RetroPsychoKinesis Experiment Summary

Last updated: Friday 2012 February 3 5:02 UTC

This report is updated daily


Overall Summary

Total experiments: 345063
Number of subjects: 32285
Total tries: 353344512
Total hits: 176673480
Overall z: 0.1302 standard deviations

"Subjects" is the number of different E-mail addresses or "handles" in the log file; there is no assurance a given individual may not have entered a number of different identities, either intentionally or by accident. The number of experiments includes only "for the record" experiments, not those designated in advance by the subject as "practice". Since each experiment involves 1024 bits, the total number of "Tries" in the next line is 345063×1024, or 353344512. Examination of the logged bit sequences sent to the subjects shows that 176673480 of the total of 353344512 bits were "Hits"--they agree with the subject's previously-chosen goal. There were, then, 1224 more bits among a total of 353344512 consistent with the subjects' intent to bias the generator. This is equivalent to changing one bit in every 288680 in the direction desired by the subject. The measured bias amounts to 0.1302 standard deviations.

Hit Histogram

The following chart summarises the results of all for-the-record experiments (excluding runs designated in advance as "practice" runs by the subject, which are logged for completeness, but do not figure in the statistical analysis) performed since the RPKP experiments were begun in January of 1997.

RPKP Experiment Hit Histogram vs. Expectation

The blue curve gives the normal distribution for a large number of trials of 1024 events with probability 0.5. (For a number of trials as large as 1024, the binomial and normal distributions are equal on the scale of this plot.) The red boxes show the actual number of experimental runs which resulted in the given number of hits. A "hit" is defined as the number of bits in the 1024 bit stream which agreed with the subject's previously chosen one-or-zero goal.

Cumulative Deviation from Expectation

Any experiment involving a random data source can be expected to, in the absence of perturbing influences, follow a random walk around the most probable value. As the number of experiments increases, overall divergences should decrease. When examining the results of such experiments, it's important to satisfy yourself that any non-chance effect you observe doesn't result from the experimenter choosing to show you results at a peak or trough of a series which is swinging to both sides of the chance expectation with a mean value equal to chance. The following is a deviation plot of the all 345063 RPKP experiments to date; it shows the absolute divergence of the experimental results in the direction of bias preselected by the subject compared to that expected by chance, and the divergence in terms of standard deviations for the cumulative number of trials for a probability of 0.5 on each trial.

RPKP Experiment Cumulative Deviation from Expectation

Cumulative Deviation by Intent from Expectation

Another way to evaluate the results of the experiments is to examine how frequently the result of an experiment (excess of one or zero bits) agrees with the subject's pre-declared goal, regardless of the magnitude of the deviation from the mean value. If the subject has chosen a goal corresponding to an excess of one bits, the experiment will be scored as a success if there is any excess of one bits at all (513 one bits out of 1024 is just as much a success as 527 one bits and, conversely, 511 one bits is as much a failure as a result of 497 one bits). If the subject chooses a goal corresponding to an excess of zero bits, the sense of the comparison is inverted: any excess of zero bits is deemed a success. To preserve symmetry, results with an equal number of zero and one bits (512 each in an experiment of 1024 bits) are considered neutral and do not change the cumulative result. Here we plot the cumulative deviation by intent as z: the number of standard deviations by which it differs from the expectation value of zero.

RPKP Experiment Cumulative Intent Deviation from Expectation

Runs by Subjects Histogram

The following table shows the number of experiments run by various subjects, and the cumulative results and standard deviation for each number of experiments. Individual subjects who have made a large number of runs appear show up at the bottom of the the table, and the results they obtained can be compared.

