Radin, Dean, Michel, Leena, Delorme, Arnaud. (2015). Reassessment of an independent verification of psychophysical interactions with a double-slit interference pattern. Physics Essays. 28. 415-416. 10.4006/0836-1398-28.4.415.
Abstract
In an independent analysis of data from a double-slit experiment designed to investigate von Neumann-like psychophysical interactions, Baer [Phys. Essays 28, 47 (2015)] concluded that shifts in interference pattern minima showed a small but consistent effect in alignment with what we had previously reported. But because the standard deviation of those measurements was large compared with the mean, Baer concluded that the optical system was not sufficiently sensitive to provide convincing evidence of a psychophysical effect. However, this type of assessment should rely on standard error, not standard deviation. When the proper statistic is employed, Baer’s calculations show a modest but statistically significant deviation of the central minima in data contributed by human observers (p = 0.05, one-tail), but not in sessions contributed by robot “observers” (p = 0.26, one-tail). In addition, when considering the central minimum along with eight other minima, the human-observed grand mean was significantly larger than the robot-observed grand mean (p = 0.008). Thus, Baer’s independent analysis confirmed that the optical apparatus used in this experiment was indeed sensitive enough to provide evidence for a psychophysical effect.
