Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research Lab
Encyclopedia
The Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research (PEAR) program was established at Princeton University
in 1979 by Robert G. Jahn, then Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science
, to pursue rigorous scientific study of the interaction
of human consciousness with physical devices, system
s, and processes
common to contemporary engineering practice. Its methods were controversial and at the end of February 2007, it closed its doors. From 1979 until its closing, interdisciplinary staff of engineers, physicists, psychologists, and humanists conducted a comprehensive agenda of experiments and attempted the development of complementary theoretical models to enable better understanding of the role of consciousness within physical reality. A number of academics have called the PEAR data into question stating that the PEAR methodologies were flawed and questioning their interpretation of the collected data.
. In these experiments, subjects attempted to mentally alter the distribution of the random numbers, in an experimental design that is functionally equivalent to getting more "heads" than "tails" while flipping a coin. In the RNG experiment, design flexibility can be combined with rigorous controls, while collecting a large amount of data in very short period of time.
Meta-analyses of the RNG database have been published every few years since appearing in the journal Foundations of Physics
in 1986. PEAR founder Robert G. Jahn and his colleague Brenda Dunne stated that the effect size in all cases was found to be very small, but consistent across time and experimental designs, resulting in an overall statistical significance
. A recent meta-analysis on psychokinesis
was published in Psychological Bulletin
, along with several critical commentaries. It analyzed the results of 380 studies. While the authors reported an overall positive effect size that was statistically significant, it was small relative to the sample size and could be explained by publication bias
.
, which failed, in the government's eyes, to document practical intelligence value, PEAR sought to replicate the SAIC
and SRI experiments. PEAR created an analytical judgment methodology to replace the human judging process that was criticized in past experiments. The researchers felt that the results of the experiments were consistent with the SRI experiments.
These tiny deviations from chance have failed to convince mainstream scientists who feel that the effect is inconsistent and that relatively few negative studies would cancel it out. Physicist Robert L. Park
said of PEAR, "It’s been an embarrassment to science, and I think an embarrassment for Princeton". Park maintains that if a coin is flipped enough times, even a slight imperfection can produce more than 50% heads, and that the "tiny statistical edges" PEAR reported are the result of statistical flaws.
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
in 1979 by Robert G. Jahn, then Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, to pursue rigorous scientific study of the interaction
Interaction
Interaction is a kind of action that occurs as two or more objects have an effect upon one another. The idea of a two-way effect is essential in the concept of interaction, as opposed to a one-way causal effect...
of human consciousness with physical devices, system
System
System is a set of interacting or interdependent components forming an integrated whole....
s, and processes
Process (engineering)
In engineering a process is a set of interrelated tasks that, together, transform inputs into outputs. These tasks may be carried out by people, nature, or machines using resources; so an engineering process must be considered in the context of the agents carrying out the tasks, and the resource...
common to contemporary engineering practice. Its methods were controversial and at the end of February 2007, it closed its doors. From 1979 until its closing, interdisciplinary staff of engineers, physicists, psychologists, and humanists conducted a comprehensive agenda of experiments and attempted the development of complementary theoretical models to enable better understanding of the role of consciousness within physical reality. A number of academics have called the PEAR data into question stating that the PEAR methodologies were flawed and questioning their interpretation of the collected data.
Consciousness Fields
In the PEAR Labs, operators frequently spoke of "achieving a state of resonance" with the devices they were working with, which positively correlated with higher than chance performance in random trials. Their data gives “a consistent empirical indication in the presence of groups of people engaged in shared cognitive or emotional activity” “One conceptual hypothesis for the group-related anomalies indicated by FieldREG is that the emotional/intellectual dynamics of the interacting participants somehow generate a coherent ‘consciousness field,’ to which the REG responds via an anomalous decrease in the entropy of its nominally random output.” That is, emotional intention, especially group emotional intention, increases order. “Bonded co-operator pairs” also show increased order (Dunne, 1991) Jahn and his team confirm Radin’s experiments indicating that random chance machines “may be affected by group consciousness.” Such a group consciousness field effect apparently transcends space and time limitations.Psychokinesis
PEAR employed the use of random number generators (RNG), to test for psychokinesisPsychokinesis
The term psychokinesis , also referred to as telekinesis with respect to strictly describing movement of matter, sometimes abbreviated PK and TK respectively, is a term...
. In these experiments, subjects attempted to mentally alter the distribution of the random numbers, in an experimental design that is functionally equivalent to getting more "heads" than "tails" while flipping a coin. In the RNG experiment, design flexibility can be combined with rigorous controls, while collecting a large amount of data in very short period of time.
