ORIGINAL RESEARCH

ANOMALOUS INFORMATION RECEPTION BY RESEARCH MEDIUMS DEMONSTRATED

USING A NOVEL TRIPLE-BLIND PROTOCOL
Julie Beischel, PhD,1# and Gary E. Schwartz, PhD1

Context: Investigating the information reported by mediums is

ultimately important in determining the relationship between
brain and consciousness in addition to being of deep concern to
the public.

Each blinded sitter then scored a pair of itemized transcripts

(one was the reading intended for him/her; the other, the paired
control reading) and chose the reading more applicable to him/
her.

Objective: This triple-blind study was designed to examine the

anomalous reception of information about deceased individuals
by research mediums under experimental conditions that eliminate conventional explanations.

Results: The findings included significantly higher ratings for

intended versus control readings (p 0.007, effect size 0.5)
and significant reading-choice results (p 0.01).

Participants: Eight University of Arizona students served as sitters: four had experienced the death of a parent; four, a peer.
Eight mediums who had previously demonstrated an ability to
report accurate information in a laboratory setting performed
the readings.
Methodology: To optimize potential identifiable differences
between readings, each deceased parent was paired with a samegender deceased peer. Sitters were not present at the readings; an
experimenter blind to information about the sitters and deceased served as a proxy sitter. The mediums, blind to the sitters
and deceaseds identities, each read two absent sitters and their
paired deceased; each pair of sitters was read by two mediums.

INTRODUCTION
Public interest in parapsychological phenomena, clearly evident
in popular culture, is at an all-time high. For the first time in
television history, multiple parapsychology-based network series
including Medium (NBC), Ghost Whisperer (CBS), and Supernatural (WB) as well as several cable series including Psychic Detectives (Court TV) and Ghost Hunters (SciFi), all appeared simultaneously in a single (2005) season. Books by highly visible
mediums such as John Edward, James Van Praagh, and Sylvia
Browne have regularly appeared on the New York Times Best
Seller List. Popular TV personalities including Larry King and
Oprah Winfrey have featured mediums and psychics on their
shows. Hit movies like The Sixth Sense and White Noise further
speak to the publics fascination with these paranormal subjects.

1 Laboratory for Advances in Consciousness and Health, Department of

Psychology, The University of Arizona
This research was supported by Dr. Peter Hayes and Mr. William
Kaspari.
# Corresponding author. Address:
Department of Psychology, PO Box 210068, Tucson, AZ 85721-0068;
e-mail: [email protected]

2007 by Elsevier Inc. Printed in the United States. All Rights Reserved
ISSN 1550-8307/07/$32.00

Conclusions: The results suggest that certain mediums can

anomalously receive accurate information about deceased individuals. The study design effectively eliminates conventional
mechanisms as well as telepathy as explanations for the information reception, but the results cannot distinguish among alternative paranormal hypotheses, such as survival of consciousness
(the continued existence, separate from the body, of an individuals consciousness or personality after physical death) and super-psi (or super-ESP; retrieval of information via a psychic
channel or quantum field).
Key words: anomalous information reception, survival of consciousness, mediumship, mind-brain relationship
(Explore 2007; 3:23-27. Elsevier Inc. 2007)

For the most part, however, parapsychological investigations,

including studies of extra-sensory perception (ESP), psychokinesis (PK), and the survival of consciousness/mediumship, have
not historically been part of mainstream science. This is especially true of mediumship research. In the past, reports of experimental research on this topic were almost exclusively restricted
to specialty journals such as the Journal of the Society for Psychical
Research and the Journal of Scientific Exploration, or to non-fiction
books intended for the general reader. Consequently, the findings are essentially unknown to the majority of mainstream scientists. Moreover, given the controversial nature of mediumship
and the survival of consciousness hypothesis as well as the unexplored biases of most traditional scientists regarding concepts
that do not adhere to conventional theories, it is understandable
why such studies are rarely reported in conventional journals.
This report illustrates how rigorous and credible research can be
conducted in the laboratory on a topic that (a) addresses a core
subject in consciousness science, that is, the relationship between
brain and consciousness (i.e., consciousness as a product of the
brain as theorized by contemporary neuroscience vs. the brain as an
antenna-receiver for consciousness as hypothesized by William
James), and (b) is of deep concern to the public (i.e., the possibility
of the continuity of consciousness after physical death). We carefully employ the phrase anomalous information reception in a

