Elisabeth Targ
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Elisabeth Targ | |
---|---|
Born | New York City, New York, U.S. | August 4, 1961
Died | July 13, 2002 | (aged 40)
Alma mater | Stanford University |
Known for | Research into medicine |
Parents |
|
Relatives | Bobby Fischer (uncle) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Medicine, psychiatry |
Elisabeth Fischer Targ (August 4, 1961 – July 13, 2002) was an American
Early life
Elisabeth Targ was born in New York City on August 4, 1961, daughter of Russell and Joan Targ, granddaughter to William Targ, and niece to the chess world champion Bobby Fischer.
Targ graduated from
According to late-life and post mortem accounts, Targ participated in many games and experiments, primarily relating to remote viewing and precognition, while growing up - guessing what her birthday and Christmas presents were before opening them, as well as the outcomes of horse races and presidential elections.[3][1]
Research on healing prayer
Targ is probably best known for a 1998 study that claimed
However, in 2002
As a result, Bronson stated that the study could no longer be considered properly blinded, and was actually an example of the Texas sharpshooter fallacy when positive results are published while negative results are ignored. A peer reviewer of the study stated that had he known of the multiple attempts to find significance, the data would have required different calculations making it much less likely to have a positive result and therefore considered it a pilot study rather than a conclusive proof.[8]
A later study listing Targ as an author was published in 2006, five years after her death. The study featured a much larger group of subjects (150 rather than 40), and concluded that the only difference between groups that received healing prayer and those that did not was that the group receiving prayer were more likely to guess they were the experimental subjects rather than the control group. There was no difference found between longevity, symptoms, or any other clinically meaningful outcome.[9]
Death
She was diagnosed with and ultimately died from one of the diseases whose treatment she had been studying, the malignant brain tumour
References
- ^ ISBN 9780826362315.
- ^ Stanford Alumni Directory (confidential)
- ^ Gardner, Martin (2001). "Notes of a Fringe-Watcher: Distant Healing and Elisabeth Targ". Skeptical Inquirer. Archived from the original on 2011-01-05. Retrieved 2011-01-07.
- PMID 9866433.
- ^ Stryker, Jeff (5 April 1998). "Hallelujah! Science Looks at Prayer for Friend and Fungus". The New York Times.
- S2CID 12540423.
- ^ * United States Department of Health and Human Services (2004). "A Guide to Primary Care for People With HIV/AIDS, 2004 Edition" (PDF). Retrieved 2006-07-03.[permanent dead link]
- "Attacking AIDS with a 'Cocktail' Therapy". Food and Drug Administration. Archived from the original on 2009-01-14.
- ^ Bronson, Po (December 1, 2002). "A Prayer Before Dying". Wired. Vol. 10, no. 12. Archived from the original on October 17, 2017. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
- PMID 17131980.
- ^ Squatriglia, Chuck. "Dr. Elisabeth Targ -- physician, researcher". SFGATE. Retrieved 2024-01-19.
External links
- Newspaper obituary at SFGate.com