Exploring the effects of paranormal belief and gender on precognition task: An application of the Bayesian Mindsponge Framework on parapsychological research
Tam-Tri Le, Minh‐Hoang Nguyen, Quan‐Hoang Vuong
October 19, 2022 preprint DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/uewqy (opens in new tab) via OpenAlex
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractMen may have higher chances than women of scoring a hit in a precognition task, while stronger paranormal beliefs may decrease the probability of success. The negative effect of paranormal beliefs on precognition performance is stronger in men than in women. Using mindsponge-based reasoning, the authors argue that paranormal beliefs may increase interference from imagination in receiving hypothetical precognitive information, and that women's greater reliance on intuition may lessen this interference. The study analyzed secondary data from 60 participants using Bayesian Mindsponge Framework analytics.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Observational study using secondary data |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 60 |
| Population | Participants from a secondary dataset |
| Keywords | Paranormal Parapsychology Extant taxon Intuition Social psychology |
| Citations | 1 |
| Key finding | Men may have higher chances of scoring a hit in a precognition task than women, and stronger paranormal beliefs may decrease success probability, with the effect being stronger in men. |
Abstract
Precognition is an anomaly in information transmission and interpretation. Extant literature suggests that paranormal beliefs and gender may have significant influences on this unknown information process. This study examines the effects of these two factors, including their interactions, on precognition performance by employing the Bayesian Mindsponge Framework (BMF) analytics. Using Bayesian analysis on secondary data of 60 participants, we found that men may have higher chances to score a hit in a precognition task compared to women. Interestingly, stronger beliefs in the paranormal may decrease the success probability in performing precognition tasks. Considering the interactions between the two factors, the effect of paranormal beliefs on precognition task performance is stronger in men than women. Using mindsponge-based reasoning, we argue that paranormal beliefs may increase the interference of imagination in the reception of hypothetical precognitive information. Women tend to rely more on intuition, which may lessen the interference effect of imagination on hypothetical psi reception. Based on the findings, we suggest that researchers should be careful when assessing participants’ psi potential for experiments. We also demonstrate some advantages of utilizing the BMF in parapsychological research.