Experiments
Run
Number of
Subjects
Hits/Tries  z 
1 12427 6354353/12725248 4.6372
2 5599 5729889/11466752 2.0595
3 3532 5422832/10850304 1.4086
4 2118 4334670/8675328 2.0330
5 1498 3836225/7669760 0.9713
6 1051 3229912/6457344 0.9759
7 757 2711122/5426176 1.6880
8 580 2376138/4751360 0.4202
9 503 2317438/4635648 0.3586
10 440 2252051/4505600 0.7057
11 337 1897930/3795968 0.0554
12 286 1757149/3514368 0.0373
13 258 1717098/3434496 0.1619
14 216 1548169/3096576 0.1352
15 205 1573875/3148800 0.5917
16 159 1303573/2605056 1.2949
17 130 1131939/2263040 0.5571
18 121 1115169/2230272 0.0442
19 115 1118532/2237440 0.2514
20 112 1147817/2293760 1.2374
21 93 999991/1999872 0.0778
22 82 923357/1847296 0.4282
23 68 800547/1601536 0.3493
24 60 737889/1474560 1.0030
25 69 883119/1766400 0.1219
26 58 773034/1544192 1.5097
27 59 815985/1631232 0.5778
28 44 631383/1261568 1.0666
29 47 696547/1395712 2.2160
30 50 766950/1536000 1.6944
31 40 635631/1269760 1.3329
32 48 787400/1572864 1.5437
33 42 710884/1419264 2.1019
34 34 591697/1183744 0.3217
35 25 448550/896000 1.1621
36 39 719969/1437696 1.8698
37 31 585759/1174528 2.7774
38 38 738888/1478656 0.7237
39 22 439019/878592 0.5910
40 33 676314/1351680 0.8154
41 25 525022/1049600 0.4334
42 21 451530/903168 0.1136
43 20 440298/880640 0.0469
44 21 473436/946176 0.7155
45 15 345310/691200 0.6976
46 18 423771/847872 0.3584
47 18 433353/866304 0.4319
48 14 343993/688128 0.1712
49 13 326191/652288 0.1164
50 16 409754/819200 0.3403
51 20 521715/1044480 1.0274
52 18 480134/958464 1.8427
53 12 325758/651264 0.3123
54 8 221293/442368 0.3278
55 16 451385/901120 1.7382
56 14 401931/802816 1.1674
57 9 262949/525312 0.8085
58 11 326542/653312 0.2821
59 10 302080/604160 0.0000
60 14 430130/860160 0.1078
61 10 312473/624640 0.3872
62 12 380828/761856 0.2291
63 13 419576/838656 0.5416
64 9 294357/589824 1.4453
65 6 199888/399360 0.6583
66 8 270253/540672 0.2258
67 10 343014/686080 0.0628
68 7 243870/487424 0.4526
69 6 212266/423936 0.9154
70 9 322748/645120 0.4681
71 8 290993/581632 0.4642
72 8 295314/589824 1.0469
73 4 149532/299008 0.1024
74 8 302371/606208 1.8829
75 7 268672/537600 0.3491
76 7 272289/544768 0.2574
77 4 157606/315392 0.3205
78 6 239761/479232 0.4189
79 4 162332/323584 1.8986
80 4 163989/327680 0.5206
81 4 165793/331776 0.3299
82 5 209804/419840 0.3581
83 1 42549/84992 0.3636
84 2 86078/172032 0.2990
85 3 130400/261120 0.6262
86 3 132049/264192 0.1829
87 2 88863/178176 1.0661
88 6 270223/540672 0.3074
89 1 45777/91136 1.3846
90 2 91843/184320 1.4767
91 3 139795/279552 0.0719
92 6 282565/565248 0.1570
93 4 190810/380928 1.1212
94 1 48134/96256 0.0387
95 5 242841/486400 1.0295
96 2 98517/196608 0.9607
97 5 248401/496640 0.2299
98 2 100457/200704 0.4688
99 5 253044/506880 1.1124
100 8 409549/819200 0.1127
101 6 310369/620544 0.2463
102 3 157014/313344 1.2219
103 3 158142/316416 0.2347
104 4 212797/425984 0.5975
106 2 108403/217088 0.6052
108 6 332151/663552 0.9207
109 1 55742/111616 0.3951
110 2 112340/225280 1.2641
111 4 227235/454656 0.2758
112 3 172072/344064 0.1364
113 2 115537/231424 0.7276
