked sufficient descriptive data on all the series to allow re-
calculation of the associated statistics for use in the analysis. Also excluded are two of the early
series reported by Stump et al. (1970, Series 2 & 3, pp. 423-24) because they closely followed the
original design used in the preliminary FRNM tests, which may have contained sensory cuing flaws
(discussed below). One of the excluded early series was non-significant, while the other was
significant at p < .01. A brief summary of the test conditions across these ten tests is given in Table
3.
The first series (Stump et al., 1970, p. 423) was conducted in the home office of the late William
G. Roll, and improved upon Dukhans (1968, 1969) initial design by using 12 Polaroid photographs
(six males and six females) that had been sealed in black opaque envelopes and were individually
number-coded by an assistant who was not otherwise involved in the testing. Prior to each run, the
envelopes were hand-shuffled, cut by the throw of a die, and placed individually into small
cardboard boxes. The 12 boxes were then laid out on a table in two rows of six and covered over
with a blanket before Harribance was brought into the test room. His responses and the target
sequences were recorded separately by two experimenters, with both records being made in
duplicate. Harribance was not given any feedback regarding his performance until after the entire
series was completed. Overall, his performance was below chance expectation and non-significant
(see Series 1 in Table 4 and Figure 3).
To see if Harribances performance would improve in subsequent series through the use of a test
design and materials with which he was more familiar (and successful) at the time, the PRF
borrowed the pack of 12 photo-cards and the blanket used in the successful preliminary tests at the
FRNM, and an effort was made to improve upon the FRNMs design. The

113
blanket that covered the photo-cards was made of hand-knitted red wool, and consisted of 3.25-inch
squares woven together. When closely examined by the PRE, the blanket was found to be loosely
woven, which might have allowed subtle glimpses of the underlying cards. Also, in the course of
making his responses. Harribance often preferred to touch the blanket, and any minute differences
in the size and surface texture of the photos might have offered subtle tactile clues about certain
cards.
To guard against these potential sensory cues, a wooden frame covered with opaque Manila
cardboard was introduced in Series 2. This specially constructed frame was three feet long, six
inches wide, and 0.75 inches high. When placed over the cards, its cardboard covering prevented
any visual cues, while its raised surface left a half-inch of empty space between the cardboard and
the cards, thereby preventing any tactile cues. Because the edges of the frame took up two of the
spaces on the table where the photo-cards placed, two cards were removed from the original 12-card
pack and the test runs were shortened to ten trials each (Stump et al., 1970, p. 424).
The test setting for Series 2 through 5 was the apartment that the PRF had rented for Harribance
during his stay in Durham.4 Each of the runs generally proceeded in the following manner:
While Harribance was enclosed in another room of the apartment, the experimenter, John P.
Stump (J.P.S.), randomized the ten photo-cards by hand-shuffling, laid them face up in a row on a
table, and placed the elevated wooden frame over them. The frame itself was then covered over
with the red wool blanket, which was doubly folded and roughly placed so that each woven square
was aligned over one card. J.P.S. then called Harribance into the room and asked him to make his
test responses from left to right, pointing to or touching each square and stating aloud whether the
underlying photo-card was of a male or a female. To avoid giving him any visual cues, as well as to
verify that he did not disturb the blanket or the frame, J.P.S. sat behind Harribance and observed
him while making his responses. J.P.S. then asked Harribance to return to the separate room, and the
procedure was repeated for the next run.
A careful observer might notice a potentially minor flaw in this basic procedure: Since J.P.S. had
the dual task of preparing the target material and working with Harribance, he had knowledge of the
target sequences and might have inadvertently supplied some subtle sensory cues to Harribance
during the runs on the basis of this knowledge. To remedy this in Series 3, the photo-cards were
sealed beforehand in black opaque envelopes by an assistant who was not otherwise involved in the
testing (Stump et al., 1970, pp. 423-24).

Test Location Experimenters Conditions

Serie
s
1 Office of W.C.R. J.P.S., W.G.R. 12 Polaroid photos sealed in opaque envelopes,
placed in cardboard boxes and covered by blanket.
2 Apartment of S.H. J.P.S. 10 original photo-cards concealed by elevated
cardboard frame under blanket.
3 Apartment of S.H. J.P.S. 10 original photo-cards concealed by elevated
cardboard frame under blanket; cards sealed in
opaque envelopes.
4 Apartment of S.H. M.R., J.P.S. 10 original photo cards concealed by elevated
cardboard frame under blanket. Two-experimenter
design: M.R. prepared cards, J.P.S. worked with
S.H.

114
Test Location Experimenters Conditions
Serie
s
5 Apartment of S.H. M.R., J.P.S. 10 original photo cards concealed by elevated
cardboard frame under blanket. Two-experimenter
design (same as 4). Pre-set number of trials
introduced.
6 PRF Laboratory J.K. 10 original photo cards and experimenter handling
them located in separate room from S.H.
7 PRF Laboratory J.K. 10 original photo cards and experimenter handling
them located in separate room from S.H.
Clairvoyance condition.
8 PRP Laboratory J.K. and R.L.M. or 10 original photo cards and experimenter handling
G.W. them located in separate room from S.H. Two-
experimenter design: J.K. handled cards, R.L.M. or
GM. blindly signaled start/end of run to S.H. EEG
monitoring of S.H.
9 PRF Laboratory J.K., M.R. 10 original photo cards and experimenter handling
them located in separate room from S.H. Two-
experimenter design: J.K. handled cards, M.R.
secured Harribance in Room I. Clairvoyance
condition.
10 PRF Laboratory J.K., M.R. 10 original photo cards and experimenter handling
them located in separate room from S.H. Two-
experimenter design (same as 9). Telepathy
condition.
Table 3. Summary of Test Conditions in the Ten Photo-card ESP lists Conducted with Sean Harribance by the
PRE, 1969-1971. (W.G.R.: William G. Roll: S.H.: Sean Harribance; J.P.S: John P. Stump; M.R.: Muriel Roll; J.K.:
Judith Klein; R.L.M.: Robert L. Morris; G.W.: Geoffrey Wheeler)

A two-experimenter design was implemented in Series 4 and 5 as a further means of ensuring

that J.P.S. remained unaware of the target sequence. Prior to each run in Series 4, the second
experimenter, Muriel Roll (M.R.), hand-shuffled the cards, arranged them in a row, and covered
them with the frame and blanket while Harribance was enclosed with J.P.S. in a separate room.
Once she finished preparing the target material, M.R. immediately exited the apartment, loudly
shutting the door as a signal for J.P.S. to bring Harribance out of the closed room and proceed with
the run in the usual fashion (Stump et al., 1970, pp. 424-25).
Because Harribance found the noise of the door distracting. the procedure was slightly modified
in Series 5 to provide a noiseless signal. While M.R. was preparing the target material, J.P.S. sat in
the test room with his back turned to M.R., approximately three feet from the door to the separate
room where Harribance was enclosed. After preparing the targets, M.R. retreated to the adjacent
kitchen and sat in the farthest corner with her back turned to the doorway of the test room. Upon
hearing M.R. enter the kitchen, J.P.S. called Harribance out of the separate room and proceeded
with the run. Once the run was completed and J.P.S. had recorded Harribances responses, M.R. re-
entered the test room and made an independent record of the target sequence. Finally, J.P.S. scored
the run and informed Harribance of his performance, and then the procedure was repeated for the
next run.

115
 Test Series N Trials # Hits Hit Rate (%) z-score p-value (2-tailed) Estimated odds
1 120 54 45.00 -1.10 ns
-10
2 900 546 60.67 6.39 1.67 x 10 6 billion to 1
3 250 119 47.60 -0.76 ns
4 70 36 51.43 0.24 ns
5 500 311 62.20 5.45 5.05 x 10-8 20 million to 1
6 1000 622 62.20 7.72 1.18 x 10-14 80 trillion to 1
7 1000 677 67.70 11.20 ~10-28 ~10 octillion to 1
8 1050 668 63.62 8.83 ~10-19 ~10 quintillion to 1
9 500 247 49.40 -0.27 ns
10 500 304 60.80 4.82 1.44 x 10-6 694,000 to 1
Table 4: Individual Results for the Ten PRF Photo-card Tests with Sean Harribance, 19691971. (ns: non-
significant)

Three precautions were taken in this modified procedure to prevent M.R. from cuing Harribance
before or during the run:

1. M.R. was asked not to communicate with Harribance in any way until the run was completed.
2. M.R.s position in the kitchen was fixed in such a way that a wall between the test room and the
kitchen prevented Harribance from seeing her during the run. As mentioned, M.R. was seated in
the farthest corner, facing away from the test room to prevent visual contact.
3. Upon being called out of the separate room by J.P.S., Harribance proceeded directly to the test
room without looking into the kitchen. M.R.s position in the kitchen was also intended to
prevent this form of cuing.

