z.:- t Ut i A J 12 March 1974 Progress Report No. 1 Covering the Period 28 January to I March 1974 Stanford Research Institute Project 3183 PERCEPTUAL AUGMENTATION TECHNIQUES by Harold E. Puthoff Client Private Approved, For Release 2000/08/10 :-CIA-RDP96-00787ROO0100010001-1 Approved For Release 2000/08/10: CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 I OBJECTIVE The purpose of the program is to determine the characteristics of those perceptual modalities through which individuals obtain information about their environment, wherein such information is not presented to any known sense. The program is divided into two categories of investigation of approximately equal effort, applied research and basic research. The purpose of the applied research effort is to explore experimentally the potential for applications of perceptual abilities of interest, with special attention given to accuracy and reliability. The purpose of the basic research effort is to identify the characteristics of individuals possessing such abilities, and to identify neurophysiologica correlates and basic mechanisms involved in such functioning. II PROGRESS DURING THE REPORTING PERIOD A. Applied Research 1. Remote Viewing A number of.efforts were begun with respect to obtaining further information concerning remote viewing phenomena. First, an experiment has been designed in consultation with SRI psychologists which will yield precise statistical data as to discrimination ability. Ten sites known to the subject are to be visited in random sequence by a target demarcation team. The subject must then make a choice as to which site is being visited, in addition to providing descriptive material for content analysis. Approved ForRelease 2000/08110 : CIA-RDP96-00787ROO0100010001 2-1 Approved For Release 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 Secondly, a pilot series involving real-time questioning of the subject by the target team via walkio talkie is being explored to provide information for designing a protocol to investigate real-time correlations. One viewing with positive results has been carried out. Finally, a preliminary remote viewing pilot experiment was carried out with a subject (H.H.) previously screened by the EEG correlates experiment described in.our paper submitted for publi cation (Appendix I). The target chosen at random was a small red clapboard schoolhouse structure with a bell steeple on top in a miniature golf course. The subject's response was that she saw a red clapboard structure with a steeple that seemed to be artificial as in a movie set. Based on this result, a series of remote viewing experiments under strict protocols are planned with this subject. 2. Detection of Variable Density Target Material Twenty-seven envelopes were submitted by the sponsor to the client containing target drawings of variable content and density. Several hundred sorting trials resulting from six passes per day through the 27 cards have been carried out, the goal to date being delineation of the. twelve low density target cards from the pencil (6) and blank (9) cards. The numbered envelopes containing the target material, sealed and specially secured by the sponsor, are randomized before each trial and placed inside non-numbered opaque envelopes before being presented to the subject for sorting. Statistical analysis of the results and comparison with the key (unknown to the client) will be carried out after completion of the experimental series. 2 Approved For Release 2000/08/10 CIA-RDP96-00787ROO0100010001-1 Approved For Release 2000/08/10 CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 B. Basic Research 1. Testing Progra During the first month of this program, the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) instrument was administered by SG1D of to three subjects screened in other programs as being gifted in the area of paranormal perception. They are Mr. Patrick H. Price, screened for remote viewing ability, Mrs. Hella Hammid, screened for EEG correlates to remote stimuli, and Mr. Duane Elgin, screened for high scoring response to a random target generator. Further in-depth interviewing of the first two subjects was carried out by- SG11 and his colleague, A report is in SG1 I preparation by and will be available to the contract technical representatives when completeo, SG1 I On the basis of discussion with technical representative, SRI representatives have consul ted with a number oJ Bay Area neurophysiologists concerning administration of the Halstead- Reitan (H-R) Neuropsychology Test Battery. Those contacted include Dr. Karl Pribram, of the Stanford Medical School, Dr. Robert Ornstein of'the Langley-Porter Neuropsychiatric Clinic, and Dr. Donald Lim of the Veteran's Administration Hospital in Palo Alto. To date satisfactory arrangements for administration of the H-R instrument have not yet been made, as only the latter facility has personnel experienced in its administration, but not ordinarily available for subcontracted consulting. The three individuals named above have, however, agreed to help locate an appropriate individual or facility to. carry out such testing so no difficulty is anticipated in meeting this requirement. 3 Approved For Release 2000/08/10.: CIA-RDP9.6,00787ROO01 00010001 -1 SG11 SG1 I 'Approved For Release 2000/08/10: CIA-RDP96-00787ROO0100010001-1 A measure of the visual acuity of one subject (P.p.) was obtained utilizing one of the instruments available in the optics group of the Electronics and Bioenginoering Laboratory of SRI. The measurement method involves forced-choice discrimination on the part of the subject between alternate zero and finite-contrast grating images, for each of a number of spatial-frequency gratings. (See Appendix TI.) The system, which is automated, tracks and records the subject's forced-choice responses to yield a curve of threshold (757o correct choice) contrast sensitivity as a function of spatial frequency. As might be expected, higher contrast is required at the low and high frequency tails of the distribution, as compared with the middle range, to discriminate between grating and uniform images. The purpose of the test with regard to our program was to determine whether a subject possessing an unusual ability to view remote stimuli also possessed an unusual visual acuity response in a threshold-determining instrument, either because of unusual acuity in the ordinary sense, or through the use of an extraordinary ability to discriminate between a target and a blank under conditions of vanishingly-small information content. The resultant curve lay within the range of expected human variation indicating no unusual response activity. 2. Measurement Prop:ram A 10-channel polygraph facility under the direction of Dr. Jerry Lukas of the Sensory Sciences Research Center has been brought into the program and certain functions tailored to our specification. The facility will be used initially to monitor GSR, blood flow (plethysmograph), and EEG activity of subjects carrying out tasks involving perception-of remote stimuli. For our purposes, the display of raw data has been augmented by a computer program which has been 4 Approved For Release 2000/08/10: CIA-,RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 Approved For Release 2000/08/10 CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 written and debugged to provide on-line 5-second averages of EEG activity in the theta, alpha, and beta bands. Discussions are now in progress on experimental protocols to be employed in the utilization of this facility. EEG data taken prior to this program, ~ut unanalyzed, has been subjected to analysis in an effort to,detormine whether a particular protocol was a viable instrument for defining correlates of remote perception. The description of -the experiment and the results of the analysis is given in the EEG section of a paper submitted for publication to Nature, given here as Appendix I. In an effort to determine the effects of motivation on -paranormal functioning, the following test procedure has been initiated. One subject (P.P.) has completed 7075 trials on guessing the state of a four-stage electronic random target generator without monetary reward being associated with the scoring, and is now repeating the series wif! a monetary reward scaled to scoring. Upon completion of the series, the results will be analyzed to determine whether the difference betweii scoring under the two conditions is significant. The reward system, shown in Table 1, is scaled linearly with difficulty. Table 1 REWARD SYSTEM FOR SCORING ON 25-TRIAL RUN, P=1/4 PER TRIAL Nr. hits/25-trial run,N 10 11 12 13 14 Prob. of at least N hits Reward 0.071 $ 1 0.030 2 0.010 5 0.0034 12 0.00092 35 5 Approved. For Release 2000/08/10 CIA.-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 c." Approved For Release 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 INFORMATION TRANSMISSION UNDER CONDITIONS OF SENSORY SHIELDING Russell Targ Harold Puthoff Electronics and Bioengineering Laboratory Stanford Research Institute Menlo Park, California Approved For Release 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 Approved For Release 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 FIGURE CAPTIONS 1. Target pictures and responses drawn by Uri Geller under shielded conditions. 2. Computer drawings and responses drawn by Uri Geller. a,. Computer drawing stored on video display b. Computer drawing stored in computer memory only c. Computer drawing stored on video display with zero intensity 3. Occipital LEG spectra, 0 to 20 Hz, for one subject (H.H.) acting as receiver, showing amplitude changes in the 9 - 11 Hz band as a function of strobe frequency. Three cases: 0, 6, and 16 flashes per second (12 trial averages). Approved For Release 2000/08110 : CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 V.. Approved For Release 2000/08/10 CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 LNTRODUCTI ON in this paper we present results of experiments suggesting tlie existence of one or more perceptual modalities through which individuals obLaln information about their environment, wherein this information is not presented to any known sense. Such perceptual abilities are often considered to be paranormal. The liIterature in the field 1-3 coupled with our own observations have led Lis to conclude that such abilities can be studied under laboratory conditions. The phenomena we have investigated most extensively pertain to the ability of certain individuals to describe graphical material or remote scenes shielded against ordinary perception. In addition, we also performed pilot studies to determine if electroencephalographic (EEC) recordings might indicate perception of remote happenings even in the absence of correc.L overt responses. fn these experiments we concentrated on what we considered to be our primary responsibility--namely, to resolve under conditions as unambiguous as possible the basic issue of whether a certain class of paranormal perception phenomena exists. Therefore, we conducted our experiments with sufficient control, utilizing visual, acoustic, and electrical shielding, to ensure that all conventional paths of sensory input were blocked. At all times we were vigilant in the design of our experiments to take measures to prevent sensory leakage and to prevent deception, whether intentional or unintentional, on the part of our subjects. I Approved For Release 2000/08/10: CIA-RDp96-00787ROO0100010001-1 Approved For Release 2000/08/10: CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 'ylie overal.1, goal of our research program -is the determination of the taws ti,idrtying tliese 1)henomena. That