Testing ESP

A Brief Introduction to ESP Testing

Attempts to investigate thought transference and second sight go back many centuries. Early attempts, however, often suffered from poor observation and flawed procedures that allowed cheating or misinterpretation.

Scientifically controlled investigations into telepathy, clairvoyance and precognition (predicting future events) were pioneered by members of the Society for Psychical Research (established in 1882).

In the 1930s, at Duke University, Joseph Banks Rhine established the world's first laboratory dedicated to formal experimental testing of psychic abilities.

At Duke, J.B. Rhine devised standardized procedures for testing 'extrasensory perception' (ESP), an umbrella term which he coined to encompass telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition.

To test ESP, Rhine relied mainly on a card-guessing task that used a set of special cards designed by Karl Zener. Card guessing to test ESP is still used by some parapsychologists, although the method has been largely overtaken in recent years by more elaborate and engaging procedures. These include the use of 'free response' tests in which participants attempt to form impressions about a concealed photograph or video clip.

In the 1970s, defence agencies became interested in the possibility of using ESP for intelligence gathering. In the U.S., the CIA and Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) funded the Stargate Program at Stanford Research Institute (SRI) in California. In this largely secret program, trained 'remote viewers' attempted to use ESP to gain information about undisclosed locations. The Stargate Program was discontinued around 1995 when it was concluded that remote viewing had limited practical use for the intelligence community. Scientific studies continued, however, and remote viewing has since emerged as one of the more promising approaches in ESP research.

The links shown below provide testing and training tools for a variety of ESP tasks, including classical card-guessing procedures and the more recent free-response and remote viewing protocols.

The test applications follow accepted scientific protocols (they are not rigged) and you are most likely to score around chance levels. If you score highly on these tests, you may have just been lucky. On the other hand, especially if you can perform consistently well, it may suggest that you have real psychic abilities.

If this is the case, you should definitely try our ESP or Precognition Championship. If you get one of the highest scores, we will even add you to our list of champions!