In addition, Harribance always gave his responses very rapidly, taking only about eight to ten
seconds on average to give them all. Even if M.R. was still somehow able to cue Harribance despite
these precautions, it is difficult to see how Harribance could have paid sufficient attention to these
cues in light of his rapid response pace.
To avoid inflation of the test scores through the effects of optional stopping, the number of runs
to be completed in each series was pre-defined in advance, beginning with Series 5.
Series 6 to 10 were conducted at the PRF laboratory facility located on the campus of Duke
University in Durham. To prevent sensory cuing, Harribance and the experimenter(s) were placed in
adjacent rooms of the facility, which were separated by a wall with a thickness of approximately six
inches. Prior to testing, Harribance was placed in Room 1, while the experimenter(s) were placed in
Room 2 (see Figure 2). The two rooms shared no windows or doorways, and the doors to both
rooms were kept shut during the test runs.
Series 6 and 7 were conducted by one experimenter, Judith Klein (J.K.), and proceeded in the
following manner: After entering Room 2 and shutting the door, J.K. randomized the pack of ten
photo-cards by hand-shuffling and placed them face up in a row along the surface of an
electroencephalograph (EEG) machine that would be used to monitor Harribances brain wave
activity in Series 8. (No EEG monitoring of Harribance was conducted during Series 6 or 7. It was
thought that, on a psychological level, using the EEG as a target surface might help Harribance
become habituated to, and thereby gain some degree of comfort with, the device when it was
utilized in Series 8.)
Although the thickness of the wall between Rooms 1 and 2 provided good sound atten-

116
uation, a further step was
taken to prevent auditory
cues by having J.K. place the
cards on a wool blanket (the
same one that was used to
cover them in previous
series). After placing the
cards, J.K. knocked once on
the wall as a signal for
Harribance to begin making
his responses in Room 1 by
writing them on a blank
record sheet. J.K. then began
recording the actual target
sequence on her own record
sheet in Room 2. Once
Harribance had written down
his responses, he knocked on
the wall to signal J.K. to
collect the cards and prepare
them for the next run. To
exclude the remote
possibility that J.K. had
inadvertently supplied
Harribance with an auditory
cue via the single knock, a Figure 2. Floor plan of the laboratory facility where Series 6 to 10 of
clairvoyance test design was the PRE photo-card response tests were conducted. During test runs,
Harribance was in Room I, while the experimenter(s) were in Room
used in Series 7, in which
2. The doors to both rooms were closed during testing. The
J.K. placed the shuffled cards refrigerator shown along the north wall of Room 2 was placed
face down on the blanket between the door and the EEG at the time of Series 6 and 7. (Adapted
without looking at them. In from Figure I of Roll & Klein, 1972)
this case, J.K. turned over the
cards and recorded the target
sequence only after
Harribance had signaled
completion of the run (Roll &
Klein, 1972, pp. 104-06).
Series 8 used a procedure similar to Series 6 and 7, with the addition of EEG monitoring
(described in the exploratory studies section) and a two-experimenter design involving Judith Klein
and either Robert L. Morris (R.L.M.) or Geoffrey Wheeler (G.W.). Prior to testing, Harribance was
enclosed in Room 1 with the EEG electrodes attached to his scalp. J.K. and the second experimenter
(either R.L.M. or G.W.) then enclosed themselves in the adjacent Room 2. J.K. sat at a round table
in the center of the room and handled the cards while the second experimenter operated the EEG,
facing away from J.K. and the cards. After hand-shuffling the photo-cards six times, J.K. lightly
rapped once on the table as a ready signal for the second experimenter. Upon hearing the signal, the
second experimenter knocked once on the wall between Rooms 1 and 2 to signal Harribance to
begin the run. At the same time, the second experimenter marked the start of the run on the EEG
117
record. J.K. then proceeded to place the cards face down one at a time in a row, from left to right, on
the wool blanket spread

118
across the table. Upon hearing the signal from the second experimenter, Harribance began writing
his responses on a record sheet, from left to right, corresponding to J.K.s placement of the cards.
When he finished, Harribance flipped a switch that flashed a small light next to the second
experimenter, who then marked the end of the run on the EEG record. After a brief interval, J.K.
turned the cards over and began recording the actual target sequence. She then collected the cards
and the procedure was repeated for the next run. Following the completion of the last run of the day,
duplicate records of the target sequences and Harribances responses were received by William G.
Roll and another PRF staff member. To ensure that Roll and the staff member remained blind to the
target sequences until the results were assessed at the end of the series, each of the photo-cards had
been assigned a code number prior to testing. The target sequence was recorded by J.K. by means of
this code (Morris, Roll, Klein, & Wheeler, 1972, pp. 255-56).
The possibility that Harribance could have gained visual access to the targets, or have somehow
been cued to their sequence, in Series 6-8 appears highly implausible on the basis of four factors:

1. Harribance was enclosed by himself in Room 1 for the duration of testing, and thereby separated
from the experimenter(s) and the cards in Room 2. As mentioned previously, there were no
shared windows or doorways between the two rooms. Although a small hole had been made in
the wall between the rooms to accommodate the EEG leads in Series 8, this was densely packed
with rags to help mask any extraneous sounds (Morris et al., 1972, p. 261).
2. Several precautions were taken to minimize the likelihood of auditory cuing during testing: The
experimenter(s) did not verbally communicate with Harribance or with each other, and they only
used simple knocks as a means of signaling the beginning and end of a test run. A two-
experimenter design was introduced to ensure that the experimenter supplying the signal to
Harribance remained unaware of the target sequences. And as mentioned, the photo-cards were
placed on a blanket to mask any sounds that might have otherwise passed through the wall
opening. In Series 8, a loud hum emanating from the EEG provided a further noise mask.
3. The scenario that Harribance could have surreptitiously exited Room 1 and looked into Room 2
from the hallway is highly unlikely because Harribance could not have opened the doors to
Room I and Room 2 without being heard or noticed by the experimenter(s). In addition, the EEG
electrodes used in Series 8 did not allow Harribance to leave his room without disconnecting
them, which would have produced a telling artifact on the EEG record. Even if Harribance had
managed to exit Room I undetected, he would not have been able to see the cards in Series 6 and
7 because the door to Room 2 was closed and its keyhole was sealed in. In addition, a
refrigerator, which had been placed between the EEG and the door of Room 2, would have
prevented him from viewing the cards through the keyhole.
4. The alternate scenario that Harribance could have slipped out of the building and looked into
Room 2 from the outside is also highly unlikely because he could not have opened the doors
to Room 1 and the outside without being heard in Room 2. In addition, the rapid pace at which
Harribance regularly made his responses would not have enabled him to interrupt these by
slipping outside the building and peering through the window of Room 2. As mentioned
previously, it regularly took Harribance about eight to ten seconds to

119
 complete his responses and signal this to the experimenter. It would have taken him at least a
minute to slip out of Room 1, exit the building, run a distance of approximately 26 feet, peer into
Room 2 to sec the cards, and return to Room 1 to signal the experimenter, and would have
aroused the experimenters suspicion. Moreover, to obtain the significant overall scores that he
did for these series, Harribance would have had to perform this operation not just for one, but for
several runs. The likelihood that he could have done this consistently and still remained
undetected seems remote, at best. In addition, the window curtains of Room 2 were closed
during the tests to prevent someone on the outside from looking in (Roll & Klein, 1972, p. 110).
This scenario faces two additional problems in Series 7 and 8: Harribance could not have seen
the cards through the window in Series 7 because J.K. placed them face down during the runs.
(Incidentally, Harribances score in Series 7 was the best of the entire series: see Table 4 and
Figure 3). And as mentioned, Harribance could not have left his room without being detected in
Series 8 because of the restrictions in his movement imposed by the attached EEG electrodes.

Series 9 and 10 examined Harribances performance in relation to two modes of ESP: Series 9
had a clairvoyance (C) design, while Series 10 had a telepathy (T) design (Klein, 1971). Two
experimenters, Judith Klein and Muriel Roll, were involved in the series, and two new packs of ten
photo cards were prepared. The pack used in Series 9 showed the coded letters AK (less 1) on the
backs of the cards, while the pack used in Series 10 showed the coded numbers 1 to 10 on the card
faces. When using the letter pack, J.K. and M.R. were kept unaware of which letters represented
male and female photos. The codes also ensured that all other PRF staff members remained
unaware of the target sequences until the time of assessing the results, when the sequences were
decoded.
The procedure in the two series was similar to that in Series 6 to8. Prior to testing, Harribance
was enclosed in Room 1 by M.R., who locked the door behind her before proceeding to Room 2. A
short time later, J.K. arrived at the PRF laboratory and obtained the test materials from a locked
container located in a separate office. She then joined M.R. in Room 2, closing the door behind her.
While sitting at the table in the center of the room, J.K. arranged the photo-cards according to a
random sequence prepared in advance by a PRF staff member not otherwise involved in the testing.
The cards were placed face up in the T-design, whereas they were placed face down in the C-design,
with the two designs alternating between runs. Once the cards were placed, J.K. signaled to M.R.,
who then knocked on the wall as a signal for Harribance to begin recording his responses in the
adjacent room. J.K. and M.R. then began making duplicate records of the coded target sequence,
recording numbers in the T-design, and letters in the C-design. At the end of the last run of the
session, J.K. gathered the test materials and exited the building before M.R. proceeded to Room 1
and unlocked the door to allow Harribance to exit. The cards and pre-arranged random sequences
were given to William G. Roll to be kept locked up until the next test session, while J.K. retained
the coded record sheets in a locked file cabinet. Harribance was kept ignorant of the fact that the
target sequences were determined by a pre-arranged random sequence, and he was not informed that
there was both a T-design and a C-design.
A graphical summary of Harribances performance in all ten series of the PRF photo-card
response tests is shown in Figure 3, expressed in terms of hit rates and 95 percent confidence
intervals. The hit rate percentages shown in Figure 3 (and listed in Table 4) were derived from the
raw descriptive data on Series 1 to 10 reported in Klein (1971), Morris et al. (1972),

