Exploration of the validity and utility of a reward contingency in a non-intentional forced-choice precognition task

Stanford’s ‘psi-mediated instrumental response’ (PMIR) model proposes that psi is a largely unconscious process and is ‘need serving’, such that it is driven by rewards or punishments for the organism utilising it, usually in an evolutionarily adaptive manner. A series of successful experiments conducted by Luke and associates have explored the PMIR model with an automated non-intentional forced-choice psi task with outcome contingencies that vary in pleasantness commensurate with psi task success. Explorations of the salience of the contingency task, however, produced findings apparently contrary to the predictions of the PMIR model, so the present study aimed to replicate this experiment but monitor subjective judgements of task pleasantness to ascertain whether the contingent tasks were valid. An opportunity sample of 41 participants completed 10 trials each of the non-intentional forced-choice psi task, with 20 randomly allocated to the no contingent condition and 21 to the contingent condition. Findings were consistent with the previous experiment with above-chance psi scoring, although non-significant, and a higher psi score for the no-contingent condition as previously, though also non-significant. However, subjective task pleasantness ratings indicated that participants found the no-contingent condition significantly more pleasant than either of the contingent conditions, thereby supporting a PMIR interpretation of the unexpected findings. Out of a number of individual difference measures only sheep–goat psi belief was found to predict psi score, as also found previously with this test paradigm. The findings are discussed in the light of previous studies, with suggestions for future research