Editing Ganzfeld experiment (section)

===Early experiments===

Between 1974 and 1982, 42 ganzfeld experiments were performed by parapsychologists.<ref name=Honorton1985/><ref name="EntangledMinds">{{cite book | title=Entangled Minds: Extrasensory Experiences in a Quantum Reality | author=Radin, Dean| publisher=Paraview Pocket Books | year=2006 | isbn=978-1416516774}}</ref> In 1982, Charles Honorton presented a paper at the annual convention of the [[Parapsychological Association]] that presented his summary of the results of the ganzfeld experiments up to that date. Honorton concluded that the results represented sufficient evidence to demonstrate the existence of psi. [[Ray Hyman]], a psychologist and noted critic of parapsychology, disagreed. Hyman criticized the ganzfeld experiment papers for not describing optimal protocols, nor including the appropriate statistical analysis. He identified three significant flaws, namely, flaws in randomization for choice of target; flaws in randomization in judging procedure; and insufficient documentation. The two men later independently analyzed the same studies, and both presented meta-analyses of them in 1985.<ref name=Honorton1985>{{cite journal | title=Meta-Analysis of Psi Ganzfeld Research: A Response to Hyman | author=Honorton, Charles | journal=Journal of Parapsychology | issue=49 | year=1985}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | title=The Ganzfeld Psi Experiments: A Critical Appraisal |author=Hyman, Ray | author-link=Ray Hyman | journal=Journal of Parapsychology | issue=49 | year=1985}}</ref>

Hyman discovered flaws in all of the 42 ganzfeld experiments, and, to assess each experiment, he devised a set of 12 categories of flaws. Six of these concerned statistical defects, the other six "covered procedural flaws such as inadequate randomization, inadequate security, possibilities of [[sensory leakage]], and inadequate [[documentation]]."<ref name="Hyman2007">{{cite book | last=Hyman | first=Ray | author-link=Ray Hyman |chapter=Evaluating parapsychological claims | editor-last=Sternberg | editor-first=Robert J. | editor-last2=Roediger | editor-first2=Henry L. | editor-last3=Halpern | editor-first3=Diane F. | title=Critical thinking in psychology | publisher=Cambridge University Press | publication-place=Cambridge; New York | year=2007 | isbn=978-0521608343 | oclc=69423179 | pages=216–231}}</ref> Honorton himself had reported that only 36% of the studies used duplicate target sets of pictures to avoid handling cues.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Milton |first1=Julie |last2=Wiseman |first2=Richard |author-link2=Richard Wiseman |year=2002 |title=A response to Storm and Ertel (2002) |journal=The Journal of Parapsychology |volume=66 |pages=183–186}}</ref> Over half of the studies failed to safeguard against sensory leakage and all of the studies contained at least one of the 12 flaws. After considerable back-and-forth over the relevance and importance of the flaws, Honorton came to agree with Hyman the 42 ganzfeld experiments he had included in his 1982 [[meta-analysis]] could not in themselves support the claim for the existence of [[Psi (parapsychology)|psi]].<ref name="Hyman2007" />

In 1986, Hyman and Honorton published ''A Joint Communiqué'' which agreed on the methodological problems and on ways to fix them. They suggested a computer-automated control, where randomization and the other methodological problems identified were eliminated. Hyman and Honorton agreed that replication of the studies was necessary before final conclusions could be drawn. They also agreed that more stringent standards were necessary for ganzfeld experiments, and they jointly specified what those standards should be.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Hyman, R. |author2=Honorton, C. |year=1986 |title=A joint communiqué: the psi ganzfeld controversy |journal=Journal of Parapsychology  |volume=50 |issue=4 |pages=351–364}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last=Neher | first=Andrew | title=The psychology of transcendence | publisher=Dover Publications | publication-place=New York | year=2011 | isbn=978-0-486-26167-6 | oclc=20562986 | page=307}}</ref>