120
Roll and Klein (1972), and Stump et al. (1970). In most cases, the data were reported using the
statistical evaluation methods for forced-choice tests described by Rhine and Pratt (1957/ 1972, Ch.
9). To calculate the mean hit rate for each series, the total number of test trials (N) and the total
number of hits in each series were required. Values for N were given in the reports, and are listed in
Table 4. In some reports, the total number of hits for each series was also given, but in others, the
scores for each series were reported as a numerical deviation (Dev) from mean chance expectation
(MCE). To arrive at the total number of hits in the latter case, the formula Dev = Observed Score
MCE (Rhine & Pratt, 1957/1972, p.173) was rearranged to: Observed Score = Dev + MCE, where
Observed Score represents the total number of hits, and MCE = Np, with p = .5 (the probability of
a hit) across all series. The hit rate can then be obtained by the equation Hit Rate = (Total number of
hits)/N, which is a decimal value. To convert this into a percentage, the decimal was multiplied by
100. With the probability of a hit being 1 in 2, the average hit rate expected by chance over the
course of the series is 50 percent.

Figure 3. Results summary for the ten series of photo-card response tests conducted with Harribance by the PRF,
showing the hit rate percentage and 95 percent confidence interval for each series. The far right point interval
labeled All represents the hit rate for the ten series combined. The bold horizontal line at 50 percent indicates
the expected chance hit rate.

Across the ten series, Harribance scored 3,584 hits in 5,890 trials for an overall hit rate of 60.85
percent, with an associated confidence interval ranging from 62.12 percent to 59.58 percent, which
clearly excludes the expected chance rate of 50 percent. Such a hit rate is highly significant,
associated with a z-score of 16.65 (p < < 10-50) and estimated odds greater than 100 quindecillion to
one.

Free Verbal Response Tests by the PRF

In addition to the photo-card tests, the PRF conducted two series of free verbal response tests
with Harribance that were designed to simulate, in a basic and controlled fashion, the

121
kinds of psychic readings he was accustomed to giving to people in Trinidad (Roll, Morris,
Damgaard, Klein, & Roll, 1973). One series consisted of readings given to ten male participants, the
other of readings given to ten female participants. All of the participants were selected by a PRF
secretary not otherwise involved in the tests, and none of them were known to Harribance.
Each series involved a two-experimenter design: Experimenter I (E1; either M.R. or R.L.M.)
worked with Harribance, while Experimenter 2 (E2; either J.K. or William G. Roll; W.G.R.) worked
with the participant. For each test, the participant came to the PRF library, where he or she was met
by E2. About 15 minutes prior to the participants arrival, Harribance was enclosed with El in Room
1 of the PRF laboratory (see Figure 2). The laboratory was a separate building from the library and
did not have any windows that faced the library or the street.
Upon meeting the participant in the library, E2 signaled the participants arrival to Harribance
and El in the laboratory using a buzzer linked to a telephone intercom. (Since he prefers to spend
several minutes relaxing and praying in preparation for a reading, Harribance had asked for this
signal to be given by E2 so that he would not have to prepare in cases where the participant did not
show up for the test session; Roll et al., 1973, p. 199). E2 then took a Polaroid photograph of the
participant, which was kept undeveloped in its original opaque casing. The edges of the casing were
sealed with Scotch tape to prevent tampering. 2 then obtained a small lock of the participants hair,
along with a folded index card with a written statement by the participant regarding a personal
problem. (The use of the participants personal statement represents another attempt to integrate the
element of responding to people into the ESP tests with Harribance. Often times, Harribance likes
to view his readings as being helpful to the people consulting him, and feels that a desire to seek
help on the part of the participant may aid him in reading the participant; Roll et al., 1973, p. 199).
The hair and the card were both sealed in a heavy opaque envelope by E2. The envelope and its
contents, along with the undeveloped photograph, were meant to serve as personal token objects
through which Harribance might establish a contact with the participant.
After writing the statement, the participant filled out a biographical questionnaire, and was then
escorted to the laboratory building by El and quietly shown into a side room (Room 3 in Figure 2).
Rugs were laid along the floor of the building to reduce the sound of their foot-steps, and the noise
from the fan of a heating unit helped mask any extraneous sounds. E2 placed the photograph casing
and the sealed envelope on a table in the large room just beyond the front door, and then knocked
once on a door leading to the rear of the building before immediately joining the participant in
Room 3.
Upon hearing the knock from E2, E1 waited a few moments to allow E2 to enter Room 3 and
shut the door. El then exited Room 1 and retrieved the casing and the envelope from the table,
bringing them back to Room 1. The two objects were given to Harribance, who then performed a
reading while handling them. While Harribance gave his verbal responses in Room 1, the
participant was asked by E2 to sit quietly at a desk in Room 3 and focus on the problem that he or
she had written on the index card. E2 supplied a picture of Harribance to the participant if he or she
desired to look at it, and then sat down about 10 feet behind the participant. After 15 minutes, E2
quietly escorted the participant out of the laboratory and back to the library, at which time the
participant was free to leave. Once the participant left, E2 signaled the participants departure to
Harribance and E1 via the telephone intercom buzzer. After Harribancc finished his reading, E1
completed a copy of the biographical questionnaire, using

122
Harribances reading statements about the participant as the basis. Once this was complete, and the
participant had departed, Harribance and E1 exited Room 1. E1 then provided W.G.R. with the two
token objects, the audio recording of the reading, and the questionnaire. As a basic form of
feedback, W.G.R. compared the questionnaire to the one completed by the participant, informing
Harribance of the degree to which the two corresponded. At the end of each series, the audio
recordings from each of Harribances readings were transcribed and blindly edited for content that
was either irrelevant to the participant, or that might lead to false hits (e.g., statements about the
participants attire chat could allow one to infer the weather conditions). Then, with their order
randomized, the reading transcripts were given to each of the ten participants in a given series. Each
participant was asked to read through all ten transcripts and rank them according to the degree that
they corresponded to him or her, with the transcript showing the highest degree of correspondence
being ranked first. Analysis of correct responses according to a first rank match revealed a
significant result for all participants combined (six out of 20 correctly chose the transcript of the
reading intended for them; exact binomial p < .02), with females producing an independently
significant outcome (four out of ten chosen correctly; exact binomial p < .02). Each of these results
is associated with odds greater than 50 to one against chance.

PK Tests with Random Physical Targets

As mentioned in the introduction, a small number of the parapsychological experiments

conducted with Harribance were tests for psychokinesis (PK, or mind over matter). These
experiments involved attempts by Harribance to influence random physical targets mentally (such
as rolling dice and electronic random event generators) or the activity of biological targets (such as
the behavioral responses of people and animals).

Dice Tests by the PRF

In July of 1971, the Psychical Research Foundation ran a series of four PK tests with H ar-
ribancc, in which he attempted to influence the outcomes of six rolling dice (M. Roll, 1971). To
guard against skillful hand manipulation of the dice, the experimenter, Muriel Roll, rolled them
using an automated machine consisting of a two-foot rectangular tube that was vertically rotated in
a circle by an electric motor belt. The dice were loaded into the tube through a trap-door at one end,
which was held in place by spring clamps while the tube rotated. The dice fell from one end of the
tube to the other as it rotated, striking and bouncing off a number of baffles as they tumbled
downward (Rhine, 1943; for an illustration of an early version of this machine, sec Rhine & Pratt,
1957/1972, p. 165).
Harribances goal in this PK test was to make a certain target number come up on each of the
upper die facts more often than would be expected by chance. Each die roll was counted as one test
trial, with the probability of a hit being 1 in 6 for a six-sided die. Each side of the die was
designated as the target for 30 consecutive trials in Series I, 2, and 4, for a total of 180 trials per run.
The number of trials per side was increased to 60 in Series 3, for a total of 360 trials per run. By
having each side of the die serve as the target in this manner, any imperfections in the die or the
machine will cancel out across the trials and not contribute to the overall score.

