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TELEPATHY AND DREAMS: A CONTROLLED EXPERIMENTWITH ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAM·ELECTRO·OCULOGRAM

MONITORING

STANLEY KRIPPNER, PH.D. AND MONTAGUE ULLMAN, M.D.'

A study was designed to investigate telepathic effects in dreams. Asingle S, who had previously been successful in a similar study at an-other laboratory, spent 8 nights at the Maimonides Dream Laboratory.On each night, a target (art print) was randomly selected by a staffmember (agent) after S was in bed. The agent spent the night in adistant room, attempting to influence S's dreams telepathically, once themonitoring experimenters signaled that a dream period had begun. Atthe end of each dream period (detected by electroencephalogram-electro-oculogram monitoring), S was awakened by the experimenters and thedream report was elicited and tape-recorded. Only the agent was awareof the target content and he remained in his room throughout the night.Blind evaluations of target-dream correspondences by both S and anoutside judge produced statistically significant results supporting thetelepathy hypothesis.

In primitive and ancient societies, dreams dream to move from the anecdotal to thewere typically thought to be the work of clinical level. A number of reports have ap-supernatural entities, appearing to mortals peared in the psychiatric literature describ-with messages of hope or despair. It was ing presumptively paranormal dreams oc-generally believed' that dreams could pro- curring in the context of the psychothera-vide a glimpse of the future, reveal events peutic situation. An extensive review ofhappening at a distance or indicate the these reports h~s been made by Devereuxthoughts of another person. For many cen- (1).turies, the recordings of purportedly para- With the development of psychophys-normal dreams referred to anecdotal mate- iological techniques for the monitoring ofrial. Calpurnia, for example, was said to dreams, it became possible to move from ahave dreamed that she saw her husband's clinical level of observation to an experi-statue bleeding like a fountain from dozens mental level of investigation. In 1962, aof wounds. As a result, she pleaded in vain Dream Laboratory was established at thewith Julius Caesar not to go to the Roman Maimonides Medical Center, Brooklyn,forum on the day that he was assassinated. New York, for the investigation of telepa-

The development of psychoanalysis thy and dreaming. Formal work involvingcaused the observation of this type of standardized electroencephalogram-electro-

1Menninger Dream Laboratory, Department of oculogram (EEG-EOG) monitoring beganPsychiatry, Maimonides Medical Center, 4802 in 1964. Since that time, eight experimentalTenth Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 11219. The studies have been completed, five of whichauthors express their appreciation to Craig Ezell,Alan Glaser, Margaret Kinder and Barbara Lidsky yielded statistically significant results sup-for their assistance with this study. The study porting the telepathy hypothesis (4, 7). Thewas supported through grants from the Ittleson eighth of these studies utilized the servicesFamily Foundation, New York, and the Societyfor Comparative Philosophy, Sausalito, California. of a clinical psychologist who had success-

394

dreams. Rank the targets individually for eachdream in'the spacesprovidedbelow.

Following the ranking of each target pic-ture on a dream by dream basis, S com-pleted the second page of the evaluationform (containing a 100-unit rating scale)which stated:

The final ranking is a compositeof the indi-vidual dream rankings. It is to be entered in theboxes provided on the bottom of this sheet.Each ranking should also be rated. By drawinglines from each target letter to the rating scale,you can show how close or distant from thedream protocol each of the eight targets is con-sidered. In other words, this rating scale repre-sents your confidence in the rankings. Use astraight edge or ruler to draw the lines. Ties arenot permitted in either the ranking or the ratingprocedure.

The third page of the evaluation formstated:

The same instructions apply here that werepreviously outlined. In this instance, score thetargets on the basis of the entire dream protocol,including material from the postsleep interview.

Before the study began, it had been de-cided to utilize S's evaluations from thethird page to test the telepathy hypothesis.These ranks and ratings were made on thebasis of S's dreams, S's associational mate-rial and S's "guess for the night."

The eight transcripts were sent to an out-side J, along with copies of the eight targetpictures, for evaluation of target-transcriptcorrespondences. The J's judging form (Fig-ure 1) read, in part:

Using a red pencil, colorthe space that repre-sents, in your judgment, the correspondencebe-tween target material and protocol content.