is, our goal is not just to catalog intereSLing events, but rather to LITICover patterns of cause7effect rela- tionships that lend themselves to analysis and hypothesis in the forms with which we are familiar in scientific study. The results presented here constitute a first step toward that goal, in that we have established knider known conditions a data base from which departures as a function of physical. and psychological variables can be studied in future work. In this paper we describe three related experiments which we consider to represent: a single ability exhibiting different rates of information transmission. First, we conducted experiments with Mr. Uri Geller in which we examined his ability, while located in an electrically shielded room, to reproduce target pictures drawn by experimenters located at remo locations. Second, we conducted double-blind experiments with two indivL&UiIS, Mr. Ingo Swann and Mr. Pat Price, in which we measured their ability to describe remote outdoor scenes many miles from their physical location. Finally, we conducted preliminary tests using electroenceplialo- grams (YEG), in which subjects were asked to perceive whether a remote light was flashing, and to determine whether a subject could perceive the presence of the lightj even if only at a noncognitive level of awareness. Rl"MOTE PERCI~IPTJON OF GRAPHIC MATERIAL We describe here a series of experiments in paranor-mal perception with a 27 year old Israeli subject, Uri Geller. In preliminary testing Mr. Geller apparently demonstrated an ability to reproduce simple pictures 2 For Release 2000/08/10: CIA-RDP96-00787ROO0100010001.1 Approved For Release 2000/08/10 CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 (I Lne drawing ad been drawn and placed in opaque sealed envelopes ,s) whIch h, wiiicii mr. celler wns not pi2rmitted cc) handle. However, since each of the targets was known to at least one experimenter in the room with Mr. Gell(--~r, it was not possible on the basis of the preliminary testing to disc riminate between Mr. Geller's direct perception of envelope contents and perception via some mechanism involving the experimenters, whether paraaormal or subliminal. Therefore, an experimental study was undertaken to examine the phenomenon under conditions specifically designed to eliminate all conventional information channels, overt or subliminal. This was accomplished by separating Mr. Geller from both the target material and anyone,knowledgeable of the target material, as in the recent experiments by Musso and Granero. 4 The first part of the study consisted of a series of thirteen separate drawing experiments cartied out over a seven day period. The thirteen- experiment data set constitutes the entire set of consecutive experiments carried out in the time available for the study, with no experiments deleted. The protocol for~the experime.nts was as follows: At the beginning of the experiment either Mr. Geller or the experimenters entered a shielded room so that from that time forward Mr. Geller was at all times visually, acous,tically, and electrically shielded from personnel and material at the target location. Only following Mr. Geller's isolation from the experimenters was a target chosen and drawn, a procedure designed to eliminate pre- experiment cueing. The method of target selection involved random procedures, such as randomly opening a dictionary and selecting the first word describing an object that could reasonably be drawn. Furthermore, 3 Approved For Release 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 Approved For Release 2000/08/10: CIA-RDP96-00787R0001 00010001 -1 in order to eliminate tho possibilitY Of pre-experiment target forcing, Mr. Goller was kept ignoranL as to the identity of the person selecting Llic target and as to the method of target selection. Mr. coile_-Ps was then to reproduce with pen on paper the line. drawing being generated by the experimenters at the target location. Following a period of effort i-nnging from a few minutes to half an hour, Mr. Geller either passed (when lie did not feel confident) or indicated lie was ready to submit a drawing to the experimenLers, in which case the drawing was collected before Mr. Geller was permitted to see the target. In order to prevent sensory cuoing of the target information, Experiments 1 through 10 were carried out using a shielded room in SRI's facility for EEG research. The degree of acoustic and visual isolation provided for this experiment is that affordea by a double-walled steel room, locked by means of an inner and outer door, each of which is secure with a refrigerator-type,locking mechanism. The person inside the room is continuously monitored by means of a one-way audio monitor. The target picture was never discussed by the experimenters after the picture was drawn or brought near the shielded room. In our detailed examination of the shielded room and the protocol used in these experiments, no sensory leakage has been found. The conditions and results for the ten experiments carried out in the shielded room are displayed in Table 1. As indicated in the Table, all experiments, except Experiments 4 and 5, were conducted with Mr. Geller closeted inside the shielded room. In Experiments 4 and 5, the procedure was reversed--i.e., the target was located inside the shielded room, with 4 Approved For Release 2000/08/10: CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 TABLE 1. SUMMARY: REMOTE PERCEPTION OF GRAPHIC MATERIAL Experiment Date Geller Location a 1 8/4/73 Shielded room #1 2 8/4/73 Shielded room #1 3 8/5/73 Shielded room #1 4 8/5/73 Room adjacent to shielded room #1 5 8/6/73 Room adjacent to shielded room #1 6 8/7/73 Shielded room #1 7 8/7/73 Shielded room #1 Ul 8 8/8/73 Shielded room #1 9 8/8/73 Shielded room #1 10 8/8/73 Shielded room #1 c 8/9/73 Shielded room #2 12 8/10/73 Shielded room #2 Taraet Location Target 0 < (D CL -n 0 ;U (D F (D N) Q Q Q Q co 0 > 0 T to 0 Q J 00 4 M Q Q Q L CD Q C) L Q Q Q b Adjacent room (4.1 m) Adjacent room (4-1 m) Office (475 m) Shielded room #1 (3.2 m) Shielded room #1 (3.2 m) Adjacent room (4-1 m) Adjacent room (4.1 m) Remote room (6.75 m) Adjacent room (4.1 m) Adjacent room (4.1 m) Computer (54 m) Computer (54 m) 13 8/10/73 Shielded room #2 Computer (54 m) a EEG Facility shielded room (see text). b Perceiver-target distances measured in meters. C SRI Radio Systems Laboratory shielded room (see text). Firecracker Grapes Devil Solar system Rabbit Tree Envelope Camel Bridge Seagull Kite (computer CRT) Church (computer memory) Arrow through heart (computer CRT, zero intensity) Figure> la 0 lb (D 1C CL -n ld 0 X (D No drawirW (D No drawing No drawin8 Q 1e 00 if Q Ig 0 2a > X 2b 0 U 2c CP Q Q -4 00 X Q Q Q Q Q Q L Q Q Q A-t Approved For Release 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 mr. cci ik2r oil the outside in all adjacent room. For those experiment,; in (,eller was inside the shielded 1-001,11, the target location was Ell an a(ijacent room at a distance of about 4 meters, except for Experiments 3 and 8, in which the target locations were, respectively, an office at zi distance of 475 meters and a room down the half at a distance of about 7 meters. Ill Experiment l,the object drawn on the basis of random dictionary - ate sel.ectLon was a firecracker, shown in Fig. 1(a). Mr. Geller's immedi, verbal response via the audio monitor was that he saw "a cylinder with noise coming out of it." Ile made two responses to the target, also shown in Fig. 1(a). In Experiment 2, the target--also chosen by random dictionary selecti(.i- was a cluscer of grapes. Mr. Geller said that he was quite certain that: lie had the picture. Both the target picture and Mr. Geller's response li;ive 24 grapes in the cluster (Fig. 1(b)). In Experiment 3, Mr. Geller was locked in the shielded room with one experimenter outside as a monitor while the target was drawn in another building 475 meters away. The target, again randomly selected from the dictionary, was a devil (Fig. 1(c)). Mr. Geller spent 30 minutes on his drawing and expressed.considerable difficulty in getting the target, The results are interesting from the standpoint of possible insight into the process that they provide. His drawings consis ted of representations of Biblical symbology, including the "Moses tablets," an apple with a worm, a snake, and a concluding composite picture with the tablets on top of the world and the trident outside. Of these only the trident corresponds 6 Approved For Release 2000/08/1~0,.,:,,.CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01000 10001. TARGET RESPONSE I o--o8 RESPONSE 2 (a) TARGET tf o 0) RESPONSE (d) (e) TARGET -I Ul RESPONSE I TARGET RESPONSE RESPONSE 2 II -~ Al-7 0 RESPONSE A TARGET RESPONSE (g) FIGURE 1 GRAPHICAL MATERIAL CONSISTING OF TARGET PICTURES AND RESPONSES DRAWN BY URI GELLER UNDER SHIELDED CONDITIONS TARGET RESPONSE (b) TARGET RESPONSE 0 00 00 Approved For Release 2000108/10 : CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 (I i 1-ucL IV to ilil (21 ell)(11LI ill HIC, target drawing. One Ls led Lo specul-ate that the Biblical elements in these three drawins are, perhaps associational niaLer,ial triggered by tli(--! target. The target picture for Experiment 4 was drawn by an experimenter wl)i.le lie was inside the shielded room,with Mr. G-eller outside the room with another experimenter. In this case the target (Fig. l(d)) was a representation of the solar system. Mr. Geller's response to the target while outside the room coincides quite well with the target drawing. In Experiment 5, the person-to-person link was eliminated by arranging for a scientist Outside the usual experimental group to draw a picture, lock it in the shielded room before Mr. Geller's arrival at SRI, and leave the area. Mr. Geller was then led by the experimenters to the shielded room and asked to draw the picture inside the room. lie said tha lie got no clear impression and therefore did not submit a drawing. The elimination of the person-to-person link was examined further in the second series of experiments with this subject, which is described later. Experiments 6 and 7 were carried out while we recorded Mr. Geller's EEG during his efforts to perceive the target pictures. The target pictures were, respectively, a tree and an envelope. Ile found it difficult to hold adequately still for good EEG records, said that the experienced difficulty in getting impressions of the targets, and again submitted no drawings. For Experiment 8, the target picture was a camel and Mr. Geller's response was a hurse, (Fig. i(e)). In Experiment 9, the target was a bridge. Mr. Gel-Jer's drawing bears some resemblance to the target (Fig. 1(f)), but before seeing the target picture he stated that lie did not know what the picture was. 8 Approved.For Release 2000/08/10 CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01.0.0010001-1 Approved For Release 2000/08/10 CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 6. At the beginning of Exporiiiient 10, Mr. Geller expressed e:~treme confidence and entered the shielded room. The target tliCni chosen for ll`xperiment 1.0 was a bird in [light. Mr. Ge-l-ler said almost immediately, via the audio monitor in the shielded room. that he saw a swan flying over a hill and that lie was sure that his drawinp, w~is correct (Fig. I (g)) Experiments 11 through 13 were carried out in SRI's Engineering Building, to mal~,e use of the computer facilities available there. For these experiments, Mr. Geller was secured in a double-walled, copper-screen Faraday cage 54 meters down the hall and around the corner from the computer room.t For Experiment 11, a picture of a kite was drawn by one of the