114 6 350617/700416 0.9774
115 5 295078/588800 1.7672
116 7 415998/831488 0.5571
117 1 59967/119808 0.3640
118 3 181086/362496 0.5381
119 3 183021/365568 0.7840
120 5 307260/614400 0.1531
121 1 62175/123904 1.2670
122 5 312322/624640 0.0051
123 2 125473/251904 1.9087
124 1 63580/126976 0.5164
126 2 128874/258048 0.5906
127 1 64968/130048 0.3106
128 1 65799/131072 1.4529
129 3 198940/396288 2.5289
130 4 266297/532480 0.1562
132 3 202354/405504 1.2500
133 1 67967/136192 0.6991
134 2 137337/274432 0.4620
135 3 207396/414720 0.1118
136 2 139092/278528 0.6518
137 1 69880/140288 1.4097
138 1 70624/141312 0.1703
139 1 71128/142336 0.2120
140 5 358635/716800 0.5551
141 2 144591/288768 0.7704
142 1 72469/145408 1.2325
143 2 146331/292864 0.3733
144 3 221358/442368 0.5232
145 3 222983/445440 0.7881
146 3 224483/448512 0.6779
148 2 151121/303104 1.5657
149 3 228586/457728 0.8218
150 5 384090/768000 0.2054
151 2 154761/309248 0.4927
153 3 235330/470016 0.9394
154 2 157861/315392 0.5876
155 1 79604/158720 1.2249
157 1 80384/160768 0.0000
158 1 80734/161792 0.8055
159 3 244373/488448 0.4264
160 1 82202/163840 1.3934
161 3 247386/494592 0.2559
162 3 249025/497664 0.5472
163 1 83338/166912 0.5777
164 1 83799/167936 0.8248
165 3 252908/506880 1.4945
166 1 85200/169984 1.0090
170 1 86917/174080 0.5896
171 2 174975/350208 0.4360
172 2 175786/352256 1.1525
173 1 88669/177152 0.4419
174 2 178518/356352 1.1458
175 3 268489/537600 0.8483
176 3 270562/540672 0.6147
177 1 90903/181248 1.3107
178 1 91056/182272 0.3748
180 2 184287/368640 0.1087
182 1 93122/186368 0.2872
183 1 93828/187392 0.6099
189 4 386880/774144 0.4364
191 1 97737/195584 0.2487
192 2 196641/393216 0.1053
195 1 99196/199680 2.8824
197 2 201707/403456 0.0661
200 1 102391/204800 0.0398
201 2 205561/411648 0.8198
202 1 103444/206848 0.0879
203 1 103788/207872 0.6492
204 2 209659/417792 2.3609
205 2 209993/419840 0.2253
208 1 106929/212992 1.8764
210 2 215776/430080 2.2446
212 2 217415/434176 0.9925
217 1 111148/222208 0.1867
219 1 112187/224256 0.2492
224 1 114861/229376 0.7224
225 1 115213/230400 0.0542
227 2 232680/464896 0.6805
229 1 117253/234496 0.0207
232 1 118732/237568 0.2134
235 2 240535/481280 0.3027
236 1 120846/241664 0.0570
237 1 121032/242688 1.2667
238 1 121802/243712 0.2188
240 1 122412/245760 1.8881
241 1 123381/246784 0.0443
245 1 125995/250880 2.2161
250 1 128051/256000 0.2016
251 1 128793/257024 1.1085
252 2 258266/516096 0.6069
259 1 132992/265216 1.4913
272 1 139725/278528 1.7470
278 1 142232/284672 0.3898
280 1 143009/286720 1.3110
282 1 144776/288768 1.4590
284 1 145732/290816 1.2016
286 1 146644/292864 0.7835
291 1 149196/297984 0.7474
292 1 150030/299008 1.9239
296 1 151540/303104 0.0436
305 1 155684/312320 1.7035
306 1 155855/313344 2.9190
307 1 156831/314368 1.2592
313 1 160538/320512 0.9962
315 1 160439/322560 2.9616
330 1 169191/337920 0.7948
332 1 169748/339968 0.8095
342 1 175610/350208 1.7101
343 1 175927/351232 1.0495
346 1 177270/354304 0.3965
348 1 178012/356352 0.5495
349 1 178566/357376 0.4082
357 1 182946/365568 0.5359
368 1 188552/376832 0.4431
371 1 189782/379904 0.5516