J was instructed to make three such rat-ings for each target-transcript combination.One rating was made on the basis of thedreams alone, one rating was made on thebasis of S's guess for the night and one rat-ing was made on the basis of the entireprotocol.

RESULTS

Statistical Analysis, Sub jectEvaluation

The results of S ranking were assessed bythe binomial method. It had been decided inadvance to consider all ranks of 1, 2, 3 and4 as "hits." All ranks of 5, 6, 7 and 8 Weredesignated "misses." When the ranks wereinspected, there were eight hits and nomisses. This distribution is significant atthe .004 level. The night by night ranks arepresented in Table 1.

S's ratings were assessed by the Mann-Whitney U test (6). The ratings for thecorrect targets were compared to the ratingsfor all other targets. The ratings for thecorrect targets were significantly higherthan the other ratings. For the dreamsalone, the data are significant at the .003level; for the entire protocol, the data arealso significant at the .003 level.

Statistical Analysis, Evaluationby Outside Judge

The results of J's evaluation were as-sessed for direct hits (i.e., rank 1) by thebinomial method (e.g., p = Ys). Five directhits were obtained when J used the dreamreports alone; this distribution is significantat the .001 level. When the entire transcriptwas used by J, five direct correspondenceswere obtained; this is significant at the .001level. When S's guess for the night was con-sidered independently from the rest of thetranscript, six direct correspondences wereobtained; this is significant at the .0001level. These ratings are presented in Table 2.

Anecdotal Material

A description of the target for each nightfollows, as well as pertinent excerpts fromS's transcript.

NIGHT 1The target randomly selected by A for

the first night (January 5, 1967) was "TheDiscovery of America, by Christopher Co-

dreams. Rank the targets individually for eachdream in the spacesprovidedbelow.

Following the ranking of each target pic-ture on a dream by dream basis, S com-pleted the second page of the evaluationform (containing a lOO-unit rating scale)which stated:

The final ranking is a composite of the indi-vidual dream rankings. It is to be entered in theboxes provided on the bottom of this sheet.Each ranking should also be rated. By drawinglines from each target letter to the rating scale,you can show how close or distant from thedream protocol each of the eight targets is con-sidered. In other words, this rating scale repre-sents your confidence in the rankings. Use astraight edge or ruler to draw the lines. Ties arenot permitted in either the ranking or the ratingprocedure.

The third page of the evaluation formstated:

The same instructions apply here that werepreviously outlined. In this instance, score thetargets on the basis of the entire dream protocol,including material from the postsleep interview.

Before the study began, it had been de-cided to utilize S's evaluations from thethird page to test the telepathy hypothesis.These ranks and ratings were made on thebasis of S's dreams, S's associational mate-rial and S's "guess for the night."

The eight transcripts were sent to an out-side J, along with copies of the eight targetpictures, for evaluation of target-transcriptcorrespondences. The J's judging form (Fig-ure 1) read, in part:

Using a red pencil, colorthe space that repre-sents, in your judgment, the correspondencebe-tween target material and protocol content.

J was instructed to make three such rat-ings for each target-transcript combination.One rating was made on the basis of thedreams alone, one rating was made on thebasis of S's guess for the night and one rat-ing was made on the basis of the entireprotocol.

RESULTS

Statistical Analysis, SubjectEvaluation

The results of S ranking were assessed bythe binomial method. It had been decided inadvance to consider all ranks of 1, 2, 3 and4 as "hits." All ranks of 5, 6, 7 and 8 Weredesignated "misses." When the ranks wereinspected, there were eight hits and nomisses. This distribution is significant atthe .004 level. The night by night ranks arepresented in Table 1.

S's ratings were assessed by the Mann-Whitney U test (6). The ratings for thecorrect targets were compared to the ratingsfor all other targets. The ratings for thecorrect targets were significantly higherthan the other ratings. For the dreamsalone, the data are significant at the .003level; for the entire protocol, the data arealso significant at the .003 level.

Statistical Analysis, Evaluationby Outside Judge

The results of J's evaluation were as-sessed for direct hits (i.e., rank 1) by thebinomial method (e.g., p = Ys). Five directhits were obtained when J used the dreamreports alone; this distribution is significantat the .001 level. When the entire transcriptwas used by J, five direct correspondenceswere obtained; this is significant at the .001level. When S's guess for the night was con-sidered independently from the rest of thetranscript, six direct correspondences wereobtained; this is significant at the .0001level. These ratings are presented in Table 2.

