Experiment # 3
Number of Items:
Observed Condition Congruent: 292
Observed Condition Incongruent:279
Unobserved Condition Congruent: 283
Unobserved Condition Incongruent: 290
Cat Observed Condition Congruent:280
Cat Observed Condition Incongruent:284
Human Observed Condition
Average response time with congruent primes: 613.34
Average response time with incongruent primes: 657.63
Average response time difference: 44.29
t score: -4.505
p value: .000004
Unobserved Condition
Average response time with congruent primes: 601.83
Average response time with incongruent primes: 632.83
Average response time difference: 31.00
t score: -3.832
p value: .00007
Cat Observed Condition
Average response time with congruent primes: 640.32
Average response time with incongruent primes:650.96
Average response time difference: 10.64
t score: -1.071
p value: .14227
Human Unobserved*
(Unobserved Condition + Cat Observed Condition)
Average response time with congruent primes: 620.97
Average response time with incongruent primes: 641.80
Average response time difference: 20.83
t score: -2.284
p value: .01136
t-Score Comparison
Human Observed Condition t-score: 4.5054
Human Unobserved Condition t score* 2.2842
Absolute t-score difference: 2.22, p = .013
*Human unobserved condition is a composite of unobserved condition and the cat observed condition.
The results obtained were consistent with previous research (Lucido, 2023, 2024). Within the human observed conditions, items preceded by congruent primes were responded to 44 ms faster than items preceded by incongruent primes. However, within the conditions that were denied previous human observation, items preceded by congruent primes were responded to only 21 ms faster than items preceded by incongruent primes. The resulting average response time difference of 23 ms is similar to the response time difference obtained in the original study (28 ms) and in the first replication (30 ms). Although both conditions met the .05 cut off for statistical significance, the t value obtained in the human observed condition was more than twice as large as the value obtained in the conditions not observed by humans. The absolute difference in the t values between the two conditions was 2.22. The probability of obtaining this t value difference by chance was .013. The results of experiment #3 continue to support the consciousness causes collapse interpretation of quantum mechanics.
It was hypothesized that observation by the cat would collapse the wave function determining the primes and result in similar performance to the human observed primes. However, this was not the case. The primes previously observed by the cat did not have any greater effect than those left totally unobserved. Instead, they showed significantly less effectiveness than both the primes observed by humans and primes that were completely unobserved. Within the cat observed condition response times to congruent and incongruent primes were statistically equivalent (t = 1.0712, p =.142).
Observed Condition Congruent: 292
Observed Condition Incongruent:279
Unobserved Condition Congruent: 283
Unobserved Condition Incongruent: 290
Cat Observed Condition Congruent:280
Cat Observed Condition Incongruent:284
Human Observed Condition
Average response time with congruent primes: 613.34
Average response time with incongruent primes: 657.63
Average response time difference: 44.29
t score: -4.505
p value: .000004
Unobserved Condition
Average response time with congruent primes: 601.83
Average response time with incongruent primes: 632.83
Average response time difference: 31.00
t score: -3.832
p value: .00007
Cat Observed Condition
Average response time with congruent primes: 640.32
Average response time with incongruent primes:650.96
Average response time difference: 10.64
t score: -1.071
p value: .14227
Human Unobserved*
(Unobserved Condition + Cat Observed Condition)
Average response time with congruent primes: 620.97
Average response time with incongruent primes: 641.80
Average response time difference: 20.83
t score: -2.284
p value: .01136
t-Score Comparison
Human Observed Condition t-score: 4.5054
Human Unobserved Condition t score* 2.2842
Absolute t-score difference: 2.22, p = .013
*Human unobserved condition is a composite of unobserved condition and the cat observed condition.
The results obtained were consistent with previous research (Lucido, 2023, 2024). Within the human observed conditions, items preceded by congruent primes were responded to 44 ms faster than items preceded by incongruent primes. However, within the conditions that were denied previous human observation, items preceded by congruent primes were responded to only 21 ms faster than items preceded by incongruent primes. The resulting average response time difference of 23 ms is similar to the response time difference obtained in the original study (28 ms) and in the first replication (30 ms). Although both conditions met the .05 cut off for statistical significance, the t value obtained in the human observed condition was more than twice as large as the value obtained in the conditions not observed by humans. The absolute difference in the t values between the two conditions was 2.22. The probability of obtaining this t value difference by chance was .013. The results of experiment #3 continue to support the consciousness causes collapse interpretation of quantum mechanics.
It was hypothesized that observation by the cat would collapse the wave function determining the primes and result in similar performance to the human observed primes. However, this was not the case. The primes previously observed by the cat did not have any greater effect than those left totally unobserved. Instead, they showed significantly less effectiveness than both the primes observed by humans and primes that were completely unobserved. Within the cat observed condition response times to congruent and incongruent primes were statistically equivalent (t = 1.0712, p =.142).