375 1 192355/384000 1.1458
381 1 195222/390144 0.4803
383 1 196677/392192 1.8555
387 1 197695/396288 1.4265
401 2 411195/821248 1.2602
404 1 206995/413696 0.4571
414 1 212109/423936 0.4331
423 1 216977/433152 1.2186
425 1 217540/435200 0.1819
432 1 221882/442368 2.0989
435 1 222783/445440 0.1888
438 1 223835/448512 1.2573
440 1 225551/450560 0.8075
445 1 228040/455680 0.5926
456 1 233269/466944 0.5941
465 1 238314/476160 0.6782
467 1 239186/478208 0.2372
477 1 244153/488448 0.2032
483 1 248038/494592 2.1101
500 2 512273/1024000 0.5396
504 1 258187/516096 0.3870
508 1 260856/520192 2.1075
525 1 269535/537600 2.0049
527 1 270066/539648 0.6589
531 1 271399/543744 1.2829
539 1 275737/551936 0.6219
555 1 283962/568320 0.5253
559 1 286180/572416 0.0740
579 1 296000/592896 1.1636
618 2 633017/1265664 0.3289
622 1 319329/636928 2.1677
657 1 337081/672768 1.6995
659 1 337721/674816 0.7620
666 1 341240/681984 0.6006
670 1 343489/686080 1.0841
698 1 357541/714752 0.3903
708 1 362383/724992 0.2654
724 1 371383/741376 1.6143
748 1 383207/765952 0.5279
765 1 390911/783360 1.7377
787 1 402579/805888 0.8132
791 1 404683/809984 0.6867
847 1 434412/867328 1.6063
864 1 442760/884736 0.8335
902 1 461910/923648 0.1790
973 1 498360/996352 0.3687
992 1 507591/1015808 0.6211
1005 1 514573/1029120 0.0256
1024 1 523462/1048576 1.6133
1027 1 525719/1051648 0.2048
1101 1 563674/1127424 0.0716
1241 1 635247/1270784 0.2573
1261 1 645933/1291264 0.5298
1349 1 690715/1381376 0.0459
1407 1 719699/1440768 1.1414
1415 1 724351/1448960 0.2143
1458 1 746586/1492992 0.1473
1481 1 758020/1516544 0.4093
1652 1 846016/1691648 0.2952
1742 1 891790/1783808 0.1707
1769 1 906121/1811456 0.5840
1947 1 996742/1993728 0.1728
2000 1 1024947/2048000 1.3235
2198 1 1126814/2250752 1.9170
2257 1 1156265/2311168 0.8959
2296 1 1174949/2351104 0.7865
2591 1 1327380/2653184 0.9675
4210 1 2154581/4311040 0.9045
4223 1 2161820/4324352 0.3424
4261 1 2181516/4363264 0.1111
4601 1 2355712/4711424 0.0000
4731 1 2422549/4844544 0.2517
5250 1 2689581/5376000 1.3637
5724 1 2929525/5861376 0.9607
6371 1 3259087/6523904 2.2434
6565 1 3361825/6722560 0.4204
8301 1 4250664/8500224 0.3787
12514 1 6406215/12814336 0.5324
12950 1 6631971/13260800 0.8628

Results by Visual Feedback Program

Feedback Program Runs Hits/Tries  z 
bellcurve 176229 90230348/180458496 0.1638
clockface 69810 35741530/71485440 0.2815
experiment 887 453521/908288 1.3074
pendulum 98137 50248081/100492288 0.3864
The table at the right shows results obtained by all subjects, sorted by the visual feedback program they selected.

Results by Goal

Goal Runs Hits/Tries  z 
0 83217 42607108/85214208 0.0009
1 261840 134063355/268124160 0.1557
Each visual feedback program allows the user to choose a goal which corresponds to either an excess of zero or one bits in the data stream. The following table gives results by goal, indicating how many times each goal was chosen. The default goal is an excess of one bits.

Control Run Report

Custom Log Report

Experiments Table of Contents

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