Basic micro-Psychokinesis research in 5 easy steps
Okay, here goes.
1. Connect Random Number Generator to computer.
(The RNG is going to be sampled to create a datastream of ones and zeros)
2. Ask participant to ‘mentally influence’ RNG for some length of time. e.g. a trial length of 5 mins.
“Generate more ones than zeros, please.” Or vice versa.
3. Using the RNG and Computer system, sample 200 binary events over a one-second period. Summarize the outcome for that second.
Period 1, (duration of 1 second)
1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0… 1
(Total zeros = 98, Total ones = 102)
Therefore period 1 is summarized as +2 - two ‘ones’ more than the expected 100:100 split)
4. Repeat 3 until trial ends.
Period 2, (duration of 1 second)
0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1… 0
(Total zeros = 104, Total ones = 96)
Therefore period 2 is summarized as -4 - four less than the expected 100:100 split)
Period 3, (duration of 1 second)
0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1… 1
(Total zeros = 100, Total ones = 100)
Therefore period 3 is summarized as 0. You get the idea.
5. Sum the data, and see what the cumulative deviation over the whole 5-minute trial looks like (i.e add up all the outcomes from each second - +2, -4, 0, etc).
(Run your probability stats, and make a nice graph to show what happened overall. Include markers (pink and yellow) that show where the cumulative deviation becomes significant, p=.05). In other words, the level where you become confident that chance is unlikely to account for your results.
(6. Conduct lots more trials, including control trials)
