Quote:
Originally Posted by David Bailey  Chris,
Sheldrake illustrates his null hypothesis with a graph showing what happens if the owner stays away all night - the dog pays very little attention to the window. I am sorry, most of what you write bears only a tenuous relationship to Sheldrake's papers - there really is no point in debating this further.
David |
You show absoluetely no indication that you understand my point about the null hypothesis. The few trials where the owner stayed away for the night do not
illustrate the null hypothesis. Again, what these trials do is fail to test for perfectly natural explanations.
It is exactly what Sheldrake fails to explore that is most illustrative. Sheldrake fails to statistically test natural explanations.
You are telling me that the owner acts exactly the same when she stays away all night? You are telling me that the parents act exactly the same? I find this to be an incredibly naive assumption.
I read through Sheldrake's book. He want's his readers to come to the conclusion that when dogs seem to anticipate when they are going to be taken for a walk that this is down to "morphic resonance".
I will repeat myself once more. I have offered constructive criticism that would provide a path forwards. For example you could do some real random trials where neither the owner nor the parents know whether she is going to stay away for the night. Do another set of trials where the owner or the parents know whether she is going to stay away for the night. Is there a statistical difference in the behaviour of the dog?