Anecdotal MaterialA description of the target for each night

follows, as well as pertinent excerpts froinS's transcript.

NIGHT 1The target randomly selected by A for

the first night (January 5, 1967) was "TheDiscovery of America, by Christopher Co-

Excerpts from postsleep interview. " Thepart that didn't seem to have any tie-in withpersonal dynamics or with the experimental sit-uation was the crowded church scene. .,. Some-thing of national importance, something of his-torical significance."

NIGHT 2For the second experimental night (Feb-

ruary 2, 1967), A randomly selected liTheWine Taster," by Vermeer. The paintingdepicts a man holding a bottle and wearinga large black hat; the woman is drinking aglass of wine.

Excerpts from dream reports. " ... It seemedas if one of the figures had on sort of a checkedcoat .... A dancing or night club cabaret scene.... I was over at a friend's house, and ... I wastaking a pill.... "

Excerpts from postsleep interview. " ... Thereis this fellow ... dressed in the clothing of thatera .... I see him wearing a black derby hat ....Something in the cabaret scene.... I was takinga glass of water to take this last pill that the girlwas offering me .... We're close friends withthem and ... socialize for a drink. ... It's thewomen who are doing whatever it is that's get-ting done. I think that it would involve move-ment on the part of the women .... "

NIGHT 3

A randomly selected Rousseau's "TheRepast of the Lion" for the session onMarch 15, 1967. The picture shows a lionbiting into the flesh of a smaller animal.

Excerpts from dream reports. "I dreamed thatI was lying here in this room and I thought Iheard ... a voice ... , and they were sayingsomething about this girl was the murderess ....And I became very upset with this and tried tograb the person and ... started to sort of stran-gle him .... Now, George, in the dream wassaying something .... His death was announced.. . . George had shot himself .... It was a greattragedy .... Then I was very much concernedwith keeping track of three dogs.... There weretwo puppies ... , and it seemed like the two ofthem had been sort of fighting before. You couldkind of see their jaws were open and you couldsee their teeth .... n

TABLE 1S Ranks and Rat£ngs

Dreams Alone Entire TranscriptNight

Ranks Ratings Ranks Ratings

1 1 99 1 992 4 21 4 283 2 76 3 784 2 52 2 525 3 76 3 766 2 87 2 697 3 85 3 858 1 100 1 100

TABLE 2J's Evaluation.

Correct Incorrect Target-Target- Transcript Pairs

Transcript Presented in OrderPair of Magnitude

Dreams alone*Night l. .. 61 51 45 20 1 1 1 1Night 2. .. .. . . .. 5 17 11 1 1 1 1 1Night 3. ........ 61 31 30 17 10 1 1 1Night 4 ... ...... 10 91 51 6 4 1 1 1Night 5 .. ....... 11 30 11 1 1 1 1 1Night 6 ...... , . 71 60 11 11 8 4 1 1Night 7. ... " ... 70 15 15 6 1 1 1 1Night 8. 30 10 9 1 1 1 1 1

Entire transcript*Night 1......... 61 41 31 20 11 1 1 1Night 2 ......... 1 11 10 .5 1 1 1 1Night 3. ........ 61 40 31 21 14 1 1 1Night 4 ......... 90 50 10 1 1 1 1Night 5 ....... 20 31 20 6 1 1 1 1Night 6 .. .... ... 60 41 7 6 5 1 1 1Night 7 ..... ." . 70 21 20 20 19 1 1 1Night 8. ........ 50 15 11 6 1 1 1 1

Guess for thenight]

Night 1 .. ....... 61 60 21 10 1 1 1 1Night 2. .... ... 1 11 1 1 1 1 1 1Night 3. o • • • • • • • 41 31 21 20 10 1 1 1Night 4. .... ', . 11 91 11 4 1 1 1 1Night 5 ... ...... 31 20 11 1 1 1 1 1Night 6 ..... ... 70 31 7 2 1 1 1 1Night 7. '" ... 50 26 20 10 1 1 1 1Night 8 ... ... " . 50 40 20 1 1 1 1 1

* Significant at the .001 level. binomial method(~~) .

t Significant at the .0001level, binomial method(%).