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doi:10.1016/j.explore.2006.10.004

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descriptive (i.e., cognitive behavioral) sense here to describe conservatively what research mediums do empirically during experiments.
Comprehensive reviews of mediumship research methods
and findings over the past 100 years are available.1,2,3 In sum,
contemporary findings generally replicate and extend the early
observations of William James and others in the late nineteenth
and early twentieth centuries,3 indicating that certain individuals (termed mediums) can report accurate and specific information about the deceased loved ones of living people (termed
sitters) even without any prior knowledge about the sitters or the
deceased and in the complete absence of any sensory sitter feedback. Moreover, the information reported by these mediums
cannot be explained as a result of fraud or cold reading (a set of
techniques used by psychic entertainers in which visual and
auditory cues from the sitter are used to fabricate accurate
readings) on the part of the mediums or rater bias on the part of
the sitters.1
The primary purpose of this study was to acquire novel evidence concerning the possibility that accurate information
about a sitters deceased loved ones could be reliably obtained
from research mediums under highly controlled experimental
conditions that effectively eliminated conventional (classical)
explanations. The triple-blind design reflects significant methodological and conceptual innovations beyond previous singleblind4,5,6 and double-blind7,8,9,10 mediumship experiments (reviewed11,12). Specifically, (a) the use of a blind proxy sitter
condition eliminates telepathy (i.e., mind reading of the sitter) as
a plausible explanation for the findings, (b) pairing two readings
for scoring optimizes rater blinding as well as the ability of raters
to recognize identifying descriptions in each transcript, (c) asking specific questions about the deceased during the readings
provides similar types of information in each reading for a more
objective rating procedure, and (d) the use of a global rating scale
provides new evidence supporting the reality of certain mediums abilities.
The triple-blind design employed blinding at three levels: (a)
the research mediums were blind to the identities of the sitters
and their deceased, (b) the experimenter/proxy sitter interacting
with the mediums was blind to the identities of the sitters and
their deceased, and (c) the sitters rating the transcripts were blind
to the origin of the readings (intended for the sitter vs. a matched
control) during scoring. This triple-blind scenario addresses the
research question: Can research mediums obtain and report accurate and specific information about targeted deceased individuals (discarnates) when both the mediums and the experimenter/proxy sitter are blind to information about the sitter and
discarnate during the reading and the raters are blind to the
origin of the transcripts during scoring?

METHODS
Participants
Eight adult mental (vs. trance) mediums (one male, seven females) who had in the past demonstrated an ability to report
accurate information under normal mediumistic conditions
(i.e., with sitter feedback) were chosen for the study. Undergraduate students at the University of Arizona acted as volunteer
sitters. Each sitter was chosen, in order to optimize testing con-

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ditions, from a pool of approximately 1,600 students based on

answers of yes or unsure to survey questions about his/her
beliefs about an afterlife and mediums, as well as his/her interest in participating in mediumship research. Each sitter participant also rated his/her relationship with a specific discarnate
as very close. The final selection of eight undergraduate students (three males, five females) for inclusion in the study was
based on these criteria as well as the pairing of discarnates described below.
Triple-Blind Procedure
Information about each discarnate and his/her relationship with
the associated sitter was collected from the sitter participants by
a research assistant who did not interact with the mediums.
Discarnate descriptions were then paired to optimize differences
in age, physical description, personality description, cause of
death, and hobbies/activities of the discarnate. Four deceased
parents were paired with four deceased peers of the same gender
for a total of four pairs of sitters. It is important to note that this
procedure (a) maintained rater blindness by pairing discarnates
of the same gender, while (b) optimizing the ability of blinded
raters to differentiate between two gender-matched readings during scoring.
Research Readings
Each of the eight mediums performed two readings: one for each
sitter in a pair. Each of the four pairs of sitters was read by two
different mediums for a total of eight pairs of readings. The
mediums were given no information about the sitter or his/her
relationship to the discarnate. However, to increase the capacity
of the medium to receive accurate information about a targeted
discarnate, the first name of the discarnate was given to the
medium at the start of the reading.
For each reading, an experimenter blinded to the identity of
the sitters and to any information about the discarnates beyond
their first names acted as a proxy sitter for the students. Proxy
sitters are used to (a) mimic the reading practices with which
mediums feel comfortable (i.e., with a sitter present or on the
phone) in order to optimize the reading conditions while (b)
blinding the medium to cues from the sitter and (c) blinding the
absent sitter to the reading until scoring. In this study, the proxy
sitter also asked questions of the mediums during those sections
of the reading protocol (see below). The absent student sitters
did not hear the readings and were not aware of the origin of any
reading during scoring.
To optimize testing conditions, the mediums performed the
study readings over the phone at scheduled times in their homes.
The digitally audio-recorded phone readings took place longdistance; the medium was in a different city (if not state) than
both the blinded absent sitter and the experimenter acting as the
proxy sitter.
Each reading included three parts: a) Deceased-Directed, in
which the experimenter gave the medium the first name of the
discarnate and asked the medium to receive and report any
information from the discarnate; b) a Life Questions procedure,
in which the medium was asked four specific questions about the
named discarnates physical appearance, personality, hobbies,
and cause of death; and c) a Reverse Question condition, in

