On blowing trumpets to the tulips: to prove or not to prove the null hypothesis--comment on Bösch, Steinkamp, and Boller (2006).

Full Abstract

The H. Bösch, F. Steinkamp, and E. Boller meta-analysis reaches mixed and cautious conclusions about the possibility of psychokinesis. The authors argue that, for both methodological and philosophical reasons, it is nearly impossible to draw any conclusions from this body of research. The authors do not agree that any significant effect at all, no matter how small, is fundamentally important (Bösch et al., 2006, p. 517), and they suggest that psychokinesis researchers focus either on producing larger effects or on specifying the conditions under which they would be willing to accept the null hypothesis.Copyright (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved.

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Author information

Author/s: Wilson, David B (DB); Shadish, William R (WR);

Affiliation: Department of Public and International Affairs, George Mason University, Manassas, VA 20110, USA. dwilsonb(-atsign-)gmu.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comment; Journal Article; Meta-Analysis

Journal: Psychological bulletin (Psychol Bull), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-Jul; vol 132 (issue 4) : pp 524-8; discussion 533-7

Dates: Created 2006/07/06; Completed 2006/08/24;

PMID: 16822163, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

Comments and Corrections

CommentOn: Psychol Bull. 2006 Jul;132(4):497-523. (PMID: 16822162)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Mental Processes
Parapsychology - methods
Psychological Theory
Psychology - methods

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