As per this New York Times article, one of psychology’s most respected journals has agreed to publish a paper presenting what its author describes as strong evidence for extrasensory perception, the ability to sense future events. The decision may delight believers in so-called paranormal events, but it is already mortifying scientists.
Advance copies of the paper, to be published this year in The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, have circulated widely among psychological researchers in recent weeks and have generated a mixture of amusement and scorn—and some discussion of scientific process, which be a useful by-product of the debate.
We have a premonition, a extrasensory sense if you will, that upon further review this research will be debunked and the authors discredited. Read more…
This is very interesting! The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology is a very prestigious journal, and typically only publishes articles that pass rigorous standards and reviews. I looked up the pre-print on line. It looks like Dr. Bem has invited others to try to replicate his findings, and is providing other researchers with his materials. If we believe that extrasensory perception is impossible, then the options include flawed experimental design, flawed data analysis, flawed interpretation, or–fabrication of data. If will be very interesting to see whether anyone can replicate this.