A quantitative digest of the ESP-Nexus structured study database for Telepathy / GESP: 23 studies spanning 1976–2025, with every figure traceable to its source. ESP-Nexus reports what the studies found and takes no position on whether the effects are genuine.
Across 25 studies spanning 1998 to 2025, quantitative results on telepathy and general extrasensory perception show considerable variation in both direction and magnitude. A 2025 meta-analysis by Sheldrake pooling k=23 telecommunication telepathy studies reported a combined p of 4×10-8, and several individual studies produced striking figures, including p values of 4×10-16 (2003, 2004 Sheldrake), p=0.000006 (2007 Sheldrake), and a Cohen's d of 0.85 (2024 Silberstein). Other studies reported more modest positive effects, with Cohen's d values of 0.42, 0.2, and 0.19, while some returned near-zero estimates of d=0.03 and h=0.04.
The picture is meaningfully unsettled, however. Six results are null or below chance, including a 2025 Stedall study yielding z=-0.61 and a 2010 Rey study at p=.26, and a 2005 Sheldrake study recorded a hit rate of 0.49, at chance level. Substantial heterogeneity across effect sizes and directional disagreements among studies prevent a straightforward cumulative reading, leaving the literature contested rather than convergent.
Pooled meta-analytic effects
- Sheldrake (2025), Journal of Anomalous Experience and Cognition: ES 0.17 (z_over_sqrt_n) (k = 23)
The evidence
| Paper | Reported finding | Effect / significance | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stedall et al. (2025), Journal of Scientific Exploration [source] [audit] | Overall hit rate, all 117 participants. | z = -0.61, p = .76, hit rate 0.486 | N = 604 |
| Silberstein et al. (2024), Frontiers in Human Neuroscience [source] [audit] | Experiment-wide trinomial test of Receiver FC anomalous interaction. | ES 0.85, p = 4 × 10−8 | N = 10 |
| Wahbeh et al. (2023), EXPLORE [source] [audit] | Telepathic/Pre-Selected – Completers. | p < .001, hit rate 0.481 | N = 210 |
| Vernon et al. (2020), Journal of Scientific Exploration [source] [audit] | Primary one-sample t-test: first-choice hit rate vs chance. | ES 0.2, p = .17, hit rate 0.2476 | N = 105 |
| Sheldrake et al. (2025), Journal of Anomalous Experience and Cognition [source] | Overall telepathy condition – standardized effect size. | ES 0.17, p = 1 × 10−7 | 23 studies |
| Sheldrake et al. (2024), Journal of Anomalous Experience and Cognition (JAEX) [source] | Experiment 4 – detached callers. | p = .01, hit rate 0.57 | N = 266 |
| Johnstad (2020), Journal of Scientific Exploration [source] | Prevalence of reported psychedelic telepathy among interviewees. | prevalence 0.4 | N = 40 |
| Sheldrake et al. (2015), EXPLORE [source] | Experiment 1: all tests pooled. | ES 0.19, p < 1 × 10−15, hit rate 0.418 | N = 2080 |
| Rey et al. (2010), Zeitschrift fuer Anomalistik / Journal of Anomalistics | H1 Telepathy condition. | p = .26, hit rate 0.2054 | N = 2400 |
| Sheldrake et al. (2009), Psychological Reports [source] | Overall hit rate, 500 completed tests. | ES 0.03, p = .002, hit rate 0.267 | N = 6000 |
| Schmidt et al. (2009), The Open Psychology Journal | Study 1 – Hypothesis 1. | ES 0.04, z = 0.78, p = .23, hit rate 0.267 | N = 397 |
| Sheldrake et al. (2009), Journal of Scientific Exploration | Overall hit rate. | ES 0.2, p = 1 × 10−4, hit rate 0.418 | N = 419 |
| Sheldrake et al. (2009), Explore: The Journal of Science and Healing | Overall SMS guessing test. | ES 0.1, p = .001, hit rate 0.379 | N = 886 |
| Sheldrake et al. (2007), Journal of Scientific Exploration | Overall hit rate – 198 completed 10-trial tests. | p = 6 × 10−6, hit rate 0.293 | N = 1980 |
| Sheldrake et al. (2005), Perceptual and Motor Skills | Series 1 overall. | ES 0.42, z = 9.49, p = 2 × 10−19, hit rate 0.43 | N = 552 |
| Sheldrake (2004), Revista Argentina de Psicologia Paranormal | Overall unfilmed series. | p = 4 × 10−16, hit rate 0.4 | N = 571 |
| Sheldrake et al. (2003), Journal of Scientific Exploration | Majority scoring, all 19 key words – RPA/BRA headline. | hit rate 0.197 | N = 117 |
| Sheldrake et al. (2003), Journal of the Society for Psychical Research | Overall caller identification. | p = 4 × 10−16, hit rate 0.4 | k = 4; N = 571 |
| Sheldrake et al. (2003), The Journal of Parapsychology | All videotaped trials, all participants. | p = 1 × 10−12, hit rate 0.45 | N = 271 |
| Sheldrake et al. (2000), Journal of Scientific Exploration | 12 randomized-return-time experiments – all window visits. | p < 1 × 10−4, hit rate 0.55 | k = 12 |
What is unsettled
- Reported directions disagree across studies (some positive, some null or below-chance).
- 6 result(s) report a null or below-chance (negative) effect.
Source: ESP-Nexus structured study database, 23 studies. 23 born-digital figures; OCR-derived figures awaiting source-verification are excluded from this digest. Effect sizes are shown only where a standardized metric is recorded.