A second metascientific replication project sponsored by Paradox Science Institute is currently under development. Multiple laboratories have been invited to participate in the GML project to rigorously evaluate the claimed replicability of the largest laboratory effect in anomalous cognition research—the so-called Ganzfeld effect. The Ganzfeld effect concerns the phenomenon of anomalous information transmission between a sender and receiver under conditions of sensory shielding. Meta-analyses of more than 100 Ganzfeld studies have reported a highly significant anomalous effect. The GML project reinvestigates the claim of the anomalous Ganzfeld effect by reproducing a significant share of the database that was used in a highly influential meta-analysis (Storm and Tressoldi, 2010). 50 years after the first report of the anomalous Ganzfeld effect (Honorton and Harper, 1974), the GML project seeks to identify the source of this claimed anomalous finding using advanced, rigor-enhancing methodologies. Preregistered data collection by the GML project laboratory network is expected to start in Fall 2025. A counterfactual version of the GML project is also conducted, that is, here a random event generator (REG) substitutes for the participants during the test phase. This approach can (i) reduce the risk of mistaking false positives for true positives and (ii) detect and identify possible sources of hidden systematic error. In short, the counterfactual GML project investigates the accuracy and reliability of the research methodology that is used in the GML project and, hence, presents a REG-based metascientific study as part of the Synergy program as well.

References: Storm and Tressoldi (2010), Honorton and Harper (1974)