123
 Prior to the start of each run in Series 1, Harribance was allowed to decide which side of the die
was to be the target for the run, and he wrote his choice down on a record sheet. He then placed his
pencil down in front of M.R., but kept the sheet covered in front of him so that M.R. remained
unaware of the designated target. Placing the pencil in front of M.R. helped ensure that Harribance
did not alter the record sheet during the run. M.R. also observed him at all times and states that she
did not see any indication that he tried to write twice on the sheet during the runs (M. Roll, 1971b,
p. 19). Keeping M.R. unaware of the target helped reduce the likelihood of error in her recording of
the die faces, as well as prevented the possibility of an experimenter psi effect on her part.
M.R. then activated the machine to begin rolling the dice while Harribance sat quietly and
focused on the target, with his hands folded in his lap or placed on the edge of the table. After two
complete rotations of the tube, M.R. briefly paused the machine to record the upper faces of the six
dice.
This procedure was slightly modified in the first three runs of Series 2 by having Harribance
write down his choice on a blank card. After 30 trials for a particular side of the die were
completed, Harribance handed the card to M.R., with the blank side of the card facing up so that
M.R. could not see the target number he had written on it. This modification seemed to be rather
cumbersome, however, and the decision was made to revert to the original procedure for the
remaining runs.
One might notice that having Harribance write down his choice at the start of each run not only
introduces the possibility of PK, but also of precognition, such that in the latter case, Harribance
would be predicting the outcome of the dice rolls rather than influencing them. To exclude the
possibility of precognition by Harribance in Series 3 and 4, the target order was prepared in advance
by William G. Roll and given to Harribance, who again kept it concealed from M.R. during the test
runs.
The individual results for the four series of the four PK dice tests are shown in Table 5. With the
probability of a hit being 1 in 6, the expected chance hit rate is 16.67 percent. The outcomes for
Series 1 and 2 exceeded this rate to a small but significant degree, while Series 3 and 4 did not.
A graphical summary of the results across all four series, expressed in terms of hit rates and 95
percent confidence intervals, is shown in Figure 4. The confidence intervals clearly indicate that the
hit rates in two of the four series clearly exclude chance (Series 1 and 2), as does the hit rate for all
four series combined.

Test Series N Trials # Hits Hit Rate (%) z-score p-value (2-tailed) Estimated odds
1 7020 1405 20.01 7.53 5.11 x 10-14 20 trillion to 1
2 2700 546 20.22 4.96 7.06 x 10-7 1.4 million to 1
3 2880 510 17.71 1.50 ns
4 1440 240 16.67 0.00 ns
Table 5: Individual Results for the Four Series of PK Dice Tests Conducted with Harribance by the PRF, July
1971. (ns: non-significant)

Overall, Harribance obtained 2,701 hits in 14,040 trials for a hit rate of 19.24 percent, with a
confidence interval ranging from 19.85 percent to 18.62 percent, significantly exceeding the
expected chance hit rate (z = 8.18,p 10-15) with odds of about a quadrillion to one.

124
Figure 4. Results summary for the four series of PK dice rests conducted with Harribance by the PRF (M. Roll,
1971), showing the hit rate percentage and 95 percent confidence intervals for each series. The point interval at
the far right labeled All represents the hit rate for all four series combined. The bold horizontal line at 16.67
percent represents the expected chance hit rate.

REG Tests by the FRNM/Rhine Center

PK tests were also being carried out in 1971 at the FRNMs Institute for Parapsychology by
physicist Helmut Schmidt, using random event generators (REGs) that produced sequences of
binary bits (i.e., sequences of 1s and 0s) based on the random timing of radioactive decay
(Schmidt, 1971, 1974). Some of Schmidts tests were explicitly designed to explore the possibility
that PK can act retroactively; in other words, that it can act backwards in time, with effect preceding
cause (Schmidt, 1976). To do this, blocks of REG data were generated and recorded onto six audio
tapes at times when no one was present to observe the process. This meant that the pre-recorded
data would not be directly observed by anyone until the time of the actual test, when the data would
be played back to the test participants through some form of sensory feedback (e.g., auditory clicks,
or the movement of a needle on an instrument scale). The participants would then try to influence
the data mentally as in an ordinary PK test, such that the data produced a desired outcome (e.g.,
more ls than 0s). But because the REG data had already been recorded, it would seem that in
order to influence them, the participants would have to direct their PK influence back toward the
moment when the data were initially generated and recorded.
Among the participants in Schmidts (1976) tests of retroactive PK was Sean Harribance, who
took part in two early tests. In the first test (p. 273), 425 blocks of binary bit sequences were
recorded onto three audio tapes at a rate of 20 bits per second, with 20 seconds of silence separating
each block. Copies of these tapes were then made, again at times when no one was around to
observe the process. Schmidt gave the three copies to Harribance to take home, while the originals
were locked away in a safe.
During a PK test session at his home, Harribance listened to the blocked REG data on each copy
of the tape which, when played back, were presented audibly as a sequence of clicks

125
that varied in volume, from soft to loud, based on whether a 1 or a 0 had been generated,
respectively. While listening to the clicks through headphones, Harribance was asked to focus his
attention primarily on the soft clicks and attempt to increase their race of occurrence. Whenever he
desired, Harribance was able to stop the tape during any of the 20-second silent periods that
separated each block of data and resume the test session at a later time.
After he had listened to each of the copies, Harribance returned them to Schmidt, who then
retrieved the original tapes from the safe. The outcomes of both the original tapes and the copies
were then compared with each other to ensure that the copies had not been physically altered (since
the copies and the originals were exact duplicates of each other), and the number of blocks
containing more soft clicks than loud ones was counted. In all, 236 of the 425 blocks (55.53
percent) contained an excess of soft clicks, a significant result with odds of about 110 to one against
chance (CR = 2.38, p = .009).
In the second test (Schmidt, 1976, p. 274), three more tapes of pre-recorded REG data were
played back directly to Harribance in the FRNM laboratory. The data were presented to him as
visual movements of a needle on an instrument scale, one millimeter to the left or to the right, based
on whether each recorded binary bit was a 0 or a al; respectively. As he observed them,
Harribance was asked to try and make the needle move more to the right. His attempts resulted in
218 of the 407 REG data blocks (53.56 percent) having an excess of ls, which is in the intended
direction to a statistically suggestive degree (CR = 1.44, p = .075), with odds of about 12 to one
against chance.
When the results of the two tests were combined, 454 of the 832 data blocks (54.57 percent)
resulted in more 1s than 0s (CR = 2.71, p = .003), a significant result that is associated with
odds of about 330 to one against chance. In contrast, blocks of control REG data that Schmidt had
produced in between his retro PK tests did not show any significant difference in the amount of
1s and 0s, indicating that these results were not due to a bias produced by a malfunctioning
REG.
During a visit he made to the FRNM (now known as the Rhine Research Center) in April of
1997, Harribance participated in another REG-based PK test conducted in real-time using a
computer program called Volition (Palmer, 1998). Created by the late Charles Honorton, Volition is
a game-type program in which a participant attempts to mentally influence the vertical direction of
a line, whether upward or downward, as it progressively moves from left to right across a computer
screen. The vertical direction of each segment of the line is randomly determined by the computer
based on the sampling of 100 binary bits from a hardware-based REG that uses electronic noise as
its source of randomness.
Before each run, Harribance was allowed to choose the target direction of influence (upward or
downward) for the run. He then sat before the test computer with his eyes closed and focused his
thoughts on this target direction while continually initiating each trial of the run by holding down
the button on the computers game paddle. The computer provided him with no visual feedback
during the course of the run and sounded a tone when the run ended, at which time it graphically
displayed the complete progression of the line on the screen.
Harribance completed 76 runs (of 100 trials each) of Volition in this manner, and statistical
evaluation of his overall performance indicated a tendency toward missing the target to a marginally
significant degree (mean z = -0.216, t = 1.964, 75 df, p = .053), with odds of about 18 to one against
chance. Randomness checks of the REGs output were non-significant, again indicating that the
results were not due to a bias in the functioning of the REG.

126
PK Tests with Biological Targets

Two preliminary PK studies were conducted by the Psychical Research Foundation in the early
1970s to see if Harribance would be able to influence the activity of small biological organisms
(summarized in Damgaard, 1971, p. 75). In one study, he attempted to increase or decrease the
swim speed of goldfish in a bowl that was located in an adjacent room. In the other study, he tried to
influence the activity in cultures of trypsin (an enzyme involved in the digestion of proteins). Both
studies were reportedly at chance.
During his visit to the Rhine Research Center in April of 1997, Harribance participated in a study
designed by Palmer (1998), where he was asked to try to intentionally influence the performance of
a female research assistant, Cheryl Alexander (C.A.), on a computer-based ESP test called
ESPerciser. Developed by the late Charles Honorton, ESPerciser is a game-type program in which
the participant is presented with four distinct images on a computer screen and asked to guess which
one was randomly selected by the computer to be the ESP target.
Harribance attempted to influence C.A.s performance (such that she would obtain a positive
score) under three separate conditions. In the first condition, he was seated in the same room with
C.A., silently directing his intentional focus toward her as she completed 14 trials of ESPerciser.
C.A. scored an average of 2.71 hits per run, which is slightly but insignificantly above the expected
chance average of 2.50.
In the second condition, Harribance tried to influence C.A.s performance from a separate room
located on a different floor. Across the ten completed trials, C.A. scored an average of 2.20 hits per
run, which is slightly and insignificantly below the chance average. In the third condition,
Harribance was again located in a separate room from C.A., but instead of actively directing his
intentional focus toward her, he passively engaged in a personal meditation that was unrelated to the
influence task. Across these ten trials, C.A. obtained 1.50 hits per run, an average that falls
significantly below the expected chance average (t = 2.92, 9 df, p = .017, two-tailed) at odds of
about 58 to one. Palmer (1998) noted that this result was similar to the one he had obtained in the
same kind of experiment with another psychic claimant (Palmer, 1996), where C.A. had produced a
significant, above-average score during times when the claimant was passively engaging in reading
or meditation. It is important to point out, however, that the finding obtained with Harribance could
be inflated because it was based on a relatively small number of trials. (The study had been pre-
planned to include a much larger number of trials, but due to scheduling concerns, they were unable
to be completed in the time available; Palmer, 1998, p. 131). In addition, Harribance (1999, p.397)
later stated that when he was in the separate mom during the second and third conditions, he heard
noises coming from another floor that were distracting to him, which might have affected his
influence attempts.