exp o r i me iiters on the face of a cathode ray tube display screen, driven by the computer's graphics program. Mr. Geller's response, shown in Fig. 2(a), was a square with diagonals. For Experiment 12, a picture of a church was drawn and stored in the memory of the Computer. Mr. Geller's responses are shown in the drawings of Fig. 2(b). Although his responses have some elements in common with the target drawing, lie did not recognize the target as a church. In Experiment 13, the target drawing, an arrow through a heart (Fig. 2(c)), was drawn on the face of the cathode ray tube and then the display intensity was turned off so that no picture was visible. Mr. Geller immediately The Faraday cage. provides 120 dB attenuation for plane wave radio frequency radiation over a range of 15 Mlz to I GHz. For magnetic fields the attenuation is 68 dB at 15 KHz and decreases to 3 dB at 60 Hz. 9 Approved For Release 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 TARGET RESPONSE (a) FIGURE 2 GRAPHICAL MATERIAL STORED ON VIDEC STORED ON VIDEC TARGET RESPONSE 1 RESPONSE 2 (b) FROM COMPUTER DRAWING DISPLAY. (b) PICTURE STORED DISPLAY WITH ZERO INTENSIlY. TARGET (D cl -n 0 (D (D RESPONSE 1 00 0 E- J~F cr) 00 4 ;u RESPONSE2 (c) 73, EXPERIMENTS WITH URI GELLER. (a) PICTURE L IN COMPUTER MEMORY ONLY. (c) PICTURE Approved For Release 2000/08/10: CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 (Ircw aii arrow Wider a rectangle and then drew another arrow inside a suit- case, which lie consWered a better representation of the target. obtain an Independetit evaluation of the correlation between target aiid response data, the experimenters submitted tfic data for judging on a "HLnd" basis by two SRI scientists who were not otherwise associated with the research. For the ten cases in which Mr. Geller provided a respoiise, the judges were asked to match the response data with the corresponding target data (without replacement). In those cases in which Mr. Geller made more than one drawing as his respoiise to the target, all the drawincs were combined as a set for judging. The two judges each matched the target data to the response data with no error. For either judge such a correspondence has an a priori probability, under the null hy po thesis of no information channel, of p = (10!) -1 1! 3 x 10 -7 The qualLty of match between target and response in certain cases, together with the overall probability of matching obtained by the judges, constitute strong evidence for the existence of a potentially useful information channel. A second series of experiments was carried out to determine whether direct perception of envelope contents was possible without some person knowing of the target picture. One hundred target pictures of everyday objects were drawn by an SRI artist and sealed by other SRI personnel in double envelopes containing black cardboard. The hundred targets were divided randomly into groups of 20 for use in each of the three days' experiments. Approved For Release 2000/08/10: CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 Approved For Release 2000/08/10 CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 on earli of tlie three (lays of these experiments, Mr. Geller passed. That ls, fie declined to associate aiiy onvelope. with a drawing that he made. On each day lie made- approximately 12 recognizable drawings, which lie felt were associated with the entire. target pool of 100. He seemed to be disturbed by the existence of such a large target pool'. On each of the three days, two of his drawings could reasonably be associated With two of the 20 daily targets. On the third day, two of his drawings were. very close replications of two of that day's target pictures. We consLder that the drawings resulting from this experiment do not depart significantly from what would be expected by chance, which appeared to be Mr. Geller's conclusion also, leading to passes on his part. Thus, it would appear that eliminating a person knowledgeable of the target degrades the quality of the information channel. However, based on Mr. Geller's subjective impression, there is al.so the possibility tha. advance preparation of a large target pool, in comparison with single target preparation,results in cross talk--i.e., diffuses the identity of the target. In a simpler experiment Mr. Geller was successful in obtaining information in which no persons were knowledgeable of the target. A double blind experiment was performed in which a single die was placed in a small steel box. The box was then vigorously shaken by one of the experimenters and placed on the table. The orientation of the die within the box was unknown to the experimenters at that time. Mr. Geller would then write down his perception as to which die face was ulypermost. Thus, in this 12 Approved For Release 2000/08/10 C~IA-.RDP96-00787ROO0100010001--i Approved For Release 2000/08/10 CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 case the target pool was known, but the targets we're individually prepared 1.n a mariner blind to all persons involved in the experiment. This experi- menL was performed ton times, with Mr. Geller passing twice and giving a response eight times. In the eight times in which lie gave a response, he was correct each time.t The probability of this occurring by chance 8 is approximately one in a million,(1/6) To summarize the work with Mr. Geller,5 we observe that in certain situations significant information transmission can take place under shielded conditions. Factors which appear to be important and therefore candidates for future investigation include whether the subject knows the set of targets in the target pool, the actual number of targets in the target pool at any given time, and.whether the target is known by any of the experimenters. REIMOTE VIEWING OF NATURAL TARGETS In experiments carried out in our program to investigate the abilities of a New York artist, Mr. Ingo Swann, he expressed the opinion that the insights gained during experiments at SRI had strengthened his ability to view remote locations.that had been researched before he joined the SRI program.6 To test Mr. Swannis assertion, a pilot study was set up in which a TThe- distribution of responses consisted of three 2s, one 4, two 5s, and two 6s. 13 Approved ForRelease 2000/08/10 CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 Approved For Release 2000/08/10 CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 s e r i e .s of targets from around the globe were supplied to the e\perimenters by SR[ personnel on a double-blind basis. In our estimation, Mr. Swann's abUity to describe correctly details of buildings, roads, bridges, and the like indicated that lie could perceive remote.locations, sometimes in great detail, given only their geographic latitude and longitude. Thus, we. considered the descriptions were sufficiently accurate to warrant our setting Lip a research program in remote viewing. We present here the results of a remote viewing experiment, carried Out with a second subject in the remote viewing program, Mr. Pat Price, a former California police commissioner and city councilman. This experi- ment consisted of a series of double-blind, demonstration-of-abiliLy tests Lnvot.vLng local targets in the San Francisco Bay area which could be documented by several independent judges. We planned the experiment Considering that natural'.geographical places or man-made sites that h existed for a long time are more potent targets for paranormal percepi )n experiments than are artificial targets prepared in the laboratory. This is based on the opinions of Mr. Swann and Mr. Price that the use of artificial targets involves a "trivialization of the ability" as compared with natural. pre-existing targets. 1.n each v)f nine experiments involving Mr. Price as remote-viewing subject and SRI experimenters as a target demarcation team, a remote location was chosen in a double-blind protocol. Mr. Price, who remained at SRI, was asked to describe this remote location, as well as whatever -i c -tLvities might be going on there. 14 Approved For Release 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 Approved For Release 2000/08/10: CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 fmta from t-he. nine experimciits ai-e presented In the following para- gr,iphs Final Judging indicaLed Chat several descriptions yielded signmcantly correct data pertaining to and descriptive of the tarcret locaLion. REMOTE, VIE.WING PROTOCOL In Lhe nine double-blind remote-viewing experiments, the following procedures were used. An experimenter was closeted with Mr. Price at SM Lo wait 30 minutes to begin the narrative description of the remote I oca L Lon. The SRI locations from which the subject viewed the remote locatLons. consisted of an outdoor park (Experiments 1,2), the double-walled copper-screen Faraday cage discussed earlier (Experiments 3, 4, 6-9), and ;in office (Experiment 5). A second experimenter would then obtain a target location from an individual in SRI management, the director of the Information Science and Engineering Division, not otherwise associated with the experiment. This location was either in the form of traveling orders previously prepared, se;-iled, and randomized by the target selecCer (Experiments 1, 2, 5, 6), or by his driving the target demarcation team to the target himself without any written indication (Experiments 3, 4, 7-9). The set of targets was chosen from a target-rich environment by asking the selector to use his judgment in providing a set of nine target locations which were clearly differentiated from each other and within thirty minutes driving time from SIU. 'In all cases, the target demarcation team proceeded directly LO the target by automobile without communicating with the subject 15 Approved For Release 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-00787ROO0100010001-1 Approved For Release 2000/08/10 CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 or expel' imciiLers rC!mZlining beiund. since the experimenLer remaining with Lhe subjeeL at SRI was in ignorance both as to the particular target and also as to the target pool, lie was free to question Price to clarify his descriptions. The demarcation team then remained at the target site fo.r "In agreed-Upon thirty minute period f6lloWing the thirty minutes allotted for Lravel. During the observation period, the remote-viewing subject would describe his impressions of the target site into a tape recorder. A comparison was then made when the demarcation team returned. To represent: best the detail. and style of these narratives, we have included the entire Unedited text of one of the better narratives containing very few incorrect statements, Experiment 7, in an appendix. In general, the descriptions contained inaccuracies as well as correct statements. To obtain a numerical evaluation of the accuracy of the rerr-e viewing experiment, the nine original target locations were subjected tc independent judging on a'blind basis by five SRI scientists who were no, otherwise associated with the research. The judges were asked to match the nine locations, which they independently visited, against the typed manuscripts of the tape-recorded narratives of the remote viewer. The transcripts were unlabeled and presented in random order. The judges were asked to find a narrative which they would consider the best match for each of the places they visited. A given narrative could be assigned to more than one target location. The hypothesis is that the judges, when asked to match the actual targets with the transcripts, would place Lhe actual target in the most favored category more often than they would be expected