Observer Effects on Quantum Randomness: Testing Micro-Psychokinetic Effects of Smokers on Addiction-Related Stimuli
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Plain English Summary
Can your cravings bend reality? Researchers tested whether smokers' unconscious desires could nudge a quantum random number generator to show fewer cigarette pictures. Study one found strikingly strong evidence they could — smokers saw fewer cigarette images than chance predicted. Non-smokers? Nothing. But the pre-registered replication with more participants found the effect had vanished. Combined data revealed a rise-then-fade pattern only in smokers. The authors invoke the Model of Pragmatic Information to explain why micro-PK effects (mind-over-matter at tiny scales) might systematically disappear when you try to pin them down. Skeptics would note that pattern looks a lot like the first result simply being a fluke.
Actual Paper Abstract
A vivid discussion revolves around the role of the human mind in the quantum measurement process. While some authors argue that conscious observation is a necessary element to achieve the transition from quantum to classical states during measurement (Wigner 1963), some go even further and propose a more active influence of the human mind on the probabilities of quantum measurement outcomes (e.g., Atmanspacher, Römer, & Walach 2002, Penrose & Hameroff 2011). This proposition was tested in micro-psychokinesis (micro-Pk) research in which intentional observer effects on quantum random number generators (RNGs) were investigated. In the studies presented here, we extended this line of research and tested the impact of unconscious goals on micro-Pk. Our focus was cigarette addiction as an unconscious drive, and we hypothesized that regular cigarette smokers would influence the outcome of a quantum RNG that determined whether the participant was going to see a smoking-related or a neutral picture. Study 1 revealed strong evidence for micro-Pk (BF = 66.06), supporting H1. As expected, no deviation from chance was found with non-smokers. In Study 2, a pre-registered highly powered replication attempt failed to reproduce this result and showed strong evidence for H0 (BF = 11.07). When the data from both studies are combined, a remarkable change in effect across time (resembling a combination of appearance followed by decline) can be seen only in the smokers' subsample. Appearance and decline effects were absent in the non-smokers' sample and in a simulation. Based on von Lucadou's Model of Pragmatic Information, we suggest that (micro-)Pk effects follow a systematic pattern comparable to a dampened harmonic oscillation. This concept may shed new light on past and future Pk research.
Research Notes
Critical replication failure paper in micro-PK literature. Demonstrates the elusive decline effect pattern that MPI predicts but cannot distinguish from null results. Connects to PEAR replication failures and ongoing debates about whether micro-PK is inherently unreplicable or non-existent. Unconscious desire manipulation was theoretically innovative. Cites Bösch et al. 2006 meta-analysis and Radin & Nelson work extensively.
Tested whether unconscious desires influence quantum randomness using smokers' cigarette addiction as motivated observation. Participants viewed 400 pictures selected by a quantum RNG (Quantis): smoking-related or neutral images. Study 1 (N=254) found strong evidence for micro-Pk in smokers (BF=66.06), with fewer cigarette pictures than chance (M=196.7). Non-smokers showed null results. Study 2, a pre-registered replication (N=395), failed to reproduce the effect (BF=11.07 for H0). Combined analysis revealed an appearance-then-decline pattern in smokers only, resembling dampened harmonic oscillation. Authors extend von Lucadou's Model of Pragmatic Information to explain systematic decline.
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📋 Cite this paper
Maier, Markus A, Dechamps, Moritz C (2018). Observer Effects on Quantum Randomness: Testing Micro-Psychokinetic Effects of Smokers on Addiction-Related Stimuli. Journal of Scientific Exploration. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.31275/2018.1250
@article{maier_dechamps_2018_smoker_micro_pk,
title = {Observer Effects on Quantum Randomness: Testing Micro-Psychokinetic Effects of Smokers on Addiction-Related Stimuli},
author = {Maier, Markus A and Dechamps, Moritz C},
year = {2018},
journal = {Journal of Scientific Exploration},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.31275/2018.1250},
}