PK Influence on Anesthetized Mice

The most promising PK results obtained by Harribance with biological organisms come from
two experimental studies related to psychic healing, in which he and eleven other participants
(eight of whom were also psychic claimants) acted as healers, attempting to mentally affect the
arousal rate of anesthetized mice. Both studies were conducted at the FRNM in the early 1970s.

127
 The first study (Watkins & Watkins, 1971) consisted of the three experiments, which generally
proceeded in the following manner: Pairs of lab mice, roughly identical in age, sex, and size, were
selected out of the same cage and simultaneously placed into identical anesthetizers filled with 10
milliliters of ether. About 15 seconds after both had become unconscious, the mice were removed
and placed onto a pair of plastic pans, which were then covered with solid lids. One mouse was
randomly designated to be the experimental subject, while the other mouse was the control subject.
In order to control for variations in the time that it took for the two mice to become unconscious, the
first mouse to lose consciousness was designated to be the experimental or the control subject in an
equally counterbalanced fashion across all of the experimental sessions.
In the first of the three experiments (op. cit., pp. 260-61), two experimenters each took one of the
covered pans to a separate room and placed it on a table. Seated in one of the rooms was a healer,
who would try to mentally influence the experimental mouse such that it would awaken faster than
the control mouse in the other room. At a pre-specified moment, the experimenters in each room
removed the lids from the pans and began monitoring the time it took for the mouse on each pan to
awaken. At the same moment, the healer began attempting to influence the experimental mouse.
Each mouse was judged to be awake either when it rose to its feet and took one step, or when it
began exhibiting wakeful activity such as grooming. A total of ten runs were performed.
In the seven runs that comprised the second experiment (op. cit., p. 261), the two experimenters
took the covered pans to the same test room and placed them on opposite sides of a table separated
by an 18-inch high wooden screen. The healer sat on the same side as the experimental mouse, and
was unable to see the control mouse. As in the first experiment, the experimenters removed the lids
of the pans at the same moment and monitored the arousal times of the mice.
The first four runs of the third experiment (op. cit., pp. 262-63) proceeded in the same manner as
the second, with the exception that the healer was located in an adjacent room, and looked into the
test room through a large, one-way glass window, with the table in the test room placed in such a
way that the wooden screen bisected the glass, allowing the healer to see both mice (although the
healer still attempted to influence only the experimental mouse). The seven runs that followed were
conducted under fully blind conditions, in which the placement of the experimental mouse on the
table (and thus, the location of the healer behind the one-way glass) was determined according to a
pre-arranged randomized order, with the experimenters being kept unaware of both the identity of
the experimental mouse, and the exact location of the healer behind the glass. in each trial of a
given run. Because some of the healers felt that having to randomly switch sides from trial to trial
was discomfiting and made it difficult for them to shift their influence from one side to the other,
the last four runs of the experiment were conducted under partially blind conditions, in which the
healer would attempt to influence the experimental mouse on one side of the table in half of the
trials, and then attempt this influence with the mouse on the opposite side in the other half. The side
on which the experimental mouse was initially placed during the first half was randomly deter-
mined, and the experimenters were kept unaware of the outcome. However, it was recognized that
even though the experimenters could not directly see the healer behind the one-way glass, any hint
of information that they could have received about the healers location through some accidentally-
opened path of sensory leakage would have given them knowledge of the healers location in all the
trials, hence the designation of partially blind (p. 262).

128
 Across all three experiments, the experimental mouse was found to awaken on average 5.07
seconds faster than the control mouse (t = 5.99, 767 df, p = 2.0 x two-tailed), a sig-nificant result
that is associated with odds of about 500 million to one against chance. In the runs that he
participated in, Harribance had also shown significant overall results (t = 6.10, 95 df, p < .001) at
odds greater than a thousand to one.
The second study (Wells & Klein, 1972) was designed to be a close replication of the first, the
main difference being that the second study was performed entirely by two new experimenters.
Eight experiments were carried out with four psychic claimants (including Harribance), utilizing the
same partially blind condition used in the first study. Across all eight experiments, the
experimental mouse awakened 5.52 seconds faster, on average, than the control mouse (t = 2.14,
191 df, p = .034, two-tailed). While this overall result is considerably smaller than that of the first
study, it is still statistically significant at odds of 28 to one against chance. The experimental mouse
did exhibit a tendency to awaken faster than the control mouse in the three experiments that
Harribance participated in. although the average difference in the times was not significant in any of
the three. However, in one of the two experiments where Harribance and another psychic claimant,
Karen Getsla, both focused their influence on the same mouse, a significant difference was found
when their successes (i.e., the experimental mouse awaking before the control mouse) were tallied
in terms of a simple binary hit/miss ratio (18 hits in 24 trials, 75 percent hit rate, CR = 2.45, p = .
014, two-tailed). Such a difference is associated with odds of about 70 to one against chance.

Exploratory Studies of Harribances Brain Activity

On the basis of the statistically significant results that he had obtained in the experimental tests
of ESP and PK, there seemed to be some justification for attempting to search for any possible brain
correlates of Harribances reported abilities. To date, efforts at such a search have been made by
four groups of independent researchers in a small series of exploratory ESP studies, and a brief
summary of the main findings to emerge from those studies follows.

Brain Wave Correlates

In Series 8 of the photo-card response tests carried out by the Psychical Research Foundation
(Morris ct al., 1972, pp. 255-59), an electroencephalograph (EEG) was used to continually monitor
the brain wave activity in Harribances occipital lobe (an area at the rear of the brain that has a
primary role in vision) while he was making his responses to the photo-cards. As indicated in Table
4 and shown in Figure 3, his overall hit rate in this particular series was positive and highly
significant, with odds against chance of approximately 10 quintillion to one. Analysis of the
resulting EEG record had revealed the presence of alpha waves (8-12 Hertz; often associated with a
state of relaxed awareness) 24.8 percent of the time on runs where Harribance had obtained a high
score. In contrast, alpha waves were present only 15.5 percent of the time on Harribances chance-
scoring runs. This difference of 9.3 percent was statistically significant (p < .05, two-tailed) at odds
greater than 20 to one against chance.
This finding was replicated in a separate PRF series in which EEG data were recorded from
Harribances left occipital lobe while he called packs of ESP cards that had been sealed

129
in opaque cardboard boxes and placed in an adjacent room (op. cit., pp. 259-61). Across all 50 runs
of the series, Harribance averaged 6.38 hits, whereas five would be expected by chance (CR = 4.88,
p < .001), a result that has odds greater than 1,000 to one against chance. During high-scoring runs,
alpha waves were present 35.7 percent of the time on Harribances EEG, whereas during chance
runs, alpha was present only 27.2 percent of the time. This 8.5 percent difference is again
significant (p < .tch for 005, two-tailed) at odds greater than 200 to one.
Another alpha-related finding was obtained just over two decades later in computer-based
quantitative EEG measurements made by Cheryl Alexander (2000; Alexander et al., 1998) during
Harribances visit to the Rhine Research Center in April of 1997. Data collected from 19 EEG
electrodes positioned across Harribances scalp while he was completing five ESP tasks (two photo-
based psychic readings, two runs of ESP card guessing, and one remote viewing session) revealed a
concentration of alpha activity in his occipital and adjacent parietal lobes, with the highest
concentration being in the right side of his parietal lobe (an area toward the top of the brain that has
a role in sensory and spatial processing). Such activity was not present in baseline EEG data
collected while Harribance was resting quietly, indicating that is was not likely to be related to the
kind of alpha activity that can arise normally within the occipital and parietal regions of the brain
during rest.
A further confirmation of the presence of alpha waves in Harribances EEG during successful
ESP performance was made by William G. Roll during ESP testing performed in collaboration with
Persinger and his associates at Laurentian University in Canada (Alexander et al., 1998; Roll &
Persinger, 1998; Roll et al., 2002). In one of the tests, EEG data were continually recorded from
Harribances occipital lobe while he gave psychic readings using photographs of ten people who
were unfamiliar to him, which had been placed in opaque manila envelopes. The envelopes were
shuffled by hand and presented one at a time to Harribance, who slipped his hand into the envelope
and verbally gave his impressions while touching the back side of the photograph. Upon completion
of the test, the audio recordings of Harribances readings were transcribed, edited for possible
verbal cues, and then given to the people shown in the photographs to be personally rated for
accuracy. Statements made by Harribance that were rated as moderately to highly accurate were
found to be associated with significantly higher amounts of alpha activity than statements rated as
inaccurate. Moreover, the inaccurate statements were associated with the lowest amounts of alpha
relative to the alpha activity associated with other kinds of statements (Roll & Persinger, 1998, pp.
206-07; Roll et al., 2002, pp. 209-11).
Kelly and Lenz (1976) explored the alphaESP correlation in a slightly different way when they
analyzed the EEG data recorded from Harribances parietal lobes while he participated in a
clairvoyance test involving a mechanical two-choice testing device. Rather than examining the
waveform patterns that appeared on the EEG record over time, Kelly and Lenz plotted the range of
frequencies seen across the EEG data to see if any notable changes in the voltage of the EEG signal
were present at certain frequencies.
During each trial, Harribance sat in front of the device with his eyes closed and guessed which
side of the device (left or right) had been randomly selected as the target by pushing a response
lever in the corresponding direction. The device then provided audio feedback to Harribance and
registered the outcome of the trial on a mechanical counter. In all, Harribance scored 48 hits in 106
trials for a hit rate of 45.28 percent, which is slightly and insignificantly below the expected chance
hit rate of SO percent (z = -0.97). However, two potentially interesting results were found when
graphical plots of the EEG frequency data from trials in which