to by chance. Table 2 shows the distribution of the 16 Approved,For Release 2000/0811.0 CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 0001.0001 -1 0 < (D CL -n 0 (D W (D Q Q Q Q 00 Q 0 __j 0 6 Q 4 00 4 X Q Q Q _L Q Q Q Q Q Q 731 PLACES VISITED BY JUDGES DESCRIPTIONS CHOSEN BY JUDGES 2 5 8 9 3 4 6 7 Hoover Tower 1 D IDE Baylands Nature 2 ABC E D D Preserve Radio Telescope 3 ACD BE ~~AC ABD Redwood City Marina 4 CD E E ABC ~AB Bridge Toll Plaza 5 ABD DCE Drive-In Theatre 6 B A C E Arts and Crafts ABC Garden Plaza 7 E Church 8 C AB Rinconada Park 9 CE ~AB -a 0 < (D CL -n 0 (D W (D Q Q Q Q 00 Q 0 0 T 6 Q -4 00 -4 X Q Q Q _L Q Q Q Q Q Q 31 7 TABLE 2. Distribution of correct selections by Judges A, B, C, D, and E in remote viewing experiments. Of the 45 selections (5 judges, 9 choices), 24 were correct. Boxes heavily outlined indicate correct choice. Approved For Release 2000/08/10 CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 judges' choices. For purposes of display we present the table such that the main diagonal corresponds to the. correct choices. The number of correct matches by judges A through E is 7, 6, 5, 3, and 3, respectively. The expected number of correct matches from the five judges was five; in the.experiment twenty-four such matches were obtained. Among al 1 possible analyses, none is more conservative than a permutation analysis of the majority vote of the judges' selections assuming assignment without replacement. By majority.vote, six of the nine descriptions and locations were correctly matched. Under the null hypothesis (no remote viewing and a random selection of descriptions without replacement), this outcome has an a priori probability of p 4 5, x 10 since, among all possible permutations of the integers one CI-ugh nine, the probability of six or more being in their natural p . tion in the list has that value. Therefore, although Price's descrip- ti is contain inaccuracies, the descriptions are sufficiently accurate to permit the judges to differentiate among the various targets to the degree indicated. EEG EXPERIMENTS An experiment was undertaken to determine whether a physiological measure such-as EEG act ivity could be used as an indicator of information transmission between an isolated subject and a remote stimulus. We hypothesized that perception could be indicated by such a measure even 7,8 in the absence of verbal or other overt indicators. In other words, this experiment examines the hypothesis that perception may take place 18 Approved For Release 2000/08/10 CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 Approved For Release .2000/08/10: CIA-RDP96-00787ROO0100010001-1 aL tioncogniLive levels of awareness and be measurable, even thouch not expressed verbally. IL was assumed that the application of remote stimuli would result in responses similar to those obtained under conditions of direct stimu- lation. For example, when normal subjects are stimulated with a flashing light, their EEG typically shows a decrease in the amplitude of the resting rhythm and a driving of the brain waves at the frequency of the flashes. 9 We hypothesized that if we stimulated one subject in this manner (a sender), the EEG of another subject in a remote room with no flash present, (a receiver), might show changes in alpha (9-11 Hz) activity, or possibly EEG driving similar to that of the sender. Applying this concept, we informed our subject that at certain times a light was to be flashed in a sender's eyes in a distant room, and if the subject perceived that event, consciously or unconsciously, it might be evideiiL from changes in his EEG output. The receiver was seated in the visually opaque, acoustically and electrically shielded double-walled steel room previously described. The sender was seated in a room across the hall from the EEG chamber at a distance of about 7 meters from the receiver. In order to find subjects who were responsive to such a remote stLmulus, we initially worked with four female and two male volunteer subjects., all of whom believed that success in the experimental situation might. be possible. These were designated "receivers." The senders were either other subjects or the experimenters. We decided beforehand to run one or two sessions of 36 trials each with each subject in this selection procedure,and to do. a more extensive study with any subject 19 Approved For Release 2000/08/10: CIA-RDP96-00787ROO010001000 -1-1 Approved For Release 0 CIA-RbP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 wliose r(,,L;LII.Ls were posLtive. A Grass PS-2 photostimulator placed about 1 meter in front of the sender- was used to present flash trains of 10 sec duration. The receiver's E17C activity from the occipital region (OZ), referenced to linked mastoids, was amplified with a Grass 5P-I preamplifier and associated driver amp.lifier with a bandpass of 1 to 120 Hz. The EEG data were recorded on magynctLc tape with an Ampex SP 300 recorder. On each trial, a tone burst of fixed frequency was presented to both sender and receiver, and was followed in one second by either a ten-second train of flashes or a null flash interval presented to the sender. Thirty- six such trials were given in an experimental session, consisting of 12 null als--i.e., no flashes following the tone--12 trials of flashes at 6 fps, 12 trials of flashes at 16 fps, all randomly intermixed. Each of the L. als generated an 11-second EEG epoch. The last 4 seconds of the epoch W), selected for analysis to minimize the desynchronizing action of the warning cue. This 4-second segment was subjected to Fourier analysis on a LINC 8 computer. Spectrum analyses gave no evidence of EEG driving in any receiver, although in control runs the receivers did exhibit driving when physically stimulated with the flashes. However, of the six subjects studied iniLia[-Ly, one subject showed a consistent alpha blocking effect. We therefore undertook further study with this subject. Daca from 7 sets of 36 trials each were collected from this subject on three separate days. This comprises all the data collected to date wiLh this subject under the test conditions' described above. The alpha 20 Approved For Release 2000/08/10 CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 Approved For Release 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-00787RO0010001000-1,-i blind was identified from average spectra, then scores of average power and peal, power were obtained from individual trials and subjected to statistical analysis. Of our six subjects, H.H. had by far the most monochromatic EEG spectrum. Figure 3 shows an overlay of the three averaged spectra from one of thIs subject's 36-trial runs, displaying changes in her alpha activity for the three stimulus conditions. Mean values for the average power and peak power, for each of the seven experimental sets were given in Table 3. The power measures were less in the 16 fps case than in the 0 fps in all seven peak power measures and in six out of seven average power measures. Siegel's two-tailed t approximation to the nonparametric randomization test 10 was applied to the data from all sets, which included two sessions in which the sender was removed. Average power on trials associated with the occurrence of 16 fps was significantly less than when there were no flashes (t = 2.09, df = 118, p < .04). The second measure, peak power, was also significantly less in the 16 fps conditions than in the.null condition (t = 2.16, df = 118, p < .03). The average response in the 6 fps condition was in the same direction as that associated with 16 fps, but the effect was not statistically significant. Spectrum analyses of control recordings made from saline with 12K ohms resistance in place of the subject with and without the addition of -1 10 liz, 50 1AV test signal applied to the saline solution, revealed no indLeations of flash frequencies, nor perturbations of the 10 Ilz signal. These controls suggest that the results were not due to system artifacts. 21 Approved For Release 2000/08/10 CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 Approved For Release 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01.0001,000.1-1,. 10 riz THREE CASES - 0, 6 and 16 Hz flashes (12 trial averages) FIGURE 3 OCCIPITAL EEG FREQUENCY SPECTRA, 0 TO 20 Hz, OF ONE SUBJECT (H.H.) ACTI;NG AS RECEIVER SHOWNG AMPLITUDE CHANGES IN THE 9-11 Hz BAND AS A FUNCTION OF STROBE FREQUENCY Approved For Release 2000/08/10 CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 22 Approved For Release 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 0 Average Power Peak Power 6 6 1 6 6 0 I-' Flash F l ' requency Frequency Sender J.L. 94.8 84.1 76.8 357.7 329.2 289.6 R.T. 41.3 45.5 37.0 160.7 161.0 125.0 No Sender 25.1 35.7 28.2 87.5 95.7 81.7 (Subject informed) J.L. 54.2 55.3 44.8 191.4 170.5 149.3 J.L. 56.8 50.9 32.8 240.6 178.0 104.6 R.T. 39.8 24.9 30.3 145.2 74.2 122.1 No Sender (Subject not 86.0 53.0 52.1 318.1 180.6 202.3 informed) Averages 56.8 49.9 43.1 11 169.8 153.5 214.5 -12% -24% (P<.04) -21% -28% (P<.03) TABLE 3. EEG data for H.H. showing average power and peak power in the 9 - 11 Rz band, as a function of flash frequency and sender. Each table entry is an average over 12 trials. 23 Approved For Release 2000/08/10 CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 Approved For Release 2000/08/10: CIA-RDP96-00.787ROO01 00010001 -1 FurUier tcISLS ~Ilso gave 110 evidence of radio frequency energy associated with U11C StImulus. Subjects were asked to indicate their conscious assessment for each trinL as to which stimulus was generated. They made their guesses known to tlie experimenter via one-way telegraphic comnifinication. An analysis of these guesses has shown them to be at chance, indicating the absence of any supraliminal cueing. Thus, we note that in this pilot study, one of six subjects showed significant EEG changes associated with the presence of remote stimuli undor conditions of sensory shielding. This form of noncognitive arousal evidenced by alpha blocking has also been observed by Tart (1963), using small electric shock stimulus applied to himself as sender in a similar 7 periment. We hypothesize that the protocol described here may prove be useful as a screening procedure for latent remote perceptual ability ;~I the general population. DISCUSSION We have presented evidence for the existence of a biological informa- tion channel whose characteristics appear to fall outside the range of known perceptual modalities. The precise nature of the channel or channels is as yet undefined, but may involve either direct perception of hidden information content, perception of mental images of persons knowledgeable of target information, precognition, or some combination of these or other information channels. 