Meta-analyses of the RNG database have been published every few years since appearing in the journal Foundations of Physics
Foundations of Physics
Foundations of Physics is a monthly journal "devoted to the conceptual bases and fundamental theories of modern physics and cosmology, emphasizing the logical, methodological, and philosophical premises of modern physical theories and procedures"...
in 1986. PEAR founder Robert G. Jahn and his colleague Brenda Dunne stated that the effect size in all cases was found to be very small, but consistent across time and experimental designs, resulting in an overall statistical significance
Statistical significance
In statistics, a result is called statistically significant if it is unlikely to have occurred by chance. The phrase test of significance was coined by Ronald Fisher....
. A recent meta-analysis on psychokinesis
Psychokinesis
The term psychokinesis , also referred to as telekinesis with respect to strictly describing movement of matter, sometimes abbreviated PK and TK respectively, is a term...
was published in Psychological Bulletin
Psychological Bulletin
Psychological Bulletin is a peer-reviewed academic journal specializing in literature reviews. It was founded by Johns Hopkins psychologist James Mark Baldwin in 1904 immediately after he had bought out James McKeen Cattell's share of Psychological Review, which the two had founded ten years...
, along with several critical commentaries. It analyzed the results of 380 studies. While the authors reported an overall positive effect size that was statistically significant, it was small relative to the sample size and could be explained by publication bias
Publication bias
Publication bias is the tendency of researchers, editors, and pharmaceutical companies to handle the reporting of experimental results that are positive differently from results that are negative or inconclusive, leading to bias in the overall published literature...
.
Remote viewing
Following the termination in 1995 of the U.S. government espionage program Stargate ProjectStargate Project
The Stargate Project was the umbrella code name of one of several sub-projects established by the U.S. Federal Government to investigate claims of psychic phenomena with potential military and domestic applications, particularly "remote viewing": the purported ability to psychically "see" events,...
, which failed, in the government's eyes, to document practical intelligence value, PEAR sought to replicate the SAIC
Science Applications International Corporation
SAIC is a FORTUNE 500 scientific, engineering and technology applications company headquartered in the United States with numerous federal, state, and private sector clients...
and SRI experiments. PEAR created an analytical judgment methodology to replace the human judging process that was criticized in past experiments. The researchers felt that the results of the experiments were consistent with the SRI experiments.
Closing of the laboratory
PEAR closed its doors at the end of February 2007 with its founder, Robert G. Jahn, concluding that after tens of millions of trials they had demonstrated that human intention has a slight effect on random-event machines. "For 28 years, we’ve done what we wanted to do, and there’s no reason to stay and generate more of the same data," Jahn said. Jahn felt that the work showed, on average, people can shift 2–3 events out of 10,000 from chance expectations.These tiny deviations from chance have failed to convince mainstream scientists who feel that the effect is inconsistent and that relatively few negative studies would cancel it out. Physicist Robert L. Park
Robert L. Park
Robert Lee Park , also known as Bob Park, is an emeritus professor of physics at the University of Maryland, College Park and a former Director of Public Information at the Washington office of the American Physical Society...
said of PEAR, "It’s been an embarrassment to science, and I think an embarrassment for Princeton". Park maintains that if a coin is flipped enough times, even a slight imperfection can produce more than 50% heads, and that the "tiny statistical edges" PEAR reported are the result of statistical flaws.
Staff
- Robert G. Jahn, Program Director.
- Brenda J. Dunne, Laboratory Manager. Dunne is formally trained as a psychologist and serves as the Laboratory Manager of the PEAR lab.
- York H. Dobyns, Analytical Coordinator
- Lisa Langelier-Marks, Administrative Assistant
- Elissa Hoeger, General Factotum
Emeritus members
- G. Johnston Bradish, Technical Coordinator
- Arnold L. Lettieri Jr., Communications Director
- Roger D. NelsonRoger D. NelsonRoger D. Nelson is the director of the Global Consciousness Project , an international, multi-laboratory collaboration founded in 1997 to study collective consciousness. From 1980 to 2002, he was Coordinator of Research at the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research laboratory at Princeton...
, Operations Coordinator
Spin-offs
- International Consciousness Research Laboratories, a not-for-profit organization.
- Psyleron, Inc., a for-profit company.
- Society for Scientific ExplorationSociety for Scientific ExplorationThe Society for Scientific Exploration, or SSE, is a professional organization of scientists and other scholars committed to studying unusual and unexplained phenomena that cross traditional scientific boundaries and may be ignored or inadequately studied within mainstream science...
- Global Consciousness ProjectGlobal Consciousness ProjectThe Global Consciousness Project is a parapsychology experiment begun in 1998 as an attempt to detect possible interactions of "global consciousness" with physical systems...