A preliminary test of the model of pragmatic information using cases of spontaneous anomalous experience.

A three-year study was conducted as the first systematic test of the Model of Pragmatic Information (MPI: von Lucadou, 1994) using spontaneous reports of Anomalous Experiences (AEs) of the Recurrent Spontaneous Psychokinesis (RSPK)-type. The study, which we believe is the first of its kind, involved collaboration amongst over sixty individual researchers and centres for parapsychological research in Europe and elsewhere. Using a waiting-list design, over a two-year period collaborators asked members of the public who presented with AEs to participate in the web-based questionnaire study before detailed discussion about their AE. The MPI predicted that those randomly-selected cases that were viewed and documented in detail would show a reduction or change in AEs, compared to those that were never viewed and documented. Following 43 referrals, a total of 17 cases passed the initial screening process, and 14 completed the full study, six of which were in the 'documented' group. Analysis of the two formal study hypotheses did not provide support for the predictions of the MPI, and it was concluded that this aspect of the research was of limited success due to low statistical power. The study succeeded in establishing a working protocol for a large-scale collaborative psi research project, which is a model that could be applied to other topics in parapsychology.