Children's psi and personality variables - Abstract

ABSTRACT: Classroom studies done with children were covered in a previous (1990) PA panel; however, many researchers familiar with these studies may be unaware of some of the research focused on personality and other variables.

Several experiments have indicated that children's creativity enhances their ESP scores. Also, high school students reporting spontaneous ESP score higher on ESP tests. Some studies have shown a correlation with sex of experimenter or sender; females react better to males and vice versa. Attention seekers score better than attention avoiders, psychically matching pleasant and unpleasant pictures with the teacher's choices.

Both highly intelligent and mentally disabled children score well in ESP studies. In the latter, a close relationship with the teacher, experimenter, or sender can be a factor in obtaining good results. Students who score well on one type of ESP test, such as clairvoyance, are also likely to score well on another, such as telepathy. On the whole, younger children do better on GESP (general extrasensory perception) and older children on clairvoyance tasks. Greater independence may enhance responsiveness to clairvoyance testing. Students who score well on spatial tasks score well on spatial ESP tasks; those who score well on verbal tasks score well on verbal ESP tasks. Sometimes sex differences in scoring depend on type of target. A precognition experiment published in Read magazine tested over 100,000 junior high schoolers; results showed that girls scored significantly, boys at chance.

In a correlation of precognition and anxiety scores for junior high and high school students, it was found that high-anxiety students scored better than low-anxiety students, whereas mid-anxiety students scored the worst. In a meta-analysis, Defense Mechanism Test scores correlated with ESP; low defensiveness indicated higher ESP. Using Cattell's high school Personality Questionnaire, plus ESP tests, it was found that warm, sociable, self-assured, easygoing students scored well; aloof, critical, insecure, uptight students scored below chance, also demonstrating ESP. "Happy-go-lucky" students scored positively; serious-minded students scored negatively.

Various studies show correlation between memory and ESP; other areas affecting ESP in children are motivation, extraversion or introversion, and belief in ESP, the sheep-goat effect. In addition, pairs of children, ages 6 through 10, working cooperatively rather than competitively, were shown to have a significantly higher number of ESP hits. In 2 studies, blind children scored better than nonblind children, and hay fever sufferers and participants with neuroses scored higher than others.

In summary, many personality and other variables are involved when testing children's ESP. Some of these are also significant when testing adults; others might be unique to children or individual testing situations. This paper focuses on studies that offer potential directions for future work.

COPYRIGHT 2001 Parapsychology Press
COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group