24 Approved For Release 2000/08/10: CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 Approved For.Release 2000/08110 : CIA-.RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 We have worked with three individuals, two of whom are reported on in denil here, whose remote perceptual abilities were sufficiently developod that they were able to describe both pictorial and geographical material. blocked from ordinary perception. In addition to experiments which centered on subjects' conscious perceptions, we have also conducted EEG experiments in which we have found statistically significant evidence of direct physiological indications of nonconscious perception of remote stimuli. The observation that a nonconscious link with physiological correlates can exist between separated Lnd-Mcluals is one that merits considerable study. From these experiments we conclude that o A channel exists whereby information about a remote location can be obtained by means of an as yet unidentified perceptual modality. o As with all biological systems, the information channel appears to be imperfect, containing noise along,with the signal. o While a quantitative signal-to-noise ratio in the information- theoretical sense cannot as yet be determined, the results of out experiments indicate that the functioning is at the level of useful information transfer. It may be that remote perceptual ability is widely distributed in the general population, but because the perception is generally below an individual's level of awareness, it is repressed or not noticed. For example, two of our subjects (H.H. and P.P.) had not considered themselves to have unusual perceptual ability before their participation in these 25 Approved For Release 2000/08/10 CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 Approved For Release 2000108/10 : CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 expe I- Lilien ts. We conjecture that it is,partially the prevailing philosophical attiLudes of the times in which we live that prevent such ability as may e,-,isL from surfacing to a greater extent. Our shared cultural constraints deny permission for the demonstration of such abilities. WLth regard to the methodology itself, our observation of the phenom- ena lezids us to conclude that experiments in the area of so-called paranormal phunomena can be scientifically conducted. The results presented here offer a basiS from which departures as a function of other observables can be studied. Our goal for future experimentation is the investigation of the physical and psychological laws underlying these phenomena, rather than just the addition of further demonstrations of the statistical ..)pearance of paranormal phenomena in the laboratory. 'KNOWIA'DGMENTS This research was sponsored by The Foundation for Parasensory Investi- 1,atlon, New York City. We wish to thank its president, Mrs. Judith Skutch, and their representative, Dr. Edgar D. Mitchell of the Institute of Noetic Sclunces-as well as our SRI associates, Mr. Bonnar Cox, Mr. Earle Jones, aiid Dr. Dean Brown-for their support and encouragement throughout this work. We also wish to acknowle dge Dr. Wilbur Franklin of Kent State Uni- versLLy for his contribution, especially in the early phases of this research. Ffiially, we acknowledge the many constructive suggestions provided LIS thl-OLIgh conversations with Mrs. Joan Mayo, Dr. Charles Tart, University of CaliFornia, and Dr. Robert Ornstein and Dr. David Galin of the Langley Porter NeuropsychiaLr--Lc Institute. 26 Approved For Release 2000/08/10 CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010061 -1 Approved For Release 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 REFERENCES 1. J. Pratt, J.B. Rhine, C. Stuart and J. Greenwood, EXTRA SENSORY PERCEPTION AFTER STXTY YEARS, New York, Henry Holt, 1940. 2. S. Soal and F. Bateman, MODERN EXPERIMENTS IN TELEPATHY, London, Faber atid Faber, 1954. 3. L.L. Vasilliev, EXPERIMENTS IN MENTAL SUGGESTION, Hampshire, En gland, ISMI Publications, 1963. 4. J.R. MUSSo and M. Granero, "An ESP Drawing Experiment With a High- Scoritig Subj(_~ct," J. of Para psycho logy, Vol. 37, pp. 13-37, March, 1973. 5. It lias been wLdel.y reported that Mr. Geller has demonstrated the ability to bend metal by paranormal means. Although metal bending by Mr. Geller has been observed in our laboratory, we have not been able to combine such observations with adequately controlled experiments to obtain data sufficient to support the paranormal hypothesis. 6. K. Osis, ASPR Newsletter, No. 14, Summer, 1972. 7. C.T. Tart, PHYSIOLOGICAL CORRELATES OF PSI COGNITION, Intl. J. of Parapsychology, Vol. V, No. 4, Autumn, 1963. 8. E.D. Dean, "Plethysmograph Recordings as ESP Responses," Intl. J. of NeUropsychiatry, Vol. 2, October, 1966. 9. D. HiLl and G. Parr, ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHY: A SYMPOSIUM ON ITS VARIOUS ASPECTS,- Macmillan, New York, 1963. 10. S. Siegel, NONPARAMETRIC STATISTICS FOR THE BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES, pp. 152-156, New York, McGraw-Hill Book.Co., Inc., 1956. 27 Approved For Release 2000/08/10 CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010061 -1 Approved For Release 2000/08110 : CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 APPENDIX Following is the unedited transcript of remote viewing Experiment 7, where the target was an Arts and Crafts Garden Plaza, This is a large. plaza resciiibling a California mission. There are craft shops around the perimeter of the plaza, In the plaza area are many gardens, flowers, ceramic pots, fountains, and paths. Overhead arQ vines on arbors of redwood. Price's description is accurate in almost every detail and he oinitted little of importance. 1:40 THIS IS A REMOTE VIEWING EXPERIMENT WITH PAT PRICE, DEAN BROWN, AND RUSSELL TARG IN THE SHIELDED ROOM IN BUILDING 30. THE TRAVELLERS TO REMOTE LOCATION ARE BART COX, HAL PUTHOFF, JUDY SCIBIICKLEY AND PHYLLIS COLE. WE EXPECT THE TRAVELLERS TO BE AT THEIR PLACE IN ABOUT 10 MINUTES. IT'S 1:58. OUR TRAVELLERS SHOULD BE NEAR TO ARRIVING AT THE PLACE, Why don't I start scanning by quadrant using this as a center point. 2-3, 6-9 ...... 11 go from 12-3 first. Seems to me right now that I'm picking them up ~n the 12-3 quadrant, but I'll go on in the rest and look, I haven't cttially identified them, I just feel that they're there. ope, I don't get them tliere. Now L'11 go from 6-9. While I was looking at 6-9, it looks to me like I'm looking at an iris, a flower of some kind, I'll come back and identify that later. Just wanted to get it down as having a flash of an iris flower-purplish. I'll continue to scan that quadrant. Nope, don't get them there. I'll go from 9-12. Don't get them there. I'Ll go back 12-3. Yeah, I got them in that quadrant. Now I'll see if I can locate them physicallyand identify the area. I'm looking at something that looks like an arbor, trellis-work arbor. Seems to be cool, shaded. Doesn't seem to me that they're out in the direct sunlight. Be more like there's lots of trees, in an arbor area. Approved For Release 2000/08/10 CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 Approved For Release 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-00787ROO0100010001-1 The arbor appears to be made of wood, possibly redwood. ni,y,rc Just .... looks like it's a dirt path, quite wide, I'd say illaybe 12 feet. I can see sonic grass, Looks like possibly a fountain of sonic kind. Yea 11 1 can see Bart in his red shirt and what looks like kind of a gray paisley tic - I didn't really look at that when he was down there. The red shirt, I did. Looks like he has on a gray paisley t i p. it appears they're walking along quite leisurely. 1,ooks like, there's some red brick laid into a wall~:way, They don't seem to be on it, they just seem to pass over that. I --et - it seems like a little wa s away from them there are quite y a few people but right where they're walking it doesn't appear to Z, be many right in there. This is an arbor area. Back of that arbor, back here I'd say 50 feet from that arbor to here, seems to be a lot of people in here. They were walking along here on what looks like about a,12 foot dirt path. MIAT KIND OF PLACE IS THE ARBOR IN? IS IT A FIELD OUT IN THE OPEN? No, I want to say park, but it doesn't exactly feel like a park. if yoti took a - the feeling I'm getting - it's not the specific place - bti tlike the Town and Country Market. That type of an atmosphere., with quite a section of it into a little outdoor park, but basically I'm getting a very strong feeling of flowers. Like the first one I saw was an iris. TELL ME ABOUT THE TOWN AND COUNTRY ASPECT. IN WHAT WAY DOES IT REMIND YOU OF' TOWN AND COUNTRY. The bi.iildings, not right where they're at, but very close to them have that same kind of architecture and look. The parking lot looks simiLar, grand, sweeping, not cluttered, it's morie expansive area. You take a place like, Sears Mall - it seems cluttered. This seems more leisurely paced. People are moving about slower - there's not the hustle and bustle - more or less meandering. 2 Approved For Release 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 0001000.1 -1 Approved For Release 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 TOWN AND COUNTRY MEANS TO ME A CCVERED WALKWAY. Yeah, the bacl- of them it seems to be - whore they are seems to be a very large arbor like, vines growing over it and things, and there possi- bly - I haven't looked in there yet to see if there's any displays like pottery and things - I got the feeling that there is right close to it. ALSO, OUTDOORS? Yeall, it seems like fairly high shade trees - kinda bordering. The center part doesn't s'eem to have it - this part in here. The trees seem to be way up in here along like this over here. This seems to be shaded in here, but it's sunny out here. I just saw something that looked like a windmill - not a farm type wind- mill - a Dutch-type windmill. It's smaller - it's not a huge thing, but I'm getting a definite feeling that it's like a windmill. The arca in there feels damp - not wet - they're not walking in water, but it's very moist. lie temperature in there-it's secluded. Feels very comfortable. A ittle on the shady side. HAT DO YOU FIND AS THE BOUNDARIES OF THE PLACE THEY'RE AT? )LItSi(10 of this little park-like affair that they seem to be in, there's i street. One side of it seems to be a kind of a residontial-the other seems to be a little bit more heavily travelled. Lot me pick up a little bit more. I can see one very large oak tree - exceptionally large. Right now Bart is trying to point something out that is basically tile significance of the whole place . It's like that key thing, well, if you'd have nlQntioned a salt pile I'd have blown my lid. Well, this has a significance that's just about comparable to that. I'm screening it Ou t . Thing that just flashed in was kind of like a stadium structure - like looking clown into a stadium. Just when I did that I - I'll have to reorient to make sure I'm looking in the same area now.. 3 Approved For Release 2000/08/10 CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 Approved For Release 2000/08110: CIA-RDP96-00787ROO0100010001-1. St'01113 t iko tll(,y' r(~ Sti L t got them in the same quadrant I had them in ori,l-inatty. Seems ]Ake some decorative bricir. walls. THE QUADRANT YOU HAD THEM IN IS BASICALLY ME NORT11rAST QUADRANI-? Yeah, I got them out about this far - it's not far away - I'd say in this direction over here about - feels like a mile to a mile and a half. They don't feel as far away, and I'm not looking. at the time continuum, They actually don't feel as far away, I'd say that it is about - not half the distance they were to the marina, and it seems to.be on a line Just about in that direction but just a hair more - rather than a direct line from here to the marina - they seem to be just slightly more to the lef tof that line. I was looking back to where he had the car parked and it seems like it's on asphalt then a curb in front, and then it's like a dirt walkway and then a sidewalk. But I can see eficalyptus buds on the ground and some branches of eucalyptus there. Onu of the most dominant things to me in the way of unusualness is the size of the oak tree that I'm looking at. Looks like an arboretum, or I get the definite feeling of flowers. Almost get the feeling like it's commercial flowers. In fact, the most predominant feeling that I'm getting right now is flowers. Don' t know why iris particularly. Thurc's something about the windmill that I was going to look at. Wasn't that what you were .... ? Be Like orie you'd almost see in a miniature golfcourse...the windmill, Has all the construction and detail but not as large - it's fairly small. Seems to be made out of dark redwood and it's kind of aged. I'm --oiiig to try to look more directly to them. Let's see, there's Bart and Hal, and behind Bart is Judy and behind Hal is Phyllis, kinda stag- gered there. Looks like a possible small pool of water like a garden pond. Looks like a little bridge. 