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Zener cards
Zener cards are cards used to conduct experiments for extrasensory perception (ESP). Perceptual psychologist Karl Zener (1903–1964) designed the cards in the early 1930s for experiments conducted with his colleague, parapsychologist J. B. Rhine (1895–1980).
The Zener cards are a deck of 25 cards, five of each symbol. The five symbols are a hollow circle, a plus sign, three vertical wavy lines, a hollow square, and a hollow five-pointed star.
In a test for ESP, the experimenter picks up a card in a shuffled pack, observes the symbol, and records the answer of the person being tested, who would guess which of the five designs is on the card. The experimenter continues until all the cards in the pack are used.
Poor shuffling methods can make the order of cards in the deck easier to predict and the cards could have been inadvertently or intentionally marked and manipulated. In his experiments, J. B. Rhine first shuffled the cards by hand but later decided to use a machine for shuffling.
In his book, The New Apocrypha, John Sladek expressed incredulity at the tests, stating, "It's astonishing that playing cards should have been chosen for ESP research at all. They are, after all, the instruments of stage magicians and second-dealing gamblers; they can be marked and manipulated in many traditional ways. At the best of times, card-shuffling is a poor way of getting a random distribution of symbols."
Rhine's experiments with Zener cards were discredited due to either sensory leakage, cheating, or both. The latter included the subject being able to read the symbols from slight indentations on the backs of cards, and being able to both see and hear the experimenter, which allowed the subject to note facial expressions and breathing patterns.
Terence Hines has written of the original experiments:
The methods the Rhines used to prevent subjects from gaining hints and clues as to the design on the cards were far from adequate. In many experiments, the cards were displayed face up, but hidden behind a small wooden shield. Several ways of obtaining information about the design on the card remain even in the presence of the shield. For instance, the subject may be able sometimes to see the design on the face-up card reflected in the agent’s glasses. Even if the agent isn’t wearing glasses, it is possible to see the reflection in his cornea.
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Zener cards
Zener cards are cards used to conduct experiments for extrasensory perception (ESP). Perceptual psychologist Karl Zener (1903–1964) designed the cards in the early 1930s for experiments conducted with his colleague, parapsychologist J. B. Rhine (1895–1980).
The Zener cards are a deck of 25 cards, five of each symbol. The five symbols are a hollow circle, a plus sign, three vertical wavy lines, a hollow square, and a hollow five-pointed star.
In a test for ESP, the experimenter picks up a card in a shuffled pack, observes the symbol, and records the answer of the person being tested, who would guess which of the five designs is on the card. The experimenter continues until all the cards in the pack are used.
Poor shuffling methods can make the order of cards in the deck easier to predict and the cards could have been inadvertently or intentionally marked and manipulated. In his experiments, J. B. Rhine first shuffled the cards by hand but later decided to use a machine for shuffling.
In his book, The New Apocrypha, John Sladek expressed incredulity at the tests, stating, "It's astonishing that playing cards should have been chosen for ESP research at all. They are, after all, the instruments of stage magicians and second-dealing gamblers; they can be marked and manipulated in many traditional ways. At the best of times, card-shuffling is a poor way of getting a random distribution of symbols."
Rhine's experiments with Zener cards were discredited due to either sensory leakage, cheating, or both. The latter included the subject being able to read the symbols from slight indentations on the backs of cards, and being able to both see and hear the experimenter, which allowed the subject to note facial expressions and breathing patterns.
Terence Hines has written of the original experiments:
The methods the Rhines used to prevent subjects from gaining hints and clues as to the design on the cards were far from adequate. In many experiments, the cards were displayed face up, but hidden behind a small wooden shield. Several ways of obtaining information about the design on the card remain even in the presence of the shield. For instance, the subject may be able sometimes to see the design on the face-up card reflected in the agent’s glasses. Even if the agent isn’t wearing glasses, it is possible to see the reflection in his cornea.