130
Harribance scored a hit were compared with the data plots from trials in which he scored a miss.
First, a visual comparison of the two plots indicated that the data from the miss trials had a
relatively higher voltage signal in the frequency range from 6 to 14 Hertz (the theta to alpha range).
Second, a statistical comparison of the EEG frequency data collected in the two seconds before
Harribance made his guesses revealed a significant signal difference between hits and misses, such
chat the misses again exhibited a higher voltage. The main source of this difference was contributed
by a voltage peak occurring in miss trials within the frequency range of 12 to 13 Hertz (the
borderline between alpha and beta).
A very similar signal difference was observed in one of the two tests conducted in a follow-up
study by Kelly, Hartwell, and Artley (1978), in which Harribance showed a statistically suggestive
tendency to miss the targets (CR = -1.80, p = .072, two-tailed) on the same two-choice test device.
The observed difference was again characterized by a voltage peak in the EEG frequency data from
miss trials, and was concentrated primarily over Harribances parietal lobes. The difference
occurred in roughly the same frequency ranges (6-10 and 12-14 Hertz) as the one found in the
initial study.

Possible Abnormalities in Brain Structure and Function

As a preliminary way to examine Harribances brain for any possible signs of abnormality,
Alexander (2000; Alexander et al., 1998) had the baseline EEG data she collected from him in 1997
independently analyzed and compared against a large reference database of EEGs collected from
healthy individuals in his own age group. Compared to the brains of these individuals, Harribances
brain exhibited mild to moderate signs of abnormality, with notable differences in his occipital,
temporal, and frontal lobes. In particular, signs of decreased functioning were indicated in all three
lobes, especially his temporal and frontal lobes.
Further examinations for abnormality were performed at Laurentian University, where
Harribance was given a full neuropsychological assessment, and digital images of the metabolic
activity of his brain were made using single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) (Roll
& Persinger, 1998; Roll et al., 2002). The assessment results seemed to indicate signs of decreased
functioning in three main areas of Harribances brain: his left prefrontal lobe, the upper region of
his left temporal lobe, and the area bordering his right occipital and parietal lobes. The latter area,
known as the right occipito-parietal region, is located in roughly the same area where alpha activity
had been observed on Harribances EEG during successful ESP. In addition, the results of one
neuropsychological test indicated that Harribance exhibits an above-average ability for finger
gnosis (the ability to tell which finger is being stimulated), an ability which is often associated with
the occipital-parietal region (Roll & Persinger, 1998, p. 205). This might be an indirect indication
that a certain degree of structural alteration has occurred in this region to compensate for any
functional deficits (discussed further in the next section).
SPECT images of Harribances brain taken not long after he had given a 45-minute photo-based
reading showed increased metabolic activity in the rear part of his right parietal lobe. Such increases
were not seen in baseline scans taken while he was resting. In addition, decreases in metabolic
activity were observed in the forward portions of Harribances temporal lobe.

131
Test Total Trials Overall Outcome Score p-value Estimated odds
(z, t, or CR) (2-tailed)
ESP
Trinidad ESP 450 24.88% hit rate (20% 2.59 .01 100 to 1
Card Guessing expected by chance)
FRNM 9000 21.13% hit rate (20% 2.69 .007 140 to 1
Unbalanced expected by chance)
Pack Card
Guessing
Rhine 1499 19.08% hit rate (20% -0.89 ns
Unbalanced expected by chance)
Pack Card
Guessing
FRNM Psychic 28500 12.02% hit rate (10% 11.37 ~10-28 ~10 octillion to 1
Shuffling Series expected by chance)
Trinidad 489 59.38% hit rate (50% 4.11 3.96 x 10-5 25,250 to 1
Photograph expected by chance)
Response
FRNM Photo- 1239 59.64% hit rate (50% 6.76 1.39 x 10-11 70 billion to 1
card Response expected by chance)
PRF Photo-card 5890 60.85% hit rate (50% 16.65 << 10-50 100 quindecillion
Response Series expected by chance) to 1
PRF Free Verbal 20 6 of 20 readings correctly 2.05* < .02 > 50 to 1
Response matched
(Psychic
Readings)
PK
PRF Dice 14040 19.24% hit rate (16.67% 8.18 ~10-15 ~1 quadrillion to 1
Throwing expected by chance)
FRNM Pre- 832 test 54.57% of blocks contain 2.71 .003 330 to 1
Recorded REG blocks an excess of 1s
Rhine REG 7600 Tendency toward psi- 1.96 .053 18 to 1
Volition missing (mean z = (75 df)
-0.216)
Influence on 14 Average 2.71 hits/run nc ns
C.A.s Psi (2.50 expected by
Performance 1 chance)
Influence on 10 Average 2.20 hits/run nc ns
C.A.s Psi (2.50 expected by
Performance 2 chance)
Influence on 10 Average 1.50 hits/run 2.92 .017 58 to 1
C.A.s Psi (2.50 expected by (9 df)
Performance 3 chance)
Influence on 768 5.07 sec. waking 6.10 < .001 > 1,000 to 1
Anesthetized difference: experimental (95 df)
Mice: Study 1 vs. control
Influence on 192 75% hit rate 2.45 .014 70 to 1
Anesthetized
Mice: Study 2
Table 6: Results Summary for All Experimental Psi Tests Conducted with Sean Harribance, 1969-1997. (nc: not
cited in original report; ns: non-significant: *Estimate based on the associated exact binomial p-value)

132
133
Discussion

Table 6 provides a convenient summary of the overall findings from 16 of the ESP and PK
experiments with Harribance reviewed in this essay. Excluded from Table 6 are experiments for
which the reports were condensed and sufficient descriptive data were lacking (see above). Also
excluded are the exploratory studies, which were not specifically designed to be proof-oriented
experiments. Some of these excluded experiments, as well four of the ones listed in Table 5, did not
achieve statistical significance. However, the total number of insignificant outcomes is not
collectively sufficient to negate the overall significance of the other experiments listed in the table.
As seen in the table, 12 of these experiments (75 percent) had outcomes that were statistically
significant (p < .05) with odds greater than 20 to 1 against chance. This seems to offer clear
indication that something beyond chance coincidence was at work in these experiments.
If chance was not a viable factor, then what other factors might have contributed to the
significant results obtained by Harribance? Among the explanations that one would want to
consider and rule out immediately are those related to the conventional processes initially described
in the introduction, through which a person might be able to acquire sensory information or
physically affect a target object by ordinary, non-psychic means. To the extent possible based on the
available reports, detailed descriptions were provided here of the variety of controlled conditions
under which the experiments were conducted, as well as of the safeguards introduced over time, in
order to allay concerns that the results could have likely been produced through such means. In
addition, the experiments were conducted with the involvement of several experimenters at separate
laboratories, and so the results were not limited to only one or two successful experimenters, or to
Harrihance being confined to the same laboratory setting. Unless one considers the unlikely
possibility of mass experimenter collusion that has somehow managed to go continually undetected
over a period of three decades, it is difficult to find an explanation that can account entirely for the
observed results other than the possibility of psi.
On the basis of his success in the ESP and PK experiments, four attempts were made to explore
the possible brain correlates of Harribances reported ESP ability. In general, three findings seem
consistently to emerge from these exploratory studies.
First, Harribances ability tends to be associated with the presence of alpha waves, as inferred
from the abundance of alpha activity present on his EEG during ESP tasks. This alpha activity
appears to be largely focused over his occipital and parietal lobes. In general, this finding is
consistent with others in the parapsychological research literature that suggest a correlation between
alpha waves and ESP (Alexander, 2002; Krippner & Friedman, 2010; Williams, 2011; Williams &
Roll, 2008). The voltage differences between hit and miss trials that were found on Harribances
EEG by Kelly et al. (1978; Kelly & Lenz, 1976) were also in close proximity to the alpha frequency
range, and again point toward the possibility that alpha plays an important role in the functioning of
Harribances ESP ability. Of further note, the findings of Kelly et al. seem quite similar to those
obtained in event related potential studies of precognition (Don et al., 2010; Don et al., 1998;
McDonough et al., 2002; Warren et al., 1992), in which participants had generally shown stronger
negative voltages on their EEGs when they viewed pictures that would be later selected as targets,
as compared to when they viewed non-target pictures.
Second, results from Harribances neuropsychological assessment and comparison of his
baseline EEG with a database of EEGs collected from healthy people in his own age group