4 000100010001-1 Approved For Release 2000/08/10 CIA-RDP96-00787R Approved For Release 2000/08110 : CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 I was trying to got the feeling of what type of an area it was. Let me elevate a bit. I'm looking at much too small an area. There's some F,,i,( ater significance there that I feel I'm definitely not looking at. - let's jack up a bit ... maybe 500 feet. I see a lot of trees. I see Judy's red hair and her brown eyes and her flashing teeth - she has beautiful teeth. Hadn't really looked at them before. Phyllis kind her are talking about something and Hal and Bart are talking about something and he's pointing at something and it seems to me that he's pointing over to what Id call a windmill or something that looks like a windmill. The water I see looks more like a pool or a pond than it does - you know, it's not big like a lake - not very large, but it looks like a definite pool. ight where they're at I don't hear too much traffic noise - it seems be fairly quiet. )oks like a little wooden walkway. eels a little early, b~t it kinda seems like they're retracing their teps heading back toward the car, but they're still moving quite leisurely. IF YOU LOOK DOWN ON THE PLACE FROM ABOVE, CAN YOU GET ANY FEELING FOR THE - IS THERE ANY OVERALL LAYOUT OR PLAN? When I went up I could see trees and stuff, and I kind of got the feeling of Lil.~(-, in a corner of a golf course, you know - where there would be a lot of trees overhanging the green and some things in there - that seemed to be, out of context, but when I elevated, that's what I got. It kind of looked like an overlap to me so I didn't talk about it, but I will. When I elevated it kind of felt like it was right over the corner of a g01F Course of some kind, with a street running down one side, and they are fairly close to that. In fact, the bricked area that I looked at or like a patio thing kinda Looks like a walkway. Seems like there's small building - small meaning not tall - looks like a single story building. Looks like it has a flat I-oof sli--Iitly pitched. Looks like 4 x 4 poles supporting it has a 5 Approved For Release 2000/08/10 CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 Approved For Release 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 Q-111101)y Out over it. They're painte d white, place looks like very possible lif~ht yellow or cream color. They're walking not too far from that. Still seems to me that they're on a dirt pathway. In the area that they're in now I get flowers again - where before they kinda fell out of the flowers. Looks like maybe 80-100 yards from where they are - looks like 2 guys oil a motor scooter. They can see them. MIAT WOULD YOU SAY IS THE INTEREST TO T11IS PI-ACE? WHAT'S SPECIAL ABOUT THIS PLACE? It seems to be a kind of a recreational, relaxed ... not energetic - looks more relaxed. I'd say it's kind of combination recreational and relaxation area that I'm getting out of it. That would be the general character of it. Two aspects - one is aesthetics and the other is a kind of a mild recre- ational area. There seani to be some unique features - I dont have it totally into context as yet. There's a number of things that I've rejected - looked Lit and rejected saying. First, I got the impression that it was kind of like a miniature golf course -- I rejected that. Merely from saying it - I didn't reject the principle - I just rejected saying it. Thcn I kind of got the idea of a standard golf course - I also rejected that on the same principle, so I'm just trying to describe the terrain. Scums expansive - doesn't seem cluttered. JLlSt got a flash of something that reminded me of the gyroscope - gimbals oil the gyroscope. Drinking fountain - looks like it's made out of kinda like field stone hLlilt Up into a fountain ... bowl. I'm going to elevate again and go through a search quadrant again. 6 Approved For Release 2000/08/10 CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 Approved For Release 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 I stiLl gret them in that general location, so that seems to set all right. Distance - maybe a mile, mile and a half. Doesn't seem much farther- secills fairly close. The area has an awful lot of grass, lot of trees - looks like dirt walk- ways, well trimmed. I can see the arbor, and the arbor could be a place to sit and be out of the direct sun. May be, a few little tables and benches and chairs in there. That outlooks over quite a grassy area - there are quite a few trees. I see basically an oak. Right after they got out of the car I could see some eucalyptus buds and branches on the ground, and it seemed like the trees were there. Looked like they got out of the car, stepped upon a curb, dirt parkway, --walk, and then they went into this area. a sid( I --et the feeling this windmill type thing - that all seems fairly real. Che feeling is still that it's relaxing and has some recreational aspects I just haven't put it totally together as to giving it a name. now I get a very strong impression of flowers again. Right It seems like right now -they're back to right where I originally spotted them only they're going in the opposite direction - like they're moving t, toward the direction they originally went. While they were there they walked on several pathways - walked out quite a ways, then swung over and come over and worked around and looked at ... On(-, peculiar thing I might note - so far I haven't sensed, seen nor heard an airplane. Cars seem quite distant outside of that little motor scooter affair with tile two guys oil it. That's about the only vehicular traffic I've soon - except out in, the parking lot. It seems like to me that they've got most of their attention off what thuy were looking at and they've got their attention more on the car DOW, Approved For Release 2000/08/10 CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010061 -1 Approved For Release 2000108110 CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01.00010001-1 I wil"t to look and find out what the significant thing was that Bart was talking about. There's something quite unusual there and I ... Darimed if I can pick it up. WAS HAL DOING ANYTHING BESIDES WALKING ALONG - WAS THERE ANY ACTIVITY FOR HAL TO DO? Most of the time I was looking at Hal,he was kind of listening to Bart and Bart was pointing out a number of things. Part of the time Bart was walking with Hal; part of the time he was back by Judy. When I first saw them, it was Bart in the front on the left side, Hal was on his right, Judy was slightly behind - almost between Bart and HaL but behind, and Phyllis to her right. They wandered around but the first time I picked up - they were that way. When they were coming back, they just about reversed, Bart would be in front. When they were coming back, it looked like Bart was in front with Phyllis, and Judy was walking more behind Bart and Hal on her right when they were coming back out of there. They're actually at the car. 2-30 SIULL WE GO DOWNSTAIRS AND SEE HOW THEY'RE DOING? 8 Approved For Release 2000108110 CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 Approved For-Release 2000/08/10 : CIA-kDP96-00787ROO0100010001-1 sics 19'3. Vol. 14.Ao. 2. 30-.~I,~ A study of sine-wave contrast sensitivity CPYRGHT by two psychophysical niethods-1 D. 11. KELLY and R. E. SAVOIE St,mjord Research Institate. Menlo Park, Califioniia 9402i In the literature on visual contrast thresholds for sine wave Lratings. little attention has been paid to the psychophysical methods ii.~ed to obtain these spat ial-frequency response ~ur~ es. I [ere we report a compa-rison of such data obtained bY two quite different psychophysical methods, but OtIlCrWiSC under identical conditions. using! five Ss. Both c\porirnent~ were run by computer: ( 1 ) In the method of adjustments. the computer program merely controls the order of the Stimuli and records S's contrast settin-Ls, (2) in tile forced-choice staircase (FCS) technique. tile prograrn &terrnines flow oftcri S can discriminate the sinusoidal 2ratinia from a uniform field, informs S of his accuracy. controls the stimulus contrast oil the basis of' S's preceding responses, and brackets his threshold by a series of successive appro\iniations. Method 2 eliminates criterion effects that occur in Method 1, and lience tends to minimize individual differences. However, the FCS technique requires ail order of magnitude more observing time to obtain equally smooth contrast sensitivity curves. FCS also increases the overall sensitivity of some Ss by as much as five times. but it does not sianificantIv change the shape of tile contrast sensitivitv curve; both methods show stron2 effects of lateral inhibition at low spatial frequencies. Measurements of the contrast threshold for a SinUSOid,d grating as a function of its spatial frequency have been used to study the effects on the visual process Of Optical. neural, chromatic, temporal, and other factors. Van Meeteren (1966) has reviewed a number of -11CSe Studies. We are particularly interested in the )W-frequency region Of Such data, below about ' ycles/dea (cpd), because the monotonic increase of ontr3st sensitivity with increasing spatial frequency in lis re-ion may represent a simple form of lateral ihibition (Kelly. 1973). ' In certain cases, little or no low-freqUency falloff was eported (e.g., Westheinier. 1960~ Campbell & Green. 0 1965), but this has been attributed to the use of small, sliarp-edged targets (Davidson. 1966; KeHy, 1970) or flash presentations (Kelly, 1971, 1973)~ which are unsuitable for isolatin2 the steady-state response to very low spatial frequencies. However. some Ss report that die task of detectin- a low-frequencN grating seems different from the high-freqUOricy detection task-, this raises the question of whether the apparent inhibition would persist a t low frequencies if criterion effects were Nlanv of' the data in the literature have been obtained by the psychophysic2l inethod of adjustments, Which is the easiest and Castest procedure when Ss are experienced in this type ofjud-iiient-. variations of the C method of limits have also been used. But more sophisticated psychophysical methods have been developed in recent years which are essentially independent of threshold criterion: these have not been *0U1 \iork %,.as partly supported b NIII Grant No. NS-08322 and \S1 GrLint No. GB-1 1571. S-ime of the data were reported at the October 1971 niceting of t ,he Optical Society ol'Allicrica in Ottma. Canada. We thank T. N. Corns\%cet for sM'.1_1C_N6n1_1 thiN studv. applied to the measurement of sine wave contrast thresholds. We therefore undertook to compare the sine wave thresholds obtained by the method of adjustments with those obtained by a forced-choice staircase (FCS) paradigm, in wl-dch the S was alw3ys informed of the correctness of his choice. Our main purpose was to find out whe ther the low-frequency inhibition was independent of criterion effects. but our results are also relevant to other sine wave contrast experiments that use subjective juduments. METHODS The stimulating apparatus is described in detail elsewhere (Kell%. 1966. 1972); its components are sho\~ n schernaticaLly in Fig i S is seated comfortably. viewing a cathode ray tube (C'R*T)' 50 ern distant through an artificial 'pupil. 