The notion that psi may be able to function without conscious intent and mediate adaptive consequences is a feature of several theories of psi. In particular, Stanford’s “Psi-mediated Instrumental Response” (PMIR) model predicts that psi can operate without conscious awareness, facilitating advantageous outcomes by triggering preexisting behaviours in response to opportunities or threats in the environment. Luke and colleagues tested elements of this model over 4 studies involving an implicit, forced-choice precognition task in which participants were positively or negatively rewarded based on their performance in relation to the MCE. The 4 studies combined yielded significant evidence of an implicit precognition effect. The present study attempted to replicate this precognition effect using a more refined contingent reward system employing images from the International Affective Picture System. The number of trials per participant was increased to enhance statistical power, whereas all other design elements remained consistent with the original studies. Fifty participants achieved a tacit precognition hit rate marginally greater than the MCE, but the extent of their outperformance was not significant. Nevertheless, together with Luke and colleagues’ 4 studies, the combined effect size remains significant (Stouffer Z = 3.25, p = 0.001). Findings are interpreted in relation to Stanford’s PMIR model.

A poetical book devoted to the Himalayan metropolis of Kathmandu. The work is enriched by a large series of photogaphic images by the author.

Use of cold tooling is beneficial in the sheet metal forming. This paper presents simulations of the process with the objective of investigating issues associated with thermal management, and of providing thermo-mechanical data for future research.

The same pattern of vestibular afferent feedback may signify a loss of balance or a change in body orientation, depending upon the initial head posture. To resolve this ambiguity and generate an appropriate motor response, the CNS must transform vestibular information from a head-centred reference frame into relevant motor coordinates. But what if the reference frame is continuously moving? Here, we ask if this neural transformation process is continuously updated during a voluntary change in head posture. Galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS) was used to induce a sensation of head roll motion in blindfolded subjects marching on the spot. When head orientation was fixed, this caused unconscious turning behaviour that was maximal during neck flexion, minimal with the head level and reversed direction with neck extension. Subjects were then asked to produce a continuous voluntary change in head pitch, while GVS was applied. As the neck moved from full flexion into extension, turn velocity was continuously modulated and even reversed direction, reflecting the pattern observed during the head-fixed condition. Hence, an identical vestibular input resulted in motor output which was dynamically modulated by changes in head pitch. However, response magnitude was significantly reduced, suggesting possible suppression of vestibular input during voluntary head movement. Nevertheless, these results show that the CNS continuously reinterprets vestibular exafference to account for ongoing voluntary changes in head posture. This may explain why the head can be moved freely without losing the sense of balance and orientation.

An illustrated catalogue documenting a site specific sculpture project based at Ilam Park, Staffordshire, England in 2012

My principal area of interest is using digital media within a cross-disciplinary methodology that incorporates drawing, painting, collage, typography, moving image and writing.The primary theme that concerns the work contained within the exhibition is the human psychologies’ innate need to transcend the isolation of individual existence. Particular focus is given to the destructive and violent expressions of that need from a societal perspective. This central premise underpins the attempt to explore various sociological phenomena, historical and contemporary, related to authoritarianism, conformity and armed conflict.