Abstract/Results:
| ABSTRACT:
Background and Aim
Predictors of psi-hitting due mainly to compliance in believers in psi (sheep), and psi-missing due mainly to noncompliance in non-believers in psi (goats), were sought in an on-screen forced-choice card-identifying (guessing) experiment in a gambling scenario. Hypothesized predictors are paranormal belief (using the Australian Sheep-Goat Scale), gambling attitudes (Gambling Attitude Scales & Attitudes Towards Gambling Scale), and beliefs about luck (Belief in Good Luck Scale & Questionnaire of Beliefs about Luck).
Method
Participants completed the scales, then five card-guessing trials (5 x 5 playing cards face-down). Correct guesses of Ace-of-Spades win a Scratch-It card for possible cash prize. Participants were asked to avoid Ace-of-Clubs. It is theorized that sheep, being positive towards the psi hypothesis, are compliant and prefer Ace-of-Spades; whereas goats, being noncompliant, prefer Ace-of-Clubs.
Results
All gambling attitude scales inter-correlated significantly, as did most luck scales. For the whole sample (N = 120), effect sizes were at chance for spade-hitting and club-hitting, as was the case for sheep and goats separately. Sheep and goats did not score differently from each other on spade-hitting. None of the scales correlated significantly with spade-hitting or club-hitting. The spade-hitting/club-hitting correlation was negative and significant, which replicated the same finding in Storm and Thalbourne (2005).
Conclusions
The spade-hitting/club-hitting correlation suggests that when participants target Ace-of-Spades, they will tend to avoid Ace-of-Clubs, though there is option to displace to King cards. Also, belief in psi and luck, and attitudes towards gambling (whether positive or negative), may not influence gambling success.
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