2.3 mm in diam. lie sees ail 8-deg circular field. filled by a vertical sinusoidal grating. Tile spatial frcquenc 'v of this gratin2 is controlled by a (LINIC 8) computer. The dep,.~ndent variable is the Michelson contrast (m) of tile grating. defined as Bmax - Bmin M = Bmax + 13min where Binax ail(] Bmin are the maximuni and ininimuin values of tile stimulus %%aveform. in trolands (td) of retinal illurninance. This contrast is under tile control of either the computer or the S. depending oil the mode of operation. Since the grating does not flash or- flicker in the present e\periment~. our temporal waveforin source was not used isce Fig. I). Adjustments NIO~de Ill the method of adjustments. the S controls tile contrast Of the LT36m:. usin2 a ieared-down potentiometer %\ ithout stops or other mechanical cues. Spinning the knob about 1.200 de,: CONCTS the entire adjustment ranLe. which may be either 0-1 or 0-0 1 :ontrast. depending on a Nwitch controlled by the S. Anodwr sMich dives him the option of %ie\\i .ng zoro Or . full oontrist it all ,v tillie. \\ithout IQ~ing hi, potentionletcr wttim,. \\hell lh,: 'Ottim, mvet~ his thres'llold :rilerioll. lie l'uslies a Approved For Release 2000/08/10 CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 Approved For Release 2000/08/10 CIA-RDP96-00787RDO'Olloooloool-i CPYRGHT .,14 K EL L Y AN'D S A VO I E 777,~ 71 r__ A C yjl:tc! . SC A% N I - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- "C 7o% r A I %W-(.AL I y- L UA I IAt PM 1! cc W".1 E A CRT U ~IS-AL CLC,~ J C:: %P As A%L' ~vN I *A%EIoqA PEDESTAL sc~ Rcf 1'0 LD (.1 METHOO OF ADJUSTVIENT CHGiCE SCANNING - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ----- ,~,,cAL I I ~PAT-AL I L-%C 8 '1 PATTERC17] CRT CJ-,-J!ER rLorK CONTRAST D ~Y,, MULTIPLY _-IIJ ATTF%UATOR A C :C\, 14,: 1hI FORCEO-CROICE STAfFICASE METHOD Fig. 1. Sigrial-flow diagrams of the CRT stimulator. (a) Configuration for method of adjustments. (b) Configuration for forced-choice staircase (FCS) procedure. button which enters this contrast into the computer. lie is instnicted to fixate the center of the grating and to find the contrast at which it can just be discriminated from a uniform field. (This criterion. which we al-ways use for sine wave thresholds. should come close to matching S's performance in the forced-choice task described below.) S spends as much time as lie wislics "huntinL," back and forth to find his threshold. but we instnict him to make his final judgments only in the steady state: i.e.. after he has refrained from changing the contrast for several seconds. Twelve spatial frequencies were tested in one experimental session; each pattern was presented five times in random order. for a total of 60 judgments. The means of these five settin-s cave fairIv smooth -spatial-freclucricy response cun-es. as described beloW. An experienced S can complete such a run in 20-25 min. Forced-Choice Staircase (FCS) Mode Our criterionless psychophysical procedure combined the , timuli Hickcsy. 1947: Corns\%eet. staircase method of Ord cring s 1962) with the forced-choice method of response collection ffllackN~ell. 1946; I-leinemann. 1961). In this application. the two techniques complement each other in such a \~ay that S spends most of his time making diWrinlinatiOnN near threshold. The S's task is much simple 'r in the FCS mode. The same 12 Stimulus patterns are used. but their 4ontrast is now under the control of the computer. One stimulus cycle consists of two succes~i%e intervals. each 5 sec lonL: a pattern of nonLero contrj~t is presented in only one of theNe intervals, %thich i~ the computer from a table of Tandoni numbers. determined b% One second after the of each intcr%al. a marker ionc - - sounds to nofifY S that the ~tinIUIUS niaN be %isiblc. Ile make, hi, choice ofinterval by pushim! a bulton. \%hich il%o ~Iart~ the nc\t trial: but this button has no effect until after the second tone. In other \% ords. S must mike a choice in order to sta, t a ne%% trid]. but lie cannot do so until after the wcond inter\al has started. As soon as lie makes his choice. lie hears a pleasant tone (different from the marker tone) it' lie is correct or an unpleasant noise if lie is not. His only other control is a '*pause" switch, Miich interrupts -itch also to the experiment for rest periods. S nia% use this s\% abort a eiven trial (if. for example, lie happened to be lookim- awav Nviien the marker tone sounded). The aborted trial I-S repeated when the pause switch is reset. but the stimulus %%ill not necessarily occur in the same interval. In order to avoid transient effects (Kelly. 1971. 1973), as we do in the adjustments mode, the temporal N%a%eform of the FCS stimulus is carefLI11V controlled. The mean luminance of the CRT screen is held constant throughout the es,periment. When a gi\en pattern is presented, its contrast is smOOthl% "faded in" from zero to whatever value is set b\ the computer. as shown in Fig. 2a. The ternporal envelope of the fade-in waveform res mbles a half-c%,cle of a 0.5-11z cosine wave. so that the full contrast of the pattern is present after 1 sec ( this contrast always bein2 zero in either the first or second interval. at random). Tile pattern is also faded out the same wav. ALI 12 staircases are independent and random[\. interleaved. which helps to eliminate subjectiv e bias effects lCorns\~eet. 1962). On each trial. the contrast of the FCS stimulus is contiment on the correctness of the preceding responses to the same pattern, according to an algorithm described in detail in the Appendix. Whcri the responses indicate that S can detect the pattern. the contrast is decreased; when lie cannot. the contrast is increased. by a constant loga-ritlimic increment in either case. Thus. the contrast is forced to cross and recross the threshold level (which is about 75% correct). At first. the size of the increment is decreased each time the response sequence indicates that a contrast increase has probably crossed S's threshold. But the third time this indication occurs. the smallest increment QV-c contrast change) is maintained and the staircase is tenninated with a fixed number of additional trials. A typical staircase illustrating these properties is Shown in Fla. 2b. Each stimulus is first-presented at full contrast. to familiarize S with its appearance and to provide a suprathreshold baseline. If lie detects it correctly. its next prcs Ientation is at a contrast of 0.02: the staircase then enters the main alLorithm (see Appendix). to 0 . W ------- ~I c 00, o to SIc-1 1- 0001 10 10 15 ~J TWE TPIAt N-WBER T.,.,, 0-, 1,, A-- A (a) FORCED-CHOICL(hlTYPICAL PRESENTATION SIAIrCASE CYCLE Fig. 2. Details of the FCS procedure. (a) Temporal waveform of one stimulus cycle and timing of alerting tones. (b) A single staircase. reassembled to show all contrasts presented. increment sizes, wrong responses, and calculated threshold. Approved For Release 2000/08/10 CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 Approved For Release 2000/08/10 CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 QPYRGHT SINE-W.-WE CONTR~\ST SENSITIVITY Se~ oral 11 Ll n d red t rials are req u ire d t o termi na to a 11 12 s I air,:a %cs : all e \ pe rini on tal wssion usually takes 65-75 inin. reg,irdless or' tile sk-in or experience of the S. Most of tile Variabilitv in lenunh of tile indMdual staircaNc,, (Rose et aL 1970) is awra~,.ed Out b', tile IaFU'C ilUmbor of Ntair~~ases beinu run The threshold for each pattern is calculdted as the mean of tile Ia,t eight contrasts presented. no ad -iacent pair or' these being sep.truted bv niore than tile smallest increment. f lie intersession variabilit% of I CS data obtained in this %va\, is no Lreater than in tile adjustment inocle, but is mainly randoin rather thall *-stcmatic. Thus, to obtain equalk, smooth spatial-frequency response curves, one niust average tho data from three F-cs sessions. as described belmv, RESULTS Fi-ure 3 shows some contrast sensitivity da t a obtained with 3 20-year-old ernmetropic naive S. The upper curve (Filled circles) represents combined data from three FCS runs: three comparable adjustment curves are plotted separately (open circles). These data are typical of our results ill three W3N's. First, the shape of the FCS curve is essentially the same as that of the adjustment Curves: in both cases. the contrast sensitivity :ricreases steeply at low spatial frequencies, to a '1XiMLlll1 near 4 cpd. Second. the FCS sensitivity is ~tciniticallv greater than that in any of the adjustment is. by a factor of 2 to 5. Third. there are also tematic differences amon- the individual adjustment wes, but these are smaller than the KS-ad-justriient feronces. The lowest sensitivity in Fig. 3 represents the first 0.002 Subi. KS 0.005 0.01 0.02 cc 0 0.05 0.1 O~2 0.5 FCS Adjustments Ist Run --2nd Run Run 0.2 0.5 1. 2 5 10 SPATIAL FREOUENCY (cpd) Fig. 3. Contrast sensitivity vs sratial frequency for S K.S. Retinal illuminance. 1,300 td: artificial pullil. 2. nini. Filled circles are the nicans of t1irce FCS runs- Open CirCleS represent dirce successive adjustment runs. 0.005 0.01 < 0.02 z 0.05 0.1 0.2 Si,bi. EK 33 15 Fig.4. Contrast sensitivity vs spatial frequency for S D.K. Same conditions as Fig. 3. experiment with S K.S. Her adjustment sensitivity increased subsequently, but leveled off between th'e second arid third adjustment runs. Typically. a naive S starts with a liigh threshold criterion. which lie then lowers after some experience with the method of adjustments. However, his adjustment thresholds seldom act as low as his FCS thresholds: apparentl,, lie adopts a 'criterion in the range of 90%-100% probability of detection (compared to the 7517c imposed by the FCS mode). Figure 4 shows a sin-Lil2r comparison for another S. S D.K. (one of the authors) is sornewhat atypical, having had hundreds of hours of practice in experiments vvith this particular apparatus. If practice lowers the adjustment threshold, his adjustment sensitivity should be greater than that of S K.S.~ arid it is. relative to hLis FCS sensitivity. H~s adjustment sensitivity.may still be slightly less than his FCS sensitivity. but the' two are much closer together than they are for our other S§. Evidently lie uses a lower threshold criterion. closer to the FCS level. As in Fi-. 