| Abstract/Results: | ABSTRACT:
A number of psychics have gained a reputation as psychic detectives using such clues as photographs, a town map, or a piece of clothing. In fact, dowsing has long been espoused as a technique for helping individuals to utilize untrained psi abilities, in terms of unconscious muscular movements, while the pendulum acts as an amplifier of subconscious ideomotor movements. The aim of this study was to compare mental and motor conditions using images of dead people as targets. In one iteration, photographs were used of the person-targets in order to determine if the participants scored differently when using mental or motor procedures. In another, the same approach used highly emotional iconic representations, that is, images of people who had committed suicide. The sample consisted of 214 female and male participants (Mean age = 43.84; SD = 13.40) who had reported personal experiences suggestive of psi. Four trials were performed for the "mental" (psychometry) procedures and four for the "motor" (pendulum) procedures. After a number of security measures, including randomized procedures and control groups, the results showed that the "mental" (psychometry) condition scored significantly above chance (MCE = 2; Mean Mental = 2.39, t = 4.55; p < .001), and also scored significantly higher than the "motor" condition (p = .004). In the second group of trials, the results also showed that the "mental" condition scored significantly above chance (Mean Mental = 2.14, t = 1.44; p .075); however, in this group, the "mental" condition did not score significantly higher than the "motor" condition. We conclude that the study offers support for the claim that iconic representation through psychometry is psi conducive. However, in the second analysis, one tentative interpretation would be that the psi information was blocked by some psychological defense mechanism in response to an unpleasant association with the stimulus.
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