[Still Waters]

www.wired.com said:

Fake blood, canned screams and plastic skeletons are fun, but if you want a real haunted house, turn to scientists.

To test whether it’s possible to artificially induce paranormal experiences — or, from a different perspective, to technologically summon a spirit — researchers at London’s Goldsmith College and architect Usman Haque designed a scientifically haunted room.

They were inspired by earlier studies in which test subjects reported contact with the phantasmic when exposed to electromagnetic fields and waves of infrasound.

This hasn’t just taken place in the laboratory. Odd EMF fields have been recorded at reputedly haunted castles. And geomagnetic flux caused by shifting tectonic plates reportedly produces surges in poltergeist sightings. Meanwhile, infrasound waves below the level of human hearing have been linked to visitation.

Of course, ghosts — which 40 percent of the American public claim to believe in — are only one possible explanation. Perhaps people feel something, and what they call “haunting” is their uniquely sensitive power of perception. Maybe they’re just suggestible.

Read more...

[Paul Noise]

Great article. Scientists actually trying to explain the paranormal. Love it.

[behaviour???]

Quote

scientifically haunted room.

We loose the thrill when we hear the 'Scientific' word

Thanks
B???

[Mbyte]

I've heard of this before. EMF's and the likes casuse people to see shadow figures. If they wanted to get people spooked they should have told them to do a task that distracted them from the real objective; basically don't tell them what the objective is. They should then make sure that the EMF emitting source is at the extreme right or left of the person field of view. People should then report seeing shadow figures to their extreme right or left. You see those kind of things in your peripheral vision.

[Pinx]

So they were all put in a blank room and told they'd experience something strange? I'm not too great with the scientific method but, shouldn't their be a control group that doesn't know something's supposed to happen?

ETA: Aw, MByte beat me to it.

This post has been edited by Pinx: 02 November 2009 - 05:55 PM

[Paul Noise]

Pinx, on 02 November 2009 - 12:54 PM, said:

So they were all put in a blank room and told they'd experience something strange? I'm not too great with the scientific method but, shouldn't their be a control group that doesn't know something's supposed to happen?

ETA: Aw, MByte beat me to it.

Not quite, lol. They were asked to go into the living room of a flat that had the walls and instrumentation covered, and asked to list any weird feelings they had, and where. Not super scientific, but still a pretty good first attempt.

[Arden]

I don't know about this. When people are told they're probably going to experience something, some people would anticipate the "experience" and start noticing things they're anticipating for.
It's kinda like when someone is reading a news article of sorts that says people with this type of disease is gonna experience this type of symptoms. Reading it, some people are gonna start over thinking about it and believe that they themselves have the disease.
I think the experiment would work better if people participating in the experiment didn't know what to expect and would give a more genuine answer.

[Jerry Only]

Arden, on 02 November 2009 - 02:19 PM, said:

I don't know about this. When people are told they're probably going to experience something, some people would anticipate the "experience" and start noticing things they're anticipating for.
It's kinda like when someone is reading a news article of sorts that says people with this type of disease is gonna experience this type of symptoms. Reading it, some people are gonna start over thinking about it and believe that they themselves have the disease.
I think the experiment would work better if people participating in the experiment didn't know what to expect and would give a more genuine answer.

You're right. The "placebo effect" always plays tricks with scientific studies' statistics.

[PhenomInvestigator]

The experiment in question was conducted by the Anomalistic Psychology Unit at Goldsmith's. The professor in charge, Chris French, is a known skeptic in the UK. Although he does say that he hoped he might get something useful, the comments in this thread demonstrate a few of the probable flaws in the experiment. It it also useful to know that French is fond of the notion that paranormal claims can be traced to belief systems, something which his own research has in fact demonstrated. Although he was successful in supporting his notion for the average person, he was a bit surprised to find that people who actually produced apparent paranormal phenomena are actually mentally and physically quite healthy and there is no support for his contention in that population.

Certainly the experiment could be repeated in a more controlled setting with far less cueing. Dr. Jason Braithwaite, another UK Parapsychologist has indeed proposed just such an experiment. In fact, I believe that French was stimulated to try his work based on Braithwaite's suggestions.

A U.S. researcher has also proposed doing something similar with regards to PK. However there are some serious ethical issues involved, as the individuals could potentially be in jeopardy due to the requirements of the PK test protocols.

[cpjason]

It's an interesting experiment, but it's not without flaws. You may fool my eyes and all of my senses, but you cannot fool my video camera. All the EMF and ELF in the world cannot explain a full body apparition on my FLIR.

A really nice read though, thanks.

[Jerry Only]

cpjason, on 03 November 2009 - 03:41 AM, said:

You may fool my eyes and all of my senses, but you cannot fool my video camera. All the EMF and ELF in the world cannot explain a full body apparition on my FLIR.

Yes, scientists can't explain that... yet!

[Metal Angel]

Arden, on 02 November 2009 - 02:19 PM, said:

I don't know about this. When people are told they're probably going to experience something, some people would anticipate the "experience" and start noticing things they're anticipating for.
It's kinda like when someone is reading a news article of sorts that says people with this type of disease is gonna experience this type of symptoms. Reading it, some people are gonna start over thinking about it and believe that they themselves have the disease.
I think the experiment would work better if people participating in the experiment didn't know what to expect and would give a more genuine answer.

I agree.

[Paranormalcy]

I concur. Looking for the otter on the railroad tracks will eventually allow you to find it, even if it wasn't an otter you were really looking for.