The anticipation of telephone calls: A survey in California

A sample of 200 randomly selected people was surveyed in Santa Cruz County, California, to investigate the frequency and nature of anticipations of te lephone calls. Of those surveyed, 78% said that they have had the experienc e of telephoning someone who said that they were just thinking about teleph oning them; 47% said that they had had the experience of knowing who was ca lling them when the phone rang without any possible cue; and 68% said that they had thought about a person whom they have not seen for a while; who ha d then telephoned them that same day. A higher proportion of women than men gave positive answers to these questions. These results are in general agr eement with 2 previous surveys in England, although there were several sign ificant differences, which are discussed. These surveys reveal that seeming ly telepathic experiences in connection with telephone calls are remarkably common. The authors suggest ways that this phenomenon can be investigated empirically.