Excerpts from postsleep interview. " ... Againin this dream there were two references thatwere dealing with death. . .. There were twodogs. ... The teeth were there, and they had

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FIG. 2. "The Enigma of Fate" by De Chirico. (Courtesy of Tudor Press, New York.)

they were running it much more like a prison.. " This was a very people-dominated nightfrom beginning to end .... It seemed as if therewas a lot of emphasis on sitting postures."

November 26, 1967. The painting portraysthree men, one of whom is holding anarrow. There is a stake in the backgroundaround which a piece of rope is tied; astrand of rope can also be seen in the fore-ground.

NIGHT 8

A randomly selected Bichitr's "Man withArrows and Comnanions" (Fi!nin~ 3) - on

FIG. 3. "Man with Arrows and Companions" by Bichitr. (Courtesy of Tudor Press,New York.)

ahead of me were three men .... I believe theywere holding rifles.... It seemed like it was ashort length of rope. ... The rope was in adirect line for a very short distance; then therewas about three or four coils of rope .... "

Excerpts from postsleep interview. "Therewere three men ... This word 'gunslinger' camethrough and it could have fitted in with thesethree men, and it also could have fitted in withthe western theme. . .. A rope theme seemed to

come through .. " My guess would be that itwas a scene of Western life involved. Peopledressed up in cowboy suits with guns .... Some-where in the picture rope imagery appears in avery prominent or conspicuous way .. ,. Thatwould be my surmise as to what the target pic-ture would be like."

DISCUSSION

Hall (3) points out the difficulty whichexternal stimuli have in becoming a part ofthe dream sequence. Rarely do perceptionsof external events find representation -indreams; when they do, the perceptual ele-ment is usually a minor part of the dream.In addition, the stimulus is generally dis-torted in some fashion (3, pp. 6-7). Thus,the success of this attempt to influencedreams from a distance is extremely pro-vocative in view of the difficulty that onehas in influencing dreams by direct sensorystimulation.

As might be suspected from Hall's re-marks, the telepathic stimuli appeared to bedistorted in many instances. In other cases,however, they remained quite free fromchange and emerged from the dream reportin an undisguised way. Examples of thislatter phenomenon would be the church(night 1), the reference to "a drink" (night2), the fight between two animals (night 3),the reference to "dance" (night 4), thegiant (night 5), the house (night 6), thepoliceman (night 7) and the rope (night 8).

Instances of distortion might include thetransformation of the Atlantic Ocean intoAtlantic City (night 1), the transformationof drinking wine to drinking water (night

2), changing of animal aggression into aseries of aggressive acts committed by hu-mans (night 3), reporting striped beesrather than girls in striped costumes (night4), visualizing a penis rather than a tallchimney-like structure (night 5), changinga tree into a telephone pole (night 6),transforming a dead gangster into a deadmouse (night 7) and transforming arrowsinto rifles (night 8).

Despite these distortions and transforma-tions, Sand J were able to engage in blindmatching of targets and dream reports atstatistically significant levels. These results,obtained under conditions carefully de-signed so as to eliminate any reasonable al-ternative hypothesis, strongly suggest theoperation of a telepathic effect in an experi-mental setting.

REFERENCES1. Devereux, G. Psychoanalysis and the Occult.

International Universities Press, New York,1953.

2. Hall, C. Experimente zur telepathischen Beein-fiussung von Triiumen. Z. Parapsychol.Grenzgeb., 10: 18--47,1967.

3. Hall, C. The Meaning oi Dreams. McGraw-Hill, New York, 1966.

4. Krippner, S. The paranormal dream and man'spliable future. Psychoanal. Rev., 56: 28-43,1969.

5. Moss, T. and Gengerelli, J. A. Telepathy andemotional stimuli: a controlled experiment.J. Abnor. Psychol., 72: 341-348,1967.

6. Siegel, S. Nonparametric Statistics [or the Be-havioral Sciences. McGraw-Hill, New York,1956.

7. Ullman, M., Krippner, S. and Feldstein, S. Ex-perimentally-induced telepathic dreams: twostudies using EEG-REM monitoring tech-niques. Int. J. N europsuchiat, 2: 420-437,1966.