134
both seem to indicate that there are signs of decreased functioning in the area surrounding the
occipital and parietal lobes of his right brain hemisphere. Usually, such signs are taken as possible
indicators of brain trauma or damage, but in Harribances case, there might be another
interpretation. As mentioned in the previous section, results from one of Harribances
neuropsychological tests had indicated that he exhibits above-average ability in finger gnosis, which
is often associated with the occipito-parietal region. Rather than suggesting debilitation due to
damage, this contrasting situation suggests that certain changes might have occurred in the structure
of Harribances right occipito-parietal region in order to overcome any functional deficiency. In
other words, this particular region of his brain could have rewired itself in order to compensate for
any structural and functional deficits.
One might speculate that if such changes did take place in the occipito-parietal region of
Harribances brain, then perhaps they might relate in some way to the development and functioning
of his ESP ability. Preliminary support for this comes from the brief flashes of images that
Harribance describes as part of his ESP experience (mentioned in the section on his personal
background), that seem similar to the brief but visually complex hallucinations reported by people
who have suffered damage to the occipital and parietal lobes (Anderson & Rizzo, 1994; Beniczky et
al., 2002; Feldman & Bender, 1970, pp. 24-25; Seniow et al., 2003). In addition, the abundance of
alpha activity seen on Harribances EEC during successful ESP performance was recorded from
electrodes placed over his occipital and parietal lobes, and increases in metabolic activity were
observed in his right parietal lobe on the SPECT scans made of his brain following a psychic
reading.
Third, signs of decreased functioning in Harribances temporal lobe were also indicated by his
neuropsychological assessment results, his EEG database comparisons, and the SPECT scans made
of his brain. Again, the alternate interpretation of possible structural and functional changes in this
lobe could be indicated by the fact that Harribance is able to understand English at normal capacity
despite the decreased functioning in his left temporal lobe (which has a crucial role in speech
comprehension). An alteration in the functioning of that particular lobe might account for the voice
that Harribance often describes hearing in his right ear while giving a psychic reading, as well as the
language difficulties he had experienced as a child (mentioned in the section on his personal
background).
It is important to note that findings suggestive of possible brain alterations have also been
obtained in two other studies with psychic claimants. In the first (Persinger et al., 2002), the results
of a neuropsychological assessment given to another psychic claimant, Ingo Swann, also indicated
signs of decreased functioning in Swanns right parietal lobe, even though he displayed normal or
above average performance for abilities associated with that region. In addition, a resting MRI scan
of Swanns brain had indicated a cluster of unusual signals located in proximity to his right occipital
and parietal lobes. As with Harribance, Swanns results seem to suggest a subtle rewiring of these
brain regions to compensate for any deficits.
In the second study (Fenwick et al., 1985), neuropsychological questionnaires and interviews
were completed by 17 students enrolled at a British school for psychic development. Compared to a
control group matched for age, gender. and intellect, the students showed significantly more signs in
their responses of having suffered serious head injuries, serious illnesses, and blackouts. In addition,
11 of the 17 students (65 percent) showed signs of impairment in their right temporal lobe, or in
their right hemisphere in general.
Combined with the findings obtained from Harribance, these studies offer preliminary evidence
to suggest that the reported abilities of some psychic claimants might be associated

135
with altered brain structure, particularly within the right hemisphere. This is consistent with some
findings within the parapsychological literature that point to the possibility that psychic abilities are
associated with the right hemisphere (for reviews, see Alexander, 2002; Ehrenwald, 1975, 1977;
Krippner & Friedman, 2010; and Williams & Roll, 2008), although additional research is needed to
clarify this possibility.

Conclusion

The results from a series of parapsychological experiments conducted with Sean Lalsingh
Harribance over a 30-year period collectively indicate that Harribance has been able to produce
significant above-chance scoring under a variety of controlled conditions, and with the involvement
of multiple experimenters at separate laboratories. These conditions, along with the various
safeguards employed, make it highly unlikely that the scores in these experiments were obtained by
Harribance using conventional processes of sensory acquisition and physical influence. On this
basis, the experimental results seem to offer empirical support to the reported claims of psychic
ability on Harribances part.
Attempts to explore the possible brain correlates of Harribances ability have uncovered findings
to indicate that the functioning of his ability is associated primarily with alpha wave activity. In
addition, a neuropsychological assessment and comparisons of Harribances EEG with those of
healthy individuals seem to indicate that certain structural alterations in the right hemisphere of his
brain might be related in some way with the development and functioning of his ability, a
possibility that is also indicated in the findings from two other studies with psychic claimants.
These exploratory studies thus offer preliminary evidence to suggest that Harribances abilities
brain processes have functional correlates associated with ordinary brain processes that, due to
possible structural and functional differences, perhaps operate differently than those in the brains of
most other people. In addition, these results are currently limited to Harribance and at most a few
other claimants (e.g., Swann), and it will be important in the future to see whether or not they can
be extended to other psychic claimants in general. But overall, while these findings certainly do not
lead to complete working theories about how the abilities of psychic claimants relate to the brain,
they do offer some promising starting points for further study.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author is grateful to the Sean Harribance Institute for Parapsychology Research, Inc.
(SHIPR, Sugar Land, Texas) for kindly providing copies of several of the older published
experimental reports involving Harribance which were useful in the analyses presented above. This
essay is dedicated to the memory of William G. Roll (1926-2012), whose insight, collaboration, and
contributions to the research reported here were invaluable to its completion. It is largely through
his substantial efforts that the research with Sean Harribance has progressed to the point where is is
today.

NOTES

1. Apart from certain secondary (i.e., informal or post hoc test) Critical Ratio values (CRs, which are
essentially equivalent to z-scores; Palmer, 1986. p. 148), t-scores, and their associated p-values that are cited

136
directly from the original reports, all of the primary statistical results for the experiments described in this essay
have been recalculated from the raw descriptive data given in the reports, using the basic method of hypothesis
testing described by Utts (1999, Ch. 21). These re-calculated results are expressed in terms of a hit rate
percentage, an associated z-score, and a two-tailed p-value. For the benefit of general readers, the p-values are also
shown in terms of their estimated odds against chance.
2. However, one notable finding did appear in Palmers (1998) test data when examined after the fact. During
two consecutive test sessions held on the morning after he received the news that a personal friend and business
associate had suffered a heart attack, Harribance showed a tendency to avoid (or miss) the symbols on the cards
rather than hit them, resulting in a hit rate that was significantly below chance (14.7 percent, 44 hits in 300 trials, z
= -231, equivalent to p = .021, two-tailed) at odds of about 47 to 1.
3. The available report on the PRF series by Morris (1973), which was a condensed version of the original
report, did not cite any specific hit rates for the tests, nor did it contain sufficient descriptive data to allow re-
calculation of their associated statistics (see Note 1). For that reason, only a basic description of the tests and their
findings is provided.
4. Beginning with Series 2, the PRF series sequence has been purposely re-numbered here and in Tables 3 and
4 so as to remove the series excluded from the analysis (mentioned above) and maintain consistency with the
summary results shown in Figure 3. Thus, the numbering of the PRF experimental series as it is given in this essay
does not directly match the numbering found in the original research reports (the former are reduced by 2).

REFERENCES

Alexander, C. H. (2000). Neurophysiological research on an individual experiencing anomalous mental

phenomena: A case study (Abstract]. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 35, 42-43.
_____. (2002). Psychic phenomena and the brain: An evolution of research, technology, and understanding.
Proceedings of presented papers: The Parapsychological Association 45th Annual Convention, 9-24. Raleigh,
NC: Parapsychological Association.
Alexander, C. H., M. A. Persinger, W. G. Roll, and D. L. Webster. (1998). EEG and SPECT data of a selected
subject duringpsi tasks: The discovery of a neurophysiological correlate. Proceedings ofpresen ted papers: The
Parapsychological Association 41st Annual Convention, 3-13. Durham, NC: Parapsychological Association.
Anderson, S. W., and M. Rizzo. (1994). Hallucinations followingoccipiral lobe damage: The pathological
activation of visual representations. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 16, 651-63.
Beloff, J. (1993). Parapsychology: A concise history. London: Athlone.
Beniczky, S., S. Kiri, E. Voros, A. Ungurcin, G. Benedek, Z. Janka, and L. Wad. (2002). Complex hallucinations
following occipital lobe damage. European Journal of Neurology, 9, 175-76.
Child, I. L., and E. F. Kelly. (1973). ESP with unbalanced decks: A study of the process in an exceptional subject.
Journal of Parapsychology, 37. 278-97.
Cox, W. E. (1993). Guest editorial: Whither todays psi sensitives? Journal of the American Society for Psychical
Research, 87 125-32.
Damgaard, J. (1971). A summary of additional research with Lalsingh Harribance. In W. G. Roll, R. L. Morris, &
J. D. Monis (Lids.), Proceedings of the Parapsychological Association No. 8, 74-76. Durham, NC:
Parapsychological Association.
Don, N. S. (2010). Electrical activity in the brain and the extraordinary mind. In S. Krippner & H. L. Friedman
(Eds.), Mysterious minds: The neurobiology of psych its, mediums, and other extraordinary people, 113-27.
Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger/ABC-Clio.
Don, N. S., B. E. McDonough, and C. A. Warren. (1998). Event-related brain potential (ER?) indicators of
unconscious psi: A replication using subjects unelected for psi. Journal of Parapsychology,62, 127-45.
Dukhan, H. (1968). ESP tests with a high-scoring subject [Abstract]. Journal of Parapsychology, 32, 259-60.
_____. (1969). Experiments with Lalsingh Harribance: Experiments in Trinidad. Proceedings of the
Parapsychological Association No. 6, 65-66. Durham, NC: Parapsychological Association.

