[Chris Noble]

Originally Posted by Open Mind

Formative causation hypothesis can be tested, it can be falsified, the fact of the matter is that very few scientists have bothered trying to properly test it to date. How about having a go? If not, why not?

It has been tested with some positive results.
Articles and Papers - Scientific Papers - Morphic Resonance - An Experimental Test of the Hypothesis of Formative Causation

Neither Rose nor I anticipated that the latency of the control birds would show a progressive decline, and we agree that this is probably due to an experimenter practice effect.

The experiment did not show the effects that Sheldrake predicted from his "theory". The only effect was one that Sheldrake agrees is likely to be an experimenter practice effect. It is dishonest to claim that these results are evidence for "morphic resonance". It is simply post hoc rationalization.

"Morphic resonance" is so vague and content free that anything and everything can be "predicted" from the pseudotheory. The accuracy of the predictions increases dramatically if you make the predictions after you have the results.

If anything this story is a good illustration of why real scientists should be wary of collaborating with people like Sheldrake.