3, the FCS Curve in Fia. 4 %%as L -a frorn three sessions. a-total of obtained by averaging d to about 3.5 li observing time. Howeve .1 r, the co Lntrast sensitivitv curves obtained from individual FCS sessions are also instructive: those are shown for a third S in Fio. 5. Each of the dashed curves in this fioure connects the end points of the 12 0 staircases obtained in a single experimental session (see Fig. 2b). The mean curve for these three FCS sessions is shown for comparison with the previous figures. Fi,_,urc 5 Aso shows some systernatic VariatiOn 21110111-1 three adjustment runs for this S. (S H.P. %~ is wore experienced than K.S.. but ONT11 all MpOriCIICCd S \\'ill not al%~avs hold the same ad List nient criterion fiom one rull to the next.) A(_,ain. the FCS sen~,itivii% iN ~iboui five Approved For Release 2000/08/10 CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 0.2 0.5 1 2 .5 10 SPATIAL FREQUENCY (cpd) Approved For Release 2000/08/10 CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 CPYRGHT 10 kELLYAND SAVOIE 0.002 0.005 0.01 < 0.02 0 0.05 0.1 0.2 - Subi. HP FV Adjustments Ist Run 2nd Run 3rd Run 0.2 0.5 1 2 5 10 SPATIAL FREQUENCY (cpd) Fig. 5. Contrast sensitivity vs spatial frequency for S H.P. Same conditions as Figs. 3 and 4. Dashed lines show data from three FCS runs, averaged to obtain filled-circle points. times areater than theadjustment sensitivity. The most important result shown in Fig. 5 is the nature of the variability among FCS runs and among adjustments runs. Althou '-It the FCS data are about as variable as the adjustment data, the adjustment viriability is mainly systematic. while the variability ariion~! the FCS rune seems random. (Note that die FCS curved from individual sessions cross and recross each other and the mean curve several times.) The data were subjected to a chi-square test of the hypothesis that mean rank contrast sensitivity is independent of session number. This hypothesis can be rejected for the adjustments data (p < .001), but cannot be rejected for the FCS data (p = .1). , Now, if the FCS method eliminates systematic intra-S Variability from one run to the neyt, and if this intersession variability is caused mainly by changes in S's criterion, then we would expect this method to minimize the variability anzong Ss as well. The data shown iny Fig, 6 tend to confirm this expectation. Here the mean FCS curve for S H.P. is repeated, together with similar data for two other young, emmetropic Ss-. Note the close similarity among all three contrast sensitivity curves. particularly at frequencies below 2 cpd. Those data (and others not reported here) all tend to confirm the presence of a low-frequency inhibiting effect with -a relatively steep slope (about 2 in loo-log coordinates). DISCUSSION Instructing -S 't o- try to detect an 'v perturbation ofthe uniform field may be important in making the adjusiment cuives so sinilLir in ship,~ to the FCS One Should 110t aSSL1111C ThUt Our fel.,Ull~ V,011ld he obtained it' S were Instructed to detect the presenco ofa orating. or to report its orieniation. count its hin,_,cs. etc. The use Of Other sub jective criteiia can doubtlc\,s the shape Ot tile sine wave threshold curve. When minimuni threshold VJILICS are not iekluiied, ~jild occasional criterion differences jrnonc~ and within Ss :3n be tolerated. the method of adjust-wilts is ob%iousk smooth CUIV0 "I preferable. because it vields cquall~ about a 10th of the time required b% the FCS niethod" However, the FCS method chmilwies criterion d i f fe re n c e sand provides i it fo r it i a I i o it LibOU t S'S performance (not just hisjudgirients). Summarizing Our results with five Ss. from naive to quite experienced: (I) Both methods x ield the sa m e curve shape. but the FCS method gives significantly greater sensitivity than that obtained by tile method of adjustments: the increase may be as greal as a factor of 5 (depending on S's adjustment criterion). (2) Presumably because it is independent of threshold criteria. the FCS method does not show systematic changes of sensitivity from one run to the next (as the C method of adjustments sometimes does.) (3) The variability of the FCS data is mainly random and can therefore be made quite small by taking criouggh data. (4) Mien this is done. individual differences (among young, emmetropic Ss) tend to disappear. These results are essentially what WOUld be expected. based on the differences between tile two psychophysical methods. We conclude that. if the S is appropriately instructed, die shape of I-Lis sine wave grating sensitivity curve is not affected by using the method of adjustments. Moreover, it seems likely that this negative result would be maintained if the present study were extended to other criierion-dependent 0.002 0.005 0.01 cr- z 0 0.02 U 0.05 0.1 Fig. 6. Contrast sensitivity vs spatial frequency for three young, eninictropic Ss, obtain'ed b) the FCS technique. Approved For Release 2000/08/10 CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 0.2 0,5 1 2 5 10 SPATIAL FREQUENCY (cpd) A roved For Release 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-00787ROO0100010001-1 CPYW8HT ~Al- Y.% -RR %%AS RES POI.SE.1 BE~O-- THAT RIGHT':,R~ 31d V; Y.-s RFIR SEO - ' r *-' 1 SET P, T E T X T N C Z AAS Ye, CO%TRAST 143 C.-W%~E,- LAST TIME Yes MARK CG%T RAST , I NOT CHA,GF0 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTRAST Ft. T CPEAsE EO%17~CHANGE C R R 7~T F ASE -17ST FOE - c cy 1*"C; eY I%CPE.'. Fig. 7. Flos~v-cliart representation of the FCS computer program SINE-WAVE CONTRAST SENS IT I VITY 317 EXECUTIVE STAIRLASE . . - - - - - . . - - - - . . - - - - . . - . . INTERFACE . - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - . CO', . 114 . A~ . I . . I CONTROL A 0, ~, r, RE SPO 14S F PEI\FOR Ct %*[',T - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - j- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - STAIRCASE SA Y 3 CONTROL E V.RR DATA EOUEI;CES YET' I AST .4 !ij ~ ~ P z E l S E 1. T 11 10 \S T, - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - RESPONSE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - WAS HISTORY % PRESENT PESPO',SE RIGHT' ~ Yes A I es AS IT ESPO~.SE .R < RIPGH T1 psychophysical methods in general. Thus, our results various bookkeeping functions. and calculates and prints tend to support the sine wave threshold data obtained OLIt tile average data at the end of an experimental by those inethods. session. The staircase control portion of the program operates oil a parameter table for tht staiicase currently APPENDIX, selected: it keeps track of the previous three responses. the previous eight contrasts. the present contrast. and Tile Forced-Choice Staircase (FCS) Computer Program contrast increment size (and other parameters for internal use). These historical data are needed for each The operation of the FCS COMPLIter prograin can be staircase to determine its subsequent contrasts. divided 111t0 fiVC fLinctional catevorles: execlitive. The interface control portion of the program controls interface contiol. staircase control. response history, and tile StinlUlator interface. which operates the entire contrast clian-e (see Fig. 7). sequence of each trial: SE1111111LIS saenerdtion. CC)Iltrj~t The executive section of the prograni initializes the fdding. inarker tones. and reinforcement. When S makes exrerinlent, selects (froni a random tatile) ()Ile (-)I' tile I ', a response. the computer reads data from the interfice. stinittius patterns for presentation at ~jch tri~tl. p,~rforms indicating \vlicther tile re~,ponse %~as right or (,it Approved For Release 2000108110 : CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1 CRYRGHT CPYRGHT ,is KELLYAND SAVOIE whether tile -pause" switch xvas set). The response histo ,ry section is the heart of the FCS program ~ Fia. 7 shows a flow chart of this section and its relation t6 tile other parts of the program. Each staircase follows the al,2oritlim accordina to its own history, in d e 1) e n d e nt of the other staircases. The next contrast to be presented (for the selected staircase) is calculated on the basis of the present contrast. the present response,, the provious two responses. the contrast increment, and whother the contrast was changed after the previous response. The contrast algorithm is as follows: (I) When S makes a .,prong (NV,) response, the contrast of that pattern is increased for its, next presentation. After lie makes two successive right (R) responses to the same pattern. its contrast is decreased (this sets the average end point of each staircase at about 751-c correct). Tile new contrast is obtained by multiplying (or dividing) the preceding contrast by a fixed ratio (i.e., a constant lo- increment). (2) Each time the sequence NV,R,R occurs. the size of this increment is decreased. (This is most likely to occur when the contrast increases from below to above the 7 5 7c correct level.) The successive increment sizes are: 8X, 2X, 1.3X. (3) After the sequence W,R,R has occurred three times with a given pattern. the -staircase terminates with three more trials usinz the smallest increment. and that pattern is not presented again. The session ends when all staircases have terminated. The last eiaht contrasts from each staircase are avcra~wd to obtain the threshold. The minimum number of trials before termination but after the second W.R.R sequence is ei.glit. Therefore. all contrasts being averaged were necessarly presented during the period when the smallest contrast increment %vas ~n effect. REFERENCES B61<6sv. G. v. A new audiometer. Acta Oto-larvn2olo!zica. 1947. 35. 4 11-422. Blackv~cll. 11. R. Contrast thresholds of the human eye. Journal of the Optical Society of America. 1946. 36. 624-643. Campbell. F. W.. & Green, D. G. Optical and retinal factors affectin5i visual resolution. Journal of Physiology, 196S, 181, 576-59i. Corns%\cct, T. N. The staircase method in psychophysics. American Journal of Psycholog~, 1963. ~5, 483-4'91. Davidson. M. A perturbation analysis of spatial brightness interaction in flashed visual fields. Doctoral thesis, University o(California. Berkeley, 1966. Heinemann. E. G. The relation of apparent brightness to the threshold for differences in luminance. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 196 1, 611 3 89-399. :elly. D. 11. FrCkjLlenc~ doubling in visual responses. Journal of the Optical Societ~ of Ameri,:a. 1966. 56. 1628-1633. MlY. D. It. Lffects of sharp eclLo on the %isibilit% of sinuNoidal aratint:~. Journal of' the Optical Society of America. 1970. 60. ~ 8- 1 0"-~. oily. D. 11. Transient effects oil the vi~jbilit of low spatial frequencies. Journal uf tile Optical SocietV ofAmerica. 197 1, 61, 1576 (A). :c[ly, D. 11. Adaptation effects oil spatio.-temporal sinc-\%ave threshol&,. Vision Research. 1972. 12. 89-101. 'eltv. D. 11. Lateral inhibition in hurnan colour mechanisms. - Journal of Phy~iology, 1973. 228. 55-72. ohavakawa, Y. Contrast -difference thresholds with sinusoidal gratings. Journal of tile Optical Society of America. 1972, 62. ~84-587. ~osc, R. M., Teller. D. Y_ S, Rendlernan. P. Statistical properties of' Staircase estimates. Perception & Psychophysics. 1970. 8. 199-204. an %lecteren. A. Spatial sineware response of the risual sivem to for (a critical literature. suri-ev), Soesterber-g: histitu ' Perception RVO-TNO. 1966.' Vestheimer. G. Modulation thresholds for sinusoidal U211t distributions on the retina. Journal of PhvsioIoqv. 1960. 1~2. 67-74. NOTE 1. Because the FCS sessions are lomi and tiresome. a number f preliminary experiments Were conducted to determine the lost suitable compromise bevveen speed and end-poirit tabUity. We found that the variability sho\~ ri in Fis. 5 could not c decreased significantly vrithout prohibitive increases in run -ngth. The number and sizes of our increments %veto 2overned ~v the following constraints (see Cornsweet, 1963): (a) For Ilammuni efficiency. the smallest increment must be fixed at bout the same size as the contrast-differencc threshold for inusoidal g-Tatings: at a spatial frequency of 2.1 cyclesideg , ~ohayakawa (1972) obtained jnds of 301~- to 601-, v~ith ow-contrast gratings. (Note that this is Much larLer than the -ind )f luminance.) (b) All staircases must start at a common )aseline; for this purpose. we chose 10Kc contrast. (To start at qual distances frorn threshold would require an a priori Lssumption of the curve shape %ke a-re measuring. v,hich could )ias the result.) (c) If the contrast is to approach threshold IUiCk[%1, the initial increment must be much larger than specified n (a). The increment Should decrease as tile contrast approaches lireshold. but not so rapidly as to run a high risk of being 'trapped" in a small increment far from threshold, (d) Subject o constraint (c), the total number of increments should be ninimized. (Received for publication Januarv 16. 1973: accepted March 15. 1973: revision received \larch 29. 1973.) Approved For Release 2000/08/10 CIA-RDP96-00787ROO01 00010001 -1