137
Ehrenwald, J. (1975). Cerebral localization and the psi syndrome. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 161,
393-98.
_____. (1977). Psi phenomena and brain research. In B. B. Wolman (Ed.), Handbook of Parapsychology, 716-29.
New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.
Feldman, M., and M. B. Bender. (1970). Visual illusions and hallucinations in paricto-occipital lesions of the
brain. In W. Keup (Ed.) Origin and mechanisms of hallucinations. 23-35. New York: Plenum.
Fenwick, P., S. Galliano, M. A. Cone, V. Rippere, and D. Brown. (1985). Psychic sensitivity: mystical
experience, head injury, and brain pathology. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 58, 35-44.
Gauld, A. (1968). The founders of psychical research. New York: Schocken.
Hansen, G. P. (1990). Deception by subjects in psi research. Journal of the American Society for Psychical
Research, 84, 25-80.
Harribance, S. L. (1999). Correspondence. Journal of Parapsychology, 63, 396-398, 401-402.
Harribance, S.. and H. R. Neff. (1976). This Man Knows You. San Antonio, TX: Naylor.
Hunter, M. D., B. P. Mulligan, B. T. Dotta, K. S. Satoka, C. F. Lavallee, S. A. Koren, and M. A. Persinger. (2010).
Cerebral dynamics and discrete energy changes in the personal physical environment during intuitive-like
states and perceptions. Journal of Consciousness Exploration & Research, 1, 1179-1197.
Kanthamani, H. (1974). Psi in relation to task complexity. Journal of Parapsychology, 38, 154-62.
Kelly, E. F., J. W. Hartwell, and J. L. Artley. (1978). A second two-choice clairvoyance EEG study with Lalsingh
Harribance (Abstract]. Journal of Parapsychology. 42.54-55.
Kelly, E. E. and J. Lenz. (1976). EEG correlates of trial-by-trial performance in a two-choice clairvoyance task: A
preliminary study. In J. D. Morris, W. G. Roll, & It. L. Morris (F.ds.), Research in Parapsychology 1975, 22-
25. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow.
Klein, J. (1971). Recent research with Lalsingh Harribance: A comparison of clairvoyance and telepathy. In W. G.
Roll, R. L. Morris. & J. D. Morris (Eds.), Proceedings of the Parapsychological Association No. 8, 71-72.
Durham, NC: Parapsychological Association.
Krippner, S., and H. L. Friedman. (Eds.) (2010). Mysterious minds: The neurobiology of psychics, mediums, and
other extraordinary people. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger/ABC-Clio.
Mauskopf, S. H., and M. It. McVaugh. (1980). The elusive science: Origins of experimental psychical research.
Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins University Press.
McDonough, B. E., N. S. Don, and C. A. Warren. (2002). Differential event-related potentials to targets and
decoys in a guessing tusk. Journal of Scientific Exploration, 16, 187-206.
Morris, R. L. (1971). Recent research with Lalsingh Harribance: Guessing habits and ESP. In W. G. Roll, R. L.
Morris, and J. D. Morris (lids.). Proceedings of the Parapsychological Association No 8, 72-74. Durham, NC:
Parapsychological Association.
_____. (1973). Complex psi and the concept of precognition. In W. G. Roll. R. L. Morris, & J. D. Morris (Eds.)
Research in Parapsychology 1972, 95-97. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow.
_____. (1986). What psi is not: The necessity for experiments. In H. L. Edge, R. L. Morris, J. Palmer, & J. H.
Rush (Eds.), Foundations of parapsychology: Exploring the boundaries of human capability, 70-110. London:
Roudedge & Kegan Paul.
Morris, R. L., W. C. Roll, J. Klein, and G. Wheeler. (1972). EEG patterns and ESP results in forced-choice
experiments with Lalsingh Harribance. Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, 66, 253-68.
Palmer, J. (1986). Statistical methods in ESP research. In H. L. Edge, R. L. Morris, J. Palmer, & J. H. Rush (Eds.),
Foundations of parapsychology: Exploring the boundaries of human capability, 138-60. London: Routledge &
Kegan Paul.
_____. (1996). External psi influence on ESP task performance. Journal of Parapsychology, 60, 193-210.
_____. (1998). ESP and REG PK with Sean Harribance: Three new studies. Proceedings of Presented Papers:
The Parapsychological Association 41st Annual Convention, 124-34. Durham, NC: Parapsychological
Association.
Palmer, J. (1999). Correspondence. Journal of Parapsychology. 63, 398-400, 402.
Persinger, M. A.. Roll, W. G., Tiller, S. G.. Koren, S. A., & Cook. C. M. (2002). Remote viewing with the artist
Ingo Swann: Neuropsychological profile, electroencephalographic correlates, magnetic resonance imaging
(MRI), and possible mechanisms. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 94, 927-49.
Pratt, J. G. (1974). In search of the consistent scorer. In J. Beloff (Ed.), New directions in parapsychology, 95-121.
Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow.

138
Rhine, J. B. (1943). Dice thrown by cup and machine in PK tests. Journal of Parapsychology, 7, 207-17.
_____. (1977). History of experimental studies. In B. B. Wolman (Ed.), Handbook of parapsychology. 25-47. New
York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.
Rhine, J. B., and J. G. Pratt. (1957/1972). Parapsychology: Frontier science like mind, 4th ed. Springfield, IL:
Charles C. Thomas.
Rhine, J. B., B. M. Smith, and J. R. Woodruff. (1938). Experiments bearing on the precognition hypothesis: II.
The role of ESP in the shuffling of cards. Journal of Parapsychology, 2,119-31.
Roll, M. (1971a). Some recent dice-throwing studies with Lalsingh Harribance. In W G. Roll, R. L. Morris, & J.
D. Morris (Eds.), Proceedings of the Parapsychological Association No. 8, 19-20. Durham, NC:
Parapsychological Association.
_____. (1971b). Recent research with Lalsingh Harribance: Physical aspects of the target. In W. G. Roll, R. L.
Morris, and J. D. Morris (Eds.), Proceedings of the Parapsychological Association No. 8, 67-69. Durham, NC:
Parapsychological Association.
Roll, W. G., and J. Klein. (1972). Further forced-choice ESP experiments with Lalsingh Harribance. Journal of
the American Society for Psychical Research, 66, 103-112.
Roll, W. G., R. L. Morris, J. A. Damgaard, J. Klein, and M. Roll. (1973). Free verbal response experiments with
Lalsingh Harribance. Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, 67. 197-207.
Roll, W. G., and M. A. Persinger. (1998). Is ESP a form of perception? Contributions from a study of Sean
Harribance. Proceedings of Presented Papers: The Parapsychological Association 41st Annual Convention,
199-209. Durham. NC: Parapsychological Association.
Roll, W. G., M. A. Persinger, D. L. Webster, S. G. Tiller, and C. M. Cook. (2002). Neurobehavioral and
neurometabolic (SPECT) correlates of paranormal information: Involvement of the right hemisphere and its
sensitivity to weak complex magnetic fields. International Journal of Neuroscience, 112, 197-224.
Schmidt, H. (1971). Mental influence on random events. New Scientist and Science Journal, 50. 757-58.
_____. (1974). Psychokinesis. In IL D. Mitchell and J. White (Eds.), Psychic Exploration: A Challenge for
Science, 179-93. New York: G. P. Putnams Sons.
_____. (1976). PK effect on pre-recorded targets. Journal of the American Satiny for Psychical Research. 70, 267-
91.
Schouten, S.A. (1993). Applied parapsychology studies of psychics and healers. Journal of Scientific Exploration,
7, 375-401.
_____. (1994). An overview of quantitatively evaluated studies with mediums and psychics. Journal of the
American Society for Psychical Research, 88, 221-54.
Seniow, J., K. Polanowska, T. Mandat, and K. Laudanski. (2003). The cognitive impairments due to the occipital-
parietal injury after gunshot: A successful neurorehabilitation study. Brain Injury, 17, 701-13.
Stump, J. P., W. G. Roll, and M. Roll. (1970). Some exploratory forced-choice ESP experiments with Lalsingh
Harribance. Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, 64. 421-31.
Utts, J. M. (1999). Seeing Through Statistics, 2d ed.). Pacific Grove, CA: Duxbury.
Warren, C. A., B. E. McDonough, and N. S. Don. (1992). Event-related brain potential changes in a psi cask.
Journal of Parapsychology, 56, 1-30. Watkins, G. K., and A. M.
Watkins. (1971). Possible PK influence on the resuscitation of anesthetized mice. Journal of Parapsychology, 35,
257-72. Wells, R., and J. Klein. (1972). A replication of a psychic healing paradigm. Journal of
Parapsychology, 36, 14 4 -49.
Williams, B. J. (2011). Exploring the psychic brain: On neuroscience and psi phenomena. Australian Journal of
Parapsychology, 11, 154-192.
Williams, B. J., and W. G. Roll. (2008). Neuropsychological correlates of psi phenomena. Proceedings of
presented papers: The Parapsychological Association 51li Annual Convention, 264-87. Petaluma, CA:
Parapsychological Association.
Wiseman, R., and R. L. Morris. (1995). Guidelines for testing psycbie claimants. Amherst, NY: Prometheus.

139