Anomalous Information Reception

which the experimenter asked, Does the discarnate have any

comments, questions, or requests for the sitter?
Scoring
Each reading was transcribed and a corresponding numbered list
of individual items (i.e., separate, stand-alone pieces of information) was created by an experimenter blind to details about the
sitters or discarnates. Each sitter in a pair acted as a matched
control for the other sitter in the pair: each sitter scored the
reading intended for him/her as well as the reading of the control
sitter while remaining blinded to the origin of the readings. In
each pair, one sitter was given his/her intended reading to score
first, and one was given the control reading to score first. Sitters
were trained in the scoring procedure and scored the lists of
items for accuracy [Obvious Fit; Fit with mild, moderate, or a
stretch in Interpretation; No Fit; Other Fit (This item does not
fit the named discarnate or myself, but does fit someone else I
am/was close to.); or I dont know] and emotional significance (No significance or Mild, Moderate, or Extreme significance) using the Arizona Mediumship Process Scoring System
(AMPSS) rating system. Raters who chose Fit with Interpretation or Other Fit were asked to write in an explanation. Sitters
also gave each list of items a summary/global numerical score
(0-6) using the Arizona Whole Reading Rating System (AWRRS;
based on remote viewing scoring scales13):
6: Excellent reading, including strong aspects of communication, and with essentially no incorrect information.
5: Good reading with relatively little incorrect information.
4: Good reading with some incorrect information.
3: Mixture of correct and incorrect information, but enough
correct information to indicate that communication with
the deceased occurred.
2: Some correct information, but not enough to suggest beyond chance that communication occurred.
1: Little correct information or communication.
0: No correct information or communication.
After summary scoring was complete for both readings in a
pair, the sitters were asked to Pick the reading which seems to be
more applicable to you. Even if they both seem equally applicable or non-applicable, pick one. They were then asked to rate
their choice compared to the other reading according to the
following scale:
a. clearly more applicable to me
b. moderately more applicable to me
c. only slightly more applicable to me
d. both seemed applicable to me and to the same extent
e. neither seemed applicable to me
It was expected that a forced-choice binary rating would be a
less sensitive indicator than the matched-pair summary rating
scores.
A schematic diagram illustrating the experimental design can
be seen in Figure 1.

Anomalous Information Reception

Figure 1. Schematic diagram of experimental methodology and example results.

RESULTS
The scope of this report will only include a discussion of the
whole reading scoring; item-by-item scoring analyses will be included in a future manuscript. Figure 2 displays the average
summary rating scores comparing the sitters intended readings
with matched controls. The average summary rating (0-6) for the
intended readings (mean 3.56, SEM 0.44) was significantly
higher (t 3.105, df 15, p 0.007, effect size 0.5, prep
0.96) than for the control readings (mean 1.94, SEM 0.32).
Figure 3 displays the average summary rating scores for intended versus control readings performed by each of the eight
mediums. The data points are arranged by decreasing differences
between intended and control scores. Six of the eight mediums
produced positive results in the predicted direction (intended
ratings higher than control ratings); the remaining two mediums
were given intended scores equal to the control scores. It is
noteworthy that three mediums produced dramatic findings in
terms of the meaning of summary scores of 5.0 and 5.5 (see
Methods section); two mediums produced moderate findings
(summary scores of 3.5); and none of the mediums produced
reversals (i.e., control ratings higher than intended ratings).
When asked to choose which reading was more applicable to
them, sitters chose the readings intended for them 81% of the
time (13/16, p 0.01, one-tailed exact binomial). Of those 13,
seven were rated clearly more applicable and three as moderately more applicable; one sitter each chose the other three
options (see Methods). Of the three sitters that chose the control
reading, one chose clearly more applicable, one chose mod-

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Figure 2. Summary rating scores (0-6) given by blinded sitters to

mediumship readings that were intended for them (intended) and
those intended for a matched control sitter (control). t 3.105, df
15, p 0.007, effect size 0.5, prep 0.96
erately more applicable, and one chose neither seemed applicable.

