False-Positive Effect in the Radin Double-Slit Experiment on Observer Consciousness as Determined With the Advanced Meta-Experimental Protocol.
Frontiers in Psychology January 1, 2019 Jan Walleczek, Nikolaus Von Stillfried
A commissioned conceptual replication of earlier double-slit light-interference experiments, which had claimed an anomalous effect of consciousness on quantum measurement, was unable to confirm the original results. Using an advanced meta-experimental protocol with systematic negative controls and a sham-experiment (counterfactual meta-experimentation), the replication identified a false-positive detection rate of 50% in the absence of test subjects. This false-positive effect, indistinguishable from the predicted true-positive effect, was significant and had an effect size within an order of magnitude of the originally claimed consciousness effect. The findings indicate that systematic methodological error, not a consciousness effect, likely explains the earlier results, suggesting skepticism is warranted.