Citation

Micro-PK was explored in zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) to test

the hypothesis of nondirectional REG randomness reduction during an alarm situation. A 15-s video clip of a crawling snake was presented to 80 participants and a REG’s outcome during the presentation of the stimulus was analysed under three conditions: Bird Alone, Bird Plus Observer, and Observer Alone. One 200-bit trial was collected every quarter of a second during the presentation of the stimulus and the 5-min control period before the start of the disturbing stimulus, and the obtained cumulative chi-square deviation scores were analysed. The finding that

the scores during the stimulus period for the three conditions belonged to the same population, their direction being the same when independently and globally analysed, together with the nonsignificant difference with respect to their controls do not support the proposed hypothesis. However, an as yet undifferentiated psi observer effect is suggested by the global scores of the stimulus periods departing from chance while the scores of the corresponding controls did not, by the former’s values surpassing the latter, and by the scores of the stimulus periods deviating from chance when the observer was present.