DISCUSSION
The significant summary score and reading choice findings as
well as the medium effect size (the magnitude of the effect independent of sample size) and high prep value (the probability of
replicating the effect) obtained in the present study indicate that
under stringent triple-blind conditions, utilizing a novel summary/global rating scale used by blind raters, evidence for anomalous information reception can be obtained. The triple-blind
design successfully eliminates all known potential sources of
conventional sensory cues and conventional rater bias: (a) the
mediums were not provided with any sensory cues from the
absent sitters and were blind to information about the sitters or
the discarnates (beyond the discarnates first name), (b) the experimenter could not provide cueing as she was blind to the
identity of the sitters and the discarnates, and (c) the sitters were
blind to which reading of the pair was intended for them during
scoring insuring that their biases would equally influence the
ratings of both readings. The experimental design also eliminates
the possibility of fraud to the same extent as any study involving
human subjects: (a) the mediums and sitters never interacted in
any way, (b) the mediums were never in the laboratory, (c) the
sitters were in the laboratory under supervision and only during
scoring, (d) the experimenter who trained the sitters just prior to
scoring was blind to the origin of the readings.
Though these findings point to some sort of anomalous (parapsychological) information reception mechanism(s) operating

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during these readings, the core observations are not inherently

unique; the present findings extend recent double-blind mediumship experiments that employ methods sensitive to the mediumship process.9,10 One double-blind mediumship experiment that failed to obtain significant results7 used (a) mediums
who had not been previously tested to determine if they were
able to perform accurately under normal mediumship or singleblind conditions, (b) sitters who were not selected to be highly
motivated to receive information purportedly from their deceased loved ones and thus score the readings accurately, (c) a
scoring system that did not foster detailed item-by-item analysis
of the readings, followed by meaningful summary scoring, and
(4) experimental conditions that did not optimize the mediums
potential to receive information (the mediums performed five
readings in 5.5 hours).
The present findings provide evidence for anomalous information reception but do not directly address what parapsychological mechanisms are involved in that reception. In and of
themselves, the data cannot distinguish among hypotheses such
as (a) survival of consciousness (the continued existence, separate from the body, of an individuals consciousness or personality after physical death) and (b) mind reading (ESP or telepathy14) or super-psi1 (retrieval of information via a generalized
psychic information channel or physical quantum field, also
called super-ESP). However, certain considerations are worth
noting. The design of the present study essentially eliminates
mind reading of the experimenter/proxy sitter by the medium as
a plausible explanation due to the blinding of the proxy sitter to
information about the sitter or deceased. Furthermore, in order
to support the super-psi hypothesis, the information retrieval
process as experienced by the medium would have to include the
medium ignoring the mind of the experimenter, somehow locating the unidentified sitters and other associated friends and

Figure 3. Average summary rating scores (0-6) given by blinded

sitters to mediumship readings that were intended for them (intended) and those intended for a matched control sitter (control) for
each of eight mediums.

Anomalous Information Reception

family members where they were at the time of the reading, and
reading their minds or locating physical objects containing
relevant information (e.g., documents or photographs) and
reading those data. Furthermore, the super-psi hypothesis attempts to explain one unknown variable (mediumship information) using another (telepathy) making it a scientifically un-falsifiable hypothesis (reviewed15).
Future research can potentially examine telepathy, super-psi,
and survival of consciousness hypotheses all three have seminal (if not paradigm-challenging) implications for contemporary
theories of mind1,2 as well as models of mind-brain relationships
(e.g., is consciousness mediated or modulated by the brain?),
and, therefore, are important for the evolution of consciousness
science. Furthermore, if future research continues to support the
survival of consciousness hypothesis, the findings will be valuable in understanding the possible mechanisms involved in energy and spiritual healing as well as in medical intuition.
Acknowledgments
We thank Lauren Fleischmann and Tom Mosby for their assistance
with data collection and analysis as well as Dr. Adam Rock and
Mark Boccuzzi for their helpful comments on this manuscript.
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